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How Do You Market Coaching Services During a Sluggish Economy?

For several years now, I've had the pleasure of writing and editing content for life coaches, business coaches, and other types of coaches who advertise their services on the web. I've been wondering for the past year or so how the changing economy will affect the business these folks bring in. In tough times, are people as likely as they were before to solicit the services of a coach? If you are a coach, how can you be sure that the approach you're taking with your marketing will attract the RIGHT people - the ones who are still ready and willing to pay despite a poor economy?

This is my thinking on the marketing of coaching businesses, and I feel pretty emphatically about this - so if you disagree, you'd best step back ;) and seek your marketing services from a more wishy-washy service provider:

All you coaches who continue to speak generically in your copywriting have GOT to stop it right now. You're committing the cardinal sin that every inexperienced marketer makes: trying to appeal to everyone, when really the most powerful method of getting paying clients would be to TARGET.

I feel like a broken record as I utter this yet again, but if you're a coach and you're writing articles with titles like "How to Reduce Stress Levels," I have news for you: this is NOT going to bring in the people who are desperate to hire a coach right this second. Instead, you might attract other coaches who are busy poking around on the websites of the competition. Or maybe you might attract the midnight Googler who is just fishing around for something to read and stumbles upon your article but has no real interest in soliciting your services.

No - "5 Ways to Get Happy" is not going to get you far, and here's why. Coaches help people for a living. They work with all kinds of clients who have all kinds of problems. Some coaching clients might be struggling to get over a painful relationship. Some are looking to break out of their dead-end job. Some find themselves drowning in the responsibilities that come with having a home based business and no life. And even though all of them have a few things in common - they want a better life for themselves, and they need help setting and achieving their goals - when they hit the search engines looking for relief from their pains, I would bet you my left arm that they are NOT typing in "how to be happy."

Rather, I believe that people with serious problems search for specific solutions for those problems, right at the Google search box. No, they are not looking for "stress relief," they want a remedy for the actual source of their stress, whatever it may be at the time. Maybe today they're stressed over their toddler's bad behavior. Or maybe they want to know how to cure their crippling insomnia without drugs. Perhaps your search-engine-seeking future client longs for someone to confirm if her husband is, in fact, abusive or whether it's "all in her head."

Your future coaching client might be hunting Google for answers as to "why I am fat" (see search results in the 8,000 per month range). He wants to know how to bring the spark back to his sex life, how to quit her job, how she will ever deal with being a full time working mom.

They're searching for other people who as driven insane by their family members around the holidays as they are. They're seeking out other women who are grieving the early death of their spouse. Maybe they are having trouble adjusting from city to small-town life, and are hunting for commisseration on that topic.

Your future client is NOT searching for "how to set a good goal" or "ways to quiet the negative self talk". The reason he or she isn't looking for this is because average people with real problems generally don't know what "negative self talk" is. But they might be looking for relief from "negative thoughts" or " symptoms of depression." The point I'm making here, again, is that your hot prospects (the ones ready to buy) want SPECIFIC answers to SPECIFIC problems. In fact - they're pretty much at their wit's end right now.

If you fill all of your articles with generic information, you're passing up a ready audience with very real issues who are willing to pay to have you help solve them. Not only that, but your future clients want real stories they can relate to; practical advice (not fluffy, New Age woo-woo talk). They want tales of hope, and inspiring and encouraging words.

That said, coaches must understand how critically important it is to be highly TARGETED in your marketing to people with problems.

You may ask, "But if I only market to women who are getting a divorce, won't I be passing up all the single clients who may also require the guidance of a coach?" No, you won't... because for one month (or two, or three, or for however long you want to run it)... you will be focusing your marketing ONLY on divorced women. You will write articles, publish tips, run programs, and sell advice, on how to survive a divorce.

Then, later on, after attracting SPECIFIC clients who have this IMMEDIATE problem (in this case, the pain of divorce) that begs to be solved, you will shift to a different audience and a different problem. Then, once again, you will hammer the web heavy and hard with content and materials that cover this new segment of readers.

During the months that you market ONLY to people who, say, feel self conscious about their weight, you're going to have to ignore the rest of the world, who might be skinny but have other problems like they can't make their minds up about what they want to be when they grow up, or they can't manage their finances alone, or what-have-you. Don't worry - just because you're not talking to them now, doesn't mean you can't START talking to them later and drive them in to seek your help in herds, because you can.

Here's a good rule of thumb for coaches who write and publish articles. Ask yourself, "Who am I talking to today? What problem am I trying to solve?" If the answer is something vague like "people with low motivation" then you can bet the article isn't going to do much to entice a new client or re-interest an old one.

You must understand that generic marketing that talks to everyone will actually appeal to no one. If you're a coach who feels anxious about attracting and retaining business in the coming years, then heed my words. Get SPECIFIC with your marketing approach, or seek a new profession.

