{"id":28902,"date":"2024-11-06T03:50:25","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T08:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/blog\/attracting-online-coaching-clients-with-dazzling-content\/"},"modified":"2024-11-06T03:50:25","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T08:50:25","slug":"attracting-online-coaching-clients-with-dazzling-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/blog\/attracting-online-coaching-clients-with-dazzling-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Attract More Clients Online: Serve First, Sell Second"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing your coaching practice in today\u2019s noisy digital world can be as simple as giving away free, valuable content.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many coaches insist that because word-of-mouth referrals are their main source of new clients, they don\u2019t need to invest in additional marketing strategies. The problem<\/span>\u00a0with this thinking<\/span>\u00a0is that there is simply\u00a0<\/span>too much<\/span>\u00a0competition<\/span>, making<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>it\u00a0<\/span>harder for\u00a0<\/span>consumers of\u00a0<\/span>coaching<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0find<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 let<\/span>\u00a0alone evaluate<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 all<\/span>\u00a0the different coaching services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One way that you can stand out is\u00a0<\/span>by<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>focus<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/span>one<\/span>\u00a0aspect of digital marketing<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0called content marketing. In a nutshell, it means\u00a0<\/span>consistently\u00a0<\/span>giving away\u00a0<\/span>valuable and relevant<\/span>\u00a0information that\u00a0<\/span>addresses<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>your clients\u2019\u00a0<\/span>challenges<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to content marketing author Joe\u00a0<\/span>Pulizzi<\/span>, \u201c<\/span>C<\/span>ontent<\/span>\u00a0marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>It is a way to attract more of your ideal clients and grow your business.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>c<\/span>ontent<\/span>\u00a0you market could<\/span>\u00a0include<\/span>\u00a0your web pages, blog posts, LinkedIn articles, webinars, presentations<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>podcasts<\/span>\u00a0and more<\/span>. If your goal is to grow your email list so you can have more personal communication, you can also offer a free PDF or checklist in exchange for an email address.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some clients are simply not ready to engage\u00a0<\/span>with\u00a0<\/span>a coach immediately. \u00a0<\/span>But with<\/span>\u00a0content marketing<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0you can start to build a relationship so\u00a0<\/span>that when\u00a0<\/span>the time comes<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>they<\/span>\u2019ve already established a baseline trust with you.<\/span>\u00a0This means when they are ready to buy, you are more likely to be top of mind. By \u201cserving first\u201d and \u201cselling second<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0you are\u00a0<\/span>positioning yourself as an expert and authority in\u00a0<\/span>your area of expertise<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Adapted from<\/span>\u00a0Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>\u201cContent Rules\u201d on creating \u201c<\/span>K<\/span>iller\u00a0<\/span>B<\/span>logs,\u00a0<\/span>P<\/span>odcasts,\u00a0<\/span>V<\/span>ideos,\u00a0<\/span>E<\/span>books<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>W<\/span>ebinars (and\u00a0<\/span>M<\/span>ore)\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>hat\u00a0<\/span>E<\/span>ngage\u00a0<\/span>C<\/span>ustomers and Ignite Your Business,” <\/span>t<\/span>here are\u00a0<\/span>three<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>key\u00a0<\/span>steps<\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>effective\u00a0<\/span>content marketing<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Figure out what <\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>keep<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0your clients awake at night<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

You\u00a0<\/span>have to<\/span>\u00a0earn the attention of\u00a0<\/span>your<\/span>\u00a0audience and that means finding out what their pain points are and how you can add value to their lives. How can you make their lives better, help them get that promotion or manage their teams more effectively?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Content is<\/span>\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0high value to your clients\u00a0<\/span>when<\/span>\u00a0it resonates with them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>You can create enormous amounts of material, but if it\u00a0<\/span>is not relevant to<\/span>\u00a0your target audience, it is\u00a0<\/span>time wasted<\/span>. This means that before you do anything, you\u00a0<\/span>have to<\/span>\u00a0be\u00a0<\/span>absolutely clear<\/span>\u00a0about who your ideal client\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>issues<\/span>\u00a0with which<\/span>\u00a0they\u00a0<\/span>struggle<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As harsh as it\u00a0<\/span>may\u00a0<\/span>sound, people don\u2019t care about you and how brilliant you are as a coach<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>hey care about their own wants and needs. When you<\/span>\u00a0are generous and<\/span>\u00a0give away information that helps them solve their problems, they will naturally start to pay attention to you.