Get Back To Basics Marketing Your Health Coaching Business

It seems like every time I login to Facebook, I see posts & ads about the newest, latest and greatest marketing strategy being taught by online business gurus.

These posts claim to give you “6-figure months!” and to be “the ONE marketing strategy you need!”

I’m guessing you’ve probably seen these too.

Every time one of these posts appears in my news feed, my blood starts to boil.

Ok, maybe I’m being a little dramatic – but there are a million recommendations out there on how to ‘do marketing right’. It’s downright overwhelming to see all of these experts teaching new tricks.

You’ve barely got time to learn one before they’re on to the next big thing!

The problem isn’t that these newer marketing strategies never work. I’m sure they do for some people. But often the techniques being taught are over-complicated and geared towards more seasoned business owners.

 
Since you may be tempted to try these flashy strategies, with their promises of success, I want to discuss two problems that come up when trying to implement over-complicated marketing.

Problems with Over-complicated Marketing

Problem #1

When you’re newer to the game, getting over-complicated with your marketing can take up a TON of time you should be spending on other aspects of your business. This leads to stress, overwhelm…and eventually burnout.

After all, marketing is just one piece of what you need to do to have a successful business.

I see it time and time again. I’ve been guilty of it too! Here’s how it usually goes:

You learn about a new strategy and see a few gurus singing its praises all over the internet. So eventually you think to yourself “well maybe I should try it. Maybe this really is the magic bullet.”

You get excited about the possibilities from doing this and think about how your business is going to take off once you implement this missing piece of the puzzle.

Then you start to dive in (maybe after spending $$$ on a new course or workshop). You start to map out what you need to do and WHOA… it’s complicated and time-consuming.

You find yourself spending a ton of time reading and researching, learning new strategies and maybe new technologies, and trying to put the pieces together.

Then you realize this may not have been the missing puzzle piece after all… it’s starting to feel like you’re not even working on the same puzzle anymore!

Your excitement starts to wane. You start to feel overwhelmed at all the moving pieces you need to make this work. It’s going to take you months to get this all in place! There’s so much to do, you don’t even know where to start.

You feel like you’re working very hard on your business and making no progress. That’s when the “I’m not cut out for this” thoughts start to creep in.

At this point, you probably want to give up or move on to the next strategy to see if THIS one is the missing piece.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Problem #2

These strategies aren’t always the FASTEST or MOST EFFECTIVE form of marketing for health coaches.

Remember – these strategies are being sold to EVERYONE, regardless of what type of business they’re in.

While these strategies might work for big online businesses, they often aren’t the best choice for a health coach (especially a newer coach).

It can take months to start seeing any kind of results, and even then, the results may not be sustainable.

Luckily, there ARE marketing techniques that are easier to implement and work quickly for health coaches.

Getting back to basics

Simple marketing techniques don’t get as much attention in the online business world. They’re not as ‘sexy’, so many people don’t talk about them.

But they work.

So, what do I mean when I say ‘get back to basics’ with your marketing?

I mean the kind of marketing techniques that don’t require months of set up or lots of technical prowess. They’re things you can do right now to get into action and start talking to your ideal clients.

Simpler Marketing Strategies

To highlight some of the strategies that I recommend, I thought I’d share a few stories from our community.

In January, we held a free challenge, which was all about taking it back to the basics!

Challenge participants did things like sending a simple email to follow up with people who had expressed interest in working with them in the past, or posting on social media with an invitation for a free initial consultation.

These simple tasks led to a lot of free consults!

Here are some of the results that people shared:

“My 1st email & social media post was yesterday. In as little as 24 hours my post was booming and as of now, I have 8 bookings for free consults. 3 calls happened today.. with 2 yeses!” – LaTrisha

“Since last week to today I was paid for 3 booked consults. I’m incredibly grateful. I was so hurting only few days ago how I haven’t worked or earned for 7 years. Now I feel like it’s going to work!” -Mira

“In the past 3 hours I have booked 4 new consults for a total 7 and I still have 3 social media posts scheduled!” – Beth

How you can get back to basics

Giving Talks

One of our clients, Jennifer Ragazzo, has used speaking as the main method for getting clients and getting the word out about what she does.

Establishing an online presence stressed her out, but making herself known in-person felt natural to her.

She started giving talks at her church, where she’s very involved. As word as spread, she’s been asked to give talks at a places like a Lunch n learn for a local networking group, a local gym, a holistic aesthetician’s office, and the YMCA.

She’s gotten clients from every talk. And her clients send her referrals – and those referrals sign-up because they immediately trust her.

Six months after starting her health coaching practice she had 21 clients!

Networking

Mari Carmen Pizarro, another client of ours, found that networking in-person was the most effective strategy for her when she was starting out.

She went to different networking groups 3x a week, but for her a group called BNI (Business Networking International) which has groups all over the country and the world, was the most effective for her because of the consistency of the weekly meetings the group has.

In fact, a couple years in, Mari Carmen looked around the room at the BNI meeting and she realized that every single member had become a client. And, they had referred others to her.

These are just some of the simpler strategies I recommend to my clients and community of health coaches.

 
Now I’d love to hear from you!
What ‘basic’ marketing strategy are you most excited to try?