Stop Waiting for Referrals. Start Creating Demand Instead

Today, I'm going to show you how to start generating demand for you + your services.

When you learn how to do this, you'll no longer need to compete with every other coach who is either hoping for referrals or chasing the few folks who are actively looking for help at any given time. You'll begin to create your own market. One where people see you as their obvious choice.  

Unfortunately, most coaches don't know how to generate demand for their services.  

• Their messaging ignores people earlier in the journey

• They have no way for someone to dive in deeper

• They're not leading people down a path  

I'm going to show you how to change this so you can begin creating demand for what you offer.

Let's get into it....  

Wake Up Folks Who Are Earlier on Their Path

This is so important because when you don't understand it, you're missing out on almost everyone who could become a client. Let's imagine for a moment that you're a career coach who helps people find their dream jobs. Think of all the people that you know you could help and imagine them on a spectrum.

On one end, there's those who are completely unaware of their problem.

They have no idea that they could have a better, happier, and healthier reality (both at work and in their personal life) if they changed jobs. They don't even realize they're stuck. On the opposing end, there's a group that's so damn fed up with the pain caused by their micromanaging boss, the toxic work culture, and the fact that the work they do feels meaningless that they're actively looking to change careers. 

Between those two extremes...

There's those who may be feeling some frustrations, but aren't sure if they want to take any action. If and when people do get to the point where they decide they actually want to do something to improve their situation, they start looking for possible solutions. They might scour YouTube for free advice, ask friends, buy a book, sign-up for a workshop, or hire a coach.

And some go through that entire journey.

They do all of those things on their way to making a change. But here's the thing: the percentage of people who are actively seeking a solution for whatever it is you help people achieve is small. Most data suggests it's between 1-3% of the market. 

That means 97-99% of your potential clients aren't currently looking to invest in whatever you offer.  

So if you're talking about the different ways to alleviate the pain to people who are not even aware of their problem, you message won't land. And people also don't want to hear about why your coaching is the best solution for them to achieve X if they haven't decided that they're going to take action. It's why those cold salesy pitchslap DMs feel so gross unless you just so happen to be actively looking for that kind of a solution at that time.  

What does talking to the other 97-99% look like?  

I recently saw this video for natural soap on Instagram. It included this message: "Did you know that your body wash is so full of chemicals that the FDA classifies it as a detergent?".

It stopped me in my tracks.

Up to that point, I was happily using my big brand body wash. Now I was questioning everything and reconsidering if I was doing the right thing for my body + health.

Ask yourself: what do my Dream Clients need to see + believe for them to take the next step + decide they probably need to take action?

The answer to that question probably includes:

• Admit that they actually do have a problem

• Believe the pain of ignoring that problem far outweighs the pain of continuing to pretend it doesn't exist

• See that you truly understand them and what they're going through

• And believe that you're credibly able to help them get the results they're after.  

This is what you want your messaging to help them do.

Create A Way for People to Get More

Many miss the mark here because they don't create any longer form content. If you're only sharing your message in scrollable feeds, you're missing immense opportunity. Think of the state of mind someone is in when they're scrolling on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

They're often "killing time".

They're avoiding their work, ignoring their kids, or stretching out their time on the toilet.  They don't want your huge 3000 word deep-dive write up or your thirteen minute how-to video. Nope.

They want to be entertained, inspired, distracted, and maybe learn a LITTLE.

It's in a completely different state of mind than someone who's searching for a solution on YouTube, intentionally reading a newsletter, or listening to a podcast. Publishing shorter content is a great way for new people to discover you + to stay top of mind. But you also want to create a way for those people who are interested in what you have to dive in deeper.

Bingers are buyers.

You want to give the folks who are looking to learn more an easy way to spend additional time with you, your ideas, your insights, and your thinking. It's one of the reasons why I have all the back issues of my newsletter on my website, ungated.

Guide Them With Clear Next Steps  

You're almost there.

Now that you're creating messaging that connects with people earlier in their journey and you're publishing longer content, all you need to do is lead them down the path to start creating demand for your services. You have to make deliberate invites. You could have the most helpful newsletter for your Dream Clients, the funniest podcast in your industry, or the most inspiring in-person event, but if no one knows about it, you've wasted all your time + energy creating it.

Make the next step clear + invite them to it.

If you want to be their guide as they move on their journey, you need to make the path easy and clear for them. Illuminate it. Because it's hard for people to take action if you don't have calls to action.

And here's where it gets really fun...  

When you meet people earlier in their journey + are the one guiding them down the path to take action, you begin generating demand for your services. When you're the one leading the way, you're creating trust, you're building relationships, and the people you're guiding are most likely to choose you as the person to help them get closer to their goal when they decide the time is right. I frequently have people sign up to work with me 3 months, 9 months, a year, or even two years after we first connect.

Now go be the leader that I know you are so you can help more people + have more impact.

See you next Saturday.

-R

P.S. We're only one freaking week out from DO BOLD SH!T. You can grab one of the last spots here.