Marketing for Coaches: The Ultimate Guide (Even If You Hate Marketing)

8 Kind Ways for Coaches, Educators and Trainers to Market Your Business by Sharing Your Truth

Here’s the good news…

The best way to successfully market yourself to potential clients is to simply share valuable information with them honestly and for free.

In this article, I’ll share these 8 ways you can approach marketing your coaching business with kindness and generosity: 

1. Create helpful content for potential clients

2. Understand marketing terms and abolish fear-based marketing

3. Build your audience for your coaching business

4. Share your value with your community

5. Celebrate client success

6. Unravel the mystery of SEO

7. Create powerful video content (even if you’re camera shy)

8. Source empathic copy to deliver your message

But first, let me explain why, as a coach, sharing your truth is the single most important thing you can do for your business.

The Best Content for Coaches Is Helpful Content

Some people scoff when they hear the term “authenticity” used in marketing. I mean, you’re actively trying to sell something. Isn’t it hypocritical to claim to do that authentically?

Not at all. Here’s why…

Recently, Google, the world’s largest and most popular search engine, announced a new update called The Helpful Content Update.

It basically ensures that the sites that show up highest in search results are written by people, for people (not by AI to trick search engines).

I’ll explain that in a second, but let’s talk about your business first.

If you’re like most wellness and educational coaches and trainers I know, you might inwardly cringe when it’s time to market your services.

After all, you got into the business of coaching to help people, not to “drive leads” or “convert traffic.”

Maybe you’ve been worried that there’s some complicated formula (like SEO) for marketing your business that you don’t know.

Or worse, that if you used this special formula, you would be betraying all the principles you used to create your conscious and awakened business in the first place.

Well now, because of Google’s new update, the most important “trick” to getting organic traffic to your business isn’t a trick at all—it’s just being helpful and truthful.

So, if you don’t know, organic traffic means that someone finds your site by searching for keywords such as “find a life coach” without you paying Google ads to boost the result.

If you know all about that, keep reading. But if not, here’s a quick and simple explainer…

There used to be all kinds of “SEO tricks” people would use to key into Google’s algorithm and force better results.

But you’re not about forcing people to find your content, and fortunately, neither is Google.

The great news about Google’s new update is that they’ve found a way to outsmart all the SEO tricks.

There’s still plenty of optimization you can do with your site—I’ll get into that later. But the single most important thing you can do to attract this organic traffic is to help people.

Here are 3 great ways you can create truly valuable content for potential coaching clients:

1.     Start a blog on your website. Longform content works best.

2.     Start posting videos to YouTube or TikTok with helpful tips and friendly advice.

3.     Post links to your content and any other content you find helpful to your social media sites.

For more on SMM (Social Media Marketing) check out this post.

Once you build up enough helpful content to start showing up in search results, you then want to convert these leads into audience members.

I’m not a huge fan of the way we talk about marketing. As a writer, I believe that language has power. The words we use can affect our vibrational frequency around certain ideas and thoughts.

To me, a “lead” is a potential suspect in a criminal case (or maybe I just watch too much L & O.)

“Traffic” is something awful I had to sit through a lot more before 2020 when my work transitioned online. I don’t miss it! 

All these terms come from a not-too-distant time of more fear-based marketing—a time before Google elevated “Helpful Content” for example.

No wonder these negative connotations make today’s conscious business owners tense up—they have nothing to do with the messages of freedom you want to spread with your work.

For now, that’s what we have, though. So how do we dispel the mystery and negativity around these marketing terms?

Marketing Terms and What They Mean for You

If someone types “how to improve my mood” into Google and they land on your blog, or video, or SM post, you’ve generated a lead from that precious organic traffic we mentioned above.

That means someone in your target audience (a person who might want to invest in the services you offer as a coach) has found your business.

You then want to convert that lead into a member of your audience by having them subscribe to your channel, follow your SM page, or sign up to receive your newsletter with weekly blog posts.

Generally, you want them to click on something that means you’ve either got their email address or they Follow, Like, or Subscribe (hopefully, triple winner!) 

Once they become a member of your audience, they will get your helpful content in their feed on one of those platforms on a regular basis.

You can keep helping them over and over again until the day that they decide it’s worth investing in a deeper dive by becoming a paid client.

I’d really love to rewrite all the terms we use to describe this whole process, and maybe someday I will.

For now, you just need to know the terms for the sake of functioning as a business owner.

