How to Become a Recognized Coach with Your Content

If you build your brand, people will come for you to coach them. While we’re referencing the movie “Field of Dreams,” as a Certified Behavioral Coach you will need a strategy to help you gain momentum, credibility, and increased revenue in a field of your own and develop your coaching business to the level you want it to be. As we provide you with a brief insight on brand awareness, social branding, and public relations tactics, please envision yourself as a brand and compare these topics to what you are currently doing. Apply these strategies to your own business and watch your portfolio grow.

Do you currently have a website or presence you can call your own?

The first step in modern-day public relations is to combine both traditional and digital branding strategies so people can find you wherever they prefer to frequent. A website serves as a central hub with a dedicated URL address in which you can provide people either verbally or in a written format; directing them to learn more about your brand or to inquire within. On your website, talk about your brand and share your story.

Remember, you are your brand so you will want to share why you do what you do, how you got your start, and where you plan to go.

Provide details related to your education, professional affiliations, clients you might have served, and services you offer. You may decide to include a long or short biography statement – one in which you will be able to copy and paste into other portals on the web as you continue to build and grow (you’ll use this as your "boilerplate" in your press releases too). Most importantly, clients should be able to reach you directly from this hub and be in contact with you should they decide to use your services, after all.

Websites serve as central hubs or the "official portal," where clients can come to learn more information about your brand and related content. As more sites link in, it will become easier for you to be found. By adding a blog to your site, you’ll attract potential customers and build trust by providing subject matter and content to serve their needs. All incoming and outgoing links to and from your website will help you establish credibility by both your customers and search engines such as Google or Bing. Profiles on professional networks and directories will also add to this concept, as visitors will see you as connected and you'll provide them with other avenues for contact and/or referral.

Just a few quick reminders:

Content is king. Be frequent and consistent. Utilize keywords people are searching for. Continually distribute relative subject matter and don't be afraid to repurpose your content in different formats, including blogs, white papers, eBooks, and social media posts to name a few.
Make it easy to take the next step. How do you want people to use your content? Why do you want your brand to be seen? What do you want audiences to do once learning about your brand or consultation practice? Always give people the next step in their reading journey. This next step is referred to as a "call-to-action."
Monitor your brand. Monitoring your brand will provide you with immediate damage control. Follow up on questions by your onlooking audience. Treat these as leads. Utilize audience feedback to improve customer experience and dispel rumors which may negatively impact your brand.
Provide a way for audiences to connect. Provide prospects with a way to contact you, whether through an online link or branded business cards you hand to them directly. Make sure to follow up.
Test your efforts. Find out what is working and what isn’t. