Business & Marketing Tips for Coaches

20 Business & Marketing Tips for Coaches 2

Wherever you are in your coaching career, you can always add to your

toolbox of marketing and business development strategies. We invite you

to get inspired with these 20 exclusive tips, shared by 2015 ICF Business

Development Series (BDS) presenters.

Build Your Business.

Expand Your Reach.

Sustain Your Success.

The ICF Business Development Series (BDS) is a virtual education offering designed to provide you with essential, cutting-edge tips, tools and insights to help you thrive in today’s market. Learn more about the 2015 BDS and access recordings of 2014 BDS sessions at Coachfederation.org/bds.

William Arruda (USA) Personal Branding Expert and 2015 BDS Host

Coachfederation.org

Karen Cappello, PCC (USA) “Finding Your Ideal Niche”

Carolyn Herfurth (USA) “Develop Your Passive Revenue Streams: When, What and How to Do It”

Faran Jaya, ACC (Indonesia) “How to Build Your Start-up Coaching Company by Building a Sound Business Plan”

Paul Lawrence, MBA, Ph.D., PCC (Australia) “Helping Clients Learn How to Better Measure the Value of Coaching to their Organizations”

Louise Mahler, Ph.D. (Australia) “Engaging the Wider Audience with Vocal Intelligence”

Rachel Parker (USA) “Content Marketing: Driving Business in a Post-Mad Men World”

Jason SurfrApp (USA) “How to be More Creative, Promote Yourself and Do Marketing That Increases Profits!”

Adam Witty (USA) “How to Use a Book to Raise Your Status, Attract Your Ideal Client, Book Speaking Engagements and Gain Trust Faster”

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Finding (and Keeping) Your Focus

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is not breaking their goals and tasks down into bite-sized items. The smaller and more actionable your goals and tasks, the higher likelihood you will have of completing them.

—Jason SurfrApp

Chasing a bunch of shiny marketing tactics will dilute your results. Focus on one primary marketing strategy until you nail it. Add another strategy once you’ve mastered the first.

—Carolyn Herfurth

Put clarity before communication. Understand your brand (what’s authentic to you, differentiating from your peers and compelling to your target audience) before you start marketing.

—William Arruda

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You don’t get what you don’t ask for. If you strongly believe in what you have to offer, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask people to buy it.

—Jason SurfrApp

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Growing Your Business

Daily self-acknowledgment is to the creative mind what daily meditation is to the soul. It strengthens and supports you in both your coaching and building your business.

—Karen Cappello, PCC

When you are unsure about what actions to take to grow your business, line up your energy first. That gives intuition and synchronicity the space to work.

—Karen Cappello, PCC

Explain to clients the benefit of regular, ongoing evaluation of coaching assignments.

—Paul Lawrence, PCC

Choose the right partners. Collaborate with someone who shares your passion to grow your business, together.

—Faran Jaya, ACC

Help your clients clearly articulate what outcomes they expect to derive from their investment in coaching and how this relates to their overall business strategy.

—Paul Lawrence, PCC

The “quitting zone” is the time just before the breakthrough is about to happen. Coach your clients through this zone in your en-rollment conversations, and watch your business grow.

—Karen Cappello, PCC

“ABC” used to stand for “Always Be Closing,” but those high-pressure sales techniques just don’t work anymore. In today’s envi-ronment, we need to think, “Always Be Connecting!”

—Rachel Parker

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Making Connections

Be visible where your ideal clients are. Join LinkedIn and LinkedIn groups that have your ideal clients as members. Then, be a consistent and valuable part of the conversation.

—William Arruda

Turn your clients into a referral service. Let your happy clients become your biggest fans: Ask them for referrals! Your clients may know of potential contacts who could utilize your resources. Any new connection could lead to your ideal client.

—Adam Witty

Work your quirks. Know what sets you apart from everyone else who does what you do and make it a core part of your branding strategy. You’ll stand out and build brand ambassadors who can carry your message on your behalf.

—William Arruda

Connect online and off by combining traditional and digital marketing efforts. Establish a presence online with social media to reinforce your attendance at conferences and speaking events. Use a collaboration of marketing strategies to strengthen your brand.

—Adam Witty

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Creating Memorable Content

Share your successes by utilizing testimonials from satisfied clients in your marketing collateral. Prospective clients will see you as the obvious choice if you can provide a direct reference.

—Adam Witty

You don’t always have to create content from scratch. A series of blog posts can be combined to create an e-book, for example, or you can extract tweetable tips from a webinar deck.

—Rachel Parker

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When your mouth is dry because of nerves, you tend to reach for water. Instead, try biting your tongue: Saliva will fill your mouth.

— Louise Mahler

Speaking Up

Public speaking is the fastest way to build credibility and the know-like-trust factor. Be sure to choose audiences filled with your ideal clients and/or strategic referral partners to make the most of your time and effort.

—Carolyn Herfurth

Keep air flowing when you speak—no matter what. Do not break for “um’s” or pause mid-sentence. Flowing air exudes trustworthiness.

—Louise Mahler

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