But you should also know that these terms don’t define HOW you market your business. You can attract clients to your work with love, generosity and presence in your content.

So, how do we do that?

3 Kind Ways to Build an Audience

Obviously, you’d love to have someone just type in “find a parenting coach,” find your website, and click “schedule a consultation” or, better yet, “buy this coaching package.”

That would be nice. It’s not that that never happens, but it’s rare.

It’s more likely that someone is looking for answers to a problem, you provide solutions, they keep coming to you as an expert in your area, and they eventually decide they want to go further by paying for a service.

I’m a great example of this from the customer side, and it’s one of the reasons I love writing for coaches.

I found my own wellness coach because I had been searching for answers to my now-resolved diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

Because I’d been searching and reading information on this, Facebook’s algorithm was smart enough to show me a pop-up to a Facebook Live video about CFS made by a friend of a friend.

I watched the video and followed this coach’s FB page. I also checked out her website.

On her website, a pop-up came up prompting me to take a quiz called “Find Your Cure,” a self-diagnostic quiz that would show me where to put my focus and direct me to the right free resources (as long as I input my email address of course).

Say, what???

After a few weeks of receiving free resources that I found valuable, I decided to invest in one of her online coaching programs. And it worked--she got paid, and I got cured!!

So, you can see the importance of that second step in the marketing process… once I found her website, she asked for my email address so she could keep sending me helpful content.

That steady stream of helpful content in my inbox is what convinced me to buy coaching services.

There are several great resources you can offer your coaching leads to get them to join your audience.

If you’re posting a video to YouTube or on your social media channel, you obviously want to get them to Like and Subscribe so you keep showing up in their feed.

But if you get them to your website (even better!), you can offer them some free resource that they’ll get by giving you their email address.

This isn’t sneaky or underhanded.

In this day and age, everyone knows that if you enter your email address on a site, you’re going to get emails from that business.

You can promise right then and there not to sell their email and you can even be upfront about how often you tend to send info. (You should have a fully disclosed Privacy Policy when collecting emails anyway.)

By entering their email, your potential clients are basically saying, “I want to get emails about your coaching techniques.”

They know, of course, that if they don’t find your content helpful or it gets sent too often, they can always unsubscribe.

That’s why it’s, again, in your best interest to create the most helpful content you can genuinely offer by sharing your truth.

Here are 3 free resources you can offer to build your email list:

1. A self-diagnostic quiz, like the one I found on my wellness coach’s site.

2. A freebie white paper, which is basically more than a blog post, something comprehensive that folks will want to download and keep on their desktop for reference. (As a writing coach, I offer one called Seven Days of Writing Prompts.)

3. A subscription to a weekly or monthly newsletter, which is basically just making sure that your regular blog posts end up in their inbox every time you hit Publish.

Each of these resources establishes your value to your potential customer base, which is what we’re going to dive into next…

Establish Your Value to Clients (Not Your Authority)

Just like when I talk about authentic marketing, most coaches I work with cringe at the mention of “establishing authority” with their content.

That’s because the best coaches I know are humble.

They know that they’re not gods and that their clients don’t really need THEM to heal themselves or to find life direction or to become better parents.

Good coaches know they simply have tools that may help people discover these outcomes for themselves.

So, I find it’s a lot better as a coach to think about establishing your value to potential coaching clients, not your authority.

After all, you’re not trying to set yourself up as some deified guru whose way is the only way, right? You’re just trying to help people.

And that desire to help people along with all the experience, hard work and training you’ve put into your coaching practice is what makes you valuable.

At this point, you already know that it’s important to create helpful content. That content in and of itself will show your value as a coach.

You can go further with this idea by creating content for every stage of your client’s journey.

It’s important to include your current clientele in your marketing strategy for your coaching business as well as potential leads.

You might create an online community for everyone who buys a certain coaching package with you. A place where they can connect with you and each other and get their questions answered.

On your blog, you don’t just want to write for potential clients. Also create blog posts for people who have been working with you for a while but who may feel like their progress has plateaued.

These kinds of resources ensure that you keep serving and helping your client base even after they’ve signed up to pay to work with you. This does two great things:

1. It shows potential clients that they get even more of your great resources and wisdom if they invest.

2. It ensures that your current clients have a great experience, which can drive another great tool for establishing value…

Customer success stories!

Do I Really Need Testimonials on My Coaching Site?

Yes. You do.

Do I really have to ask actual past or current clients to write them?

Yes. You do.

