Is your coaching business feeling a little bit stale? Maybe you’re just starting out and haven’t yet figured out where your clients are. Growing a business is an ongoing process, but you can speed it up considerably by using techniques known as “growth hacking.”

If you’re wondering how to get more clients and expand your reach, here are 9 tips you need to know.

1. Get clear on your target audience.

No matter how hard you try, your coaching business won’t appeal to everyone. What would your ideal client look like? Are they an entrepreneur? A mom looking to start a side hustle? A college grad who needs direction? Getting specific about your clients means you’ll be better able to address their needs.

Think about their demographic information: age, gender, career, and other identifying features. This will help you craft your message in a way that appeals to your ideal client. Once you’ve got it down, you can focus on shaping your brand so that it would appeal to that exact type of person.

2. Make your marketing specific.

It might seem like the best way to catch a fish is to cast a wide net, but when it comes to digital marketing that’s not the case. You might reach a large audience of people by blasting ads to everyone and their brother, but they likely won’t be the right people. If your audience isn’t actually interested in your services, your marketing will have no return on investment.

Instead, you want to think about your ideal client from step 1 and target them. Be as specific as possible when choosing who should see your ads. This way, you’re more likely to reach people who will resonate with your message and will genuinely want to learn more about you and your offerings.

3. Stand out from the crowd.

Why should someone trust you as their coach? There are so many coaches out there these days that it can be tempting to follow their lead, but the real key to success is standing out. Your audience should be able to feel your personality through the content you produce and the wording on your website. This builds rapport and allows for a deeper connection.

Don’t be afraid to try something wildly different than your competition. Just because something works for them doesn’t mean it’s best for you, and having unique offerings or a striking brand voice will stick in potential clients’ minds better than if you were a carbon copy. At the end of the day, people are signing up for your coaching because they resonate with you.

4. Offer a sample.

Coaching services are a big investment, and people want to know what they’re getting into before they buy. It’s important to offer some type of free sample demonstrating what you can do for them. This might look like a free eBook, a complimentary coaching call, or a one-on-one email consultation.

It’s important that this sample is part of a greater sales funnel encouraging people to eventually purchase your services. Include a call-to-action and follow up after the fact in order to encourage potential clients to take the bigger plunge.

5. Provide value.

If all you do is plug your services, no one will be that interested in keeping up with your content. Your blog, social media, and email newsletters should provide value to your potential clients outside of promoting your coaching business.

You might want to share motivational articles, discuss industry news, or even write about your own personal experiences in order to build trust with your followers. They’ll keep coming back for more of your content and they won’t be put off when you do advertise your business.

6. Create a sense of urgency.

One of the most tried-and-true sales techniques is creating a sense of urgency. People make decisions based on emotion, and you get results by making them feel like they’re scoring a great deal. This doesn’t mean you have to be sleazy: on the contrary, there are many ways to create a sense of urgency while staying true to yourself and your business.

Promotional offers, limited spaces available, and holiday deals are all honest ways to create a sense of urgency. You only have so much time in your day, so it’s okay to let your potential clients know when a deal is limited-time only. Putting a deadline on your deals helps you land more clients without overbooking yourself.

7. Experiment with different offerings.

As mentioned above, coaching services are a big investment for many people. Consider having different offerings at various price points in order to appeal to a wider audience.

For example, you can put together and sell an eBook of some of your best tips. The idea is that they’ll see what you have to say and want more, at which point they’ll make the bigger purchase. Even if they don’t opt to purchase your services, you’ve still made money.

If writing isn’t your strong suit, no worries. You can offer “mini” coaching sessions, motivational audio recordings, and different tiers of coaching packages to achieve the same effect.

8. Quality is everything.

Your website, products, and social media profiles are going to be a potential client’s first impressions of you. If you have poor-quality graphics, a cluttered web layout, spelling and grammar mistakes, formatting inconsistencies, or any other obvious flaws, you’ll lose credibility and turn people away before they even have the chance to get to know your business.

9. Automate whenever possible.

As your business grows, you’ll have less and less time to keep up with it. Scheduling newsletters, blog posts, and social media posts ahead of time takes a lot of the pressure off of you to be constantly “on.”

Although you’ll still have to respond to comments in real-time, automation saves you from spending hours scrolling through social media or trying to come up with blog content on the spot. You won’t have to feel guilty about taking time away from the computer and you won’t have to scramble to meet last-minute deadlines.

Sometimes in your business, you’ll find you can’t do it all. That’s where Work Hero comes in!