The Addictions Academy: Professional Coaching: 12 Key Steps in Business Marketing and Branding.
www.theaddictionsacademy.com 1.800.706.0318
Those who are called to the field of Professional Coaching are usually tremendous at what they do, that’s helping the client to reach solution. What coaches seem to always struggle with is branding and marketing. You can’t get clients if they don’t know that you or your company exists! Do you have a Logo, business cards, brochures, an email with company name in it, website, a company name that will be remembered, and a domain name that is fantastic? Are you establishing yourself as an expert in the industry? Do you know how to close a deal? Have you indentified your niche and your client base? If you haven’t done these things, don’t panic, we can help! This article is for you.
Step One: Get the best Professional Coaching Training that you can get that feeds your Niche. Make sure that the core competencies, basic skills, and tools are all covered. Who are your trainers? What is their experience? Who trained them? How long have they been in the industry? Read their testimonials, and talk to some of their former students. Who is their coach or mentor? What Associations do they belong to? This is the training that you are going to build your career on, do your homework.
Step Two: Learn everything that you can about your Niche. Read articles, blogs, check out websites of others in the industry, take all the classes and training that you can. You want and need to become an expert in your niche!
Step Three: “Stick with the Winners!” Surround yourself with the best and learn from them! Strong people get strong by going to the gyms where the masters train! You need to learn from the best in the industry! If you train with weak people you too will be weak!
Step Four: Once you are trained in the basics of coaching, it’s time to narrow down to your specialty and who you are going to market to. Identify your Niche and your customer. What do you love to do? Who do you love to teach? Do you work best with women; do you work best with teens? Is the Christian Market for you, maybe business men will be your specialty, maybe Doctors or nurses? Do you want to work with business people, recovering addicts, people having relationship problems, fitness, anger management, or many other choices? Your ideal clients are out there waiting! Choose a niche that you love and are interested in.
Step Five: Once you’ve established your niche and who your clients are, then it’s time for you to find them. A great place to look for new clients is Linkedin. There are all kinds of groups and individuals listed on Linkedin. You might even think about starting a new group. Facebook also has groups but Linkedin is a more powerful resource. You want to use all of social media to establish yourself as an expert in the industry in your niche. Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You tube, Tumblr, Blogger.com and all of the most popular social media sites. You can create a Linkedin profile that will start to create your public image. You can write articles on your specialty, make videos, do blog talk radio interviews and really establish yourself as the go to expert in your niche. You will also want to join associations related to your field. Your articles should educate and teach others, become a leader.
Step Six: Think about a domain name that will carry the most impact with your clients. Write down your top one hundred domain names and then narrow it down to your top ten. When you narrow it down to ten then narrow it down to your best three. Now pick the best domain name and see if you can get it. If you’re not real strong with computer technology, you will need someone to build your website. This is very important! Your website will speak for you, build your client list, and make or break your business. Your site needs to be spectacular! You will need to incorporate to start your coaching business. Your can do this online, or use your accountant, or attorney. Your domain name and business name should be related and stand out. For example, a fitness coach may use the company name Champion Coaching, LLC, and their domain and website might be www.championcoachingllc.com
Step Seven: You want to grow your data base this way, generating new leads on a regular basis. Now that you have formed a corporation, you will be issued an EIN number, employer identification number. You have a domain and a website. You will need to buy liability insurance for your business one million- three million coverage; this should be under two-hundred dollars per year. You have your Linkedin profile built and posted. You will want to invite people to visit your website by giving them something of value: information, an e-book, tips to accomplish something, etc. They visit your site and to get the giveaway you ask them to give you their email. You want to grow the relationship! Once they are on your email list you can send them something helpful and free. Write articles to your blog and share them with your list. Share wisdom and knowledge with them.
Step Eight: Time to make your first offer for a call to get clients on the phone with you. You could schedule a webinar, a group or individual call. Make a great offer to get things going. You might even want to do a free webinar so that clients can hear what you’re all about and then sell sessions or a live event at the end. You can also get more information from anyone who attends and wait to contact them after the webinar. Maybe offer a network group or live call.
Step Nine: You should always be looking to sign new clients. Once you sign your first client things should become easier. Ask anyone you sign if they know anyone who may be interested in your services. You have to get your name out to the clients that you serve.
Step Ten: You need to let the clients know what is special about you as a coach within your niche. Why should the client choose you? Why are you the best? Today, video is hot! You want to make videos of you teaching, talking, selling, etc. Be aware of what is showing in the camera! Same thing with webinars. When you post a headshot on your profile, make sure that you’re dressed up and have a nice smile on your face. The smile and proper attire are very important. Always be honest and ethical in the things that you say and do.
Step Eleven: Always ask for feedback from clients, students, and other professionals. Ask for testimonials. If you can get them in video form, that’s best. Post them on your website. Do you have any former clients or students that were so pleased that they would allow a potential new client to call for a reference? Will they give you a written reference? Always get feedback and use it to your advantage.
Step Twelve: Every coach should have a coach! You should continue to train to stay current on the latest laws and techniques, ethics, competencies, etc. To be an expert you have to stay current. If you follow these twelve suggestions it should help you to be successful within your niche as a professional coach. It sure won’t hurt!
Every move a Professional Coach makes is important to the bottom line of the company. From the first impression the coach makes with the client or engagement, through the signed contract, the coach uses a variety of skills, tools, and techniques that are tried, tested, and proven to work in the industry. An excellent coach must be prepared before they can execute. Practice makes perfect! Utilize role play to go over all of your scripts to close deals. If you don’t have a person to practice with, use a mirror. Be confident, remember to smile, give a firm handshake and look the client in the eye. Be aware of your body language, tones, and inflections. Utilize statistics to show the client that you’re an expert in the field. Make sure that you’re organized, professional, and respectful. You control the conversation.
You must gain an understanding of the internet’s social media and what an important role it will play in marketing your coaching business. The importance of blogging, writing articles and establishing yourself as an expert in your niche will be key. Driving traffic to your website and building a referral list data base is essential to your success. We have only touched on the basics of Professional Coaching Marketing. The good news for you and your business is that The Addictions Academy of Miami, Florida now offers Professional Coaches key training in Business Marketing and Branding. You will get in depth information on everything that we talked about in this article and much, much more. Go to www.theaddictionsacademy.com for more information or call 1-(786)-709-0479 for questions and to register for upcoming classes. If you are a Professional Coach, this is crucial information for your business from seasoned experts in the industry. Ask yourself, can you really afford to miss out on this training?
©2015
Cali Estes