Does that make you want to run away from this whole marketing thing?

Maybe. But why? This is just another way to help your clients.

Think of it this way… If you’re a conscious business owner, you probably extoll the virtues of a gratitude practice in your work with clients.

Well, the fact is, writing a testimonial for you is a way for them to express gratitude.

Eww, your saying, that sounds so yucky… “See, I knew this marketing thing was all about spin and not about authenticity!”

Wait, wait, wait… I’m just saying this is a good way for YOU to think about it. I’m not saying you should pitch it that way to your clients.

Just ask them the question. “Would you be willing to write a testimonial for my website?”

Don’t equivocate, don’t apologize, don’t give them an out. Just ask them a simple question.

If you’re a good coach, this might even be an exercise you would give to YOUR clients for their own endeavors—task them with asking for what they need simply and honestly.

The worst they can say is “no.”

They probably wouldn’t say that. They just might “lose” the email instead.

But honestly, I’ve never had anyone I’ve worked with respond in any way other than a resounding “YES!”

Now, I don’t ask every single person I’ve ever worked with. I ask people whom I know I’ve helped. And I ask people whom I’ve enjoyed helping.

Still, I was super nervous to ask each of them to give of their time to basically brag about me.

But in each of those cases, they were not only willing to do it, they actually seemed excited.

After all, I had helped them solve a problem. Up until that moment, our relationship had been pretty one-sided. For once, there was something they could do (besides Venmo) to help me.

They were actually grateful for the chance to express their gratitude!

Now, I want you to think about taking this even further.

Do you have one (or even a few) special clients whose story has been thrilling for you—whether it’s been watching them find more success in life, love, or career or watching them grow confidence as a parent or student. 

Whatever it is, if the story makes you feel great, there’s a way to dig even deeper into that story to share with your audience.

You can hire a writer to create a case study that really details:

• the problem they came to you with

• what the challenges were for you as a coach

• how you approached the problem

• and the success that they’ve had as a result of working with you!

This can be delicate because of the nature of coaching, and there may be clients whose stories are just too personal for them to want to share so openly.

But it can also be incredibly empowering for clients to share their journey and to think of their story as a story of SUCCESS! 

For instance, this case study I wrote tells the story of how one student’s time at my client’s tutoring center helped her weather the transition of returning to school after lockdown…

(Your Inner Child ;-)

You might be starting to think, This is a lot.

I mean, with all this content creation, when are you supposed to develop your actual coaching or training services?

First of all, it’s normal to be overwhelmed when you’re starting anything—I’m sure you would tell your clients the same thing.

If your eyes are starting to glaze over, close them for a moment, take a deep breath, honor how you’re feeling, and then remind yourself what brought you here.

Just breathe…

Later on, I’m going to tell you how to take your first baby step with all of this and then take it one day at a time from there.

But, first, let’s discuss a few sticky points that some of you may be wondering about and also discuss how you can outsource some of this when you’re ready to.

Do I Need to Buy SEO… and WTF Is That Anyway?

First off, no. You cannot “buy” SEO.

You can buy Google ads, but they’re expensive and most people know to scroll past them to that first page of real, organically generated search results.

We talked earlier about organic traffic and how SEO specialists have been working to try to drive those leads for businesses.

Just to remind, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which simply means optimizing your content to make it attractive to Google’s search engine.

So, Google uses a “crawler,” a software program used to automatically discover and scan websites.

It’s called Googlebot and I know that sounds like an unfamiliar spider-like robot that’s going to decide the fate of your web content.

But, like I mentioned earlier, Google has found a way to take the data and information it gets from Googlebot and use it, plus some other factors, to determine which content is most helpful.

So, creating content that actually helps people is the most important thing you can do.

But, there are ways to help ensure that your helpful content gets seen and noticed. It involves keywords, headers, alt tags—nothing too mysterious, but it does take training.

People who are trained to optimize content for SEO are called SEO specialists, SEO content marketers, or SEO copywriters.

While you cannot “buy” SEO, you can hire the services of one of these SEO specialists.

You want to make sure that they actually have some training specifically on optimizing content for search engine results.

For instance, I received my training at AWAI, which is the most highly reputable training ground for copywriters (and I’m not being paid to say that!)

There are some other good training programs out there, but you want to make sure they’ve completed training with one of them.

You should also be aware that no SEO writer in the world can guarantee that you’ll end up on the first page of Google.

