The 7 Steps to Becoming a Certified Dating Coach in 2024

So you want to find out how to become a dating coach. But – where should you start? Do you need to be certified or have a degree to be a dating coach? How much can you expect to get paid?

We’ll answer all of those questions below. But let’s first look at what dating coaches do in their daily practice.

What Does a Dating Coach Do?

Date coaching can be a fun, exciting and lucrative career. Especially if you like helping people in the realm of connection and intimacy. Your clients might be looking for long term love or just a roll in the hay – and you might be just the person the support them in these goals!

A dating coach can guide clients in all sorts of ways. From assisting them in creating and populating online dating profiles, to taking them on practice dates, and giving feedback on how they come across in a first meeting.

As a dating coach, you will sometimes have clients who have very little or no experience dating or connecting sexually. You can guide these clients to become more comfortable with touch, sexual energy, and the rules of seduction. Helping them navigate boundaries, consent, and rejection, as well as teaching them how to be a more sensual, present and connected lover are all on the resume.

Learn about who wants to hire a dating coach, what they can do to find the perfect one, and how much they can expect to pay.

Now – For the Steps…

Step 1 – Make Sure This Career Is for You!

While it might sound glamorous to be a dating coach, this career is not for everyone. If you want to be a dating coach, it’s important you are comfortable connecting with a wide variety of people. You should be very accepting, and also skilled in the tools of dating yourself. This doesn’t mean you have to be actively dating yourself, but you will need to keep up on the latest trends in online dating.

A good way to find out if date coaching is truly the career for you is to talk to already experienced coaches. Find coach websites, and decide what appeals to you in their messaging. Then ask if they’d be willing to have an informal phone call with you or sit down for a coffee. If yes, come prepared with good questions about their work – what they love and where they find themselves challenged. This will give you a full picture.

Step 2 – Research Dating Coach Certification Programs

Step two is all about seeing what’s out there in the field of dating coach training.

When researching programs, don’t just use your head – also use your heart! You want to read and assess the dating coach certification websites thoroughly. If their messaging makes you feel excited, inspired, and uplifted, and you connect with it, then that’s where you’ll want to learn your craft.

Step 3 – Apply to the Dating Coach Program of Your Choice

Most coaching programs have simple, straightforward applications you can fill out and submit completely online. Availability of seats for your chosen semester may be limited, so apply as early as you can. Also realize that your chosen program may carefully select their applicants – ensure that your commitment and personality comes across in the application.

Outside of the basic information about yourself, your prior experience and education, the program might also ask about your goals. Answer the questions honestly and thoroughly, and don’t skip any. This will give you the best chance of being accepted into your desired program.

Lastly – be prepared with the financial aspect of your training. You can expect to need to either put down a deposit for the fee, pay in full, or get set up with a payment plan upon registering for the program.

Step 4 – Attend and Fully Participate in All Classes

Surprisingly, many people sign up for date coaching programs without taking the learning process seriously. If you are committed to your new career as a dating coach however, you should attend all of your training classes. This will give you already have a leg up on your future competition.

If your program offers coaching practice with other students, fully participate in those as well.

Step 5 – Complete Your Coaching Hours

Some training programs require you to complete a certain number of hours, or have practice clients submit coaching evaluation forms. If this is the case, you need to complete all of your coaching hours to get certified.

Note that this is a wonderful requirement – the best way to become an amazing coach is practice, practice, practice!

Step 6 – Pass the Exam

Certain programs may have a coaching exam you are required to pass, particularly if you’re going to become certified.

The exam may be written, or, more likely, you will be asked to video record a coaching session with a client. One of the trainers will then watch it with you, give you feedback, and make sure you’re proficient enough to start work with clients.

Step 7 – Market Your Business

One important thing to know about becoming a dating coach: you also need to become an entrepreneur and marketer. This is a whole separate skill set from coaching people. Checking in with yourself to see if you feel excited about being self-employed and marketing yourself is yet another great way to test if being a dating coach is right for you.

Make sure you have help with marketing! Find out if your dating coach school or program will help you with this aspect of the business. Many coaching professionals come out of their programs, armed with excellent skills to support their clients – but with very little information about how to get those clients in the first place. The best programs will include training on marketing, support for launching your business, and opportunities to help you get clients.

To check if your chosen program also prepares you to be an entrepreneur, find out if it offers a website listing of certified coaches who have graduated from their program. Check to see if the school is doing anything (like search engine optimization) to promote this list themselves, or puts out blog content about new and innovative ways to gain clients.

It can be a great win if they do – especially if you are just starting out. Getting a listing on a respected, well-established website can be an amazing source of direct referrals. This way, you won’t have to completely rely on filling your practice yourself.