By: Janet Slack

There is a lot of information available about how to market a coaching business and yet many coaches still struggle.  How do you know which idea to follow and how to make it work for you?  The answer is in what I call the “pre-marketing” work that needs to be done to build a successful coaching business.  At the heart of your pre-marketing work are “The Four Questions”.  This is the contemplative work that you must be willing to do as you begin your business and again periodically throughout the life of the business.  The four questions lead you to know how to market what you do because they are at the core of your business.

First let’s address who you are as a person.  This is the “Who Are You?” question.  It is a tremendous help to know yourself inside and out in order to succeed in the coaching business.  If you know yourself well there is less chance that “your stuff” will get in the way of the client so you will be a better coach.  As an entrepreneur, knowing yourself well allows you to get the most out of your abilities and compensate where needed.  What are ways to describe your own uniqueness?  What is the combination of experiences, personality traits, history and values that makes you who you are?  “Who Are You” is the vital piece that makes YOUR coaching business different than the other thousands that exist.

“What do you do?” is the second question.  This addresses having the ability to talk about coaching and what it is.  If you can describe your work in a genuine, impactful way, you will be seen as attractive by those people who you are trying to reach.  The more practice the better in terms of learning to talk about coaching.  Make sure to talk about coaching with anyone who will listen,  research what others say about coaching, read widely about coaching and get your own coach so you truly understand its impact.  What you are doing is collecting knowledge so that you can express the results that your potential clients can expect to get from coaching.

“What do you have to offer?” is the third question.  This question delves into who you are as a coach - what are your skills and strengths as a coach? Begin to answer this question by asking  for lots of feedback about your coaching.  Your clients will have some insights into your style and what is most helpful for them.  Remember to ask your coaching partners, supervisor, or peers for feedback on your coaching.  Spend time thinking about how your personal beliefs and  values impact the work you do as a coach.  In particular, consider what you believe about motivation and personal change.  Think about how your belief system affects your presence with your coaching clients.

The final question is “What is your passion, purpose, and path?”.  The driving force that makes your coaching come authentically from your soul is your passion. This is some of the contemplating you must do in order to find your niche.  Your purpose is the spark within you that makes you want to be a coach.  Spend time considering all the things that you think are great about coaching.  The way that you put all the elements together in a business that is unique to you is your path.  This includes knowing what the essential elements are for the business to be authentically yours and how you will measure success.  Consider how these two factors will impact the way you run the business.

The pre-marketing work of The Four Questions will build a solid foundation for your business.  Make sure to revisit this periodically in order to ensure you’re your business continues to flourish.  Spending time on The Four Questions will make your marketing easier, give you a foundation for attracting clients, increase your income and keep you motivated.

About the Author
Janet Slack of Life Adventure Coaching is a specialist in helping new coaches, therapists and consultants create the thriving business of their dreams. Find more business building ideas and learn all the details that you need to know as a coaching entrepreneur at www.biztipsforcoaches.com/blog/. She recently released Mind Your Own Biz: Discover the Secrets to Creating a Successful Coaching Business a step by step guide to starting your coaching business right.

Well whilst each of these are perfectly valid marketing routes and one’s any forward thinking company should at least test the very best type of marketing for all types of business is the type that is free. That’s right Ladies and Gentlemen, if you’re working with a tight marketing budget (or indeed with no set marketing budget at all) then you can now get exposure for your product, service or company in the form of PR (or Public Relations).

For large companies PR is big business. They will think nothing of employing staff with the sole intention of getting the name of their company in the media (be it written press, television, radio or online). And because the PR market is seemingly dominated by the larger companies small companies shy away from using PR in their marketing mix.

If this applies to you then good times could well be ahead as PR is a vital part of the marketing mix for smaller companies in particular as they often don’t have the time or money to spend on often expensive advertising or other marketing.

Business Marketing and Small Business Marketing often share many of the same functions but successful businesses of all sizes use PR to promote their business, build their reputation and become a recognised expert in their particular field. And the beauty of PR is that everyone is an expert in something. And by passing on your expertise in a particular subject in the right way you become newsworthy.

