All life coaches want to attract clients. They come out into this bright, shiny, digital world clutching their qualification & mandatory hours of experience and they're let loose... but nowhere did anybody ever teach them how to get clients. They look around at the general advice online for life coaches, set up a bare bones website and then post a few bits to SM.
And wonder where the clients are.
They know they're really bloody good and can help their clients find peace and/or resolution - but how to actually get the clients from "identifying they need help" to actually "booking services".
Most of the generic advice they'll have had to date is to offer "Discovery Calls" and so our new or prospective coach gets herself up in knots setting up a booking calendar and getting ready to talk to these eager new clients who don't materialise and leave her feeling deflated.
Now personally as a "coach", I don't offer these:
- I want people to work with me who've done their due diligence, have come to know me and know I'm the person to help.
- That general generic advice tends to steer less towards helping a client with a problem and learning about them... and more towards helping them locate a creditcard and take payment there and then! (If you want a gentler, more authentic guide to giving Discovery Calls which doesn't make you look like a complete sleaze bag - click here)
- In real life, normal people - i.e., your potential clients and NOT people like us who know the online lingo - have no fucking idea what a "Discovery Call" is!
But aside the fact that no sane person on earth (with or without problems requiring a life coach to help them out!) doesn't want a Discovery Call.
What they want is to know that you are the right person to help them.
That you're kind, knowledgeable - and above all - competent, real and have a solution!
Marketing for Life Coaches
So how on earth do you market yourself as a life coach and differentiate yourself from the rest?
Blogging.
Yep, blogging.
Blogging allows you to demonstrate your expertise and by writing in your "own voice", your potential clients can follow you, read all about the way you work and by doing their due diligence - decide whether you're the right person for them.
Do you understand them? Do you understand their problems, can you offer solutions, support and understanding?
Because a link to your booking calendar for a "Discovery Call" and a few memes on Social Media doesn't do ANYTHING to demonstrate your expertise and why YOU are the answer - and not the other 99 women who did the life coaching certificate at the same time as you.
At the same time as blogging, you really need to define your niche - which sounds easier than it actually is. Because pulling some random words out of your head, scribbling them on a piece of paper and calling it "done" couldn't be further from the truth.
It takes self-development to understand why our niche is our niche... and to get absolute clarity upon this you need to work.
But how do you "get the work" before you get the clients? It's very chicken and egg.
And that's why I come back to saying that BLOGGING IS THE ANSWER.
And I'm not talking about 1 lousy blog every month. I'm talking about YOU stepping outside your comfort zone and writing regularly. Weekly. Twice-weekly. Daily!
The more you write, the more the ideas will come to you - be a lazy bitch and let your sub-conscious do the hard work 😁. Writing is going to fast-track you towards that clarity within your niche and refine your message. With a refined message you become more attractive to your clients, you become more authentic with your marketing and you gain confidence in what you're doing.
The more you write the more authentic your voice becomes - BECAUSE of that clarity and confidence you're gaining.
It's not a case of "fake it 'til you make it" - but because you yourself get clarity in what you're doing, you lose that scattergun "spray and pray" approach which looks desperate and confuses your clients.
Seriously. Get your keyboard out and get typing.
Leaders blog and attract. Gatherers use Social Media.
