115: How to Market Your Coaching Business Just Like You Coach

Today I want to change your perception of marketing. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/115.When you think of marketing, do you cringe? Have you been thinking things like this?·      Marketing will feel sleazy no matter how I do it. I hate the idea of it!·      I have to become good at selling myself.·      Marketing, selling and advertising are all the same thing.·      I don’t know how to market.I thought those things too. And I think our response to high-pressure marketing tactics is what formed those beliefs. The sad thing is some of those tactics work and then you feel ashamed of having fallen for it.I’ve surveyed coaches on their thoughts about marketing over decades and the urban myths about marketing remain much the same.Most coaches think of it as a necessary evil.Here’s what I think … if you believe you have to sell your soul to market you’ll never market effectively. But marketing is critical to attract clients. Without it, your business will be the best-kept secret.There’s this assumption that once you finish coach training and throw up a coaching website the clients will come rolling in. The reality is that coaches, as with most other businesses, have to create their marketplace from scratch. That’s another of a multitude of reasons that targeting a unique audience and having a stand out niche is so helpful.I had that same assumption when I started and was disabused of that pretty quickly. That’s why I say don’t sell coaching. It’s a steep upward climb to success if you have to convince prospects they want coaching before you can enroll them. For more on that, experience episode #7.And by the way, I’m honored by all the new coaches who are finding my podcast. Consider going back to episode 1 and listening chronologically. It will be a helpful and eye opening experience for you. You can find episode 1 by scrolling to the beginning of my podcast in an app or go to prosperouscoach.com/1.Before you despair, creating your own marketplace is a powerful, graceful and loving action if you let it be.If you market consciously and authentically you will not have to advertise, sell yourself or your soul.I know it’s true because I live it every day.Marketing can be much like coaching. This is how that works …First raise curiosity about your target audience. What makes your audience tick? Who are they inside?Ask them powerful questions. What do they really want (not need)? What is a big problem that’s keeping them from getting what they want?Listen to their words as they describe what’s most important to them. Engage your intuition.Discover the top values that drive them.Help them see their future the way they want it to look. Isn't that what you do when you coach a client?Read more about how to create your own marketplace in an authentic way here.