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How Being Vulnerable Can Expand Your Coaching Business

When I first started my coaching practice a little over three years ago, I’ll admit that I was more concerned with the number of people who signed up...

Photo: Sandra Fidelis, Online Business Coach; Source: Courtesy Photo
Photo: Sandra Fidelis, Online Business Coach; Source: Courtesy Photo

When I first started my coaching practice a little over three years ago, I’ll admit that I was more concerned with the number of people who signed up for my email list than with connecting deeply with prospective clients.

I’d bought into the idea that the larger your email community, the more successful you’d be. So, I focused my efforts on the number of people I was attracting weekly, monthly, and yearly and began building my tribe.

While this marketing strategy still works, what has become more important than the size of my list is how connected I am to my audience.

 

So many options…

Gone are the days when you could share a few blog posts and an email invitation for a discovery session. The new normal is to allow people – your ideal clients – to see your humanity before they buy anything from you.

The online marketing world has become a saturated space where thousands of options exist for business, life, health, and success coaches (or any other type of coach). Because there are so many options to consider what’s going to attract your clients to you?

It’s likely that your story and the obstacles you’ve overcome to get where you are today will resonate most with people. Your thoughts and experiences, failures and setbacks are what will make you more endearing in the eyes of ideal prospective clients.

Connecting with you as a flawed, real human being is what will allow you to build the know, like, and trust factor with your audience. You’re saying, “See, I’m just like you, I’ve been where you are, and if I can crawl out of the abyss and make it, then so can you.”

 

Don’t judge me

But getting vulnerable online is not as easy as it looks for most people. Online marketing is inherently filled with roadblocks that come with increasing your visibility.

Most of us have some fears about becoming more visible and the exposure it brings. We’re afraid of being judged and criticized. These fears will keep us stuck where we are if we let them.

Here’s the thing… You don’t have to share your deepest, darkest secrets or give your clients the run down on every single embarrassing life experience you’ve ever had. You still have control over how much you share.

What people want to know most is this:

  • What has been your journey (specifically as it relates to the service you provide)?
  • What obstacles did you face along the way?
  • How did you overcome those obstacles?
  • What do you still struggle with pertaining to your business?
  • What do you stand for?
  • Why do you do what you do? Not the canned version, but the passionate version.

Not so scary right? If you can start by answering these questions honestly and begin sharing the answers in your content marketing efforts (e.g. blog, email list, Facebook groups, etc.) you’ll start to connect with prospective clients on a much deeper level. Get vulnerable and they’ll flock to you—promise.

 

Sandra Fidelis is an Online Business Coach, speaker, and author who works with women entrepreneurs who want to be in the top 5 percent. She teaches women the exact marketing activities needed to fill their client roster with ease, shows them how to charge what they’re worth and create a booming business from the ground up without the overwhelm. 

 

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