How to get 10 new Coaching Clients in the next 90 days -
Are you a professional coach who wants to get more clients or sell more programs? Are you looking to understand how to promote your business as a coach?
Chances are you're looking for ways to increase your stream of clients on a lean budget for marketing. There are many ways you could market your services however, what is the best method for a coach? How do you achieve quick results, and not break the bank?
We spoke with Marc Mawhinney, Founder of Natural Born Coaches to ask him these questions. Marc has a specialization in helping coaches get more clients without using paid advertising. Through his social media group, The Coaching Jungle, as in a series of online mentorship and training courses, Marc guides coaches on how to grow their business through organic marketing strategies.
- Why you should make the investment in organic marketing
- Organic Marketing
- Paid-for marketing
- Organic marketing strategies that will help you grow your coaching business
- Marc Mawhinney's top three organic marketing techniques
- Podcasting
- Facebook groups
- Daily email system
- The connection of your marketing strategy with the sales funnel
- The most common pitfalls when the marketing of an online coaching company
Check out this video tutorial to find out how you can advertise your coaching company without using paid advertisements:
What are the reasons you should make the investment in organic marketing
Before we dive into the process, let's talk about the meaning of organic marketing, and the difference between organic and paid marketing strategies.
Organic marketing
Organic marketing is any activities designed to bring clients to your website in a natural way, over time, and without the need to pay for links or content that is targeted at them. Otherwise known as inbound marketing, these methods work by building up an established audience over time and cultivating authentic relationships with your audience.
But, the term "organic marketing" doesn't necessarily mean that it's free. Being successful requires patience effort, dedication and probably just a couple of dollars to ensure that you've got the tools to execute your strategy. Organic marketing is based on trust. Especially when running an online coaching company You want to establish continuous routes to your company to ensure that clients will discover your business based on the worth that you offer.
Paid-for marketing
However, the paid strategies rely on pushing content to new audiences with the purpose of driving a specific action, such as selling. Paid strategies can work well when employed in conjunction with organic strategies. If you've not spent time on your organic marketing efforts the paid advertisements are likely to fail.
What happens if an ad brings a stream of prospective customers to your website that hasn't updated in some time? Or if you've advertised an elite coaching program however, there's nobody else speaking about it on the web except your own?
In order to increase your visibility as a coach and increase the number of clients organic marketing could help increase awareness of your brand within your field and the peers.
Are you interested in learning more about how to grow your coaching business by offering online training courses? Explore the Coach to Course Expert Talks series for additional educational videos for free and training of the top coaches.
Marketing strategies that are organic to help grow your coaching company
Here are some examples of natural marketing techniques you are able to use to boost your brand as a coach:
- Guest blogging. If you share content useful to your target audience across other sites and blogs, you'll increase your profile as a helpful expert faster and let your message reach a new audience.
- social media. In deciding which social media platform to choose from Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram determine the areas where your target audience is active and spend your time there. Using relevant hashtags while linking to content that is relevant on your blog or website will help people find your site quicker.
- podcasting. Podcasting is a great way to elevate your position as an expert within your field. It is possible to start podcasting by either hosting your own show, or being a guest speaker on other shows. We'll dive a little more into the benefits of podcasts in the next part.
- Online Communities. Having a community to connect with your customers is an engine to drive your marketing initiatives. In addition to creating yourself into a useful facilitator, you can also find a way to engage the audience in real time.
- email marketing. As you grow your email lists Keep your customers updated and informed about how you can help them. To learn more about the ways Marc leverages email marketing to expand his business, watch the above video!
Naturally, there many other methods of organic marketing that you can implement, such as videos, SEO, as well as a solid content marketing plan. But the five above are a great starting point!
Marc Mawhinney's top 3 organic marketing techniques
For Marc Three key components to his strategy of organic marketing that have helped expand his company to the point that it is now Podcasting, a Facebook group, as well as a regular email system.
Keep reading for a few examples, or watch the video above for even greater details about the way Marc uses these methods.
Marketing strategy for coaches #1: Podcasting
Podcasting is an effective strategy to establish authority within your field or area, providing another channel for prospective customers to find your business.
If you're just beginning to learn about podcasting, there are two options to get started. You can be featured on other's podcasts, or begin your own. While the latter will take longer and require more time, having your own show serves as a helpful pillar in any organic marketing strategy.
Do you want to be on an audio podcast? Here are some actionable tips.
- Work your network. Once a week you can publish a message to Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn and tell the world that you'd like to appear as an invited guest. Include 2-3 topics that you'd like to discuss in order for others to comprehend what value you can bring to their audience.
- Make a deal for a podcast swap. If you have your own show on the podcast, this is a great alternative. If not, brainstorm an alternative way to provide something of mutual value to the podcast host.
- Start now! The sooner you communicate your intention more quickly you'll be able to start conversations. Be aware that locking in the date for recording an episode can take some time! There are millions of podcasts available. Chances are, someone is looking for a guest to talk with on the exact issue you're looking to talk about.
Coaching marketing strategy #2 Facebook groups
Having a Facebook group is the best way to get new coaching clients. Marc's group is named "The Coaching Jungle. The group is home to more than 22,000 people today, Marc started the group 2015 with no followers.
What was the process that helped Marc take it from a small start-up to the thriving online coaching community the way it has become in the present?
