Are you giving your time away for free as a Kids Life Coach?
DISCLAIMER: All words written by my own brain using my own experience and not crafted with artificial unverified help.
For many years I have given away my time for free! Yes....for FREE! Despite telling all of the students that I supervise and mentor not to do this very thing. Here is the truth....I don't do this with my 'actual' clients. The parents who enrol their children in my coaching programmes. They understand my worth and they pay me my fee without question. I only (used to) do this with people who wanted to enrol in my Kids Life Coach training!
The AHA moment came when during a supervision session with our global network of Kids Life Studio® alumni coaches, I was telling them to value their time. I explained that when we give parts of ourselves away for in 'free discovery calls' or 'free enrolment in a taster session' or 'free products' and 'free (fill in the blank!)' this is you wanting to verify your worth.
It is almost like test driving a car before buying. BUT...we are not selling cars! We are selling our services. Very very valuable services that include not only measurable results for our clients, but transformation that can't be measured in monetary value.
This is the reason why I decided to walk the walk and talk the talk by no longer offering 'free strategy calls' to anybody interested in enrolling in my certification training. Not because they don't deserve to ask questions, but because I need to value my time. So the small fee I now charge is for an in depth strategy call. Mapping out a blueprint for supporting children. After my call, some people choose to go ahead with larger organisations and some value the bespoke service we have that is grounded in relationships. Some even choose to go it alone! Everybody has a right to choose their own pathway that is a good fit and my organisation isn't always that fit.
Unlike the larger, cookie cutter style organisations that slap accreditation badges on their training to entice people to enrol, we are a boutique organisation. Committed to personal relationships, care and attention. The certification I offer people is to transition out of careers they are no longer in love with (teachers...this is probably you!) or to shift into careers they never had an opportunity to embrace (think architects, doctors, psychologists, social workers...and and and).
Note...I do not have a large fancy team of executives crafting sales pitches or building funnels or pipelines. This is deliberate! When I started training people to do the work I have been doing since 2003, it wasn't because I was after the income. It was because there was a need and I met that need. So I choose to remain smaller and work only with those people committed to taking action when it comes to supporting children as their legacy.
This is the subtle difference between accredited training providers and the training my organisation offers. We don't do window dressing and we certainly don't need a shiny badge to verify our passion and our willingness to do whatever it takes to support children. Every single student that has done my training will verify (testimonials to prove it!) that they experienced personal transformation alongside learning the exact systems that work to get results in children.
This is why we don't lean into accreditation to verify our work as a global network of Kids Life Studio® coaches. This is by design.
IS KIDS LIFE COACHING ACCREDITED? WATCH THIS VIDEO TO FIND THE ANSWER.
The training I offer is not about fancy sales talk in a 'free discovery call' with a team of sales people to get you over the finish line and enrolled. It's not about ten different accreditation badges on our website (if you see that on a service providers website...it's probably a cookie cutter style training) or my qualifications or letters behind my name as the teacher. The strength in this work that I have chosen to do is about heart.
So I stopped doing this one thing. Giving away my time for free to people who want to enrol in my accredited training without the bling! (Yes, we are accredited. Yes, I have accreditation. We just don't use that to verify our results!) No, I don't need to verify my track record. If you are interested then there is enough evidence of the time line of my progression from solo to leading a global network of play based coaches!
So if like I was, you are giving your time away for free to your clients, you need to ask yourself why? I know why I was giving my time away for free. I truly want transformation for the students who enrol in my training. I wanted to meet them to see if they are a good fit to work with me and my team of master coaches. I wanted them to feel my heart.
But...now people get to enrol directly into my Kids Life Coach Training and do the self paced option if they choose. I guarantee that this is still a great valuable offer. They still get to see my heart along with the research and the systems, templates and exact programmes used globally. BUT if you are the kind of person to value relationships, a community, support and professional supervision then self paced probably isn't for you!
Value your time! That's the message for this blog! You don't interview your doctor or psychologist. No discovery calls there. So stop doing what mainstream 'accredited' life coaches are taught to do. Your time is valuable so ditch the free anythings and price your expertise accordingly. There is a time and place for free and this is why I do my pro bono work as a Secret Parent. Running a business and pro bono are two sides of the same coin. Be careful which you choose.
Without valuing your time, you may not be in the position to have the money to offer your services for free to those in need! Children deserve your skills so when you value yourself, they value you too!
