Thinking you want to be a guest on podcasts? Great idea!

This is the story of two coaches. Ginger and Mary Ann. They both decided to launch their coaching businesses at the same time. Both choose similar coaching paths, how to survive on a deserted island. Sure, it was a bit niche (and I don’t mean the female version of a nephew) but they were each having a decent amount of luck getting new clients.

However, both Ginger and Mary Ann wanted to take their business to the next level. Ginger sat back and hoped her contacts would send her some referrals and business would start rolling in. Mary Ann, on the other hand, decided to go out and get some guest spots on podcasts. 

A career as a coach in life or business matters can be highly rewarding and, at the same time, it can be a lot of hard work and effort. If you're a life or a business coach, then you need to do what you can to spread the word about your awesome services. The more people that know what you do, the more people will raise their hand to work with you. 

There are many great reasons Mary Ann chose to be a guest on podcasts, and so should you.

Making Your Email List a Lot Stronger

Mary Ann had started growing her email list but only have a few hundred contacts. She knew she needed to build a strong list. A rock-solid email list is one of the keys to getting ahead in the digital marketing age. If you want to take your coaching career to the next level online, then strengthening your existing email list can go a long way.

Being a guest on a podcast can rapidly build awareness regarding your services and all that you can do for your clients. You can capitalize on these efforts by offering a free gift to the listeners. This gift will encourage them to sign up for your email list and allow you to continue the conversation. 

Is your email list read? Be sure to read up on how to get the most out of Email Marketing or check out our video on who to hire to help you with email marketing.

If you want to expand your email list and as a result have access to higher numbers of potential clients day in and day out, then being a guest on a podcast can do you a world of good. 

Credibility

Ginger assumed her time as an actress would offer her the credibility she needed and get her hired faster. It worked a little but most people realized that being an actress was very different than being someone who could survive on a deserted island. 

Credibility means so much in the world. People don't want to work with life or business coaches who don't appear to have credibility. They want to hire consummate professionals who know what they're doing. If you want the members of your target audience to be able to believe in you and all that you can do for them, it can help you immensely to land podcast guest spots. 

Getting to be a guest on podcasts allows you to share your wisdom and knowledge in a way that is free to the listeners. When they hear what you have to share, they begin to trust what you can do for them. 

If you're lucky enough to be a guest on a renowned podcast, then you will instantly gain some “street cred”. The podcaster is endorsing you in their own way. But even if you stick with small audience podcasts, these podcasters have a strong relationship with their listeners and you are benefiting from that relationship. The listeners will wonder why you're special and relevant enough to be a guest. 

If you're associated with the host of the podcast, they'll have less reason to doubt you. Strong associations can do a lot nowadays. If you have a tangible "interaction" with someone who has a lot of sway, online or elsewhere, it may rub off on you. It's crucial to do anything and everything in your power to establish ties with people who have excellent reputations. If an individual learns about your life coaching services through a credible podcast, then it may motivate him or her to believe in you and in your talents.

By choosing to appear on several podcasts geared towards her target audience, Mary Ann quickly developed a fan following of her own. A following that was highly interested in what Mary Ann had to offer.

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Showcasing Your Existence to Brand New People

Scoring a guest spot on a podcast can be an amazing thing for coaches who want to showcase their services to brand new people. If you want people who have never had the chance to find out about you to discover you, then going on a podcast can do the trick. 

Sharing your wisdom on a new podcast will expose you to significant numbers of people who are all hearing about you for the first time. That may open you up to potential clients. They may rapidly make the decision to sign up for your previously mentioned email list. Some of these new people may swiftly opt to purchase the products or services you have available. If you want to open yourself up to new people who are excited about you and your wisdom, then being a guest on a podcast can be a game-changer of sorts.

Don’t be like Ginger and hope to attract new audiences, be like Mary Ann and go find new people!

How to Get Booked as a Guest on a Podcasts

Great, but how the heck do you get on podcasts. It seems like you have to know someone, right? I mean, aren’t most guests on multiple podcasts because it’s an “insider’s club”?

It's not always easy to score a guest position on a podcast. Being a guest on podcasts is something that in many cases demands a lot of effort and time. Some people are lucky and have some ins that others don’t. They may have friends or family members who run podcasts and who are willing to let them on. If you're not that fortunate, however, you don't have to panic. That's because there are a few straightforward strategies that may give you access to invaluable guesting opportunities.

Like Podcasts That Are on Your Radar

If you're a podcast devotee, then that instantly makes your chances of scoring a guest position a lot higher. The more you know about a specific podcast that's on your radar, the better. Follow any and all podcasts you like on social media platforms. Stay in the loop regarding any contests or competitions that may be coming up for them. You might also be ready to jump if they open up a call for guests. 

If you're in the know, then you may be able to devise a strategy that can help you get exactly what you want. Approaching the people who run podcasts out of nowhere can be a huge mistake. If you grasp the ins and outs of a podcast well, that may make you come across as being proficient and serious.