Here are Marc's top 6 strategies for growing an engaged Facebook community and the best way you can leverage your online network by focusing on the right things.
How to grow a Facebook group:
- Have fun with your group! This comes down to the banner you put up as well as the type of posts you make. Make it entertaining and educational to keep people around. Pro tip:don't waste your most popular pinned posts with something dull such as a general welcome message or group rules. Instead, include a strong message that calls people to take action in relation to what you sell. Work your welcome message and the rules of the call to action.
- Engage your viewers. Tag people as frequently as is possible in order to increase engagement among the group. And don't worry if 100 percent of your audience is not actively engaged. Marc shares, "remember, 20% of your users will often make up 80percent of your revenue."
- Keep posting consistently and actively. Posting only once or twice in a week doesn't suffice. As Marc states, "if you're not busy and active in your group Why would anybody other person want to join?" If you're actively involved and posting at least 3-4 times a day, you'll stand out among the sea of 500+ Facebook groups out there.
- Do not hesitate to present your offerings or be afraid to sell. Many group owners are wary of selling out of fear of appearing too salesy. A way to counter this is to use your group rules to set expectations up front on what your group offers in terms of programs. If someone is deciding to join your group and want to learn how you can help to assist them.
- Purchase your group's URL. Purchase a domain which sounds similar to your group to make it simple for members to promote. For example, www.thecoachingjungle.com redirects to Marc's Facebook group URL. This could be helpful when you're on a podcast and you want to guide people to your group without spelling out an awkward Facebook URL. Pro tip: Keep your group's name short and simple. The use of unnecessary punctuation can cause your group to be difficult to locate, especially if the users do not enter the exact search term.
- Provide value. Links to useful the resources you have or to live courses in which people will gain worth from your training. Don't forget to not offer the majority of your content at no cost! According to Marc shared, "I don't do any in-depth training in my group. Most people share everything, which isn't a good idea. Make sure you give an entertaining presentation such as a short lesson or even a short story, and your audience will be interested to learn more about your programs."
Need more ideas on how to create consistent, engaging content every day? Take a look at the video above and get Marc's tip 3 tips that help him show up every day in his community.
Coaching marketing strategy #3 The daily email system
The daily email. Do the thought of sending daily emails cause you to shiver at the thought of a mounting list of unsubscribes? Marc shared his process, method as well as the results of regularly sending emails to his list. This is what he had to add:
"Before I started sending emails every day, I was doing maybe one email a week, or maybe each two weeks. I sent boring emails just like everybody else. I didn't see much engagement from my email list. Then I began sending out regular emails."
-- Marc Mawhinney
Nowadays, Marc emails his list once a day, in the same order each day.
Utilizing this method will undoubtedly cause some people to leave. However, ask yourself: how the majority of these people might have purchased at all from you?
According to Marc puts it, "I would rather have an even smaller number of hyper-engaged active buyers, instead of a much larger number of people who I'm afraid to contact. I've developed stronger connections with those who have kept in touch."
To determine if this strategy is the best option for you, it's helpful to get an idea of the the frequency at which your most engaged audience want to receive emails from you. Maybe it's every day, or maybe it's weekly, twice. The only way to answer this question is by testing the strategy of email on the people who are in your audience.
What kind of content can be in an everyday email?
If you're ready to test this approach on your personal group, here are some suggestions to consider:
- Your daily emails should be limited between 200 and 300 words. The goal is to ignite connections that are meaningful every day, not publish earth-shattering content every time.
- Simple: Tell a story, give a lesson, or provide something entertaining in your emails.
- Ensure you include an CTA in every single email.
The connection of your marketing strategy to the sales funnel
By now you've probably got some new ideas for how to try out organic marketing strategies in your business. What can you do to make certain that your marketing efforts result in a successful sales funnel that will lead people to opt-in to the coaching program you offer?
Make use of to play the casino Strategy!
In other words, make as many interesting and entertaining interactions as you can throughout your business in order to make it difficult to let someone leave your company without benefitting.
Give a free coaching contact
The most common mistakes in marketing an online coaching business
If you're looking to develop new marketing strategies for your business, keep an eye out for these common pitfalls. Here are some helpful tips from Marc on what to avoid.
Paying for ads won't solve your client acquisition problem
"A lot of coaches have lost a lot of money by jumping into Facebook ads. You read an article and see others using it and then think it's time to create a couple of ads to see the enquiries be able to begin coming into. If you've decided that ads are a must in your acquisition strategy, hire a professional who's up on the latest information about ads. This will help you get the most out of the investment and leave you with the freedom to focus on what you do best."
- Marc Mawhinney
Paid ads can work however, using them solely without putting time and energy into other organic strategies isn't a wise choice. Incorporate paid advertising to your mix after you've determined that your current marketing efforts are resonating with your audience.
Stay clear of magic bullets
"A number of coaches are getting attracted by snake oil-based programs which promise 7 figures per month in working five minutes a day. There are people who charge thousands of dollars to buy'magic systems' that don't work. I've dealt with a lot of people that need help, yet have run down their budgets after investing in these get rich fast trainings. Don't be one of these people who fall victim to this," advises Marc.
Be present for your community each day with a combination of the strategies we've discussed. There is no need for 6-figure magic systems. Even though it could take time, you'll net out over time and build authentic equity among your followers.