Coaches have a moral obligation to market their services and products.
That’s a strong statement to make, but it is 100% true.
If a doctor discovered the cure for cancer, wouldn’t she be morally obligated to share her discovery with as many people as possible? Not doing so would be irresponsible and harmful. No matter what trepidation she may feel, she shouldn’t hold back.
As a coach, you have special gifts that are meant to be shared with people in need. Marketing yourself is the way you get the word out so you can help as many people as you possibly can.
Here’s an excerpt from a comment I recently made in a group discussion on LinkedIn:
“Coaches are by nature focused on others, so self-promotion sometimes feels out of place. Also, when developing coaching skills, marketing is rarely among the top priorities.
“…You can be the most amazing coach, but no one will ever benefit from what you have to offer without good marketing.
“In that way, you OWE it to the people you can help to learn how to market your services.”
Marketing is essential for the business aspect of your coaching. If you’re reluctant to do it, you’ll need to get over it.
The fact that coaches are others-focused is what makes you uniquely suited to be a good marketer. In a day when everyone is a vendor, it can feel like the only reason anyone exists online is to sell something.
You’re different.
Sure, you’re selling your services and/or products, but your sole purpose is not to separate people from their money. You are providing value. You use your skills, experience, etc., to improve the lives of those you come in contact with. (For that, you deserve to be compensated.)
What seems to be working in internet marketing is not as effective as you might think. “Squeeze pages” with miracle cures and pie-in-the-sky promises are so common because most marketers are just copying what they’ve seen others done. But hype-filled hardselling is not what’s working these days. Education is.
Like anything else in life, successful online marketing is largely dependent on your mindset. That being said, let’s briefly examine 5 myths that can sabotage your efforts if you buy into them.
1) Marketing = Manipulation
You may have heard the saying that “all marketers are liars.” That is not the case. Many individuals and businesses have abused their platforms to deceive customers and rip them off. But that is not what marketing is about.
Marketing is giving people reasons to buy or do something that will give them something they want but don’t have or get rid of a problem they have but don’t want. There may be a thousand solutions available. Marketing is demonstrating why yours is the best option.
2) “Build it and they will come”
There’s a reason the title of the movie was Field of Dreams. It would never happen in real life.
If you’ve spent any time at all online, you’ve noticed that it can be incredibly difficult to get noticed. There are literally billions of websites, services and products. Setting up shop on the internet is no guarantee that anyone will ever see you – no matter how awesome your website is.
You may build it and visitors never come. You need to drive traffic to that site by marketing. There are many methods to do this.
3) Quantity vs. Quality
Many teachers of internet marketing will tell you that it’s important to get as much material on the web to increase your visibility. More content on your site makes it more attractive to search engines. More articles on directories put your name in front of more potential clients.
While those statements are true, you should spend more time and energy producing high-quality content rather than focusing on sheer quantity. You want every article, blog post, podcast, whatever, to be so compelling that the reader/listener wants to know more about you. Being “everywhere” will not help if you are unremarkable.
Quality trumps quantity every day of the week.
4) Under-promise and Over-deliver
Never promise more than you can deliver, but why promise less?
Don’t be scared to make big claims, as long as you can back them up.
The idea of under-promising seems to make sense, but it will hurt you. People are searching for the best answers to their questions, the best solutions to their problems. If you promise less than what you can deliver, you’re not telling potential clients all the benefits they’ll receive from working with you. Again, being unremarkable is not helpful.
Over-delivery is great. Under-promising can be suicidal, especially these days, with so many sales messages begging for our attention. What can you say that will stand out?
Be all that you can be, and don’t downplay your greatness in your messaging.
5) Selling Without Selling
Most coaches don’t like “selling.” Believe me, I get it. If you fit that description, you may be interested in the increasingly common idea of “selling without selling.”
Here’s the fact: selling can’t be done without selling. But selling doesn’t have to come out of the used car salesman guidebook. In fact, you should never sell or market in that stereotypical way.
When I’m talking about selling, I’m speaking of the ability to make your offering attractive. That doesn’t require high-pressure tactics, deception, or any kind of sneakiness.
If you tell a prospect all the ways past clients came enjoy their lives better after hiring you, you’re selling, even though it doesn’t feel like it.
When you tell stories that engage, instruct and entertain, you’re selling!
The issue is not how to sell without selling. It’s getting beyond sales tricks and becoming a master attractor. You can sell without being obnoxious. That’s the key.
When your honest intentions are to lead others into success in life and business, and you have the know-how and tools to help them do it, you’ve got the perfect foundation to build a great internet marketing base for your coaching practice.
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