Work on Your Approach to Outreach

If you truly want to score a guest spot on an established podcast, then you need to think about your approach to outreach through in great detail. You clearly have to pitch yourself and your concept to the people who run the podcasts that pique your interest. 

The biggest mistake you can make, though, is sending them pitches that seem spammy in any way, shape or form. You don't want podcast hosts to feel like they're getting the same tired messages as countless others. That's the reason that you should go the extra mile. 

Use the research that you've conducted to pen a highly eloquent, detailed and nuanced message that covers all of the bases and more. Talk about what you specifically could add to their podcasts as a life or business coach guest. Highlight the things that make you distinctive, engaging and worthwhile. You want to make it clear that they can get something out of your guest appearance.

Flattery can also go a long way. It can be insulting to request to be a guest on a podcast that you know absolutely nothing about at all. Don't insult podcast owners' intelligence levels. Talk about their show in detail. Talk about the things they do that you appreciate the most. Go into past podcasts to the best of your ability as well. Don’t focus on just the most recent episode. Be as detail-oriented as possible. People who host podcasts understandably get a lot of messages on a daily basis, especially the bigger shows. They're sick and tired of reading ones that don't say anything different or interesting.

Realize That People Like Talking About Themselves

People who are in charge of podcasts don’t want to hear you ramble on for an entire message about yourself. It's clear that they need to know about you and all of the advantages of your coaching services. But these things should be shared in a way that lets them know how you can help their audience, not how their show can help you.  

Don't bore people incessantly with things about your favorite foods and your aspirations. Make it 100 percent apparent that you want to help their listeners. People appreciate that. If a podcast host gets the impression that you simply want to use him or her, then he or she will lose interest in you and in your life or business coaching career extremely rapidly, and that's the last thing on the planet that you want.

Persevere

Being a guest on podcasts isn't easy. It's particularly hard to be a guest on podcasts that have substantial audiences. That's the reason that you have to be tenacious and determined. Don't give up quickly. If you get rejections from a few podcast hosts off the bat, don't use them as an excuse to get discouraged. Rejections are totally normal. You should use them as motivation to keep pushing forward. Don't forget that they can build character. Don't be demoralized if the first few podcasts you contact have zero interest in you. 

If you keep trying, you'll inevitably come across some podcasts that want to reap the rewards of your insight. The more research you perform, the better as well. If you target podcasts that are in line with your life or business coaching approaches, you may have higher odds of success. 

Delegate Smarter

There are some key ways your virtual team can help you get booked on podcasts. 

• Research podcasts geared towards your niche audience. Help you find the ones you need to focus on.
• Manage your guest appearances by filling requests from the podcaster for things like your headshot, bio, and links.
• Promote your appearances on social media

Notice we didn’t mention sending out the requests. We encourage you to personalize your messages to podcast hosts rather than using canned responses. If your team is strong enough to do this on your behalf, great, but it still comes across better when it comes directly from you.

Podcasts are a great way to get exposure and build your coaching business. By taking strategic action in how you reach out to podcasts, you can start appearing on episodes as soon as next week!

And, of course, we are here to help! Check out related blog posts below.

LinkedIn? Is that still a thing?

Oh, wait, that’s the “social media network” for finding a job, right? Can that even be considered “social media”?

LinkedIn has often been considered a black sheep of the social media networks because it doesn’t really feel, well, social.

But, it does, in fact, check all the boxes on what Wikipedia considers social media. (You can check those out here).

What makes us think less of LinkedIn is that it tends to have a singular purpose and not a place we would regularly “hang out” like we do on Facebook or Instagram or even Twitter.

That being said, LinkedIn is like it’s very own business networking event. It’s not just for job seekers anymore.

LinkedIn has grown up a little and now offers a valuable place to find and connect with new leads.

Is Networking on LinkedIn right for me?

Before deciding if LinkedIn is the right place for you to network, you should know the demographics of who’s there.

According to Omnicoreagency.com:

• There are currently 154 million LinkedIn users in the US.
• 61 million users are senior level or above.
• 40 million users are students or recent college graduates.
• There are 87 million Millenials on the platform.
• 44% of LinkedIn users earn more than $75,000 per year.

What does that mean for you? If you have a product or service that targets professionals of any age or are in a B2B industry, then LinkedIn may be a great place to get new leads!

How to Network on LinkedIn

First, let me say this is not another post telling you how to optimize your profile page. Yes, that’s important, but there are plenty of articles out there that will teach you how to do that. Here’s one of my favorite by the awesome John Nemo.

I find a lot of LinkedIn trainings only focus on how to set up your profile. But what then?

It’s important to have a strategy around what you will do once your profile is created. Unfortunately, “If you build it, they will come” only works in Kevin Costner movies.

This article isn’t focused on what to post in articles or the news feed. Our primary plan to network on Linkedin is to reach out and connect via messages.

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But First: Know your Audience

Working with coaches and speakers for almost 15 years, I’d guess this is probably the number one reason they don’t use LinkedIn more often.

