People buy from those they know, like and trust. This means getting yourself visible and building credibility. Ryan James Lock wrote a super guest post for The Land of Brand recently on how to raise your profile as a coach but in my view his sound advice works well for most professionals. He shared 8 tips for getting well known (and well paid !). I’ve repeated them verbatim below.
Reframe Promotion
It’s normal to have some anxiety around promoting yourself and your work. Things like “What will people think about me?” “Am I being egotistical?” will surely come up. As a coach, you have a gift that can really help people to make changes in their lives! Own that! Think of promoting yourself as a way of reaching more people who you can help with your work.
Understand Yourself As A Brand
I’m really big on this one. Everyone has a unique way of doing things and a specific set of obstacles that they have overcome and been through. This is what makes you, YOU. When it comes to coaching, people buy your personality rather than your qualifications. Learn to own who you are and what makes you unique as a coach. When you are authentic, you literally magnetize the right people to you.
Position Yourself In Front Of Clients Not Peers
When it comes to knowing which publications (websites, magazines, newspapers, radio stations, blogs etc) are right for you, think about the ones that your ideal clients read rather than your peers. By putting yourself in front of your ideal clients and giving them your expert advice you naturally become the go to person for them.
Own Your Expertise
A tricky one for most people I coach is understanding that they already ARE an expert. Something I say in my training program and to my private clients is “The things that are day to day and normal for you can be life changing to your clients.” All of the things that you have been through and learned are what make you an expert. Learning to own your expert status does wonders for business to! People don’t hire coaches who “think” they can help them and editors don’t run stories on people who “sort of” know how to help. Get it?
Create How-To Pieces
I love coaching clients on this. Taking what you know and putting it into articles that help people is one of the best ways to quickly establish yourself as an expert and the go to person for your clients. What can you put into a how-to piece? You’ll want to make it relevant to the type of coaching that you want clients to come to you for. It doesn’t have to be hard, just think about things that you can share with people to help them!
Tell YOUR Story
The money is in the message. The more you let people get to know you and your story, the easier it will be to get clients. In a recent class, I told students that “people buy resonance, let them see who you are”. We have this pre conceived idea that as coaches we need to be perfect or have it all together but we don’t. What we need to do is show who we are and the steps we take. When I left London and moved to Ibiza I wrote a piece called “Why I had to change my life, and 7 ways you can too!” it made the front page of a popular website and got me some new clients. What can you share?
Place A Q&A
A fabulous way of positioning yourself as an expert is to get Q&A style pieces with you published. This can be tricky if you are brand new but it’s not impossible. They key is to find a strong reason for the piece. You could say something like “Growing your business FAST! 5 minutes with….” Or whatever works for you. I had a piece published by an editor friend of mine called “Thinking BIG with Ryan James Lock” which was brilliant for business. Bonus tip: If journalists are busy, offer to write the whole thing yourself and supply great pictures!
What’s In It For Me?
Getting a story published is actually much easier than you think, it just takes a shift in thinking. An editors main concern is their readers. Instead of asking people to write about you and your work or publish a piece (which doesn’t really work) offer them a strong piece that their readers will love, that’s how you totally change peoples reaction, you offer them something amazing. Another strategy when making contact is to ask “What can I do to make this an easy yes for you?” Journalists are busy and often inundated with hundreds of e-mails and phone calls, not to mention working to a deadline so if you can offer then a story or piece that involves less work for them and more value for their readers, your in!
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Ryan James Lock works with coaches, consultants and small business owners on how to grow their personal brand, raise their profile and increase their income and sales through his unique approach of mind set, publicity, sales and branding. For more information on Ryan’s training programs you can go to: www.beingyourownpublicist.com/coaching or e-mail Ryan@beingyourownpublicist.com |
