What’s your coaching business focus for 2024?
If it's to get more clients you love working with, then let it be guided by the question:
Where has my love not yet reached?
Posed by author, speaker and accomplished scholar Meggan Watterson, some may think the words have an airy, non-tangible feel and have no place in our secular world. I disagree. I would invite these people to think again because they’re powerful, transformative words and should form the centrepiece of any plan for success this year.
What's holding you back?
If you’re a leadership or corporate coach and you’re feeling a little compromised by the concept of love in the fast-paced performance-focused environment of business then that’s OK.
If you’re a career coach and you’re drawn towards the ideas of connection, purpose and human-centredness but you’re puzzled about how it fits into the corporate scene, then this is a good sign.
It means you know something out there is out of balance and you have a desire to put it right.
Even if you don’t know how you’re going to do it just yet.
One of my clients describes it as like trying to boil the ocean with a kettle. It’s overwhelming and you may feel like you can’t fight the tide but maybe, just maybe there’s something behind our one little question that will open the opportunities you’ve been looking for. And this journey will lead you far beyond shaping your messaging or social media strategy. It will inform your practice, intentions and the stories you tell others about yourself.
Let it go
As someone who has been working with coaches in all areas for years, I’ve learned that each one has a unique blend of experience, natural human talents and energy. Add to this their personality and the horse they rode in on and you have a powerful mix of ever-expanding resources, curiosity and intention.
Wherever they are on their journey they’ve all personally learned the wider good that can come from having a deep impact on one person.
They’re the catalysts that can push a client from good to great with expansive implications.
These tendrils of energy and transformation spread from person to person. People are drawn to each other, work together and form pathways of change that otherwise may not have happened.
This is what I’m talking about. Can you see the commercial and universal advantages of love?
Start now
Turn to the front of your diary, pop it on a post-it note or type it across the top of your business plan.
Where has my love not yet reached?
Close your eyes and sit with yourself for a moment. Ask
Who do I see struggling and hurting at the moment?
What do I love about my unique set of skills, human energy and track record?
How can I bring the two together?
This match-making is at the heart of the question.
Is working with your ideal client really too much to ask for?
Absolutely not.
I would argue it’s your responsibility to put yourself out there in such a way so that they find you. Who are you to hold back just what they need to succeed?
It's not a matter of how to get coaching clients - it's a question of what blockages have you put in the way.
And if you’re fearful of how others will see you if you show your true face, don’t worry. The critics are not your people and you haven’t been put here to serve them. Go find the ones who will delight in what you do.
Three tips to setting your love free
Let it flow from you by:
Digging deep and asking questions about what you’re good at and what you find rewarding. If this means getting a coach yourself, then spend some time choosing the right one for you. Remember if they are right for you, they will have put in the work to make sure they’re projecting the right vibes from the off – they won’t have to cajole or persuade you into working with them. It will feel naturally good.
Getting help on board. Build your team around you whether that’s a VA or a tech wizard. Offload what you find frustrating, boring or time-consuming so that you can concentrate on working your magic.
Focusing on human benefit. Empathising with pain points shows you care and you’re knowledgeable about what people are struggling with but don’t press those wounds for cheap sales. It’s cruel and completely unnecessary.
And the most important thing - write with your soul voice
Again, this is another airy-fairy expression with a deep and powerful meaning that sits 100% within your messaging - whether you're an energy healer or an executive coach.
Why? Because engagement (or connecting with what people want, what they believe in and what they’re passionate about) drives performance and innovation. The lifeblood of all winning people, teams and organisations.
They dream the big ideas and then they achieve them.
And what sits at the centre of these motivations? Answering a deep longing, fulfilling connections with other humans and the pleasure of seeing a good job well done.
In other words, satisfying the soul.
So that’s where you need to speak from. Your soul.
Other souls will hear and they’ll respond.
No matter how appealing your deals, programs, special offers or lead magnet, this emotional pull will be stronger than everything else put together.
Your clients will come back to you, they’ll refer you to others and they’ll mention your name in a room of opportunities. And that’s because of the intention you set long before you met:
That your love would reach as far and wide as it possibly could.
And each one of your clients would be a carrier.
So how do you get coaching clients you'll love?
From my experience working with coaches (all of whom I've loved working with), these are the steps to success:
Dig deep to discover your motivation and what you intuit your journey is about.
Envisage who will benefit from your uniqueness and set your intentions for change in the world.
Show up as yourself in your marketing knowing your messages of hope serve as little doses of healing in their own right.
Blend your soul voice with technical wizardry to make sure your words show up in the right places.
Allow the resulting clients to carry your love further in the work they do, the families they come home to or the people they connect with every day.
If you need help to offload and tune in, then I’m more than happy to personally recommend VAs, technical wizards and 100% ethical social media strategists.
Of course, if you're looking for your soul voice, talk to me. I adore it when my clients find it and their love leaves them on a journey with no set destination. Out of the ether, the clients come and it's blissful. It doesn't mean they haven't done the strategy or SEO work as well but what they've put out there has been so well-seasoned with their message and vision, that their audience knows them well long before they've booked the discovery call. They get the sense that they're part of something bigger and that's priceless.
Here's my diary if you’d like a chat.
If some of what you've been told about marketing is making you uncomfortable, here's my simple guide to leading with benefit.
And if your website could do with a little lift, here are my six quick tips to give it a little love.