LinkedIn works best when you know who you want to connect with. Need help with this? Check out our article on finding your target audience.

I don’t mean that you have to personally know the head of HR at Zappos. And it doesn’t even mean you would have to know their name.

What it means is knowing the title, interests, and other demographics of the person you want to connect with.

You see, LinkedIn has this really amazing people search.

You can search by name, title, company, college, location, industries and more.

Some of this detail is searchable within the actual search feature and some of it is just a magical thing that happens when people customize their profile headline to contain certain information.

For example, my headline used to read:

I help coaches, consultants, & speakers grow their businesses & have more time by providing virtual assistant services.

Because of this, I would get connection requests on a regular basis from people looking to connect with coaches.

Your first step, then, is to make a list of the types of people you’d like to reach out to.

Then do a search for those types of people!

I recommend targeting your first level connections as a starting point. This is a warmer audience and LinkedIn allows you to message them for free.

Break the Ice

The best Linkedin networking scripts I’ve found are created by John Nemo. If you haven’t heard this guy, you should really check out his podcast, he’s quite entertaining!

The next step is to make that first contact. Here’s where a lot of people go wrong. Their first message is all about them. They want to reach out and instantly share all the details about what they are selling. When someone does this to me, it’s an instant “unfriend”.

Instead, break the ice. Take a little time to check out their profile. Find something in common. It’s Linkedin NETWORKING after all, not Linkedin cold calling!

For example:

• Did you attend the same school?
• Are you from the same town?
• Do their group interests align with yours?

Yes, it takes a little more time to read through each profile to find something you might be able to connect on but it’s well worth your time.

Once you’ve found something, message them and start a conversation around that topic.

Gently Lead In

Your next message will be a soft offer. Perhaps you have a free optin or webinar the prospect may be interested in. Nemo suggests not just sending them a link but inviting them to raise their hand. If they say they are interested, THEN send them a link. It will come across far less spammy that way. It also helps you to track who is actually engaging with your messages.

What’s Next

Nemo has an entire process for Linkedin Networking that he’s outlined in his book, Linkedin Riches. I highly recommend you get the Kindle or paperback version so you can best use the scripts he shares.

Of course, if you’d rather have someone else set up the details and work your initial leads, that’s a great area to outsource when you have the right team in place.

Virtual A Team is actively using the Nemo approach to Linkedin Networking with a few of our clients and our own business. If you’d like some help implementing this approach into your business contact us for a free consultation.

Networking on Social Media

If you aren’t ready or Linkedin isn’t the right fit for your business, check out our other Networking Articles:

How To Network on Facebook

How To Network on Instagram

You have heard that Facebook is not all about watching cat videos and stalking your exes. Word on the street points to it as the new frontier in growing business.You are eager to see how you could apply your favorite social media and Facebook groups for coaching business.

But you have no clue about how to get started! If the above scenario describes your present predicament then you are in luck.

Facebook business groups are all the rage nowadays. Businesses are using it to get new customers and position their work in the public eye. You too could be a part of this ingenious method of advertising just as long as you know what you are doing. And in this article we will discuss both how to use your own groups and how to get the most out of other people’s groups.

Why You Should Join Facebook Business Groups

I know you are just as eager as I am to jump into the main purpose of this article, but let’s get that niggling question out of your mind first. Why should I join Facebook business groups?

Imagine a scenario where all of your target customers are in one room. What will you do with such opportunity? I know you are a smart person. After all, you are reading my blog!

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As a smart person, you would seize the situation to create awareness for your business. And how do you make the people in the room aware of what you offer? If the first answer that comes to your mind is sharing your business cards, I can only hope you do all you can to join the rest of civilization in this modern century.

No one, except your grandma, wants to hear whatever business or services you have to offer if it’s not going to help them. And it does not matter if your product is a unicorn that farts gold dust 7 times in a day. On another note, if you do have such a product, just leave your email in the comment section and I will contact you for uh research.

Help them, help you

In essence, the only way you can improve awareness of your business in a Facebook group is if you are helpful. Answer questions that you are knowledgeable about, share relevant blog posts to questions, direct enquirers to your products or services that could aid them resolve a challenge. In other words, a Facebook business group is not a place to play mute, leave that for times when your mother-in-law is visiting.

Won’t I come off as a know-it-all? I can almost hear you asking. Well honey, the rules of business are much different than those of your high school.

In business, it is better to come off as a know-it-all than a know-it-not. Regularly providing solutions to others puts you and your business at the forefront of other people minds. Why? Because it shows you as an authority who can be trusted to give reliable solutions.

How to Find Groups on Facebook

So let’s pretend you don’t know what Facebook groups are even though those 78, 245 cat pages you belong to say otherwise. Don’t worry I won’t let the cat out of the bag (pun intended). In essence, Facebook groups are small communities built on a central theme.

Due to the sheer number of Facebook users, running into billions, you can find a group for virtually anything you can think of. That reminds me, if anyone knows about any cats practicing knitting group, please post link in the comments and save a soul, thanks.

