Have you ever felt like you’re all over the place with your coaching business?
Today, you’re speaking at a brown bag association meeting about team leadership. Yesterday you gave a talk at your church about relationships. Next week you’ve got a gig at Borders where you’re giving a career choice seminar. You’re versatile, but are you building a sustainable future?
It feels good to be recognized, so you say ‘yes’ to speaking and training opportunities even if there’s no continuity to the topic or niche market. But what are you recognized for? And is it something you can leverage to become financially successful in your coaching business?
Or maybe you’ve committed to one topical coaching niche (like leadership, career, relationships) but you’re offering that topic to everyone, with no unique market or message. The same question applies. What are you known for? Is it something you can leverage for financial success?
If you’re morphing your message to fit any opportunity or potential client you could possibly attract, you’re just making more work for yourself. Leverage comes when the market you’re serving and your message are congruent and consistent. Then you can leverage everything you do, because it’s all aimed at the same target.
If you’re tired of working really hard for every client and never building momentum, the fix is simple. Here’s how to coach more, earn more and market less:
1. Pick a distinctive tribe to serve.
Make sure the tribe you choose is easy to find and full of seekers – people who invest in their own personal and professional growth. Your niche market will go the distance for you if you know exactly how to get in front of them. Ideally, it’s a group you have some knowledge about. But that’s not critical because you can learn what makes your market tick.
2. Become their champion.
Make it your business every day to find out what they really care about. Research them personally in 1:1 conversations. Get into their heads, step into their shoes, read their publications… understand them.
– Where is their pain?
– What are the most urgent known problems they have?
– What are the top goals that have been elusive to them?
Find out what they need first, before you craft your message and your coaching programs. Resist the temptation to generalize their problems to what anyone may be challenged by. When it comes to connecting with people where they live, speaking to the specific pain they experience and outcomes they want wins every time over broad and general.
3. Stop selling coaching.
Coaching is your toolbox, it’s not what people seek. When you learn to think like your niche market does, you’ll know what to sell. And you’ll be surprised at first, because what you sell has more to do with them than with you.
Show them that you’re all about helping them move past their pain and achieve the results they most want – and will pay for! When they see that, they’ll hire you. You help them bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. See how that’s about them, not about you?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be an expert in your tribe’s occupation. Remember… coaching is co-creative. It’s about reflecting back the client’s wisdom, not about telling them what to do. People WILL bring agendas you like to coach about, no matter who they are. In time, you’ll become an expert in how to serve your tribe.
4. Focus on one powerful direction for your LONG TERM success.
Show that you understand them by customizing your brand and message. Use language that speaks to what distinguishes them as a tribe, in:
– your moniker, benefit statement or tagline, and promotional copy.
– the name and design of your coaching programs.
– your blog posts, tweets, newsletters, everything you publish for your market.
By focusing your message, you’ll attract your tribe’s attention. Your interest in them is an attraction factor in itself. This is how you become recognized for something distinctive, and build a profile in your market.
If you take these four steps, everything you do to promote your coaching business will gain coherence and power. There’s nothing more effective than leveraging your time and energy in everything you do.
- You won’t have to start over with every marketing campaign. Instead, you’ll create something and use it over and over, tweaking it to make it better.
- Instead of feeling uncertain, you’ll be clear about your value, knowing that there’s a specific group of people who want exactly what you offer.
- Instead of limping along with a spotty income, you’ll break through to a steady flow of paying clients.
Want help with this?
There’s nothing that can make a bigger difference to your coaching business than focusing your message, and I want you to get whatever support you need around it.
Did you know that, after 8 years of study, I’ve created a step-by-step system to identify Your Highly Profitable Niche? Get started now and see how it opens up the flow of clients and income for you.
