One of the things that surprises people about me the most is that most of my clients (in 8+ years since I’ve become a coach) found me and hired me after reading one of my articles or blog posts. I often hear from my clients, colleagues, and mentees that they would love to have the same experience as they find repeating live launches and sales calls to be very exhausting. Since I had so many jaw-dropping reactions and questions related to this, I thought it would be helpful to reflect on how and why I was not dependent on live launches to sign up clients or sell my digital products (considering that all my marketing was organic to date).
Prior to life coaching, I was a famous blogger and sought out writer, so it was natural to me to continue writing articles and write a blog in order to build a personal brand, share my knowledge and wisdom, and attract clients. I hold a bachelor degree in Journalism, so getting featured in media was relatively easy for me (I just applied everything I learned in college). Not long after a became a life coach, I was writing articles for COSMOPOLITAN magazine, was featured in many magazines, and over the years I wrote 350+ articles on the topic of personal growth in my native language and in English (some of my articles were translated to other languages as well). People still find me and hire me or buy my book(s) and/ or my online programs, after reading one of my articles which I wrote 5, 7, or 9 years ago.
I can say that media features were certainly one of the major reasons why clients would reach out with inquires about my coaching programs and hire me after reading one of my articles in COSMOPOLITAN, Sensa, et al. – as someone who studied about media and PR, I knew the influence of media features give on building a credibility and personal brand and therefor I never took any media feature opportunity for granted.
Besides the credibility (the ‘trust factor’) media features can also help in building a premium brand. While not-so-known experts generally get to charge ‘the average industry rate’, a ‘celebrity expert’ can (easily) charge a premium rate. Think for a moment who would you hire (if money would be no obstacle) to design your interior, tidy up your home, or train your dog? You would probably have in mind a media celebrity in the niche, such as one of the interior designers from popular HGTV or Netflix show, Marie Kondo, or Cesar Milan (also think about the rates people are willing to pay to hire celebrity experts).
Another major factor I believe was crucial in building that high level of credibility that strangers on the internet would find me and pay me thousands to work with me was my expertise. I am very good at guiding clients and helping them to achieve the results (which my clients can testify for) and I have a good acumen of knowledge and vast personal experience when it comes to personal growth, online communication, and online business, which all my prior achievements and large archive of blog posts and articles can testify for.
My written content is not just motivational in nature, but also transformational and activating. I have received many messages and emails from my readers saying that (just reading!) my articles/ blog posts/ written advice helped them to transform their life, persist during a health crisis, make important life changes, quit drinking, transform their lives and their business, gain powerful realisations about themselves and about their lives, feel more confident…
When your content (whether it’s an article, blog post, newsletter, audio, or video) helps people to learn something truly valuable, gain new perspective on things, and/or achieve (at least micro) results or transformations, people in your audience reaching out to YOU and asking you how they can work with you happens naturally. You do not need much convincing on how you can help them and how valuable your offers and products are – if people who consumed your content have experienced it and got to that conclusion themselves. Not to mention when your clients and people in your audience share those insights in public (Instagram stories, etc.), tag you, and express gratitude for the transformations and realisations your content helped them achieve (the social proof).
The third piece of the puzzle is presenting people who found you on the internet (via Google, social media post, blog post, article, podcast, video…) with an offer to buy (I wrote more on this topic in one of my previous blog posts). It happened so many times that I read a good article/ blog post, or binged on someone’s Instagram posts (and naturally, I wanted to buy something from them or explore their services) but then I did not find any links (!?). I then clicked on the ‘follow‘ button and purchased the program/ offer from someone else (who had the links and products available for purchase in their bio/ website).
*Reflect for a moment: if your ideal client(s) would stumble upon your social media profile/ podcast episode/ blog post/ YouTube video, or clicked on your website – would they be able to find the link(s) for your products and services and how easy or difficult that would be for them?
*If they clicked on the link, did you do a good job in pre-selling your offers and services (media features, sharing your personal achievements and credentials, displaying activating and action driven content that leads to tangible results and/or powerful mindset shifts, client testimonials, social proof…) and communicating the value of your offer? How likely it is that they would (instantly) buy?
*If they bought one offer, would they automatically be offered to buy the second one?
*If they subscribed to the free offer, would they be automatically and instantly offered to buy a paid offer next?
*Is your email sequence, website, content, or social media pre-selling and selling your offers and your services for you 24/7, seven days a week?
If you would like more people to find you and buy from you/ hire you, I’ve got digital books that can help you:
‘SOLD OUT WHILE SLEEPING’– 20 FREE Automated Promotional Tools To Boost Sales and Attract Clients (PDF GUIDE)