As I was saying, there are millions of groups on Facebook and you can join up to 6,000 of them at once. Yes I would know this because all of my waking hours are spent following my 5,968 cat groups; it is not an obsession I promise.

So to join a group, simply enter your Facebook account and click on Groups which is located in the Explore section of your Home page. From there, it will open the Discover Groups page where you can see various group suggestions by Facebook based on things you have liked or groups your friends belong to.

Moving on, don’t be in a hurry to join any group. Take your sweet time to browse and find the appropriate groups that includes people matching your target customers.

Pro Tip: To use your time wisely, be sure to join groups that attract your ideal audience. Otherwise, you’ll be spending time at the wrong party.

Usually, Facebook groups can either be closed or public groups. Public groups simply require you to click the like or join button while for closed groups, you may be asked to answer questions before joining.

A note of caution, do ensure you read the rules guiding the groups before you join or else you will be kicked out. I say this as a veteran who has been banned from one too many groups for fighting with people who refuse to buy the latest toy for their cats. Who cares if the cats won’t use it? I know I don’t!

When your request to join a group is successful, familiarize yourself with the modus-operandi of the group. Do the members communicate in text-speak, nerd-speak or a mixture of both? Do they type out a war cry or post pictures of themselves bathing in chicken's blood before asking questions?

It is only after you have understudied the group that you can successfully fit in with them.

Why You Should Create Your Own Facebook Group

Yes, it is fun and enriching participating in other groups but most times you have to play by certain rules which can be stifling for your coaching business. But when you have your own group, you get to lay the rules and control the entire experience. However it is not as easy as just opening a group.

Like any other business venture ask yourself why you need the group and what you intend to use the group for. Still have no clue?

I’ll help you with the most common ways business owners use Facebook groups for coaching business. Feel free to poach any of them.

Form a community catered to products

Create an aura of exclusivity for your clientele with this method. Create a group strictly for people who buy your products or services. In addition, you can also use the group as a platform to offer extra help and training to members.

Form a community focused on a topic

Instead of using your business name for a group, give it a name that reflects a specific topic you are an expert in. For instance, if I were to open a group, I will name it ‘How to Speak Cat.’ You can see that this is a subject I am well versed in. And I am pretty sure it will attract people who are also interested in speaking cat. Meow meow?

Establish authority

How about a group for your faithful email subscribers? Use that group as an avenue to establish yourself as an authority. Share useful tips, tutorials, articles that can educate and inspire your customers.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let’s walk through the process of building your Facebook business group.

Create a Business Group on Facebook

On the Group page we earlier accessed from your Facebook Home profile, tap on Create a Group. A dialog box will appear allowing you to fill in your preferred group name, set the privacy level of your group, and add people. No one likes being added to a group without their consent, so don’t take that douche bag route.

For now, you only need one person in the group. Just add someone who is aware of your group and can keep their big mouth shut about it until you are ready to tell everybody.

Okay, but what about the privacy level? How do you know which one is best for your group? I will describe them for you and allow you make your choice.

Closed Groups: It is open to everyone but the group administrator has to accept your requests before you join. People who are not members of the group cannot see any group posts. So you are free to share information with members without fear of everyone seeing it.

This group is extremely popular with businesses because of the layer of privacy it gives.

Public Groups: Everyone and their mama can join this group. In fact, they can see the posts even without joining. This type of group is famous for attracting spammers who come with their own contents and sometimes derail the group. A public group is ideal if you want to discuss a specific event or topic.

Secret Groups: Just like its name, it is open to only a select few and is built on a type of service you offer such as premium coaching. It cannot be found in the search engine and can only be accessed by invitation. If you choose, you can charge members of the group a monthly fee for the services you provide.

This type of group establishes your business as an authority.

When you have selected the privacy level that suits your coaching business, select Create and you’re done. Next stop is to set images, banners, logos, details etc.

Customize the group

Yeah yeah, that picture you took during your last vacation in Paris looks beautiful but let’s be serious here. Add a cover photo that fits with the theme of your group. Ideally, the dimensions should be 828 x 315 pixels. Once the image is properly uploaded, set the rules guiding the group and write down a thorough description of the group.

Done it? Now complete this section by clicking the ‘…’ button.

Choose the group type

How do you want Facebook to categorize your group in a search? Do you want your group to pop up when people are searching for ways to slay Voldermort? What is the purpose of your group?

Will your group offer customer service or educate people? Is it created around a business’s event? Asking yourself these questions will help you know the group type to choose.

When you have selected your group type, fill in the Web, Description, Locations, Email Address and Tags settings.

Once you’re done with that, add about two to four posts for new members to read. Do ensure that one of the posts is dedicated solely to the rules of the group. In addition, sticky that rules post to the top so that newer members can always refer to it.

Pro Tip: Sounds too overwhelming? Just hire Virtual A Team to handle this for you and focus on the fun parts of having a group.

Invite people to the group

You’re finally done drafting your group plans so who do you invite? I will advise that you keep sentiment out of this. Now is not the time to invite Aunt Linda who is famous for spamming her friends’ timeline with Junior’s latest potty progress.

