First, let’s clarify that these are marketing strategies and different from our “Top Five Ways to Get Clients” which is about client enrollment.
If this important distinction is new for you; “marketing” is communicating what you do for the purpose of generating prospects, and “enrollment” is connecting with your prospects for the purpose of getting hired as their coach.
Many newbies assume that marketing is how you get clients, but I can tell you from personal experience that you can “market ’til the cows come home” and not get any clients! For more information about enrollment click here
Effective marketing assumes you have a good foundation for your practice, including a clear, identifiable specialty (what you do) and target audience (your niche, who you do it for), otherwise, that’s where you start. So, let’s discuss the top five ways to market your coaching practice. This list is not in rank order.
Top Five Ways to Market Your Coaching Practice
- Website Prospect Generator
- Presentations
Both in person and virtual (teleseminars and webinars) targeted for your niche that address their biggest goal and solution to their biggest problem, most importantly your “signature presentation” which is high value, struts your best stuff, that you want to give anywhere, anytime at a moment’s notice. - Joint Ventures and Fundraisers
Partner with complementary professionals, businesses, and organizations that target your niche to provide group programs (seminars, classes, workshops, etc) that help you reach large numbers of people you couldn’t reach otherwise. Fundraisers include schools, churches, and non-profits. - Private Events
Host a private seminar/semi-social event for your network (ask them to bring a friend) or ask a champion (supporter, referral source) to host one for their network (I call this the “Tupperware Party”). Meeting with small, targeted groups where the “know, like, trust” factor is high is very effective. - Build Your Referral System
Certainly, asking for referrals is something we must do (and many coaches are shy about this), but building your referral “system” means that you put together a large network of referral sources, research, cultivate, and build your relationships those referral sources, and always seek to expand your referral sources. It is a well researched fact that word of mouth referral is by far the most effective way that private practice professionals get clients. You don’t need to wait by the phone hoping someone will make a referral or call- get out there and build your referral relationships!
Otherwise known as your “opt in offer,” this is a valuable piece of content (special report, audio, video, eprogram, etc) targeted to your niche that struts your best stuff and converts website “visitors” into prospects.
We hope this is helpful! For more information we recommend:
- Register for our FREE Relationship Coach Starter Kit
- Download and review the 11 strategies in How to Choose a Niche
- Check out the client enrollment strategies in Help! How Do I Get Clients??!!
- And you’ve got to check out- How to Build Your Own Client Creation Machine
Enjoy!
