If you’re wondering how to get clients as a life coach or how to get clients as a health coach, then this post is for you. I’m going to share some key strategies you can use to help you get more clients in your coaching business.
First things first, most strategies for getting clients come down to three simple steps: how are we attracting, connecting with, and then converting people who are the right fit for our offers?
I cover all of this, along with specific ideas for each of those steps in my free Aligned Client Attraction System which you can grab below:
We need to be doing specific things in each of those areas to get more clients if you’re a coach alongside getting our foundations right.
You can be doing all the things business guru’s suggest, like posting on social media or networking, but if your niche, messaging or offers aren’t right, then you’ll be falling at the last hurdle.
If you want to get more clients, it’s rarely one thing that needs to shift, often it’s a combination of different areas of your business that need to be fine tuned. Let’s take a look.
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Review your foundations
Before trying a bunch of random strategies, check in with your business foundations. Is your niche right? Do you know what problems you are solving for people or what aspirations you’re helping them achieve? When was the last time you did some market research? Is your messaging compelling? What about your 1:1 offer? Is it positioned correctly and priced well? Check in with these different parts of your business – especially if you’re trying any of the ideas below but still aren’t getting clients.
Answer people’s questions online
This tip is all about showing up in places online where your people might be hanging out. This could be in Facebook groups, Instagram comment sections, Reddit forums etc. Depending on the Facebook group it might be about posting on the promo threads or it might simply be about being present and commenting and helping others in the group. Always check the groups rules around promo as no one likes a spammy poster!
One thing to remember with this strategy is to ensure that your personal Facebook profile has information about your business so if someone clicks through to learn more about you they can find out about what you do, your website and your Facebook business page.
Send a friends and family email
A friends and family email can be a handy strategy to try especially when you’re starting out. You’re basically crafting an email that tells people what you do and invites them, or other people they may know, to a free or paid call.
This is partly about word of mouth and partially about just getting some people on a call and then either getting a testimonial from them or even pitching them your full package.
This one can sometimes bring up a lot of mindset and alignment stuff as it doesn’t always feel that comfortable, but if you’re just starting your business friends of a friend or a family member can be really good people to work with as first clients.
Follow up with past clients
If you’ve had any clients in the past, or if you’ve had anyone who’s expressed an interest, but who hasn’t perhaps gone through with working with you, just make sure that you’re doing some follow ups.
You can put this into your calendar to remind you so that a few months after working with someone, you get back in touch with them and just ask them how they’re getting on and if you can support them in some way.
You can also do this for people who have expressed an interest, but haven’t gone the full way and decided to work with you in your full coaching package.
With most of these people you’ve already got that connection with them and if they’re a past client you have helped them achieve a result so they can be really good people to check in with if you’re seeking clients.
Build a referral network
Creating some kind of referral network with other coaches or practitioners can be a great way to get clients. Depending on your niche, finding others whose work isn’t the same as yours but complements it, can work really well when it comes to referrals.
If a client comes to you and you aren’t the best person to help them you could refer them to someone else, just as someone else might refer someone on to you. You can have an informal referral agreement or something more formal where you pay the person who refers the client a fee or percentage of the package cost they invest in.
To build referral networks chat to other coaches, practitioners or even approach local organisations that could be a good fit such as spas, wellbeing centres etc.
Grow your email list
I’m always banging on about how important it is to build an email list, but that’s because it is one of the best ways to build a sustainable business.
Building a list is a really useful way of getting clients because once someone is on your list, you have a much better chance of building that relationship with them and fostering connection. You can sell to them much more effectively and you can serve them really well with free content.
Building an email list just makes sense on every single level!
What I find with email list building is that it’s a slower form of marketing. But hopefully we’re all here to build sustainable long-term businesses that are going to see us well into the future and building an email list is going to help you get clients both now and in the future as you build better relationships with your community too.
Build a simple sales funnel
Connected to the above tip, building out a simple sales funnel for coaches that includes a way to attract, connect with (or nurture – often an automated email sequence) and then converts – usually a sales call – can make a massive difference on getting clients sustainably and with more consistency.
Network
Whether it’s in person or online, networking can be a really effective way to get more clients.
This can be part word of mouth and part direct contact with people who would be ideal clients.
Perhaps you can speak at an event in person, or be featured as part of an online event or summit. You may even have the opportunity to share information about your coaching package and how you help people.
I honestly think that any opportunity you get to be in the same room as people where you can leave an impression is super helpful when it comes to getting clients
Run a free or low cost workshop
This could be online or in person – it could be free or paid. Perhaps it’s webinar style training or a more hands on workshop.
Workshops and training are a great opportunity to showcase your expertise and have people get to know you better. You can also pitch your 1:1 coaching package at the end of the workshop as well.
Take a look at SEO
SEO, or search engine optimisation can be a good way to have your ideal clients find you and your business.
It used to scare me off as I always thought SEO was some super complicated thing that would require a lot of hard work but it’s actually fairly easy to get started with.
It might begin with creating blog based content that answers questions your ideal client may have and then optimising it for SEO. This is something I cover in Content Marketing for Coaches Club which you can join for just $9 a month.
Use Google Business Profile
A really easy win on the SEO and search front is to set up a Google Business Profile which is free. This will give you some added visibility for very little effort!
Use social media strategically
Social media can be great for getting clients but only if we’re using it strategically. If we’re just posting random quotes and memes and are approaching it all without any kind of plan then it’s probably not going to do that much for us.
But if we have a bit of a strategy about how we’re going to show up, that can make all the difference. Perhaps it’s making sure that we actually share the fact that we have a one-to-one coaching programme and that we can take on clients. It might also include sharing testimonials, it might include making specific offers to people who follow you. It could also include sharing things that reflect what makes you different to jump back to the first tip!
Also another reminder that I would say social media is a slower form of marketing, that’s not to say not to do it, but it might take you a little longer to see results as you grow your community, unless you’re going big with a DM strategy.
Pinterest is one of my favourite places to hang out online and it might be your client’s favourite place to hang out online as well!
I’ve gotten a number of past clients through Pinterest where they have seen some of my content and then connected with me further (usually via my email list).
Like some of the other tips, this can be a bit of a slow burner but if you’re building a sustainable business and you want to bring leads and your business on an ongoing basis, Pinterest can be a really good place to look.
Check out my post on 5 ways you can get clients with Pinterest here.
Talk about what you do and make the ask
This last tip might sound really obvious but so many of us (me included!) forget to simply talk about what we do and invite people to work with us.
We can get so focused on providing value via free awesome content that we forget to actually mention the ways people can work with us.
So talk about what you do, your 1:1 coaching offer and how people can take that next step on an ongoing basis, you could even schedule reminders or build this into any business planning you do.
If you’re looking for support with all of these steps and those vitally important foundational pieces then do check out my group coaching programme Wholehearted Business.
I’d love to know if you find these ideas helpful, let me know in the comments!
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