No one can wave a magic wand and get you there, no matter how much they charge.

So, optimizing your website should be one of the many marketing tools you’re putting in place, in addition to offering great content on several platforms.

Fortunately, paying someone to go through your web content and rewrite it and add alt tags and other bells and whistles for SEO should be a one-time, reasonable investment.

But, if you also decide to hire someone to write your blog post or newsletter as well, it may be worth springing for a copywriter who has SEO training for that too.

That way all the eggs in your basket have that shiny gleam and are primed to attract the most organic traffic.

More on that in a bit, but first a special word about the rise of video content…

I’m Camera Shy… How Do I Approach Video Content?

You may be planning to launch a training business online, in which case, you’re going to have to get over being camera shy, because that’s kind of what you’re doing.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should make a big U-turn and run away from your brilliant idea. 

There are definitely places to find help. More on that in a minute. 

But, if you’re planning to open an in-person coaching practice, wellness center, or tutoring program, you may not be putting your course materials online.  

AND… it’s still in your best interest to generate some video content.

There are a ton of great ways to create video content today without being a talking head.

• You can record your screen while doing a demo of something and just use your voice.

• If you’re into animation, that can be a fun way to get your message across.

• You can even create some great content just using text, backgrounds, and music.

Either way, if you’re on camera or off, I highly recommend you use a prewritten video script.

Now, I know that sounds like the antithesis of authentic marketing.

Like, what are you an actor? Memorizing lines?

No, you’re supposed to be communicating openly and honestly with your clients.

But here’s the thing… you’re talking to an invisible audience through a recording video device. It’s contrived by nature. 

If you feel totally natural doing that, you’re probably not in your authentic skin anyway, because there’s nothing “natural” about it.

There’s really no difference between writing a video script before recording and revising a blog post before hitting publish.

You’re just making sure that your authentic truth is being captured with your words in the best way possible for your audience.

This is not an absolute must. I know coaches who don’t script at all, yet they create great videos.

But if you’re camera shy to begin with, I wouldn’t go that route.

Watch this short clip where I explain a little more in depth how scripting can help you communicate with even more presence…

Now, if you’re going to be coaching online and you have a hard time with the camera, the best thing you can do is practice, practice, practice.

When you call your family, opt for Facetime. When you have a networking call, ask if you can make it a Zoom. Just spend as much time getting comfortable in front of the camera as you can.

You can even hire an “acting” coach.

I know that may sound cheesy.

But I spent over a decade as a classically trained actor, and I can tell you that the best acting coaches don’t teach you how to pretend to feel anything while you’re communicating…

Instead, they teach you how to access your true emotions, just in front of an audience instead of in the quiet of your meditation space.

And since we’re talking about hiring someone. I know a lot of you may be thinking…

With all this content creation I’ll have to do,

Should I Hire a Copywriter for My Coaching Business?

Since I AM a copywriter, you’re probably assuming I’m going to say yes.

But I’m not going to give you a real yes or no on this one.

It’s actually a very personal choice.

If you hire someone to write for you, they’re going to be writing in your voice. It takes a lot of courage to open up your business and share that responsibility with someone else.

The upside is, of course, it frees you up to focus on creating your programming and working with your clients.

You’d still be the mastermind behind everything your business puts out, of course.

No content would be published without you signing off on the ideas, outlines, as many drafts as you want to include in the process, etc.

If you hire a writer for your marketing content, it’s important that you’re still steering the ship when it comes to the message you want to share with the world and how you’re going to share it.

The writer should just be doing the heavy lifting, putting in the hours on the page based on your vision and in tune with the work you’ve been inspired to create.

If you do decide to hire a writer, you want to follow this checklist before making the hire: 

1. Make sure they have some strong training in content marketing. SEO training is a plus.

2. Read some samples of their content to make sure they’re not focused on fear-based marketing, but instead offer great helpful content.

3. Have a conversation with them that makes you smile. This person is going to be representing you, your ideas and beliefs on the page. It’s important that you believe in them as a conduit for your message.

4. Do a trial post or web copy project.

With that last one, I’m not suggesting you should ask them to work for free.

But I wouldn’t hire someone to write for your business on a monthly retainer until you’ve worked together on a stand-alone project and you feel great about not only what they wrote, but about the way you work together.

If you think hiring someone is worth considering, you can check out my Services & Pricing to get a sense of what I do.

I hope this post has been helpful and that you’re ready to invite great success into your business by sharing your message with some of these tips.