Building a coaching or consulting practice can be rewarding and lucrative. Unfortunately, many who start out on this path simply can’t do it. Almost daily I talk to people who give up their dream of “solo entrepreneurship” and resentfully join the ranks of job seekers.
What worries me most is that many of them are talented and trained professionals; true experts in their field. With just a little bit of marketing savvy, they may have been able to make a healthy six-figure income doing the work they love.
Instead, they spend tons of money to get more certifications. They are becoming “technical masters” mistakenly thinking that this alone will get them customers. But that’s not how it works at all!
Take the coaching profession as an example. You see, prospective clients don’t even know the difference between ICF, CTI, Hudson, Adler, CoachVille, or any other certification. They have no idea what CPC, MCC or other letters you might be putting behind your last name stand for, nor do they care! What matters to them is the results: what benefits they will receive.
There’s a lot of talk in the coaching community right now about certifications, and while I agree it’s important, it doesn’t matter in the least if you don’t have clients! Plus, you can be the most educated, certified, qualified and professional trainer out there and still have a hard time staying busy.
You might think that’s common sense, right? WRONG! I see trainers spend thousands of dollars in the blink of an eye to get another certification and agonize for months over a hundred dollar investment in a marketing course!
The good news is that, unlike getting certified, learning a few simple marketing strategies doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars. And it can make all the difference in the world. In fact, here are my four “handy marketing secrets” for absolutely free.
Marketing Secret #1 – Know Your “Ideal” Customer
It is essential that you know who they are, what their biggest problems are, how they make decisions, what they like to spend money on, where they meet, etc. The more “narrow” you describe your ideal customers and the more you know about them, the easier it will be to get your marketing message across.
Marketing Secret #2: Become an Expert
And I don’t mean just being good at what you do. Heck, you should do that anyway! I mean position yourself as an expert in a specific area.
For example, you can work with C-level executives in the insurance industry, or teach sales skills to real estate agents, or do consulting in manufacturing, or help young working mothers achieve balance in life, or become a guru. of dating. Whatever gets you going, just focus on one thing!
Marketing Secret #3: Use Multi-Step Marketing
This is where I see so many pros completely messing it up. If a potential client does not sign up for your services, what do you do? Forget about them? I hope not! You work hard to get new leads and meet potential prospects, so why give them up? Many people are simply uncomfortable doing business with someone they don’t know very well.
You must have a systematic way of keeping up with them, for years, if that’s what it takes. Let them get to know you, your company and your services. You never know when their situation might change and they might be ready to sign up.
Marketing Secret #4: Get Help
Just as your clients need your help, don’t be afraid to get help in the area of business and marketing. One of the dumbest things I hear from professionals is “I should be able to do this myself.” Have you ever seen a neurosurgeon operate on his own brain tumor? After all, he should be able to do it himself, right?
About 4 years ago I was struggling with closing sales and was really frustrated to see my potential clients hire other experts even though I was much more qualified to help them. I got help from a successful sales coach. His advice not only produced quick results in paying his fee, but also allowed me to make trips to my bank much more frequently.
There you have it: those are my top four secret marketing tips. OK, maybe they’re not so secret after all. In that case, I’m sure you’re already happily working with as many clients as you can possibly handle 😉
(c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski
