Navigating the BS online (and Growing Your Coaching Biz)

Read time: 4.5 minutes

There's a lot of BS online.

And no shortage of "experts" who'll say their method is THE way.

How do you sift through the noise? By understanding the principles that apply no matter the approach being used. When you understand these, you'll not only be able to see through the crud being peddled by others, you'll be equipped to gracefully navigate market shifts and algorithm changes without freaking out.

Here's the five things you need to consistently do if you want a growing coaching business.

1. Regularly Get You + Your Message in Front of New People

If no one knows who you are, you're not going to be able to help anyone. Period. And if you're not regularly getting your message in front of new people, you're going to struggle to grow your business.

There's five main ways to get in front of new people.......

Referrals.
Organic Content.
Ads on IG/TikTok/YT.
Cold calling/Cold DM'ing.
Partnerships/Joint Ventures.

Let's go through each one.

Referrals

When someone knows what you do, trusts that you're good at it, and puts their rep on the line by sending someone they know your way.  Referrals are earned with quality work and reputation. They're also the most potent way for a new person to discover you.

Organic Content

This is one that I employ frequently because it feels like magic.

With my first business as a teen, I had to print flyers, go door to door asking store owners to carry my product, and fax info sheets to distributors in different cities. It was a grind. I'm in awe at how easy it now is to share ideas with people around the world.

It feels like cheating.

Certain platforms are better than others at giving you views. And certain content formats will get you more reach depending on the channel. Example: short videos > written posts when it comes to getting your message in front of new people on FB right now.

While LinkedIn is the opposite at the moment, written posts tend to get you in front of more new eyeballs there.

Ads on IG/TikTok/YT

I'm highlighting ads on the three channels you'd most likely leverage if you're a coach, but there's obviously countless places you could pay to get in front of new peeps. The upside? You can get in front of loads of new people quickly.

The downside?

The trust factor is lower when someone finds you via an ad.

Cold Calling/Cold DM'ing

Possibly the worst approach? I think so. You need to look no further than your LinkedIn or IG inbox for icky examples of this.

If you're going this route, I'm not the person to help you with this.

Partnerships/Joint Ventures

When someone already has a community or audience full of people that you'd love to serve and you give them either a percentage or a flat fee to have them intro you to their peeps. This approach benefits from an imbedded trust factor similar to referrals.

2. Give Them a Reason to Say Yes to More

Simply getting in front of new people isn't enough.

They need to connect with what you're saying and ideally give you permission to receive more of your messages. That's what people are doing when they follow you on a social channel, subscribe to your podcast, or sign-up to your newsletter.

How do you get them to voluntarily say yes to more?

By making them feel seen and heard, showing that you understand their problems, and providing them some sort of value.

But what the heck is valuable?

It can be helping them see a situation in a new light, pointing out a mistake they're making, or providing solutions to the challenges they face. But value doesn't only come from teaching. Making people laugh, feel inspired, or entertained are also incredibly valuable.

If you want your stuff to be extra potent, combine both teaching and entertainment into "edutainment."

Think about what you choose to subscribe to, the newsletters you regularly read, and the creators whose videos you go out of your way to watch. Why is that? It's because you feel you're getting something out of it.

3. Build Actual Relationships

Once people are in your orbit, the next step on the journey is building genuine relationships with them.

That means getting to know them and letting them get to know you. The most powerful ways to do this aren't scalable because they're personal: chatting with folks in the comments, talking to people in the DMs, and getting on intro calls with them.

If you want things to still feel intimate but better leverage your time: host workshops.

And if you're only creating shorter form content, without workshops, a book, an ebook, livestreams, a podcast, long form video on YT, or some other meatier content, you're missing out on a big opportunity. Why? If a person reads a bunch of your words or watches you extensively on video, they feel like they're "getting to know you".

Especially if you're showing your genuine personality and sharing your journey as part of your message.

Have you ever binged someone's content before booking a call, buying something from them, or investing in their program?

I know I have.

4. Make Them Offers

If you've gotten your message in front of them, given them a reason to say yes to getting more, and you've built a relationship, there's one bit missing for them to become clients.

You need to make offers.

It could be an offer to get on a discovery call or one to sign up to your program. Either way, you're extending an opportunity for them to take the next official step in your relationship.

There's two common mistakes I see people make when it comes to making offers.

The first one is more obvious: they don't extend any offers because they subconsciously fear rejection or they don't want to seem "salesy". But with no offers for people to say yes to, it's impossible for them to become clients.

The second mistake is they try to make offers too soon, before a relationship is built.

That can feel aggressive. Like trying to go in for a big kiss after only talking to a stranger for a few minutes. If you've done the previous three things well, you won't need to do any hard selling.

The right people will already be pre-enrolled in you and what you do.

5. Deliver Kickass Experiences

They've signed up and become a client so you're all done, right? Nope. The final step is delivering kickass experiences.

When clients are happy as pie, they tell others. 

I cheered when this message landed in my inbox a few weeks ago. Not because it was a potential new client, but because the person who referred her was also a referral. And the person that referred THAT person was also a referral.

This message represents a client referral chain that is four people deep!

Now go get your message in front of new people, give them a reason to say yes to more, build actual relationships, make them offers to take the next steps, and deliver kickass experiences so you can help more people.

I'll see you next week.

____________________________

This is where I gently make offers to you...

Die Before They Do
"It's not often I can read a book super fast, but this one had me hooked from the moment I saw the title and couldn't wait to figure out where it came from. Robb's stories are funny, relatable and heartfelt, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to bring more purpose and fun into their lives." - That's the most recent review of my book, Die Before They Do, on Amazon. 

Select 1:1 Coaching
If you're a coach who's already making six figures and looking to grow your business but not your stress, or maybe trying to figure out if you should focus on your TEDx Talk, your book, or your new program next, I work with a select number of clients 1:1. The next spot opens mid June. 

A New Way to Get My Mentorship
If you're a coach who's earlier in your journey, I'm in the final stages of creating a hybrid program that combines the power of community with the depth of 1:1 guidance so that you can get the clarity and clients you need. Sound interesting to you? Watch this space in the coming weeks.

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FREE WORKSHOP - JULY 12th
I'm doing something fun that I haven't done in a LONG TIME: A free workshop that's open to anyone (instead of just people in my private community). I'd love for you to join me at Clarity, Clients, and Confidence Without the BS on July 12th. You can check the details + sign-up here.