Is Speaking the Right Marketing Strategy For You?

When I got my start as a health coach in 2004, I was petrified before my first speaking gig. I was so nervous, I almost wanted to cancel.

But I knew that if I went through with it, I would reap the rewards.

I had heard that giving talks at local gyms, yoga studios, and wellness centers was one of the best ways to get new clients. And as a brand new coach, I was excited by the idea of getting clients and finally put what I was learning into practice.

And you know what? It worked! I got 2 new clients from my very first talk.

And even now, though my business has changed and evolved – and so has the technology – I still use speaking gigs as one of my key marketing strategies.

Even though you’ve heard that giving talks is a great way to get clients, you may wonder if it’s the right choice for you.

After all, there are so many different ways to promote your business. You have limited time, so you want to choose where you put your energy wisely.

The beauty of being your own boss is that you get to decide what strategies you want to implement.

To help you determine if speaking is right for you, I put together a few questions you can ask yourself.

Do you enjoy educating and teaching?

My guess is that your answer to this question is ‘yes’. After all, isn’t coaching a form of teaching?

One of the reasons many coaches and experts get into speaking is so they can share their knowledge with a group of people all at once.

One of the most fulfilling parts of working with clients is educating them on how they can improve their lives, and seeing the ‘ah-ha’ moments in their face when you tell them something that could be life changing.

With speaking, you can have that moment over and over again.

If the thought of teaching groups of people about improving their lives through wellness excites you, speaking might be right up your alley.

Do you find it easy to express yourself verbally?

For some people, communicating verbally comes more naturally than communicating in writing.

If you’re one of those people that can strike up a conversation with your friends, family, or even a total stranger, you can definitely captivate a room of people with your story and your knowledge.

Speaking is particularly great if you don’t love writing lengthy blog posts, but you still want to share your message with a wide audience.

Even if you’re an avid writer, taking this route can help connect you with new people who might not be seeing your brilliant blog posts (yet!).

Would you like to attract new clients quickly?

Speaking works to attract clients quickly – no matter what stage of business you’re in. The reason speaking is so effective for getting clients is two-fold:

1. It gets you “in front of” a group of people who are interested in what you offer.
The people who attend your talk or watch your livestream or webinar are pre-qualified. They’ve raised their hand to say “yes, I want to know more about _______.”

Imagine that you specialize in helping women going through perimenopause and menopause. You give a talk entitled “Menopause Makeover: How to Reduce Hot Flashes, Insomnia & Fatigue”.

You can bet that the women who show up to that talk are primed and interested in what you have to offer!

2. Speaking gives you the opportunity to truly connect with your audience.
While there are a lot of other promotional strategies out there, speaking to a group of people is the most powerful way to quickly create a connection.

Here’s why…

When you give talks, your audience gets to know you as a person – they see your personality. And because you’re sharing valuable information, they see you as an expert.

In short, they come to know, like, and trust you, and want to work with you.

Side note: people only buy from those that they know, like, and trust.

Do you know of (or belong to) groups or places where your ideal clients hang out?

Setting up a speaking gig at a group, office, association or wellness center that your ideal clients frequent is a great way to reach them, educate them with your talk, and offer your services.

Imagine that your ideal clients are busy moms.

You know that you can find your ideal clients at the local mom’s group that hosts regular meetings with speakers.

Or, let’s say your ideal clients are high-powered women in corporate jobs.

You know you can reach these women inside corporations and professional women’s associations they belong to. You can speak at a corporate lunch-n-learn and at the association meetings.

These are just two examples, but you can see how easy it can be to reach your ideal clients.

Would you like to reach a wider audience online?

If you’ve been thinking about expanding your health coaching business beyond your local area, hosting webinars is a great way to kickstart your online growth.

Webinars and Facebook and Instagram livestreams allow you to reach people all around the world, meaning you can help far more people.

Do you have a following on social media or would you like to grow a following?

If you already have a social media following, you have a baked-in audience for speaking. You can start speaking to that audience right away through Facebook live, Instagram live, or webinars.

If building up a social media following is on your business to-do list, speaking will help you get there.

Webinars are one of the fastest ways to grow your list (and following) and start creating a connection with your followers.

Plus, Facebook and Instagram favor video over posts that only contain links or text, so you’ll be able to reach more people faster if you add video to your social media mix.

Does the idea of becoming a local celebrity excite you?

Do you want to be known in your hometown as THE wellness expert? Then speaking is definitely right for you!

When you get up in front of a room of people (whether it’s a physical space or on zoom) and speak on a subject, they’ll start to view you as the expert in your field. They’ll start to spread the word about you to their friends.. Before you know it, you could be the go-to person in your niche.

And once you start giving talks, you’ll find you get invited to speak at other venues and groups.

Speaking can open up so many doors!

If you found yourself nodding “yes” to these questions, I encourage you to get out there and speak! I know it can feel intimidating at first, but with time, it will become second nature.

Now I’d love to hear from you!

Do you think speaking is a good strategy for you? I’d love to know what about it excites you. Share your thoughts and questions below.