So, you’ve just signed up your first coaching client (or you’re on the cusp of landing them), and you’re almost ready to take your first payment.
But wait, how do you do that?
And how do you make the whole process simple, not just for your client but for you, too?
In this article, you’ll learn how to take payments in a few different ways.
What are online payments, and why do you need a payment processor?
Online payments are payments you make or take online (like when you’re paying for goods on Amazon, etc.), and to do this, I’d advise using a payment processor, like Stripe or PayPal.
However, many people have resistance to using a payment processor when it comes to payments (fees?! security?!). And while forking over a percentage for payment processors can be off-putting initially, taking payments this way is actually worth every penny for its speed and convenience. Both for you and your clients.
Yes, you could request bank transfers from clients, but these can take time or, in some cases, a few days to process (depending on your bank). So, why wait when you can get paid within minutes?
How to start using a payment processor.
As mentioned above, I recommend taking payments through PayPal or Stripe, as they allow you to send invoices and get paid without having to involve any other complicated services.
Stripe
With Stripe, creating a new invoice to bill a client is quick and easy. In fact, the YouTube tutorial, Create, customize, and send Stripe invoices by CJ Avilla, shows you just how quick and easy this is.
Stripe even has a Checkout option you can set up, allowing you to send the same checkout page to every client without having to send a new invoice every time, like so:
Image source: Stripe.com
PayPal
PayPal is also a good option for payment processing, but for me, there’s only one drawback: they have a habit of holding on to large payments for weeks if they deem them suspicious.
And they take a transaction fee on substantial payments, leaving you with less profit when receiving payments from your clients.
PayPal is a decent, safe option, especially for newer businesses when you may not be receiving a lot of payments. They also have robust security and anti-fraud protection in place, so if your account is hacked, they have a good track record of recovering the money for you, which is great peace of mind.
PayPal will serve you well if you only have one or two low-paying clients right now.
Set up a Squarespace Scheduling account, too.
If you want to eliminate a little bit of admin, set up a Squarespace Scheduling account (they used to be known as Acuity), connect it to your Stripe or PayPal accounts, and take payments through them instead.
Why?
Because if you’re starting out, they allow you to take payment plans from your clients. So, for example, if you want to offer a way for your clients to pay, say, $500 per month for a $1500 plan, then Squarespace Scheduling allows you to set that up.
Their Growing Tier costs just $23 per month (which is a steal!).
Setting up pricing plans like this in Stripe and PayPal isn’t an option.
And if that wasn’t enough, Squarespace Scheduling also keeps track of how many sessions your client has had, so you don’t have to keep a manual note of those either.
To learn more, check out the tutorial video in my article, How to accept payments with Acuity Scheduling (though they’re known as Squarespace Scheduling now!).
Can you just take payment through your website?
Yes, absolutely, but this will require you to have a little tech knowledge (if you don’t, it can be a steep learning curve).
Stripe, Paypal, and Acuity make it much less hassle.
But if you really want to take payments through your WordPress site, then I recommend installing the WP Simple Pay plugin as it integrates well with Stripe when taking payments.
Don’t make these mistakes.
There are two platforms you should steer clear of.
The first is Kajabi.
If you’re already using this platform for other things like email marketing, then feel free to use it for taking payments. However, if you’re drawn to Kajabi simply for the payment processing capability, then in my opinion it’s overkill.
You don’t need distractions when you’re still growing your coaching business, and if all you need Kajabi to do is accept payments, there are much simpler options out there for that purpose.
The second is Venmo.
Please, please, please don’t use Venmo to take payments. It’s against their terms of use could land you in trouble if you do.
And…in my opinion it doesn’t come across as very professional to be taking payments through Venmo.
I know Venmo is easy, but please don’t use it!
Just getting started in your coaching business?
If you’re just getting started and don’t have your website up and running yet, you might check out my course Website Kit for Coaches. It teaches coaches how to set up a simple website to attract their ideal client. Then you can have more clients to need to take payments from! Learn about the course here.
I hope this helps,
Jennie
