Nothing else can drive your coaching business to success like awareness. Here’s how you can boost it to incredible levels.
Christie enrolled in the NCI Business Development Mentorship program at a time when she didn’t even have a coaching business.
Still, she had two powerful advantages: The desire to create something of her own and the help of experts.
And, two years after starting the program, Christie found herself right where she wanted to be. She’s now making money, pursuing her passion, learning how to be an entrepreneur, and, best of all, helping people.
But, how does a non-business owner end up at the head of a successful coaching business like Christie’s?
The first part of that equation is undoubtedly everything that she learned over time. She understood how not to hold herself back and recognize the direction in which she should move.
The other part came from the community and the support she received from NCI. Connecting with other people in the program made her see the value of building awareness, which is key to succeeding as a coach.
It’s a straightforward principle – if people aren’t aware of you, you won’t get any traffic. And, as a result, you’ll have no leads.
Unfortunately, many people struggle to build awareness the right way and it might not be their fault. The struggle might have much to do with a misconception – or rather, a lie – we’ve been taught to believe.
Fortunately, Christie got to open her eyes to the truth. And you can do the same.
The Big Lie We’ve All Been Told
The big lie that’s been preventing you from building awareness about your coaching business is this:
The only way to get traffic is through social media.
What’s the problem with this statement?
Well, social media is indeed a good way to get traffic. But it’s by no means the only place for you to do so.
You might have an audience on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube, but what about your local gym? What about shops you frequent? What about other places where you can find large groups of potential clients?
The fact is, you have as many options offline as you do online. And, the best part is that you already have some sort of a relationship with the people you meet in person.
With that said, let me ask you something …
Isn’t the greatest advantage of social media the ability to reach lots of people in one place?
Of course, it is. And the same thing goes for your gym, supplement shop, local daycare, and other places that draw your kind of crowd.
However, building awareness online and offline won’t just happen on its own. Because no matter how many traffic sources you’re after, there are two things that you must do, particularly on social media.
Understand What Your Audience Needs
As mentioned above, understanding the audience’s roadblocks is about identifying what they think they need but not really. That helps you identify their real needs.
For instance, if the audience wants to lose fat, they probably think they need a diet. Or, if they wish to get jacked up, maybe they believe that they need to max out their bench presses.
But, the reality is that they probably don’t need a diet or to max out any workouts.
The point is that you need to know the old methods that your audience has been trying so you can knock those methods down.
Even though it may sound contradictory, you don’t want to immediately associate yourself with what the audience is expecting or has previously tried and failed.
You don’t want to become a part of the failures they’ve experienced or you won’t be able to truly help them. After all, you already know that the methods they’re thinking of won’t work.
But, of course, you want them to be able to identify with your new methodology.
The Two Things You Have to Do to Build Awareness
1. Find Friends
This is the first thing you should do to start generating traffic. Now, in real life, finding friends is a straightforward matter. That is, you start a conversation, talk about a mutually interesting subject, and begin to develop a relationship.
On Facebook, though, things aren’t as simple.
But why Facebook?
Because that’s your best online marketing tool. Not to mention it’s free. However, keep in mind that Facebook has certain limits that you need to learn to work with.
In particular, I’m talking about the fact that you can only send 50 friend requests a day. So, how do you know which 50 people to add?
You can start by searching keywords that are relevant to you or to your target customers. Then, you can find groups related to those keywords, see who’s active on those groups, and add those people.
Another way to expand your friend list is to use friend suggestions. Add those people and you’ll start growing an audience and building a community.
Your community thrives within your Facebook group and email list. It generates something that we call “the traffic you own”. And when it comes to building awareness, this is the prerequisite to everything.
So, focus your efforts on finding friends and building an audience every day. It will give you a healthy starting point.
But, a passive audience won’t do very much for creating awareness – you’ll also need to get people to engage.
2. Create Engagement
The number one thing to remember is that engagement is a function of value. This is crucial because so many people approach building engagement from the wrong standpoint.
What do I mean by this?
Early on in their careers, people think that engagement equals sales. They view it as a way to drive conversation and make a sale, but this mindset is very destructive.
If you go about it that way, you’ll only focus on writing your Facebook or Instagram copies to get leads or clients.
So, what’s wrong with that?
Well, you aren’t building any real value yet. And if your audience doesn’t perceive you as an authoritative source of value, you’ll never gain their trust.
Here’s where I want to repeat that crucial point from above:
Engagement is a function of value.
In other words, if you keep thinking about transactions and sales during your conversations, you’re not offering people the right value and your engagement will suffer for it.
Do you know what would happen if you’re to get out of that transactional mindset, even if it’s only for a month?
Think about it.
What if, instead of looking for clients, you aimed to become a better resource? What if you shifted your focus from getting more people to sign up with you to helping as many people as possible?
I’ll tell you – your entire world would change!
So, focus on creating value. Put out great content, connect with people, and become a positive influence in their lives.
That’s how you’ll get the desired engagement.
Build Awareness and Achieve Success with Your Coaching Business!
Making people aware of your business should be your top priority. Once you do away with the misconception that there’s no other way to build awareness than through social media, you’ll be free to explore alternative options.
And in the online world, you’ll get the results you need by connecting to people and creating better engagement.
That’s what Christie did to achieve a thriving coaching business. You can do the same.
If you like what you’ve read here and want to explore other ways we at NCI can help your business, feel free to contact us.
