Life Coach: The 3 Things You Need to Start Getting New Clients

You Graduated – Now What? How do you start getting new clients?

So many new life coaches place all their attention on the things that they see other people doing. It makes sense, cause it doesn’t cost anything to look around at what seems to be working for other people.

So, what do we see other people doing?

• We see that they have great branding with their logo and colours perfectly curated.
• We see that they have a stunning website
• We see they are posting lots on different social media platforms,
• And we may see that they have some sort of freebie and email funnel.

So we try to copy these strategies, only finding ourselves overwhelmed and not getting new clients, or worse – paying people to help them with these things and then having to backtrack.

I did this. I already had the branding and design skills to make a great visual brand and website, and I placed my focus there for the first 6 months or so of my business. Guess how many clients I got? A whopping ZERO of course.

So, I paid a branding and marketing coach to help me set up my sales page and funnel.

Only to realize that I need to backtrack because I got ahead of myself.

You see, when we see people being successful in any field, we forget that we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. If you’re doing these things first it’s time to stop and redirect your focus to building your foundation first, that is all the parts of the iceberg that you don’t see.

So, what are those foundations? Where do you need to start placing your focus? Keep reading my friend!

3 Things You Need to Start Getting New Clients

If you’re just getting started, you likely have no following, no brand recognition, and limited social proof to get people to want to buy your services.

Because of this, you want to place your focus on three things, gaining confidence, creating social proof, and making money so you can invest in growing yourself and your business.

How do you do this?! You coach.

I know, I know it sounds frustrating. I remember when I was getting certified and they told us to get clients on the first call, I was so annoyed. HOW do I coach when I don’t have clients?

You have to start somewhere!

Your FIRST Offer

To start getting new clients you need to be clear on 3 things in relation to your FIRST offer. What is it, who is it for, and why should they buy it from you?

I highlight FIRST here because new coaches tend to get caught up in getting all this perfect. They focus on nailing down who their ideal client is and what niche they want to work in as though they’re making a lifetime commitment.

You’re not. You just need somewhere to start.

I heard this great analogy that it’s like riding a Unicycle. You would never expect to hop on one for the first time and ride it like a pro. In fact, if you do this, you are likely going to hurt yourself because you don’t have the skills yet.

Learning to ride takes incremental practice and persistence.

Watch this video if you don’t believe me! Learning To Ride My EUC Backwards Was Hilariously Hard

So, if you’re putting this beautiful website and professional sales page out there, but you’re not ready to coach on that level yet, you’re only going to make yourself more scared to do the thing… COACH.  

Let’s get clear on these 3 things so you can start getting new clients ASAP.

#1 What is your FIRST offer?

As a life coach, what are you selling?

If you answered coaching, I am sorry to say you are wrong.

You’re selling transformation, or the result that someone will get from working with you.

No one wants coaching. They want what coaching can do for them, and it is your job to show them what that is.

To get clear on this you need to understand where your clients are at now and how you’re going to help them get to where they want to be.

They are at (A) Their Pain Point and want to get to (B) Their Biggest Desire. How are you going to help them get from A to B? This is your FIRST 1-1 coaching offer.

What is the transformation you are going to guide your clients through?

#2 Who is your FIRST offer for?

As a life coach, it can be hard to pick a niche because you want to help everyone and we don’t want to leave anyone out, am I right?

Well, by keeping this mentality you are helping no one because no one can find you.

So, knowing exactly who your FIRST offer is for is extremely important to get you started with at least your first few clients.

Who wants what you’re offering?

Who doesn’t want what you’re offering?

And most importantly, who do you WANT to work with? Picking stressed moms because you think it is an easy buck is not going to give you the social proof you need to build the business of your dreams.

Yes, this is the ideal client work that you have probably been putting off because it feels daunting, and you don’t yet see its value. You want to help everyone, which we already established is helping no one, so I’m going to explain the value of understanding your ideal client.