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Practice Development Coach Karen Cappello, MCC<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>who\u00a0<\/span>is based in Arizona<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>says that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>i<\/span>f you are still\u00a0<\/span>unclear about<\/span>\u00a0your clients\u2019 pain points, some brief market research conversations can be a powerful way to\u00a0<\/span>gain<\/span>\u00a0more insights.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very useful to take the time to have these conversations as sometimes the problem you think you are solving is not actually the key\u00a0<\/span>challenge<\/span>\u00a0your clients\u00a0<\/span>are\u00a0<\/span>facing\u00a0<\/span>at the moment<\/span>,\u201d Cappello says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>It can be as simple as a phone call or a brief coffee meeting to find out\u00a0<\/span>more about\u00a0<\/span>your clients<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0most pressing\u00a0<\/span>challenges<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Create effective content <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Armed with this information, you are now\u00a0<\/span>in a position<\/span>\u00a0to start developing a mini content strategy. You can create \u201ccontent pillars<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d or core problem areas that you want to write about. Make sure that they are also about areas that you can solve as part of your service offering. For example, if you are a health and well<\/span>–<\/span>being coach<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0you could write about healthy meal ideas, exercises to lose weight\u00a0<\/span>or<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>how to stick to your health goals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Content is a great way to\u00a0<\/span>demonstrate<\/span>\u00a0empathy to your clients<\/span>. You can show\u00a0<\/span>that you are human and\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>you understand\u00a0<\/span>their core\u00a0<\/span>issues.\u00a0<\/span>More\u00a0<\/span>i<\/span>mportantly, it helps draw a potential client closer to you as<\/span>\u00a0your content shows them<\/span>\u00a0what it\u00a0<\/span>would be<\/span>\u00a0like\u00a0<\/span>to work<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with you.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Dist<\/span>r<\/span>ibute<\/span>\u00a0the content<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

You need to publish the content wherever your\u00a0<\/span>clients<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>are<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>For example,\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>re they mostly HR executives who spend considerable time on LinkedIn?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>If so,\u00a0<\/span>y<\/span>ou can t<\/span>hen\u00a0<\/span>try\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0reach them by posting an article or infographic<\/span>\u00a0there<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Monitor how many comments\u00a0<\/span>your content gets<\/span>\u00a0to measure if you are on the right track.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The key\u00a0<\/span>take<\/span>away\u00a0<\/span>about<\/span>\u00a0content marketing is simple<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>hen you are generous\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>sharing<\/span>\u00a0your insights and knowledge, you show potential clients you care about them and\u00a0<\/span>the challenges they<\/span>\u2019re working through<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Y<\/span>ou demonstrate that you\u00a0<\/span>are\u00a0<\/span>in a position<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>help guide their journey to re<\/span>solve them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing your coaching practice in today\u2019s noisy digital world can be as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"How to Attract Online Coaching Clients with Content Development","_seopress_titles_desc":"People seek coaching because they have a need for change. Learn how to attract new online clients by serving that need.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"audience-type":[115,118,121,124,120,117,113,114],"display-option":[],"post-type":[128],"topic":[85,60],"_person-tax":[1941],"class_list":{"0":"post-28902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"audience-type-coach-educators","8":"audience-type-experienced-coaches","9":"audience-type-external-coaches","10":"audience-type-icf-chapter-leaders","11":"audience-type-internal-coaches","12":"audience-type-new-coaches","13":"audience-type-professional-coaches","14":"audience-type-team-and-group-coaches","15":"post-type-blog","16":"topic-coaching-toolbox","17":"topic-discover-your-coaching-career","18":"_person-tax-1941","19":"not-partnership-post","31":"_person-tax-27849","32":"has-featured-image"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"audience-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience-type?post=28902"},{"taxonomy":"display-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display-option?post=28902"},{"taxonomy":"post-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-type?post=28902"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=28902"},{"taxonomy":"_person-tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coachingfederation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_person-tax?post=28902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}