There is a saying that “What helps people, helps business.” It is an insightful phrase originally coined by Leo Burnett. People in the career coaching profession, overwhelmingly, want to help others find their vocation, the passion of their life’s work and a career that makes a worthwhile contribution to society. Sometimes, they fall short of these ideals but when they hit the mark it is as rewarding an endeavor as you could ask for. 

We are continuing forward in our marketing series for those who want to start a private career coaching practice as a side gig or full-time. These blogs are designed to give you a wealth of information and direction when it comes to marketing your career coaching practice. So far, we have given you information on how to shift your mentality when it comes to marketing and how to get clarity in developing and communicating your brand. We have, also, spent some time figuring out what services and products you will offer in your business and how you will set pricing and income goals.

The marketing journey has methods

In this blog, we want to help you take the next step in your marketing journey by considering the methods of marketing you want to use and how to determine your marketing expenses. Finding the right methods isn’t easy, but it is doable.  Having taken the time to create a formula for what you want to say and who your target audience is will quickly help you winnow down the marketing method options to a select group. 

How my mission statement or tagline relates

At this point, you will also want to take some time to think about and research how your mission statement and tagline reflect both what you want to convey as well as how they will be perceived by your ideal client.  A “tagline” is a saying or a slogan for your business. If that doesn’t feel like your style, then don’t use one. The key is to make sure all aspects of your marketing approach are consistent and on brand. This was covered extensively on our blog about branding. This includes things such as your messaging, your logo, the colors, font sizes and styles and images you utilize to represent your career coaching practice. 

Make the most of your time

To budget your marketing time effectively, only choose a mix of two to three methods to focus on and learn about at one time. As you research the marketing methods you think will reach your target audience, consider organizing the information in a spreadsheet like the example below to help you figure out the return on investment of your time, energy, and budget for each strategy identified.

The importance of creating a marketing plan up front

A marketing plan created when you are starting to build your practice will provide you with deadlines, consistency, and you can investigate reasonably priced scheduling systems while you have time and don’t have clients.  No matter how busy you get in your practice, you will always need to keep marketing. To avoid pitfalls and speed the process up, it can be helpful to seek out advice and mentoring from a few people who are already successfully marketing a robust career practice.

Also, keep in mind that a marketing plan does not have to be complicated.  Some marketing plans can be done in three hours. Don’t let marketing fall by the wayside; plan and implement today and reap the benefits for years to come. 

Examples of marketing methods used by the Empowered Entrepreneur Program

Below are some specific marketing methods we are using here at the Empowered Entrepreneur Program (EEP) that might give you some ideas for your marketing:

Knowing that Facebook is utilized by our two target audiences, career coaches and clients, we created a group called “Finding Your Right-Fit Career Coach”. The group is designed for people seeking coaches and coaches trained through our EEP program to seek clients.  It’s a group where people ask coaches questions, and their questions are answered by career coaches. The group is designed for people to get information on career coaching in general and connect to a “right-fit” career coach specifically. We offer a Starter Guide on Career Coaching and tips and questions to ask a potential coach. It’s easy to see how this is a potentially low-cost, high yield time investment.

We also know that a large portion of our target audiences read blogs to learn about services and to find tips on building a private coaching practice. So we at the Empowered Entrepreneur Program, publish a weekly blog and a monthly newsletter. You are reading one of our weekly blogs in a series of marketing blogs designed to give private career coaches valuable information on marketing their practices effectively.

A caveat to keep in mind when marketing your practice

The 80/20 rule says that 80% of your marketing should be relevant and interesting content and 20% should be advertising for your products or services. A good example of this is the very thing you are reading. People don’t want to be bombarded with sales pitches all the time. You need to build trust and credibility with your ideal customer before they will buy. 

Figuring out your marketing expenses

Once you decide which marketing methods you would like to employ, it’s time to look at and determine what your marketing expenses will be. Include things like platform fees and add ons, travel, and printing of materials. You will also want to devise a way to measure your marketing methods’ success so you can determine if you need to tweak it or try something else all together.

We have covered how to start to think about marketing methods and looked at a few low-cost, high-yield options. Now that you know there are steps, and we have laid them out for you, you can get started setting your marketing goals, creating marketing campaigns and materials and tracking your results to find the best marketing methods for your career coaching practice. As we mentioned, developing a marketing strategy for your chosen marketing methods doesn’t necessarily need to be time consuming. Stick to the basics, get creative and have some fun getting inspired for your new business!

If you are considering opening your own practice as a side gig or full-time, you may find our Empowered Entrepreneur Program (EEP) a good fit. The course will teach you about creating an effective marketing plan and what it takes to have a successful coaching practice. Sound interesting? Click here to learn more about the program or to speak with one of our team members. Marketing can be a natural outcome of who you are. Let us show you the tools and techniques to make it a reality!

Update! Our Empowered Entrepreneurs Program (EEP) has been renamed to Kickstart Your Private Practice (KYPP)