Hey Coach Ponyling!
I used to be scared of marketing, but you know what? Now I’m someone who LOVES it.
Marketing is FUN!
Here’s why I like it: It’s creative, it’s interesting, and it has an immediate payoff for your business.
So let’s talk about it more, shall we?
Last week I wrote about how you can market your business for free – and three things you can do immediately.
Today I want to chat about more marketing ideas, and how to get the word out to even more people.
Don’t worry – they are also free!
And it all starts with what YOU like to do.
Do you like chatting in the moment?
You, my friend, would be great at doing interviews.
My favorite place to do interviews? Podcasts.
Why?
Because podcasters ALWAYS need new interviewees.
They’ve built their life/business/brand all around talking with people.
So why not you?
You get to show up for 20-45 minutes and chat about your awesome area of expertise as a coach, and they get a really interesting interview.
Everyone wins!
But how do you get on these magical podcasts?
Well, the answer is simple: You pitch yourself.
Yep.
Go to itunes and take a look at new and noteworthy podcasts first – are there any on that list which sound relevant to you?
Since they are new podcasts, chances are they need interviews, so these podcasts are ripe for pitching.
Check out whatever website they have and see what they say about pitching them – then reach out!
Talk about why your topic/area is good for their listeners, and throw a little sincere flattery their way.
There is a good chance that they say yes!
When you get on the podcast, make sure you mention your website and encourage people to check you out if they need your type of coaching help.
I often say something like this: “If you are really struggling with finding your passion, I have tons of free resources over at therevolutionaryclub.com, so please go and check them out. I also have a fancy-pants free workbook for anyone who wants guided help on passion, all you have to do is go to therevolutionaryclub.com and grab it!”
Next up – search itunes on your topic of interest and see what podcasts come up – then pitch those as well.
Do your research, show you know the podcast, and throw some flattery during your pitch.
Voila!
You’ve just marketed yourself successfully :).
Do you like writing…a lot?
Awesome!
If you like writing then research big and small blogs that write stories in your area of expertise.
if you are a love or relationship coach, you might check out sides like Eharmony or other dating sites that also publish content.
If you are in careers or leadership, you might check out LeadX, Brazen, The Daily Muse etc.
If you are more in personal development, you might check out Tiny Buddha or Elephant Journal.
You get the idea. Get googling!
Once you have googled and have a list of 10 sites or so (again, big and small! Don’t have your list be entirely made up of Forbes :)), then check out the pitch rules for each site. Almost all websites will have their rules published for how they liked to be pitched content.
Make sure you read and follow their rules!
I get pitched ALL THE FREAKING TIME and basically NO ONE reads my rules.
You know what I do with those pitches? I grumpily ignore them.
Don’t be that person who is irritating and gets ignored.
Follow their rules.
Make sure you pitch a story or idea that fits in with that blog, and that you have a fresh spin on content. So take a second and see what they’ve published recently and make sure you don’t pitch something too similar.
Then, draft up an email with your headline and story idea, and a sentence or two of flattery or credibility. So, if you’ve been published somewhere reasonable before you may mention your Forbes credential (I do that a lot :)), or you may just say “I love your website and what you offer, and here’s a link to one my blogs so you can see my writing style if you like my story idea.”
And then…hit send!
The magic is in knowing your audience – so knowing THEIR audience, and making a smart suggestion for a story idea. You can do it!
And once they say yes, make sure your bio includes a strong sentence about why people should head back to your website, and of course, a website linkDo you like teaching more formally?
Do you like speaking and teaching?
Then you, young Coach Ponyling, might be perfect for webinars!
I love me some webinars because I love teaching – they are fun, I love doing Q and A, and you can immediately help people AND build your brand all at the same time.
So gin up a good and relevant teaching topic (i.e, NOT something vague and basic-coachy like “How to be your authentic self” or “Speak with your true voice” because basically no one walks around saying “I wish there was a webinar on how to be more my authentic self”) and then pitch it!
I like to start with your alumni network as a great place for doing webinars. They often have big online forums, they are predisposed to like you and say yes, and you can usually find plenty of clients!
Everyone wins! 🙂
The key here is to find other people with groups, and use their platform and technology to reach a whole new group of people, NOT to do a sad webinar to 2 people and your cat on your own.
Using someone else’s audience and tools saves you tons of time and frustration, and it’s way more fun in the beginning (it’s super stressful to put on a webinar and wonder if no one is going to show up).
Don’t be that person!
Go out and be lazy, find other people and use their networks :).
And of course, at the end of the webinar give people a compelling reason for why they should work with you (want to know more about that? Then get on the Build a REAL Business wait list! We cover all this and more in that program. Click here).
And that’s it!
So take these marketing ideas and go forth and market!
You can do this.
Need more help marketing?
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