Cathy Liska When choosing to offer services as a coach, one of the first concerns for many new coaches is finding clients. Ideally, before reaching this phase, the coach has built their foundation with training, developing core competencies, and subscribing to a Code of Ethics. As with any new business, legal processes and decisions about insurance, collecting money, and business operations are carefully considered, decided, and implemented.
A new coach considers niche areas for their coaching work, identifies their ideal client, and develops their goals for number of clients desired.
Finding clients for a coaching business includes multiple sources and opportunities:
* Volunteering to develop experience and earn recommendations
* Offering a discounted rate for the opportunity to build expertise and earn referrals
* Networking and making the availability of services known
* Marketing online and at events
* Offering presentations and training programs
* Reaching out to colleagues and business connections
Often the bottom line is as simple as talking about the work so people know coaching services are available.
A Marketing Plan for a Coach generally includes the following components:
1. Market Research Summary
2. Industry Economics
3. Barriers and Plan to Overcome
4. Target Market
5. Competition
6. Unique Selling Proposition
7. Pricing
8. Forecast
9. Strategies
10. Timeline and Schedule
When a new coach invests the time and effort to develop a plan and specific action steps, their success in building a client base is enhanced. For many, the biggest challenge to building a coaching business is marketing: choosing strategies, knowing the steps to implement chosen strategies, and consistent effort. This is made easy with coach marketing software.
With each new client, the coach focuses on client priorities and desired outcomes.
