How to get more Life Coaching clients

If you are reading this article, then congratulations. You went through the rigor of getting trained and are now a certified coach. The easy part is over. Whether you got trained with an ICF/IAC accredited training provider or a general NLP coaching program, you are now a coach.  Now you might be perplexed and thinking about how to get more Life Coaching clients, or coaching clients in general.  Even if you are among the select few who completed a niche certificate program like Licensed NLP Coach (which is under the aegis of Society of NLP, wherein participants get a certificate personally signed by Richard Bandler himself), you are still a novice coach whose journey has only just begun.

You should have begun thinking of your brand as soon as you enrolled in your Life Coach certification program in India. At a high level, you can go vertical and super specialize. Or you could go horizontal and be a generalist. Here are some vertical options available to you, before you delve into how to find more Life Coaching clients:

1. Corporate coaching

Working with corporate employees, you could become an Executive Coach, Performance Coach, Transformation Coach or Leadership Coach.

2. Sports coaching

Here, you will be a Sports Performance Coach or Sports Psychologist, working with athletes. It helps if you have first hand understanding of this field.

3. Entrepreneur coaching

As the name suggests, you will be working with mostly start-up leaders on the cusp of greatness. Your label in this case could be Success Coach, Sales Coach, Business Coach or, quite simply, Entrepreneur Coach.

Alternatively, you could be a generalist and give yourself the simple label of Life Coach.  Also, read marketing for NLP coaches to get marketing savvy.  

How to get more Life Coaching Clients – Where to begin?

Now that you have determined your brand position, it’s time to seek clients, and do a deep dive into How to get more Life Coaching clients. Look around. No, you won’t find clients by looking around, but you are bound to come across an endless array of books, articles and workshops devoted to the subject. A cursory glance at them will tell you that you are expected to buy something before you can view the information therein. Some of them might give you a few good insights. Others will be vague and insipid and all you get in return for your money is the “privilege” of belonging to some social media group filled with aspiring coaches just like you.  Also read about how to become an ICF certified coach, as that provides a different level of branding as a coach.  

Meanwhile, other prowlers would entice you with the promise of finding clients if only you create a strong online presence. Well, of course, a website is as mandatory nowadays as toothpaste. But having a website is as useful to getting clients as having a toothpaste is to getting cleaner teeth. You need to know how to use technology and not just own it.

If it were easy for coaches to find clients, we would have millions of more coaches in the market. And your certification program would have ended with a campus-recruitment style job fair. But the truth is that winning the first few clients is as tough a battle as you will ever face in your life. It takes a long time, gargantuan efforts and plenty of lateral thinking to get a strategy around How to find Life Coaching clients. 

Few tips on how to get more Life Coaching clients

The proactive coach catches the client. Here are a few things you can do to solve the mystery of how to get more Life Coaching clients:

1.    Offer free coaching

Let’s be honest. Even if you are brilliant, you are raw and are likely to fumble the ball. It’s only fair that you offer your services for free – not only to attract clients but also to get your feet moving in the water. Those who sample your service, even if they are not able to pay, might spread the word on your behalf. Pretty soon, you will have your first paying client.

You could stipulate rules to make this feasible for yourself. For instance, you could cap the number of free sessions to one or two.

If you want more throughput, you could volunteer your time in an organization that provides Executive Coaching. Here, you are bound to get a steady flow of clients. Some of them might eventually become your clients, especially if they see a marked difference between you and others who have coached them in this place.

And since there is no such thing as a free lunch, you will request them to give you a testimonial. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how willing people are if they’ve gained from your expertise. These testimonials need to be placed prominently on the home page of your website.  This is a good start for a new coach if you are struggling to get yourself going with how to get more Life Coaching clients.  

The duration for which you will offer free sessions depends on the traction you are getting. Perhaps there will be a brief period where you are offering free sessions even as you are servicing paying clients. Once you’re fully established, you will offer free sessions only in anticipation of large projects.

2.    Network like your life depended on it

Because it does. Your city hosts meet-ups over breakfast, coffee or seminars on a daily basis. Plug into these. Be especially fond of meet-ups for entrepreneurs. You are, after all, one yourself. You will find contacts of professionals who might help you build your website etc. But more importantly, you will be face-to-face with entrepreneurs – some of the most stressed and ambitious people on the planet.

