So, you’ve started a coaching business? Congratulations!

You’ve joined roughly six million other professionals worldwide dedicating their time to help people make progress and achieve greater fulfillment in their lives. Starting a successful life coaching business is no piece of cake. And I know this because I did it.

In the early days, there’s bound to be a lot of excitement and motivation. But the most challenging part of it all is what happens or (doesn’t happen) next; promoting your business online to help your coaching career take off. And believe me, friends, this is where the hard work begins.

7 Cost-Effective Tactics to Promote & Grow Your Coaching Business Online

The age-long business concept of “if you build it, they will come” is not a reliable strategy in an industry where you’re in competition with millions of other professionals. Fortunately, there are billions of prospective clients out there with nearly a thousand ways to pique their interest.

To grow a coaching business that will help you land new clients consistently, make money to achieve your personal goals, and remain hugely successful in the long haul, you’ll need to;

•       build a community and generate buzz around your coaching business; and
•       foster connection with prospects and clients through layered communication and results-driven brand building strategies.

The digital space offers several opportunities to help you position your brand and business closer to the people who are most in need of your services. It’s no doubt a tough challenge but here’s how to do it;

1.  Build a professional website

In a world where the robustness of your online presence greatly impacts your business success, you’ll need a website as one of the first things to do when building your online presence.

And we’re not talking about a hurriedly-put-together blocks of texts and images.

You’ll be better served by a professional business website that actually works for you. Check out  the new grant in BC for online by Sunbowl  systems. This would begin the process of creating your digital footprint and shaping your online reputation and branding. It would also serve as your office on the web, open 24/7, helping clients and prospects discover your coaching business and learn more about your skills and approach.

In most cases, this might be beyond the scope of what you can do.

While there are resources on the web that can guide you through the process of setting up your website, you might also consider getting the service of a professional website designer.

Having a website can significantly boost your profile for people searching for your website online. It would also contain all of your social media links, making it easier for people to engage you further. Having a great website can significantly impact your credibility, authority, and visibility, all of which would be critical to your success as a coach.

2.  Blog and publish valuable content regularly

As much as 91% of adults use search engines to search for information online, according to the Pew Research Center.  This presents a great opportunity to engage your audience via blogging.

The idea behind this is to create highly valuable, engaging and informative content for your audience. You can start a blog of your own or consider guest blogging. Better still, do both.

Providing value consistently for your audience gives you a shot at drawing in more website traffic from blog posts that rank high on search engine results pages.

For your career, this can mean a huge boost to your credibility and authority. And businesswise, the greater visibility can help you build a healthy stream of client leads to boost sales.

Blogging requires a great deal of effort and consistency. It’s not an overnight thing but this online marketing method can make a world of difference for your coaching business in the long run. 

3.  Create valuable and engaging videos on YouTube

YouTube also presents ample opportunity to promote your coaching business if you can effectively harness this potential. Vlogging, as this type of marketing is known, is a lot like blogging as you’re creating valuable content to engage a target audience.

Noteworthy statistics;

•       79% of internet users have a YouTube account.
•       Over 2 billion people visit YouTube every month; and
•       Every day, people watch over a billion hours of video on YouTube

YouTube is like the internet’s second-largest search engine. And chances are a large proportion of your target audience is already on this platform.

Building a following here can be quite challenging when you’re starting from scratch. But if you’re focused on providing true quality for your audience on a consistent basis, your efforts will pay off over time. In the same way like blogging, this can mean a greater visibility and credibility boost for your business.

Pro tip: Make a video using free online video tools.

4.  Leverage social media to drive audience engagement

More than half of the entire global population is now on social media with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter having the lion’s share. By now, you hardly need anyone to point out how important social media can be to promoting your coaching business online.

Social media has always been the best strategy to initiate conversations and drive engagements on different topics and issues. And as a coach, you want to steer your content in this area towards your expertise so you can attract the right audience. This is a low-cost method to engage your audience, demonstrate your skills and expertise, generate new leads, and drive traffic to your website.

5.  Take advantage of email advertising

You should also consider building an email list as part of your business promotions strategy. Most people often underrated this method of seo and digital marketing, but email marketing boasts one of the highest ROI of most marketing strategies.

As a matter of fact, email automation is deemed The King of marketing automation, making it a must-have for any business in 2021 and beyond. 

While there are a host of different methods to get your audience’s email addresses such as providing high-value gated content that requires users to sign up, among other things, the end goal is to leverage this strategy to regularly send out newsletters promoting your coaching business and expertise.

These emails could be anything from informing readers about your latest blog posts or educating them on new industry trends. This strategy helps keep your business fresh in the minds of your audience by demonstrating your expertise. It can help you acquire new leads or subsequently turn cold leads into paying clients.

6.  Collaborate with influencers in your niche

Influencer marketing is also a great way to get more exposure for your business.

This involves finding authority figures or influencers in your niche who have built the audience/following you’d want to reach. Collaborating with relevant influencers in your niche for endorsements and mentions can help you reach a wide audience even if you’re yet to have thousands of followers of your own.

7.  Consider paid advertising

If your budget can allow it, paid advertising on search engines such as AdWords and on social media platforms can also help boost your visibility to a wider audience.

This method costs more but is a surefire way to advertise your business when starting from scratch. Paid advertising platforms offer targeting options so you can be sure your ads will reach the ideal audience. This helps maximize returns on your advertising dollars more effectively.

Conclusion

Starting a coaching business is one thing. But staying successful is a different ball game. Along with offering high-quality and highly valuable services, marketing (both online and offline) would also greatly impact your long-term success.

From creating a website to build a robust online presence to leveraging social media platforms to drive engagement, the recommendations above will go a long way to help you promote your business online, reach new prospects, stay top-of-mind with current clients, and build a successful coaching business that can stand the test of time.

Author’s Bio:

Bijan Kholghi is the founder of www.coaching-online.org and a life coach with a special psychological education in hypno-systemic coaching. His teacher Dr. Gunther Schmidt is the founder of Milton Erickson Institute in Heidelberg (Germany), a direct student of Milton H. Erickson, and a leading figure in psychotherapy education in Europe. His highly effective coaching and therapy method helps people