Hey Coach Ponyling!
If you are feeling stressed or worried about finding paying clients, you are in the right place.
Another word for “finding paying coaching clients” is MARKETING.
Marketing is the lifeblood of your coaching business.
Why? Because it’s how people find YOU.
Because if no one finds you, then how can they hire you as their life coach?
So get ready to spend time spreading the awesome word about YOU.
And, as you do, know that there are a lot of marketing mistakes that can slow you down.
So, let’s talk about marketing help for coaches, including a big problem, and a helpful solution, so you are in great shape!
Marketing Help for Coaches: The Big Marketing Mistake
Trying to do allllll of the things.
Someone probably told you to “throw some spaghetti against a wall” or “just get out there and talk about your business.”
Here’s the problem with that: 1) Old spaghetti tastes terrible, and 2) Not marketing with a purpose or strategy is how you end up exhausted and deflated.
Nothing crushes your ego more than putting yourself out there and only hearing crickets in response.
DON’T LET THIS BE YOU.
So, if you are:
1) Currently posting on Pinterest
2) Firing up your Facebook page and posting *sometimes*
3) Trying to get your LinkedIn page up
4) Emailing people randomly
5) Trying to get speaking engagements
6) And so much more…
Here’s my tip: STOP.
If doing all of those things was effective in the beginning, then you wouldn’t be reading this article, no?
Here’s why doing all of the things isn’t effective
Here’s the thing: Each of these major marketing platforms has different rules, caters to different skill sets and styles, and takes a lot of time to master.
For instance: Instagram is an open visual platform first and foremost. It relies on great images, with text being secondary. How click-thrus in IG work, how messaging works, and how hash-tags work are very different from other platforms, like LinkedIn.
LinkedIn, on the other hand, has a totally different set of capabilities.
It has groups, blogs, connections, follows and more. It’s both a closed and open network (you can follow anyone, but you can’t connect without permission), and it’s a heck of a lot less visual than IG. It has its own unique algorithm, and it takes time to learn how often to post, what to say, and how to use the power of that platform for good.
And don’t get me started on Podcasting or Public Speaking.
To be great as a public speaker you need to be great at research (to find places), writing a good talk (so your speech is great), pitching yourself (a skill itself!), selling from the stage, and so on and so forth.
To be great at podcasting you have to have a technical side and understand how Apple works and lists podcasts, you need to be a good speaker or interviewer, you have to be willing to produce a polished product, and so on and so forth.
These are both VERY different from LinkedIn or Instagram, and require vastly different skills.
No one is good at all of the things – and it’ll kill you to try.
More importantly, you don’t have to be good at all of the marketing platforms to support yourself as a life coach.
I’ve known coaches who were successful just with writing – they never put on pants or left the house for their marketing.
I’ve known coaches who were great in Instagram, but never used another social media platform.
I’ve known coaches whose entire business was built around networking and talking with people one-on-one.
The reason they are successful? They got really good at doing ONE thing. They mastered a marketing channel that worked for them, and learned everything about it.
Most people don’t want to put in the effort, but those that do stand out. And more importantly – fast-track their success.
So yay – as a new coach you don’t have to do all of the things!
Let’s talk about the fix to this marketing mistake!
Ready? Whohooo!
The fix is simple: Do less, but do it better.
Focus your energy in one place, so you excel at it.
Here’s how: Instead of randomly marketing on all the platforms, posting inconsistently, start more simply.
Start with what you like to do in terms of communication (speak to groups? Talk with people one-on-one? Write long-form articles like blogs? Engage in short-form communications like Instagram or other social media?).
I ask you to do this because I want to make sure that first and foremost you enjoy marketing.
You’ll spend a lot of time doing it, and it’ll take energy.
So instead of having you put energy to something you don’t like (which is exhausting), let’s have you put energy to something you enjoy!
Okay, got it?
Excellent!
Here’s your second step to market your coaching business
Once you know how YOU like to communicate, then we can talk about how to find these magical clients.
We want your marketing to be focused, since it’s usually only you in the beginning.
So, let’s say you help professional women find work they love, and you like to communicate via speaking.
Awesome!
Now, instead of racing around feeling unfocused, you can get out there and start finding speaking engagements (here’s a blog article on how to do that if you are curious).
You’ll spend time finding groups that appeal to professional women, and then pitching yourself to speak there for free.
Once you get on the stage, you can invite people to work with you as a part of your talk. And since you are putting your focus on being an amazing speaker, results will follow!
But what if you hate speaking?
No problem! Let’s say you help professional women find work they love and you like to communicate via writing. (Don’t know who you want to help or how to niche? Here’s a free guide to help you figure it out!).
Great!
In this case, you will write articles for organizations that cater to this audience, and link back to your website to help drive people to find out more about you.
You might pitch to write at places like The Daily Muse, or Forbes, or Business Insider, and also self-publish on LinkedIn or Medium, because they also cater to that audience and most importantly, already HAVE an audience (if you just blog for yourself, you don’t have much reach, but write for someone else – so many eyeballs!).
Instead of wondering where to write, you’ll use your target market as a guide and look for places that cater to professional women, or have professional women as a big subset of their audience and then pitch ideas to them.
Whew, simpler, no?
YES.
You’ll be far less exhausted.
But wait- there’s more marketing help! Let’s get you *paying* clients!
Listen, there are many MANY more marketing mistakes to discuss that stand in the way of you getting PAYING coaching clients.
Things like: How do you sound appealing to your clients so they want to hire you? What do you say in your marketing copy that really resonates?
How do you figure out who you want to serve so you can market to them?
You get the idea 🙂
So, to help here’s a FREE on-demand class to find paying coaching clients!! It’s all about the 5 big mistakes coaches make, plus the instant 5 fixes. You’ll see real life examples with stories from many of the major platforms. And no, you don’t have to buy ads or hire help or even post on Instagram :).
Watch, learn, fix, and get paying coaching clients!
Click here to sign up for this free marketing masterclass.