Observe the participants carefully when the session is in progress. When it ends, approach the person whom you consider a potential client and say, “I liked what you said about your domain. You seem to be very confident about your product. How are you doing on the people front?” You might have noticed a growth area here. Perhaps the entrepreneur would reveal that he is struggling with that aspect of organization building. Now, offer him Free Business Coaching sessions. This person, if he sees value, will definitely pay you or recommend you to paying clients.

If you are coaching half a dozen entrepreneurs and even if one of them builds a large organization, you will be his first choice as coach for the entire workforce.  Networking is by far one of the most efficient way if you are figuring out how to get more Life Coaching clients. 

Other ways to network:

• Needless to say, you will also do the basic networking tasks – like handing out business cards at every gathering, even a social event you have been invited to attend. Your apartment complex, your neighbourhood café, your friend’s wedding reception are all your catchment areas. The desire to excel is widespread and people with such a desire are everywhere. They might not know it, but they are looking for you
• Micro communities like the Toastmaster’s Club, Book Clubs etc are places teeming with those seeking more meaning out of their lives. The same can be said for civic groups like those who want to clean up the local lake or spread awareness on traffic laws. Belonging to these will bring you in close contact with potential clients
• Your apartment complex, place of worship etc will be happy if you become a productive member of the community. If you help them with, say, organising an event, you too might gain by meeting a prospective client
• Follow thought leaders of the field on social media. This will help you regularly carpet bomb your brain with strong ideas
• As a coach, you have to learn constantly in order to guide others constantly. So attend workshops of all kinds – be it on horticulture, sales, yoga or writing. Not only will you learn a lateral skill, you will also come across people eager to learn and succeed
• Finally, let’s not underestimate the importance of Group Coaching Sessions for students. You could do this in collaboration with educational institutions if that’s possible. Students approaching milestones (like admission into a college or preparing for a campus interview) will appreciate coaching. And one of these students might go on to become the next industry baron two decades from now

3.    Write

You can’t meet every potential client in person. Some of them must stumble upon your blog or your article on a popular portal. Your blog will, of course, be linked to your website.

In case you are good in ideating and structuring a write-up, but weak in the actual writing, you can outsource this part to a professional. Payment can be in cash or free coaching sessions.

4.    Create a splash on social media

How to find Life Coaching clients, well you create a splash on social media, depending on the channel that you are comfortable using.  You will have a presence on all of some of them Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc – that goes without saying. Here are the nuances:

• Keep these platforms clean – if you want to vent, express your political opinions or share a cute cat video, then do those things using separate accounts. But your official account will be used only to promote your (free or paid, as the case may be) coaching sessions, your write-ups and your thoughts on success, excellence, happiness and growth. You must be informative for sure. If you are entertaining as well, then more power to you
• YouTube is gaining even more traction today as more and more people continue to read less and less. Remember that attention spans are lower than ever before. If you don’t hook the viewer in the first 20 seconds, the cost and effort of producing the video are wasted. Like with anything else, remember to link the video back to your website
• As important as writing your own blogs is responding intelligently to popular blogs. A well-articulated comment on a pertinent topic might reel a potential client to your online profile, and from there, on to your website
• WhatsApp groups are becoming increasingly popular for holding “virtual workshops.” You could use the platform to offer inspirational content on a daily basis. It’s good morning said with purpose and finesse

5.    Leverage low-cost marketing options

Your local newspaper delivery agent will be happy to add a flyer to his bundle in exchange for a small fee. Similarly, many business outlets like eateries (or your local community centre) will pin your poster/flyer to their notice board, either for free or for a small payment. Select outlets that are frequented by working professionals.

6.    Collaborate

Coaching synergises with other businesses like training, career counselling, placement agencies etc. You will do well to bundle your services along with theirs. An ultimate win-win solution for you, the collaborating organization and the client.

In summary

Marketing and sales aspects are common for all businesses. There are, of course, some differences when the brand is a human being and not a product or service. You can, therefore, seek to model your strategies on those of other successful Life coaches, if you are want to figure out how to get more Life Coaching clients. 

Your uniqueness as an individual will determine what will work for you. This means you have to try many options to identify the few that give you maximum benefits.

Remember that there is no shame in marketing yourself, even if your early life culture convinced you that it is so. Be bold. Be assertive. Be authentic. And above all, offer value in the smallest marketing collateral. Somebody who never avails your service might pick up your flyer, and before discarding it, be enriched by a small idea.

That’s the ultimate calling card of the coach – the desire to make a difference.