Neither should you accept Chad who loves doing live videos naked when he's drunk. No matter how much you love them, leave your family and friends out of your business group.

Beam your searchlight on places where your target customers converge and invite them. There are also other methods to get people into your group, here are some of them:

• Share your group link on all of your favorite social media platforms.
• Send an email to customers on your mailing list telling them about the group. Don’t forget to include the link to your group in the email.
• Add a button on your website that immediately takes visitors to your group.

Manage and Organize Contents for Your Group

I believe this part is more important than even creating the group itself. You should identify a strategy for getting contents that will support the purpose of your group. For instance, is your group a place for people who are already customers?

Or will your group be a meeting point to sell your products and services to members? Also, what type of content will your group be known for? Will the content be educational, inspirational or entertaining?

Sit down and answer these questions before you open your group to the public. The success of your planning will determine if your group is the place to be or the place to leave. That rhymes huh?

How to Get Content for Your Group

I am going to let you into places where you can scope out interesting and engaging contents for your group. This article is already long enough so let’s just dive in.

Buzzsumo: This site gives you the trending topics on the internet. If that is too wide, you can go to its search box and type in keywords that are related to your group. Buzzsumo will immediately give you the most popular articles in your search category and the social media sites they are shared on.

Google News: This is the fastest way to get timely articles that can keep members of your group informed. Simply type your keyword into the Google search box, and click on News. This will filter the articles by most recent.

Industry awareness: You can also keep up to date with news in the coaching industry by listening to relevant podcasts and sharing it with group members.

Encourage Members Participation

There is nothing as worse as a dead group. Mere thinking about it gives me the creeps. The only way to avoid this is to encourage participation by your group members. If your brain clamps up at the thought of creating contents for your group, here are some ideas to help you on that journey:

Daily Theme Prompts:

Use daily prompts to encourage members to post about a specific topic daily. For instance, Mondays could be business days for members to share their latest products or services. Tuesdays could be story time days while Wednesdays can be catnip days. Hey, I love my cats okay. These daily prompts allow members to know more about each other.

Tutorials:

Create a habit of leaving weekly tutorial videos for members of your group. Apart from showing that you are willing to help your members, it also establishes your business as an authority in the coaching industry.

Quizzes:

Quizzes add to the fun interaction of a group. You can also use them to gather relevant data from your group members.

Challenges:

Everyone loves solving fun challenges especially when there is a prize attached to it. Take advantage of this fact by creating a challenge and inviting your members to join in.

Live Q&As:

This is an extremely popular activity in large Facebook business groups. Schedule a Q&A session once a week, if you can handle it, and answer questions or inquiries from your group members.

Polls:

Hit a creative slump and don’t know the next step to take? Let your group members do all the work. Create a poll for your next logo or blog post and invite members to vote on it.

Apart from giving you fresh ideas, it makes everyone feel as a part of the success of your group.

Hire a Group Manager

You should consider this option when your group continues to grow in leaps and bounds. This manager will help you focus on the group’s objectives while they keep an eye on the comments and posts. You don’t need to go outside your group to get competent managers. Just look for members that are active and always helpful.

In a Nutshell

We just looked at the different ways you can use Facebook groups for coaching business. Most of the things discussed in this article include reasons you should join a Facebook group, how you can find that perfect group, and of course, all you need to know about creating your own group.

Hopefully with the tips shared in this article, you too can use the reach and power of Facebook to attract potential clients, increase your following, and bring in the dough. Surely, that sounds like the American dream!

Whew, it’s tough out there. Being a solopreneur isn’t easy, especially when you want to expand your client base. The business of coaching people in various aspects of life makes this task an even harder one. A great way to help accomplish this goal is to get referrals for a coaching business.

A referral is when someone you know suggests their friends or family to go to you for some problem that they have. There are two main advantages to using referrals to rope in new customers.

1. You do not need to invest a lot of time and money into it. Instead, all you need to do is follow the tips that we will discuss later in the article.
2. Even if you invest money, you will get guaranteed returns. The referrer gets paid only when their acquaintances help you generate a sizeable income.

However, many coaches face a problem of getting more clients using this method. They either do not know how to go about it or feel bad about asking. Either way, in this post, I'll let you in on a few secrets on how to get more referrals for a coaching business. If you like what you read, remember to refer your friends to our site 😉

Create Referral programs

A referral program is something that rewards a person for asking another person to hire you. Of course, there are several referral programs that you can go with. But, the type of coaching business you run might limit you to a select few.

For example, you could waive off some of your coaching fees for every referral you get. If you want higher returns you could offer a waiver only for multiple referrals.

Another possibility is to give commissions to people who send others your way. I know it is hard for you to part with your money, but it is well worth it. At the end of the day, it is the same as giving a concession to that customer. This is exactly how affiliate programs work.

If possible, you could also try and give something like a premium membership. You can give them priority bookings, free cancellations, or an option to visit you during your holidays.