And that is the real secret when it comes to good PR. It has to be interesting and newsworthy. Nobody cares that you’ve just launched a new website or that Mrs Jones in Accounts has just become a Grandmother for the second time (both subjects I’ve seen in press releases and both subjects I’ve seen in journalist’s bins!!). And if you’ve ever attempted PR only not to have it published then I wouldn’t worry too much about it as you’re amongst the 99% of companies who send out PR that isn’t newsworthy or interesting.

Over the course of the next few weeks and months I’ll be giving you tips and advice and how you (whatever business you’re in) can make sure you’re in the 1% of companies who do get PR published and who does get business as a result of it. Until then here are a few words on Why PR is important.

Communication lies at the heart of today’s modern society. Be it on the internet, television, pod casts or whatever medium you choose. And with so many firms competing for the same business as you, how do your customers differentiate between you and your competitors?

The answer lies not particularly in the size of your Yellow Pages advert but how you project yourself and what your firm has to offer.

PR has a huge sway in the minds of consumers as the perceived third party endorsement that comes from editorial coverage can be substantial, maybe even more so than advertising that can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds. This done well can result in increased exposure, increased business and increased profits. And if you want your business to be the best it can be then becoming good at PR is something you want to do.

And remember, it’s FREE!

About the Author
Mark Burdett is the owner of one of the UK’s Leading Marketing Consultancy firms, The Marketing Buzz.

With almost 2 decades of marketing experience Mark has worked on highly successful and profitable campaigns for companies including Norwich Union, Kia Motors and Zurich. Now based in Newcastle upon Tyne, The Marketing Buzz help small and medium sized UK businesses grow and increase their profits by using highly effective Marketing techniques. If you want to grow your business and increase your profits contact The Marketing Buzz at http://www.themarketingbuzz.co.uk

* Action steps are just that: the actions you will take. For instance, “take out ad on YellowPages.com” is an action step.

* Marketing strategy is harder. It looks at who your customers are and how to reach them.

Target Market

It seems like it would be easy enough to figure out who your target market is. For me, it wasn’t. I falsely assumed I should be targeting work-at-home moms, simply because I am one and feel a connection with them. But the more I dug into who my current customers are, I realized the WAHM didn’t fit my customer profile at all. It’s important to assess who your current clients are and determine whether you want more of the same or some other demographic. If, for instance, you have a lot of single-serving customers and you want more repeat business, you might need to shift your marketing to a different target.

Delivering the Message

With so many choices out there in marketing, it can be overwhelming. Should you use traditional newspaper ads? Only online? Is television worth exploring? The first question you should ask yourself is, “how does my target market like to receive their messages?” If your target market is senior citizens, resist the urge to do everything online just because you can appreciate the medium. It will be a waste of time, since this demographic doesn’t use online as much as other demographics.

While the scatter shot is a tempting technique (using a wide range of media to get your message out), it is usually expensive and not as effective as carefully planned delivery. Spend time analyzing how your ideal customer can be reached. It will be more cost effective and efficient at reaching new customers in the long run.

Save the Date

While no marketing strategy is ever carved in stone, it’s still a good idea to lay it out over a timeline. The holidays are important for marketing, and sneak up on us business owners every year. Plan ahead by deciding when you will begin your holiday marketing (not December). This will also help spread the cost of marketing throughout the year.

NOW you’re ready for action steps! I know many businesses who simply take every marketing opportunity that comes along as it comes along, rather than planning for the big picture, and then at the end of the year, they don’t know where their marketing budget went. Don’t let that happen to you.

About the Author
Susan Payton is Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations. She assists small businesses with marketing strategy and corporate communications. She is also the author of 101 Entrepreneur Tips, a handy guide that helps entrepreneurs make repeat customers, close the sale, and delegate work. For more information on Susan and Egg Marketing, visit http://www.eggmarketingpr.com or email her at smpayton@eggmarketingpr.com