I take acting classes. When preparing for a role actors take the time to make choices about who their character is so they can understand everything they can about them. What drives them? How do they move? How do they talk? What school did they go to? What is their relationship to their parents? What is their favourite band? The more you understand about your character, the more you can embody them truthfully. However, the audience never knows these things, the actor does all that preparation, and what the audience sees is a real person that they can connect with.

Ideal client work is the same. The more you know them, the more real you are when you’re showing up in your marketing. The more real you are the more people are going to connect with you. Not because they are that “ideal client” person, but because you made them feel connected to something real. You created a relationship.

So, get really specific about who is going to buy your offer, know what side of the bed they like to sleep on and what their favourite dessert is.

But remember, this doesn’t need to be your life’s work. You’re experimenting right now.

Like passion and purpose, your niche will be uncovered over time. It is ok to get it wrong. You can tweak it as much as you need!

#3 Why should people buy your FIRST offer from you?

Let’s face it, there are TONS of life coaches out there and most of them are offering 1-1 coaching packages in some form. What’s more, most of them already have social proof and have been investing in their business for a lot longer than you.

So why should people buy from you? What do you have to offer that is unique?

The answer is incredibly simple. The answer is YOU.

You are unique, no one else in the world can offer what you do. So, your prospective clients need to know who you are.

What is your story?

What transitions in your life led to you becoming the person you are today?

Why did you choose to be a coach?

Don’t answer that question with, “I want to help people”. Of course, you do. Why do you want to help them?

I was a high school teacher and brand consultant before I became a productivity coach. I chose to change careers because I noticed that there are so many skills that the public school system is not equipped to teach. Even as a career ed. teacher, I struggled to fit some really important life skills into the curriculum I taught. So, I decided that being a coach would allow me to help bridge that gap.

What is your why?

What experiences do you bring to the table?

Owning your story and sharing it is how you get people to connect with you and buy from you.

To start getting new clients, share your story everywhere you can on your social media accounts as graphics, captions, and videos. Also, create a Google Doc or email with your offer and your story to share with potential clients.

Getting the Word Out

So you’ve figured out what your first offer is, nailed down who it’s for and why they should buy from you. Now it’s time to use all this to get some social proof and revenue to propel your business forward.

The best way to start getting new clients (and start making money!) is to leverage your existing network. You’ve probably (hopefully) done a lot of free coaching up until this point and I know you’re ready to start getting paid.

However, I am going to suggest that you pick one thing related to your offer and create a free mini-offer out of it to share with anyone and everyone in your network. As them to pass it on to anyone they think may be interested, then follow up!

For example, a lot of my first 1-1 coaching offer was around building sustainable habits to support creating a life vision. My mini-offer was a Free 30min Better Habits Assessment.

I would begin the call by giving the client an outline of what to expect, and let them know that at the end of the call I will talk about how they can continue to work with me. Then I would ask some questions that would uncover what habits they are trying to create, have them choose the one that is going to be the most beneficial to their goals, and I would help them make a plan to create the habit. Then I would tell them about my full program.

Another strategy that you can build on top of this is offering a “founding clients” package for your full offer. Basically, at the end of the assessment call you would let the client know that you are putting together a brand-new program (tell them about the program and how it would be perfect for them), and that you’re only taking on 5 “founding” clients to help you work out the kinks and become case studies. In exchange, you’re offering a killer discount.

It doesn’t have to be complicated!

Conclusion

For getting new clients and coming up with your FIRST offer, you want to remember two more things.

First, you are the guide of the story, not the hero.

This is important in any business, but especially in life coaching. Everyone is the hero in their OWN story. They’re not looking for someone to come and take that role. They’re looking for the Yoda to their Luke, or the Haymitch to their Katniss. Understanding this helps you keep your clients front and center in your marketing, so you can focus on their needs and what they are saying, not what you wish they were saying.

Second, remember that you can, and will, (AND SHOULD) change all this later. It is all just to get you started.

Now stop searching the Interwebs for how to start getting new clients and start with these above steps.

Seriously. Start. Now.

What are you waiting for? We believe in you!!