The problem with referral programs is that you need to keep a track of all the people who are coming to you and who they are bringing in. Another problem that might occur is that two people might refer to the same mutual friend. This will put that mutual friend in a very awkward position. Of course, he or she will claim that the more intimidating friend was the original referrer.

You can solve these problems using certain IT solutions. That is why it is easier to build such systems online than maintaining one offline.

You can also ask your customers to give the contact information of their friends who might be interested. Then, you can contact them - either by call or email and see which contacts generate a lead. Accordingly, you can reward the clients who helped you out just like we reward our clients who help us out

Have a business worth referring

Of course, this seems like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, many people rely only on marketing to get more referrals. If your business doesn’t live up to the reputation that you or your promotional partner have been hyping it up to be, it would reflect badly on both of you. This prevents more people from referring to your practice in the future. It may also damage your reputation as a professional.

Thus, it is super important to live up to standards that are worth mentioning to others. The easiest way to do this is to deliver on the challenge you were offering to help them overcome. Let this be any kind of life problem or even helping their business grow. If you guarantee results, then people will flock to you.

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Once you have the core goal nailed down, it is important to start focusing on the entire experience of your customer. You need to make them feel good about you from the minute they walk in through your door till after they step out. You can try doing this in the following ways.  

• Punctuality - No matter what kind of a coach you are, everyone values punctuality. If a client has booked an appointment with you, then ensure you stick to it. Remember to give your client the full duration of time that was promised to them.
• Going the extra mile - While punctuality is important, you must also show your clients that you are willing to go the extra mile for them. If the client is facing a crisis, you can’t possibly show them the door. Imagine you work all night with a client and turn their business into a success. This client will then go and tell his or her friends how dedicated you are as a business coach.
• Privacy - In the coaching business it is extremely important to maintain the confidentiality of your clients. Thus, you should do everything in your power to be as discreet as possible when required. Some people really value their privacy, so don’t go using their face for your marketing campaign.
• Comfort - As a coach, one of your primary duties is to make your client feel comfortable.  Fill the room with comfortable furniture of different sorts. Ask your assistant to deliver some refreshments to the clients waiting for you.

If you concentrate enough on building your practice into something worth sharing, then half your work is done. You don’t need anything like referral programs to get the word out. Your services will get advertised through word of mouth from many satisfied customers.

Start building relationships

One of the key practices to getting more referrals is to build relationships. Now, before you get any crazy ideas, I mean professional relationships. What you need is a general sociable attitude that gets your customers looking at you as a platonic friend. Sure, you could try and take it further. But don’t blame me when you lose your license or you’re sitting in a prison cell.

Jokes aside, you need to start building relationships with your customers so you can try and ask a favor of them. If they love your personality from the get-go, then a simple “If you liked my service, please tell your friends” can help you get referrals. But people don’t usually start liking someone from a single interaction. So take every chance you get to display your most sociable self. These clients may become your promotional partners in the future.

It is important that you don’t stop building relationships after you get promotional partners. You then need to deepen that relationship more so they want to help you out further when you need it. Inviting them over for coffee or sending postcards or sending greeting cards on special occasions might do the trick.

This will help you do two things. The first one is that your current promotional partners will want to help you out more when you need it. The second one is that they will encourage others to become your partners since they love doing it so much.

Your business isn’t the only place where you need to build relationships. It is also important to build relationships with your friends and family. They are the ones who are most likely to do a favor for you. Yes, this means that you will have to end up going to Thanksgiving with that annoying aunt or attend that intolerable friend’s birthday. But when you ask them for a favor of referring their friends and family to you, and they come through, all this torture will seem worth it. All you will hear at the Thanksgiving dinner thereafter will be the sound of money entering your wallet.

When you work on building all these relationships, you will see that people start hiring you without much effort from your side. The ‘friendly coach’ will become a part of your personality and it will all come naturally to you.

One of the golden rules of building relationships is to always thank your referral sources for the people who they sent your way. Remember to do this whether their referrals were a solid lead or not. Posting a thank you card or a similar gesture would be perfect for this, but a simple thank you in person or call will work too.

Pro tip - You can use Cloze.com to manage all your professional relationships with your clients and promotional partners with ease.

Start networking wherever possible

This point is a bit like building relationships. But, for this you do not need to put in that much amount of effort. All you need to do is mention that you are a coach working in your field. But, the timing and location are important.

Imagine, someone dear to you is having a heart attack and you ask the crowd around you if there is a doctor present. Then, a person steps up to the plate brimming with confidence and announces that he is a life coach. Now I don’t know about you, but if that happened to me, the crowd would have to call an ambulance for not one, but two people. I’ll let you guess which ones.

You should focus your networking tactics in more social settings. Parties or business seminars are a great place to do this. You can introduce your profession when asked - a common ice breaker at several social gatherings.  

Unfortunately, this doesn’t create the best opportunity for people to refer you to their friends. Sure, when the time arises and someone asks for a coach, your name might be at the top of their heads. But think about it, they do not want to refer someone questionable to their friends. And neither would you.

