The number 1 question we’re asked by our coaching students is: how do I get clients?
Life coaching is a labor of love… but it’s also a BUSINESS. So many coaches are drawn to the field because they LOVE helping people—in fact, in most cases they feel like they’ve been doing it their whole lives! But, in order to turn life coaching into a career, a business, you need to a) charge a reasonable fee for your services and b) have clients. But, this is where many coaches get stuck.
- Have you done what it seems everyone says you need to do—created a website, Facebook page, and business cards… but you’re frustrated because you’re still not getting enough clients?
- Do you feel like you’ve wasted time or money on marketing strategies that don’t work, or never tried any because you feel stuck and overwhelmed?
- Or, do you feel like you’ve reached a plateau—you’ve got some clients but you just can’t figure out how to scale your coaching business?
The good news is that attracting clients actually CAN be easy and inexpensive (or even free)!
And we want to prove it to you. It comes down to knowing:
The 3 Secrets to Attracting Your Ideal Clients:
- H-Heart
- R-Results
- T-Targeting
Or… HeaRT! … Let us explain…
… Ok, so what we’ve learned in over a decade in the coaching field is that there are certain business strategies that work for life coaches 10X better than any other methods…
… and we will share these with you and save you years of trial and error. But, the truth is that there is ONE THING that unlocks all the other pieces. You see, the marketing is not the problem; WHAT you are marketing is the problem.
BACKGROUND STORY:
When we started coaching it was a brand-new industry. There were no best practices and barely anyone out there to learn from. As pioneers, we had to learn through trial and error. For years we followed the traditional model of coaching, which looks a lot like therapy without the mental anguish, life trauma, or past-orientation. It looked a lot like this: Coach a client to achieve a goal of their choosing through individual coaching sessions.
We coached clients on a number of different topics, including increasing their level of happiness, improving their relationship skills, reaching important life goals, being better parents, transitioning their career, and determining greater purpose and meaning in life. We tried to coach everyone on anything.
But after a couple years we realized that we were spending more time chasing clients than we were actually coaching—which is time we weren’t getting paid for. It felt like we were on a hamster wheel of client chasing. (DON’T BE THAT GUY!)
We wasted a lot of money on advertising that didn’t work and spent a lot of time on strategies that got us nowhere. We built websites and had nice business cards and went to networking events and held teleseminars (yes, this was back before webinars were even an option).
Plus, it didn’t feel like we had enough time in a day. We were already maxed out and burnt out and we couldn’t see how we could even fit in more clients if we got them. We felt stuck, but we loved the results we were getting with our clients. It’s not that we weren’t good coaches, it’s that our business strategy wasn’t working.
The end result is that we learned the 3 MISTAKES that we were making—and we observed that all of the coaches we knew were making the same mistakes. This program is the result of EVERYTHING we’ve learned in OVER A DECADE in the life coaching field. We’re giving you the whole she-bang, the whole enchilada. This program is designed to help you avoid these mistakes so you can get clients—but not only clients, your IDEAL clients… AND you won’t have to get stuck in that hamster wheel of client chasing… in fact, your clients will come to YOU! Ok, so here it is:
The #1 mistake most life coaches make is that they try to coach everyone.
They’re marketing “life coaching”, and it doesn’t work—it’s too general.
When we point this out to people, the response we get is often “but wait, EVERYONE can benefit from what I have to offer!”
But, in reality, even if what you offer COULD help anyone, the truth is that not everyone cares. Many people don’t even know what a life coach is. Plus, at a practical level, if you try to market to everyone you’ll reach no one. It’s like throwing a fishing net into the ocean and hoping you catch something.
So, what’s the solution? The first secret to attracting your ideal clients:
H-Heart-selling
Instead of being a general coach, focus on a niche that you care deeply about—your heart.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the word “niche” before, but what why is it so important?
Think about it like this… general coaching life coaching is kind of like someone who works as a general surgeon. They can help a broad range of people and they can save lives. But what happens when someone has a specific problem, like a problem with their heart? Well, they go to a cardiologist or heart surgeon!
This type of doctor is highly specialized, highly targeted, and they can make up to 2-4 times as much as a general surgeon. And because this person is so targeted, people come to them.
That’s the value of a niche skill set.
In the same way, niche coaching is focusing your coaching on a very specific type of goal. Your niche would be based on a specialized type of knowledge or experience that YOU are uniquely able to address with clients.
The good news is that regardless of the field that you are in, your passion, or your life experience, there are people who have the same passion or purpose or who NEEDS the transformation you can offer.
And, this is why we created the Find Your Profitable Purpose-Driven Niche Course! You’ll discover how to identify your coaching heart-centered life coaching focus, which will allow you to use your unique gifts and experience to make a difference in the world.
R—Results
Oh, so now you know you need a life coaching niche, but the question is, do you know how to answer the question “what do you do?” If you say, “I’m a life coach” you’re doing it all wrong.
The #2 biggest mistake most life coaches make: trying to sell “coaching”!
The problem is that nobody wants to buy “coaching”. They want to buy RESULTS!
- You see, people don’t buy coaching.
- They don’t buy programs or courses.
- They don’t want information or to be told what to do.
- They never pay for things they SHOULD do.
- They only pay for things they WANT or NEED.
People. Pay. For. Results.
Results-based coaching allows you to stop wasting your time trying to convince people to want life coaching! Successful life coaches do NOT try to explain what life coaching is or convince people to want coaching. It’s exhausting and it doesn’t work.