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Copywriting and Marketing Categories article marketing and copywriting tips Branding Tips Blogging Tips Email Newsletter Tips grammar advice persuasive copywriting tips sales letter copywriting tips search engine copywriting tips technical aspects of copywriting the copywriting client web copywriting and marketing tips One Dollar Consulting Special Send $1 via PayPal, then email your most pressing questions about marketing to dina@wordfeeder.com today. for corporate clients copywriting for coaches copywriting for web designers Landscaping Marketing real estate copywriting copywriting for the specialty food industry technology marketing & copywriting	Custom Search How Do You Market Coaching Services During a Sluggish Economy? by Dina Giolitto For several years now, I've had the pleasure of writing and editing content for life coaches, business coaches, and other types of coaches who advertise their services on the web. I've been wondering for the past year or so how the changing economy will affect the business these folks bring in. In tough times, are people as likely as they were before to solicit the services of a coach? If you are a coach, how can you be sure that the approach you're taking with your marketing will attract the RIGHT people - the ones who are still ready and willing to pay despite a poor economy? This is my thinking on the marketing of coaching businesses, and I feel pretty emphatically about this - so if you disagree, you'd best step back ;) and seek your marketing services from a more wishy-washy service provider: All you coaches who continue to speak generically in your copywriting have GOT to stop it right now. You're committing the cardinal sin that every inexperienced marketer makes: trying to appeal to everyone, when really the most powerful method of getting paying clients would be to TARGET. I feel like a broken record as I utter this yet again, but if you're a coach and you're writing articles with titles like "How to Reduce Stress Levels," I have news for you: this is NOT going to bring in the people who are desperate to hire a coach right this second. Instead, you might attract other coaches who are busy poking around on the websites of the competition. Or maybe you might attract the midnight Googler who is just fishing around for something to read and stumbles upon your article but has no real interest in soliciting your services. No - "5 Ways to Get Happy" is not going to get you far, and here's why. Coaches help people for a living. They work with all kinds of clients who have all kinds of problems. Some coaching clients might be struggling to get over a painful relationship. Some are looking to break out of their dead-end job. Some find themselves drowning in the responsibilities that come with having a home based business and no life. And even though all of them have a few things in common - they want a better life for themselves, and they need help setting and achieving their goals - when they hit the search engines looking for relief from their pains, I would bet you my left arm that they are NOT typing in "how to be happy." Rather, I believe that people with serious problems search for specific solutions for those problems, right at the Google search box. No, they are not looking for "stress relief," they want a remedy for the actual source of their stress, whatever it may be at the time. Maybe today they're stressed over their toddler's bad behavior. Or maybe they want to know how to cure their crippling insomnia without drugs. Perhaps your search-engine-seeking future client longs for someone to confirm if her husband is, in fact, abusive or whether it's "all in her head." Your future coaching client might be hunting Google for answers as to "why I am fat" (see search results in the 8,000 per month range). He wants to know how to bring the spark back to his sex life, how to quit her job, how she will ever deal with being a full time working mom. They're searching for other people who as driven insane by their family members around the holidays as they are. They're seeking out other women who are grieving the early death of their spouse. Maybe they are having trouble adjusting from city to small-town life, and are hunting for commisseration on that topic. Your future client is NOT searching for "how to set a good goal" or "ways to quiet the negative self talk". The reason he or she isn't looking for this is because average people with real problems generally don't know what "negative self talk" is. But they might be looking for relief from "negative thoughts" or " symptoms of depression." The point I'm making here, again, is that your hot prospects (the ones ready to buy) want SPECIFIC answers to SPECIFIC problems. In fact - they're pretty much at their wit's end right now. If you fill all of your articles with generic information, you're passing up a ready audience with very real issues who are willing to pay to have you help solve them. Not only that, but your future clients want real stories they can relate to; practical advice (not fluffy, New Age woo-woo talk). They want tales of hope, and inspiring and encouraging words. That said, coaches must understand how critically important it is to be highly TARGETED in your marketing to people with problems. You may ask, "But if I only market to women who are getting a divorce, won't I be passing up all the single clients who may also require the guidance of a coach?" No, you won't... because for one month (or two, or three, or for however long you want to run it)... you will be focusing your marketing ONLY on divorced women. You will write articles, publish tips, run programs, and sell advice, on how to survive a divorce. Then, later on, after attracting SPECIFIC clients who have this IMMEDIATE problem (in this case, the pain of divorce) that begs to be solved, you will shift to a different audience and a different problem. Then, once again, you will hammer the web heavy and hard with content and materials that cover this new segment of readers. During the months that you market ONLY to people who, say, feel self conscious about their weight, you're going to have to ignore the rest of the world, who might be skinny but have other problems like they can't make their minds up about what they want to be when they grow up, or they can't manage their finances alone, or what-have-you. Don't worry - just because you're not talking to them now, doesn't mean you can't START talking to them later and drive them in to seek your help in herds, because you can. Here's a good rule of thumb for coaches who write and publish articles. Ask yourself, "Who am I talking to today? What problem am I trying to solve?" If the answer is something vague like "people with low motivation" then you can bet the article isn't going to do much to entice a new client or re-interest an old one. You must understand that generic marketing that talks to everyone will actually appeal to no one. If you're a coach who feels anxious about attracting and retaining business in the coming years, then heed my words. Get SPECIFIC with your marketing approach, or seek a new profession. Go to the page where we list all copywriting and marketing articles Ever Dreamed of Earning Your Living Writing Copy for the Web? Now's your chance to learn all there is to know about how to launch, organize and successfully run an online writing and editing business from the comfort of your home office. Get on the list for our upcoming guide, "The Nitty Gritty of How to Start a Writing or Editing Business on the Web." Learn more by clicking this link! No time to read right now? Simply fill out the form below! We'll contact you as soon as the guide is ready for public consumption. Thanks. Want more? Sign up for Word Food, our Copywriting and Marketing Newsletter. get a copywriting or website marketing quote Thanks for visiting Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing. If you're interested in a copywriting, web design or web marketing quote, please include project details such as: Type of Project (web copy, sales letter, articles, etc.) General Project Details (target audience, product, etc.) Number of Pages Links to Previous Ads Links to Competitor Ads Whom You'd Like to Emulate (or not emulate!) Anticipated Due Date Please email to Dina@Wordfeeder.com with the subjectline "Copywriting Quote". Need a referral for a web designer, virtual assistant or search engine optimization expert? Just say the word! We work with only the best service providers. Thanks! 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How Do You Market Coaching Services During a Sluggish Economy?

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