That’s why you might sometimes need to display your skills, even if it is for free. I know that parting with your money is hard, but you are playing the long game. Fortunately, you will not have to do conduct an entire session to display your skill. All you need to do is show them a part of what you can do to help them. The great thing is that you can use this as a way to attract people just like a magician.

Imagine you are at a business mixer of some sort and you somehow get to talking about your profession as a business coach. You now have the stage to exhibit your skills and possibly draw in an even bigger crowd. You must have seen the ending scene of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ where Jordan Belfort teaches others about businesses by asking them to sell a pen to him. You don’t have to pull off the same trick, but if you can sell a used tissue to an unwitting guest for over $100, I’d be super impressed.

Once you leave the crowd awestruck with your selling skills, try and slip in a word about how they should come to see you if they want to learn to do the same. While you’re at it, ask for their contact information and remember to follow up after networking with them.

Social gatherings are not the only place where you can put your skills up for display. With the boom of social media, there are a lot of opportunities opened up to you online. For example, if one of your acquaintances on Facebook puts up a status about going through a bad break up, as a life coach, you can share some wisdom. This will help you stay longer in their minds as a good coach who can help out others when needed. Networking like this has the added advantage of making new friends. This, in turn, can contribute to my previous point on building relationships.

Help your partners help you

The person who is lobbying for you at social gatherings can only do so to the best of their talents. Sure, your friend might know that you are a Business Coach by title, but what does that job title entail? If your friend doesn’t know about you or your services they won't be able to advertise it properly to their friends. Moreover, they wouldn’t be able to suggest you to their friends who might require your services.

Hence it is important to always have your partners informed about what all services you offer. As a business coach, you might specialize in startups. However, you can also be experienced in dealing with marketing, production or many other aspects of a business. But your partner who has attended your sessions about startups won’t know of your other services. Thus, when that person is asked if they know anyone good in marketing, their mind will be drawing a blank. Hence, you need to keep all your clients informed about the various services that you offer.

Unfortunately, even if your customers know which services you offer, they may not be able to explain each one of them in detail or how these services may benefit their friends. Hence, it is a good practice to share something like a brochure (explaining your services in detail) with your customers. This enables them to share these brochures instantly with people who might need them. Hence your chances of lead generation will increase.

Printed media is something that people with offline coaching businesses can share. If your business is online, you can share links or even newsletters with your current customers to help them spread the message. This is much easier as it saves a lot of time and money.

Another great way to help your partners would be to organize free (or low-cost) events. This way, rather than just mentioning your name or handing out a brochure with your name on it, they can bring their friends and family along to get an example of what happens in your sessions. Every person has attended some boring event just because someone they knew asked for a favor. This is their chance for some payback.

The best part about these events is that you will receive a wide audience. This will consist of your customers, their plus ones, and strangers who have come in only for the snacks. As long as you provide useful content for free (along with free food), people will flock to you. Thus, you get a chance to market yourself and improve the possibility of someone referring to their friends and family to you.

Pro tip - Remember to keep your social media (everything from Facebook and Instagram to Twitter and LinkedIn) updated about your profession. You don’t need to market it, just highlight the services that you offer in your “About Me” section.

Conclusion

The best kind of advertisements are the ones that seem organic and genuine. That is why you should try and get referrals for your coaching business. Just to summarize, you can do this in multiple ways.

• Creating a referral program that benefits those who help you.
• Improving the overall standards of your practice so people genuinely want to hire you.
• Build relationships with your clients, promotional partners, and your friends and family.
• Start networking online and during various seminars.
• Keep your partners well informed so they can help market your services.

If you start following the tips given above, I am sure the number of referrals will keep rising. It might take some time, but don’t lose heart. The most important qualities that a solopreneur can have is patience and perseverance. So don’t worry and keep trying; soon, you might just get more customers than you can handle.

Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld back in the day (am I dating myself here) when Jerry was asked to wear the puffy shirt and stated the epic line, “But I don’t wanna be a pirate!” Seinfeld was being asked to endorse a product he didn’t believe in. He was forced to not be authentic. 

As solopreneurs, we all face times in our careers when we feel inauthentic to who we truly are.  Watch Tracey Warren of Inspark Coworking and I as we chat about some of these scenarios!

Learn more about Tracey Warren at https://www.facebook.com/traceyplaysbig

Whew, that was a great networking event. You connected with some old faces and met a lot of new people. Sure it cost you a few bucks and a few hours of your time. At least it got you out of the office. But, now you are wondering how to follow up after networking…

Making an investment of time, energy and money to attend networking events don’t end when the event does. In fact, that’s when it is just beginning.

If you’ve been in business circles for any length of time, you’ve probably heard the old adage:

The Fortune is in the Follow Up!

And this is so true. What you do with all of those contacts and how you follow up after networking is the real key to maximizing your investments. However, you are truly busy just running your business and you really don’t want to come across as spammy. So how can you maximize your time and do so in a manner which gets results without feeling like a used car salesman?