You see, most coaches just don’t know how to explain what they do. And a lot of times they end up spending those first vital seconds explaining what a life coach is rather than letting the potential client know exactly how they can help the person transform their lives. If you can relate to this, you’re probably making this one critical mistake…
You’re focusing on you and what YOU do. “Hello, my name is Sally and I’m a life coach. I offer 3 month coaching packages and (dot, dot, dot)”
Me, me, me. The problem is they don’t care about you or even what you do. They care about themselves and their problems and whether or not you can help them solve them. Plus, you’re potential clients aren’t interested in boring titles and processes either. They don’t care HOW you help them or what it’s called, they only care that you can get them results.
And this is why it’s so important to get your COPYWRITING right! You need to master your magnet marketing message (aka elevator pitch) so you never feel awkward or stuck when someone asks you “what do you do?”
Because we know how important this is, we’d like to offer you this FREE guide to writing an ELEVATOR PITCH (INCULDE SIGN UP FORM AND GIVE THEM ACCESS TO PDF)
We created our Write Epic Marketing and Sales Copy course to help you master your message, whether it’s your spiel at a networking meeting or your website copy.
T—Targeting
Marketing is all about communicating the right message to the right audience… which brings us to the next mistake most life coaches make:
The #3 biggest mistake most life coaches make is that they don’t make highly targeted coaching packages.
The first step to creating a highly targeted coaching package is to target the right audience… aka your TRIBE of ideal clients—they’re the people who already want what you have to offer… your coaching meets their needs.
And the key is to express your magnet message in your TRIBE’s language. Ask yourself how THEY would describe the problem that they have—the one that you can solve with your coaching. Once you know the words THEY would use, use those words in your magnet message!
The second step to targeting your coaching is to create a signature life coaching package that is designed to get your target market the results they need.
You see, your marketing targets your TRIBE and your coaching package targets the RESULTS you’re getting for your tribe.
Like we mentioned before, many coaches offer general coaching sessions, either individually or in packages of several sessions. There is usually no specific outline, no clear outcomes, and no proven processes to get the client results.
The problem with this is that leaving coaching open-ended can lead to a lot of unfocused session time and lead to poor results for your clients.
Offering a coaching package with clearly identifiable outcomes and a focused structure takes the guesswork out of coaching. Both you and your client know what direction you are going and what to do next.
Plus, having a package makes it easier to enroll clients in your coaching. Instead of selling the idea of coaching through undefinable coaching sessions, you are now selling specific results and a structured process for achieving them.
It’s easier to sell and easier to execute. It’s a win-win!
First, you need to get super clear about who is in your tribe of ideal clients (which we cover in the Purpose-Driven Niche course mentioned above).
Second, you need to create a signature coaching package that is designed to get your clients results every time!
That’s why we created our Create Your Signature Coaching Package course! You’ll take the guesswork out of coaching AND learn how to develop a series of programs to help clients continue to evolve (and stick around longer) through our unique Client Ascension Process!
Secrets to Marketing!
Ok, so now you’ve got a niche you love, a magnet message, a target market, and a signature coaching package that gets results… so now what do you need?
CLIENTS, of course!
Now, you have to get in front of or in contact with these people. We know what you might be thinking… “Yuck! I hate marketing—I suck at it, it’s overwhelming, and it’s expensive!”
But we have good news… marketing doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. In fact, in our decade of experience and after working with thousands of coaches, we can tell you that the MOST EFFECTIVE marketing strategies for life coaches are both simple and FREE!
The secrets to marketing your life coaching business that most coaches overlook are joint ventures and free sessions.
1) First, as a coach, the most effective method of gaining access to your target market is through collaboration that allows you to use other people’s audiences, a.k.a. joint ventures.
It’s so simple—you do market research to learn more about your tribe. You identify where they already do business. You collaborate with these businesses to offer you coaching to their customers, who are already interested in what you can offer them. It’s a shortcut to getting immediate, direct access to a large number of your ideal potential clients.
One thing we’ve learned over the years is that there is a right way and a wrong way to offer an introductory session.
In our Conduct Free Coaching Sessions that Convert into Paying Clients course you’ll learn the right way to offer free or introductory life coaching sessions that provide tremendous value for your clients while gently guiding them to want to enroll in your irresistible offer (your coaching program), all without feeling or sounding “salesy”.
2) Then, what do you do with this person you attract through a joint venture? This is where the 2nd marketing strategy for coaches comes in: free sessions!
That’s right, the best way to convert an interested potential client into a paid client is to give them an opportunity to get to know you and see what coaching can do for them by offering them a free or highly discounted introductory session. This free session is also important for you because it gives you an opportunity to see if this person is a good client for you.
In our Joint Venture Partnerships course, you’ll learn how to create powerful joint ventures that take your life coaching business to the next level by capitalizing on other people’s audiences and email lists!
Regardless of HOW you market yourself, we strongly urge you to PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE.
We believe strongly that if you can make a difference in people’s lives it is your MORAL OBLIGATION to let them know!
We don’t want you to be another talented life coach that plays small—we want to see you THRIVE and make the difference in the world that you, uniquely, can make! And, so, whether you invest in yourself by taking our courses or seeking your continuing education elsewhere, PLEASE take the next step.
Cheers to your greatness and our collective mission to make the world a better place, one coaching client at a time!
Your Coaches,
Joeel & Natalie Rivera
If you’re interested in exploring all of the courses mentioned above, you can save 20% by enrolling in the Client Attraction Mastery program!
