One of the hardest aspects of a coach’s career is finding clients. I hear it all the time, ”How do I increase my business? Where can I find more clients?” Well, as I tell my clients and now I’m telling you, you must define your niche. It’s easier and more effective to place all your marketing efforts into a narrow market as opposed to spreading yourself thin over a general market.
When defining your market, define your niche. Ask yourself, what topics are you particularly good at (business, career, relationships, personal life, finance, etc…)? Identify what kinds of clients you most enjoy (executives, couples, etc…)? Who is your ideal client? Focus all your marketing efforts in attracting this particular niche.
The foundation of your marketing efforts should include a website, a blog demonstrating your expertise, possibly an online store providing you the opportunity to create additional streams of income, social media platforms engaging in conversations, placement of links back to your blog/site, a monthly newsletter maintaining communication with potential and existing clients, as well as the new thing…mobile marketing.
Once your foundation is set, you can find clients a number of ways:
1. Ask for referrals – You have to ask for them directly. Send out emails or letters asking, “Do you know of anyone who might benefit from my service?”
2. Become a guest speaker – Offer to speak to others’ clients and/or partake in their webinars/seminars.
3. Guest blog – Offer to write a blog on others’ blogs, presenting your expertise to a new pool of individuals in your market.
4. Cross promote – Find other professionals in related fields to yours with a database of your ideal clients. Ask to promote your services to their client base in exchange to them promoting theirs to yours.
5. Find the influencers – Give your services away for free to influencers and ask that in return they help promote you to their followers.
6. Host a weekly luncheon or monthly party – Such gatherings can enhance your personal image and increase your personal relationship with clients and prospects.
7. Hire an appointment setter – If budgets are tight, either find an intern or pay via commission.
8. Send out press releases – Write out how your business is “newsworthy” and distribute your writing to the media.
9. Webinar/Seminar – Create a free or fee based webinar/seminar demonstrating your expertise, personality, and ability to inspire and motivate
Above is just a tasting of what you can do. If you’re looking to gain more client email me at LBrown@ConsciousStrategies.com to strategize.