Building your coaching business requires that you learn how to market your services authentically in a way that's aligned with who you are. It's not enough to be qualified; you need to know how to attract the right kind of clients.
Many wonderfully trained coaches struggle to build their businesses. A lot of them seek out marketing guidance and find it,
but then feel out of alignment with the advice and end up stuck in values conflicts.
This is where authentic marketing becomes necessary. We can help more people when we make more money and when we are successful coaches, not just good coaches.
Let me give you a bit of insight into my story. I decided to become a coach a little over two years ago. I did my coach training through Coach U and started as a life and career coach simultaneously with my coach training.
It's very important to start your marketing early. Within about nine months of starting my business, I had over 35 paying clients. My business had really boomed. Things were going really well, and in about 14 months it went to six figures. Now this year we're looking at a quarter of a million dollar coaching business.
I had no marketing background per se. I certainly had never run or operated a business before. I created a very systematic marketing process for my business. I started early and I marketed often.
Now I exclusively work with helping professionals (or Helpingpreneurs as I call them). These are people who make a living by making a difference. They support, help and heal other people. That's the profession they're in. All of my private clients, my coaching clients, and all of my groups and products are tailored to marketing, mindset and business building for the helping professional.
Do you see how clearly I define who I work with and how I help them?
It's critical for you to have a clear message that explains what you do, so when somebody comes up to you and asks what you do for a living, you are able to explain it very quickly, effectively and clearly.
Many coaches and helping professionals struggle with ADD or ADHD, so for people with those tendencies, it is extremely important to be able to succinctly and concisely take all the things you do and put them in one message, under one umbrella, and explain that to the people you interactive with.
This is going to sound so crass, but I promise you it's the truth:
People don't care what you do.
People care what you can do for them.
Have you heard of the radio station WIIFM? It stands for "What's in it for me?" Most everyone has their radio station tuned to WIIFM. You must appeal to the wants and needs of your ideal clients and customers.
You have got to focus on what your passion is. Then you must identify the group that needs you most. You must then position yourself as an expert and become visible to that group.
Remember, the greatest public servant in the world is a rich coach, and here's why: Coaches can't help but give back, so when a coach is succeeding monetarily and doing well, they're going to sprinkle that giving back and coaching and love and support everywhere they go.
When you focus on what you are passionate about, work with and serve the clients and customers who need you most, making sure to appeal to their interests with clarity, your marketing efforts will be in full alignment with who you are and you will have eliminated the biggest barriers to success in your business.
