By Mike Watson – Two Brain Coaching One-on-one Course Mentor
I’m well overdue for a follow up to my October 2020 article in which we talked about helping a coach develop their niche!
Check it out here:
In the article I highlighted two important discussion topics that come up in my mentor sessions with coaches in the One-on-One Coaching course.
Specifically,
- Understanding and developing their niche
- Taking the initiative to drive their own business and creating their own opportunities through content creation
We addressed the first topic in the previous article. Today I’d like to dive into the second point as this has become a frequent topic of discussion with owners as their coaches work through the course.
One of the best ways to go hungry as a personal trainer is to wait for business to come to you.
I don’t care how great your programming, your facility or your equipment are. If you don’t have a plan to put yourself in front of your paying audience, you will not succeed in this business.
I started coaching before social media was a thing.
When I met my wife over a decade ago she was shocked at how many people I knew in our city. “You know someone everywhere we go!” she’d say to me. It wasn’t because I was a socialite, but because I had built my personal training clientele by talking to anyone and everyone who would let me.
I spoke at businesses about healthy habits while their employees picked at veggie platters instead of their normal lunches.
I spoke at banquets for every sport you can think of. As a struggling young coach the opportunity for free pasta and meatballs was too good to say no to!
I joined our local running and cycling groups. I even started an adult dodgeball league sponsored by the gym!
All of these interactions helped me to meet people in my community who had similar interests and goals. They also allowed me to get to know people on a personal level and for them to learn about, and trust me.
By establishing their trust I build my client base.
Today’s coaches have an opportunity to put themselves in front of a larger audience much more easily by hitting record on a cell phone or posting a blog. They can do this at any time of the day and reach people anywhere in the world!
While the process with posting content to social media to develop a client base is different, the goal remains the same:
- Show people who you are.
- Show people how much you know and how much you can help them.
The barrier I see with many coaches (new and experienced) is that they don’t know where to start or what to talk about when posting on social media. They’re almost crippled by indecision.
The following tips should help to create some momentum:
- Talk about things that you are passionate about and related to the clients you would like to attract. If you’re passionate about something, the topics and information will be easy to come by.
- Find out what questions or problems your potential client base is dealing with and produce content to provide answers. Does your client base have questions about exercise technique? Provide them with the answer!
- Be consistent. Plan out your social media posts a week, or a month at a time. This is called batching content and is a great way to keep track of your ideas and to keep yourself on schedule to put this information in front of your potential clients so that you become a regular voice in their lives. Some coaches will pick a theme for each day of the week (Motivation Monday, Bright Spot Friday, etc) and create topics to fit the theme.
- Be yourself! You don’t need to be perfect, you just need to be you. Find a way to convey your message that is comfortable for you as this will come across as more genuine and consistent.
Strong coaching careers are built on your ability to develop relationships. Social media is a great way to get yourself in front of your potential audience so that you can start to develop those relationships.
While social media is a valuable tool, remember that there is still a huge benefit in also doing things the old school way – getting out and meeting people and developing in-person relationships and trust.
After all, you don’t get free meatballs by posting on Instagram.