How to Follow Up After a Networking Event

Refine Your Pile

Realistically, not everyone you meet is a good connection. Some contacts just aren’t good prospects and won’t be good sources of referrals either. Don’t focus any time on these individuals. In fact, go ahead and remove their business cards from your pile before you do anything else. You don’t need to follow up after networking if the contact isn’t significant. Now you only have business contacts who are potential prospects or who could refer you to someone who might be.

Categorize By Value

Arrange the remaining cards into three piles.

1. The first pile should contain important business contacts who are the best prospects or referral sources.
2. The second pile should contain contacts who are still valuable but whose value isn’t quite as high.
3. The third and final pile should contain contacts who may be of value in the future but who aren’t a priority as of right now.

Read more about How to Organize Business Contacts here.

The Intro Email

The first email you send as follow up after networking will be a quick email to ask more about the person you just met. Odds are you didn’t get a chance to talk in detail at the networking event. This email gives you the opportunity to connect with them on a deeper level. Here are 4 sample questions you may consider adding to your intro email:

1. What do you love most about being a ?
2.  Who is your favorite audience to work with?
3.  When you aren’t working, what do you love to do?
4.  What is an immediate challenge you are trying to solve right now (personally or professionally)?

After these questions, invite them to join you on social media and list out your links so they can easily access these with a click.

PRO TIP: Use Canned Responses in Google Labs to create email templates like this. Alternatively, you can download a program like PhraseExpress and store common emails for easy retrieval. Better yet, use our new favorite tool, Cloze.com to get this whole process organized!

Who to Email First?

Now that you have the email you will be sending, begin sending these based on the categories you have already set up.

1. Pile A – Reach out to the business contacts in the first pile within 24 hours. Of course, if it is a weekend, that can be the next business day.
2. Pile B – Reach out to your pile B contacts within one week.
3. Pile C – These contacts can wait for one to two weeks out but be sure to follow up with them eventually.

Unless your event was multiple days or you had a sponsor table, odds are you will have less than 20 contacts to follow up with. If you have more than this, you may not be spending enough time with each individual you meet. Only ask for business cards from individuals you truly want to connect with.

PRO TIP: NEVER EVER add someone to your email subscriber list or Facebook group without asking for their permission first. This is rude and considered spammy and may hurt your reputation.

After the First Email: Now What? 

Once you’ve reached out to your business contacts to show them your interest in building a relationship with them, follow up with them by sending them a text or by calling them. Be prepared with a couple of quick questions you can ask. This might be related to the event such as “Did you take action on XYZ?” or it may be just to learn more about them. Also be prepared with your calendar handy to invite them to a “virtual coffee” appointment.

When to follow up:

• Pile A – Call or text within one week of sending the initial email.
• Pile B – Call within two to three weeks.
• Pile C – Call within the first month.

Staying in Touch: Send a Subtle Reminder Using Social Media or Email

 Some business contacts will be easier to connect with and others may be more difficult to reach. If you have still not received a response or interest at this point, send them an article of interest to them (not promoting what you do) through a social media account or by sending them another email. It can also be helpful to engage with them on social media by liking and commenting on their posts.

When to follow up:

• Pile A – Within two weeks of reaching out by phone.
• Pile B – Within one month of the phone call.
• Pile C – Within one month of the phone call.

Pro Tip: Whenever you schedule time to attend a networking event, be sure to schedule follow up times on your calendar as well.

Don’t Give Up: Continue to Reach Out Until You Get a Response

You may or may not have managed to get a response from business contacts at this point. If you have, congratulations. If you haven’t, however, don’t get discouraged.

Remember when we talked about the fortune is in the follow-up? This is what will make or break your success. Quit now and you’ve just wasted your time and money. Remember, people have their own list of priorities and odds are, you are NOT at the top. That doesn’t mean they don’t want to connect with you. It just means the timing has to be right.

When to follow up:

• Pile A – Continue to reach out to these contacts every two to three weeks. Mix it up with phone, email and social media. It’s about making a connection and building a relationship.
• Pile B – Monthly
• Pile C – Quarterly

After trying to connect with a contact for 6 months or more and having no success or return response, you can assume they aren’t interested. This isn’t about beating a dead horse but giving enough time to have magic happen.

If you’ve failed to reach certain contacts after months of sending them emails and phone calls, you can probably throw those contacts into the trash. However, take into consideration how valuable each contact is before giving up. If they are a contact that could really assist you in furthering your career, hold onto them. If they are a contact that you can honestly live without, give up on them.

Pro Tip: If you run into someone on your list at a networking event, reignite the conversation. This connection counts towards your follow up. It’s all about being top of mind for when they are ready.

Final Thoughts

Out of sight, out of mind. When you can build and nurture a healthy relationship with a contact, they are more likely to think of you first when they or someone they know needs what you offer. We hope this article helps you to create your own follow up plan. If you would like help implementing all or part of your follow up after networking events, please contact us here.