How to Create an Endless Stream of Clients for Your Coaching Business Feeding the internet's insatiable appetite for content is how you get known to the people who will want your services.
By Kimanzi Constable Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The internet has created the opportunity to start a business teaching a topic you know, are passionate about and have researched in-depth. You can take that knowledge and teach it to others through a coaching business or coaching as a part of a lifestyle business. The connectedness of the Internet means you can have clients all over the world and teach them through Skype, Zoom, Go to Meeting and other conference software and platforms.
You can use payment systems to charge before sessions or that are recurring. You can use software to create worksheets, handouts, homework and even use software to track a client's progress. You can have a real business that adds instant value to people's lives through what you teach and with the tools you use.
The internet has three billion daily users, which is an immense opportunity to find coaching clients. But, despite the opportunity, tools and access, most coaches are barely making it. You can log onto Facebook and see a friend of yours who does coaching pleading with people to sign up for their program for a low amount.
The coaching business is feast or famine. Sometimes you're flush with business and other times you're starving. This happens when you don't have a plan for lead generation in your business, and it's not just in the coaching business. You need a way to constantly bring in new clients. If you don't have lead generation, your income will be sporadic at best. Here are four ways to set up an endless stream of clients for your coaching business and one lesson as you build.
1. Get interviewed on podcasts.
If you have a coaching business, I'm guessing there's a story behind why you started it. That story along with some helpful and actionable advice can get you interviewed on podcasts. Being interviewed on podcasts exposes you to a whole new audience that doesn't know you and can get excited about what you do and teach. Some of that new audience will hire you as a coach. You can even use strategies such as offering a special bonus if the listeners go to a special page on your website.
You can find podcasts to interview you using free services such as Radio Guest List, Podcasts Guests and H.A.R.O. Respond to what you will see delivered to your inbox using these free services and get interviewed on your first few podcasts.
Related: 24 Exceptional Women-Hosted Podcasts for Entrepreneurs in 2017
2. Use paid and organic social media.
We live in a social media age. Billions of users log onto social media for life and business. You can post about who you are and what you do on your social media pages. The danger is that when you post too much business stuff, people feel like your page is an infomercial. You have to add value first. What I mean by that is to post helpful tips, tricks and hacks related to your topic.
Give people good and free practical advice and they'll be more receptive to your sales offers. You can also use paid advertising on social media. Facebook ads tend to be highly effective with the right targeting. You can create ads that take people to a free download on your website. Inside that free download, you offer very practical and actionable advice. At the end, you mention that you have more premium advice in your coaching program. Figure out what social media channels your target audience frequents and deliver content and sales offers there.
Related: 3 Never-Fail Tactics for Superior Social-Media Engagement
3. Get featured on authority publications.
You, as a coach/entrepreneur, can get your content featured on the largest publications in the world. Many publications, such as Entrepreneur, have contributors (people who are not on staff), submit content to be featured on the website. These large publications have literally millions of readers who could see your content and decide to hire you.
To get featured, understand the publications and editors. I gave some helpful tips here. I also wrote about some mistakes to avoid here. Research the publication you want to write for, get a feel for their content and create an article that matches that style, send the pitch into the right editor, and be patient. Once you get accepted into some publications, start sharing your knowledge and when people are helped, some will hire you.
If you have never written for any publication, here is how you can get published on your first one this week. The publication is Arianna Huffington's new platform, Thrive Global. Here are the exact steps:
- Write a personal development based "listicle" article. Personal development may not be your core message but that doesn't matter. Once you get accepted as a contributor, you will get a contributor account. You can then write about your core message. A listicle is an article that lists numbers: "7 ways to change your mindset…." and so on. This article shouldn't be more than 1,000 words.
- Put together the pitch email. The first paragraph should talk about what you like about Thrive Global (do your research). The second paragraph should be a short description of who you are and what you do. Then, put the article you wrote IN the body of the email (no attachments). Make sure the formatting is good: same size and style of font. Bold where necessary but not too much.
- Pitch it. Send the pitch email directly to Arianna Huffington. Her email address is ah@thriveglobal.com. She normally responds fairly quickly.
Related: 5 Moves to Get Your Startup Featured in Major Media Publications
4. Go after local business.
One area that is often overlooked is local businesses. You can go into an owner owned business where you live and get work by pitching the owner on the benefits of what you coach on. You can coach the owner, their employees, and/or both. Your normal thought is that they won't hire you or need you. They do and will if you show them why and the value it will bring to their business. Use the Internet to add research to your pitch.
These are a few ways to set up lead generation in your coaching business. What I would add is that you should have multiple streams of income. Too many coaches depend solely on income from coaching, that's scary. Even with lead generation, coaching business can dry up quickly. Create multiple streams of income to have money coming in even when coaching dries up. You can write and sell books, create a course, teach an online class, speak, consult, and sell digital information products. These are a few options.
Use these lead generations strategies and create multiple streams of income to grow a profitable coaching business.
