Coaching Website Newbie Question and a Secret Marketing Trick

I’ll share with you the secret marketing trick at the end of this article. Firstly, here’s an email I received recently from a subscriber about her frustration with websites and marketing. Here are her words, followed by my response.

My biggest frustration, fear, worry, and pain when it comes to my coaching website (and marketing) is never being sure that I know enough or understand enough to make it all work. My background was in education. I know NOTHING about marketing or website building or SEO or anything else except what I have taught myself, and sometimes it is just plain overwhelming. So far, I have spent far more than I have made, and while I keep telling myself I “have to build it before they will come,” it sometimes feels like a slog. I suspect I am in good company.

Let me respond to two pieces that pop out to me to help you get clearer on making your biz work.

1. The need to know it all (or enough) to make it work out.

I don’t think you need to know it all. But I think you do need to know some things to make your website and marketing work.

I think it’s vital to know where you intend to get to first in your business. If you’re just doing stuff without an intended ending point, it’ll be slower going than if you set a clear destination.

With a clear point to get to, you can adjust your actions, discard ideas, jump on good plans, and keep some sort of course.

For example, if your goal is to “make a living coaching”, (which I think is great, but not clear enough), then you can easily find yourself attracted to any sort of “make money now” or “succeed in coaching” message you see online. And for each message like this, there are so many things you can do: write articles, give talks, network, do social media, write a book, set up PayPal account, etc. And that’s A LOT!!!

As I alluded to, I think the goal “Making a living coaching” isn’t clear enough. I’d further ask:

* How much income do you want to make?

* When do you want to earn that? What per month would do it?

* How will that income come in? Group coaching? Individuals?

And I further challenge you by asking (key marketing question) …

* Who will be a good client for me?

* Who will be willing to pay what I ask for?

* How many people will I need to be enrolled in X?

* What, from the buyer’s point of view, do they want to pay for?

Someone who has succeeded at doing the above can help.

For many coaches, ten regular one-on-one paying clients will do the trick for a sustainable coaching income. For many, a few group programs with ten enrollees each can do it. For some, a combination.

But many newer coaches can quickly get going with one-on-one clients as it requires less setup than a 10-week course.

One possible small hill to climb is ten ongoing clients at once, paying you enough to coach as your main income.

When it comes to marketing and websites (think marketing materials), you really just need to ask who is ideal as a client/customer, where are they hanging out, how can I get in front of them, what should I say to interest them, and how can I structure the offer to see if they will say yes or no and then pay me money.

Do you need to know SEO? Social media? Do you need a website? All those answers will depend on what the first hill looks like.

2. Build it before they come.

Getting started building a website or doing marketing activities is good in that you’ll learn from them. Even if you learn that you have no idea what to do – that’s learning.

However, once you figure out there’s so much to do, and you have no idea where to start, what to do next, what’s working, or what your name is anymore, then I suggest the following possible actions:

(1) Stop, see what IS working, and cut out what isn’t

(2) Find a business coach or coach mentor to guide you, especially someone who is ahead of where you want to be

(3) Figure out where you want to be

(4) Once you are clearer about #3, then you can find ebooks/courses/programs to support that, but be sure #3 is quite specific

These answers will help direct you as to “what to build” so that they WILL come.

I know all of this marketing stuff can feel like being lost in the wild, but I know that when it starts working, the reasons it works and the paths that get you to your goals do exist. It’s refreshing and relieving when you find them.

(Oh, and that marketing secret I mentioned earlier is this -> When you do set up your website and email list, include one automatic email which asks each new subscriber, “What is frustrating you the most right now?” Their responses will give you great material for writing articles and positioning yourself as a solution-providing expert.)

Overwhelmed? Stuck? Want to share your website frustration? Just post below. I welcome your comments.