I was afraid to market …
I would put out a blog, speak publicly or network only when I felt confident. Then I would coast waiting for clients to come to me.
Take it from me, that approach won’t earn you enough to stay in business.
If you only show up when you feel inspired, no one will take you seriously. Your future clients need to sense your consistent presence in the marketplace or they will follow and hire someone else.
So, what is the best time to market? ALL THE TIME.
I’m not suggesting you sell offers in every post, episode, article or video.
Engage your audience with relevant, unique content no less than once per week and, at strategic times, invite people to hire you.
Yes, there are 4 most effective time for more direct promotion. Let’s talk about that and also how to tell what are the most effective times for promoting to YOUR audience and coaching niche.
Hey Coaches!
Monitor Analytics About Your Coaching Business
If you’ve targeted a narrow audience and created a stand out niche — what I recommend all coaches do — then there will be best and worst times that are specific for promoting your offers. If you need help with that let’s have a Nail Your Niche strategy session and get that done.
The only way to know which times are most is to set up and track analytics.
For my business, I track 8 sets of numbers weekly, monthly or quarterly to check my business growth:
- Weekly: The # of reactions, comments and impressions my posts get on socials.
- Weekly: The # of people on specific pages of my website and how long they engage there
- Weekly: The # of people who open and click through on the links in my emails teasing new podcast episodes
- Weekly: The # of people listening to my podcast and then the # of people listening to each episode.
- Monthly: The # of people subscribing to get my lead magnets and how many open each of the follow up emails
- Quarterly: The % of episodes listened to on average.
- Quarterly: The # of people who fill out my application to work with me and sign up for a Discovery Call
- Quarterly: The # of those people who invest in working with me.
These are all part of my customer journey to engage and nurture followers who could become clients. To learn more about creating your customer journey listen to Episode 69 called To Attract More Coaching Clients Plan Their Journey to You.
Do you have a visibility strategy?
Are you tracking responses yet?
The first few months of analytics once you launch your coaching business are not all that useful to you because you don’t have previous months and years to compare — which is called a benchmark.
But I do thinks it’s worthwhile for coaches to start tracking stats on a spreadsheet at launch. That way you see your ongoing growth. It gets you into a rhythmic habit of taking a big picture, dispassionate look at your business.
The trick is … don’t ever let your stats rattle you.
Learn how to observe analytically and with curiosity rather than anxiety. Ask yourself:
What could I do to grow these numbers?
The answer to that is likely to be more high payoff actions — the things that make you squirm are the things that get the best results.
No, you don’t have to do anything that isn’t in your integrity. But you do need to get out of your comfort zone. To learn more about high payoff actions listen to Episode 223 called These Are the Actions That Reliably Attract Paying Coaching Clients.
And remember, growing a coaching business takes time.
Show Up More Strategically During These Times
There are certain times of the year that, for most coach’s audiences, will be the most effective for a bigger promotional effort.
Think about it … when are human beings most in the mood to improve their lives and therefore most likely to hire you?
- January after the holidays – This is the greatest energy for self-improvement and new initiatives.
- April and May – Spring raises all life-giving energies so people tend to invest in themselves then.
- September – Once the kids are settled in school adults want to start something new.
- November through early December – Before the year ends people want to honor their goals.
Summers tend to be slower months. So are the run ups to presidential or major elections.
Interestingly, world crises like the pandemic can be boom times for coaches as people need more support and may want to make a big change in their life.
Plan Your Coaching Business Ahead of the Wave
If you’re launching a new program, plan the opening for those 4 times.
Of course, that means you need to be working on the foundation of your business at least 5 months earlier.
When I sold group programs, products and online training I used to plan my promotional calendar 18 months ahead because I needed to secure promotional partners, write web copy and promotional material, plan when the content would go out to build excitement.
I don’t sell products, online training or group programs anymore because I found the campaigns exhausting.
It’s why I created the Simplest Coaching Business Model because I can make and keep more money offering my private services, which are more fun for me as well as being more effective for my clients. Learn about the Simplest Coaching Business Model in Episode 178 called How Can Coaches Work Less and Earn More Profits?
Start noticing what happens when you take action and what happens when you don’t.
Set up ways to track your stats.
Do things that AFFECT those stats. Watch how you improve and how your business grows.