Marketing your life coaching business is really a two step process. First you need to find out what people want, and then find a way to give it to them. Oversimplified? Not really. Finding out who your target market is and what they want can be the million dollar question. And finding out how your life coaching business can deliver it to them can be just as complicated. Do they want one-on-one coaching? Group coaching? A home study program? Before you offer group coaching or any other products or services, you need to check in with your clients to find out what they really want.

From Group Coaching to One-on-One Sessions, You Have to Find Out What Your Clients Want

The first step to marketing your life coaching business is to find out what people want. There are lots of ways to do this. You could just walk up to people and ask them, create a survey, or create a focus group. There are also ways to meet potential life coaching business customers virtually through social networks such as Google groups, Ning.com, Yahoo Groups, Facebook and YouTube. YouTube isn’t just about videos, by the way; there groups of people who follow certain videos and gurus on that site. These groups or communities are great places to look for people who might fit into group coaching.

Life Coaching Business Marketing Has to Focus on Your Solutions

The second step to marketing your life coaching business is to let your clients know you have what they want and can deliver it to them. Communicating this information is key. You have to connect the dots for your potential clients to see you as their solution. And each group or community will have their own language, needs, and values. Just like you would learn some of the language of customs of a country’s people before you travel to their world, you want to make sure you know your group’s language, needs, and values before you present yourself or your group coaching as their solution.

Group Coaching is One Way to Get to Know Your Clients Better

They key to finding out which products or services your life coaching business is going to provide is to again ask your clients. Hang out with them. Get to know them, whether you do it virtually, live or via telephone. And the best way to become friends is to offer value. If they feel that filling out a survey will help you give more value to them; they will happily take the time to fill out the surveys or answer your questions. You can find out if they would even be interested in group coaching, or if they would prefer another format.

You might have a lot of reasons why you want to offer group coaching in your life coaching business, but the only reasons you clients will want to hear about is how it benefits them. The more you understand what your clients want, the better you’ll be able to provide it for them.

Colette Seymann
JTS Advisors Bi-Designated Strategy and Accountability Coach