Transforming your online coaching service with virtual workshops

Online coaching is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative industries in the world. It's valued at over $15 billion and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 6.7%. Online coaching allows you to share your expertise and passion with a global audience and create a flexible and scalable business model. In this blog post, we'll discuss the types of online coaching businesses and how you can leverage your coaching services by hosting live workshops. 

What is an online coaching business?

An online coaching business refers to the type of coaching service that's provided over the internet in various formats, such as real-time classes, on-demand videos, presentations, and more. Online coaching is an effective way to educate and connect with learners in the digital age.

Different verticals in online coaching

Some online coaching programs are very formal, while others are more interactive. This depends completely on the subject and skills that are being taught in the program. Online coaching covers a wide spectrum and can be tailored accordingly to fit various goals, needs, and preferences. Here are some of the different niches that can be taught online: 

Life coaching: Life coaching is one of the most popular and versatile topics in the online coaching community. It provides support and guidance to learners, helping them improve their personal, professional, and spiritual lives. 

Business coaching: This type of coaching is targeted at people who are passionate about starting a business and want to excel in it. Budding entrepreneurs and business owners take up these courses to scale their businesses and to stay on top of market trends. 

Health coaching: This is one of the most relevant and timely types of online coaching. These courses teach learners the best health and well-being practices, including nutrition, that keep them fit physically and mentally. This niche of online coaching also deals with topics like weight loss, calorie tracking, exercise, and stress management. 

Career coaching: Online career coaching is one of the most sought-after and practical niches of online coaching. It helps learners improve their professional skills, such as resume building, interview preparation, presentation, and also guides them to find an ideal job. Online career coaching caters to different career stages, such as students, professionals, and even retirees. 

Skill coaching: A popular topic in online coaching is "skill coaching," which involves offering knowledge and training on a specific skill to learners over the internet. This teaching style can be used in a variety of contexts, including athletics, education, technical skills, and personal development.

Live virtual workshops in online coaching

As online coaching continues to grow in popularity, the demand for live virtual workshops has also increased. Live virtual workshops are real-time, interactive coaching sessions conducted through a virtual meeting platform. 

Advantages of hosting a live online coaching workshop 

Personalization: In live virtual workshops, coaches can customize their course content and interact in a way that's tailored to meet the needs of individual learners. They can also provide real-time feedback and assistance, making online coaching more effective. 

Flexibility: Live virtual workshops offer more flexibility than traditional in-person workshops. Learners can attend workshops from anywhere in the world. Coaches can schedule workshops at times that are convenient for their learners. 

Cost-effective: Virtual workshops are typically more cost-effective than in-person workshops. There are no travel expenses, venue rentals, or other associated costs. This makes it easier for coaches to offer their services at an affordable rate and attract a wider audience. 

Make the best out of live virtual workshops

Live virtual workshops can be highly engaging and interactive if you have the right tools. Online coaching platforms, like TrainerCentral, come with all of the essential features you'll need to run your coaching business effectively. Here are some of the important tools that you can use to improve the quality of your coaching services:

Breakout rooms: Breakout rooms are an essential feature in live virtual workshops that can significantly improve the quality of online coaching. Breakout rooms allow coaches to create small groups within the virtual workshop and allocate a set of learners to each group, where they can engage in discussions, brainstorming, and other group activities. 

For example, let's say a life coach is conducting a virtual workshop on "team spirit and leadership skills." The coach can use breakout rooms to divide learners into small groups and assign them different tasks. The coach can then join the groups individually, evaluate their performance, and provide personalized feedback and guidance. It also helps the coach to observe each group's performance, highlight areas for improvement, and offer suggestions for enhancing their skills. 

Whiteboards: The whiteboard feature is a powerful tool for visualizing concepts and breaking down complex topics during a live virtual workshop. It enhances visual learning and makes it easier for the learners to understand complex concepts. 

For example, consider an online coach who teaches English to a group of learners online. The whiteboard feature comes in handy to teach grammar rules. It can be used to draw diagrams and flowcharts to help learners understand the topic better. 

Online quizzes: Online quizzes are a valuable addition to live virtual workshops, providing a range of benefits for coaches and learners. Online quizzes keeps learners motivated throughout the workshop. Learners get to test their knowledge and understanding of the topics being covered, which helps to reinforce the learning objectives. 

Online quizzes can be created in a variety of formats, such as multiple choice, true or false, or descriptive type questions. This allows coaches to tailor the quiz to the specific learning objectives of the workshop and address the needs of learners.

These quizzes provide immediate feedback and helps coaches track the progress of their learners. The also help coaches identify areas where they may need to focus their attention. 

Online quizzes can be designed in a way that makes them fun and engaging by incorporating gamification elements, such as points, badges, and leaderboards. This motivates learners to actively participate in the quiz and also improves the overall effectiveness of the workshop. 

Live polls: Live polls have become a popular tool for engaging learners in a live virtual workshop. It can be used to collect data, and analyze trends and insights that can be used to improve future workshops, and it also helps measure the success of the current session. 

The coach can create a live poll with questions related to the topic of the session for learners to answer. The results can be used to adjust the teaching style or provide further clarification on any areas where learners feel like they're stumbling.  

Live chat: Live chat allows learners in a virtual workshop to communicate with coaches and other learners without disturbing the flow of the session. It improves engagement among learners who might not feel comfortable speaking up in front of a live audience. It provides an opportunity for them to speak up and share their thoughts without interrupting the workshop. 

The live chat feature can also be used to host live Q&A sessions where learners can post their questions. This not only helps to clarify the doubts of a particular learner, it also broadens the perspective of the other participants in the session. 

Live record feature: The live record feature in a virtual workshop allows the host to record the session. The recording can be shared later with participants who were unable to attend the session. 

Let's say you're hosting a virtual workshop and you're demonstrating how to use editing software. During the session, you may explain various features and nuances, and demonstrate how it works to your learners. You can record your workshop, including the screen shares and audio of the session. 

The recording will help learners review the session and ensure that they don't miss any important information or instructions. It also helps learners who might need a refresher on a particular topic later on in their learning phase. 

Recording the workshop not only benefits learners, it can also be used by coaches to review their performance and identify any areas that need improvement.

Feedback: Collecting feedback at the end of a live virtual workshop allows learners to share their opinions and suggestions to their coaches. 

Feedback provides valuable insight into what participants are looking for in a live virtual workshop. Collecting feedback after every session helps online coaches improve their content, delivery, and format of the workshop. This ensures that the workshop is effective and relevant to the learners' needs. 

You can also collect learner testimonials this way, which can be featured on your website, to give a good impression to new learners looking to enroll in your workshop. 

Conclusion

Online coaching is a competitive and dynamic field that requires constant innovation and adaption. To stay relevant in this business, it's important to adapt to new trends and technologies that will improve the quality of your coaching services. At TrainerCentral, we offer a comprehensive online course creation platform that includes a powerful and built-in live virtual workshop tool. 

Sign up for TrainerCentral today and start your online coaching business that your audience will love.