How to Turn Complete Strangers Into Coaching Clients

If you want to get coaching clients beyond your friends and family, you’ve got one big problem:

Strangers don’t sign up for discovery sessions (i.e. free coaching sessions).

So, how do you attract these strangers to you for coaching?

And, how do you do it… without coaching them?

The key is CONTENT.

Content is the only way you can introduce your coaching to strangers…

…without them running away.

Whether it’s…

• SPEAKING content
• WEBINAR content
• or WRITTEN / VIDEO (online) content…

…content is the first experience of your coaching that strangers should get.

And if they like the taste of that content (i.e. coaching), they’ll want more.

So, now that I’ve got you thinking about producing content…

Where do you start with content?

Beginning your content journey can be confusing and overwhelming.

I’ve been there myself.

I was terrified of putting my content ‘out there’.

Even though I had written tons of papers in college and grad school…

I wondered:

…What if people don’t like my writing?

…What if I look bad?

…What if I’m rejected?

I knew that even Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, and J.K. Rowlings had critics…

But what was little old me supposed to do?

What’s ironic?

I already knew what to do.

My coach had already taught me that there are only three simple steps to start producing content:

1. Share what you’re learning (I call this being a ‘Transmitter’). This, of course, means you need constant learning and coaching for yourself.
2. Share examples of the results you’ve seen for yourself and your clients.
3. Write and post your content daily for 30 consecutive days (i.e. on Facebook, Linkedin, or other platforms).

I mean… any idiot could follow those steps!

So…Why wasn’t I doing it?

I had two big roadblocks:

FIRST – I was worrying about what others would think about me and my content…

…instead of focusing on the clients I could serve with that content.

SECOND – I wanted instant gratification.

I wanted to write content, but only if it would lead to ‘instant clients’…

…so I had an unhealthy attachment to the results.

So, even if I DID start, I’d quit before the results would ever materialize.

I was destined to fail in my content journey, if I didn’t find a way to get over these limiting thoughts.

The key is CONTENT.”

I needed an antidote to my own vanity and expectations…

…and I found TWO:

1. Confidence
2. Vulnerability

CONFIDENCE helped me to believe that I could win, even when the results weren’t there (yet).

VULNERABILITY gave me the willingness to ‘look bad’ if people didn’t like my content.

Let’s look into into both of these ‘antidotes’.

There are 2 types of confidence…

The first type of confidence comes from outside you…

…perhaps from gaining experience or knowledge.

It’s like when you get a college degree in economics, so then you’re confident about economics.

This type of confidence is EXTERNAL.

The second type of confidence comes from within you…

…stemming from your beliefs, emotions, values, etc.

…deciding to believe that no matter what happens, you can handle it.

That even if you experience fear, shame, rejection, and failure…

…that you will choose to be compassionate and loving with yourself.

…that you will learn and grow from the experience.

…and that you won’t beat yourself up when you fail.

This second type of confidence is INTERNAL.

What about vulnerability?

Being vulnerable means putting yourself in a position of uncertainty.

…Of being honest, open, and sharing your truth.

…Without trying to control the outcome.

When you know who you want to serve and why…

..it becomes easier to step out on a limb and be vulnerable.

Why?

Because you’re now focused on your clients and not you.

Taking the focus off yourself opens the door to Vulnerability…

…and (ironically) vulnerability is POWER.

Remember…

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” –Woodrow Wilson

So here’s what you’re gonna do:

Write and post a daily article for 30 consecutive days.

It’s a powerful technique to…

• develop your commitment
• find your voice
• share with others…

…and make the transition from consuming content to producing content.

…and don’t forget to use a little confidence and vulnerability while you’re at it.

Colette “Confidence” Coiner