IF YOU’RE trying to get your first clients for your coaching practice, the good news is it’s not too difficult. Successful coaches use different strategies to attract potential customers. This article will discuss some of them.
Key Takeaways
- The first goal should be to find audience. Coaches need clients who want to improve their lives.
- Produce content consistently. As a coach, you probably have plenty of content ideas for your audience.
- Share success stories about your online coaching business. Social proof shows the right people you’re a good coach.
How to Get More Clients for Your Coaching Business
No matter the type of coaching you plan to do, these tips will help move things forward.
1. Find an Audience
We share and search for information daily on social media. As a health coach, you can attract people by looking up health-related hashtags, for example. Focusing on one goal at a time is important, and the first goal is finding an audience. Coaches need clients who want to improve their lives. Whatever your coaching services, there is a target audience.
Add these steps to your daily life or marketing strategy if you need help growing an organic audience:
Engage your people – Ideal clients are already looking for your services. Take the opportunity to build relationships with relevant, superior content.
Go where they are – There are many social media sites. Choose those your audience uses most often. Business professionals should use LinkedIn. For visual content, check out Instagram or TikTok. All types of people use Facebook and Twitter, so include them in your social media strategy. Ask your audience what social media platforms they prefer.
Talk more – Audiences need to be engaged. Make content that starts conversations. Offer solutions, meet them where they are, and show you care. Ask what they want to discuss. It helps to know your ideal client’s problems. Discussions abound online. Focus on those hot topics.
2. Read Books
If you’d like to expand your skill set and find new ways of attracting more business, we recommend reading these books:
- The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, and Change The Way You Lead Forever
- The Art of Coaching Workbook: Tools To Make Every Conversation Count
- Developing Coaching Skills: A Concise Introduction
- Helping People Change: Coaching With Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth
3. Make a Plan
Coaches know you need a plan to resolve a problem.
You can use the same approach for clients to develop a solid client acquisition plan. Consider these questions when creating a client acquisition plan:
- Who is your target audience?
- How do they use social media?
- What content is appropriate?
- What defines success?
- Who will do what?
- Does your plan reflect your values?
When a plan doesn’t work, have the courage to start over with a new one.
3. Sell Yourself More Than Serve Your Clients
Keep your clients happy while marketing your business. How will your business grow if you serve your clients’ needs? Take care of your advertising and client acquisition needs. Only then can we grow sustainably.
Paid advertising is a great marketing strategy. Social media advertising produces fast results if used strategically. Use social ads when your client base is drying up, and you need clients fast.
SEO takes time, Facebook ads produce leads in days. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and influencers have used this method with great success.
Don’t give up on the first try and you won’t have a failing business.
4. Create Interesting Content
Earnings and impact drive powerful content. As a coach, you probably have plenty of content ideas for your audience. Consider their interests when creating online content.
Personal coaches might create videos about mental toughness or work/life balance.
Here are some other content types you can create on social media:
- Written blog posts, articles, or guides
- Pictures
- Live videos
- Infographics
- Contests
- Guest posts
All content is good, but some forms are more effective. Know what your audience likes and what suits your brand. When you’re stuck, you can always use small business quotes for inspiration.
Coordinate your message strategy with social media. Create and share valuable content.
Share your coaching journey.
There are many ways to tell stories. Go live on Facebook to tell your story. Join Clubhouse and practice speaking. Clubhouse is an easy way to learn how to tell your story well or what messaging works best to get new coaching clients. It’s a good place to practice building your online presence before you take the next step and go live on a discovery call.
Communicating your story is key to building a successful brand. Authenticity is key – potential clients can tell when something isn’t right. Try different platforms to find the best one for you. Eventually, you’ll find the right clients in the right place.
You can also try to connect with your target audience more personally. Share success stories about your online coaching business. Social proof shows the right people you’re a good coach. When you don’t have your first coaching client yet, explain why you became a coach. Talk about the hard work you did with a coach and how it benefited you. Others may try coaching if they see its benefits.
5. Engage in Facebook Groups
You can get new clients from Facebook groups. Coaches and business leaders engage with their target audience and generate leads. Join relevant groups if you don’t have a Facebook page and participate in conversations.
Go further, join conversations, and add value. Post comments and questions.
6. Use LinkedIn
Coaches can’t ignore LinkedIn; 760 million professionals have a presence there. Users include employees, brands, influencers, and leaders. LinkedIn users are already in “business mode”, so this is a great place to find clients.
Engage with someone on LinkedIn if you build a relationship on Facebook too. You should do this across all social media platforms.
Here are some quick tips to make LinkedIn more fruitful:
- Be found in search results. Getting found on the platform should be easy if you’re a business coach.
- Fill in the summary and experience sections carefully.
- Share what you’re up to.
- Contact 100 potential clients.
7. Make Videos
Video engages like nothing else on the web. Video content is easy to consume since the brain processes visual information.
Show your business’s human side. It’s a good idea to show how your coaching programs add value to your existing clients’ lives. Visual content will increase your opportunities online. Live video streaming is the best way to reach your audience.
Your people are on different platforms. The more places you meet them, the bigger and better you become.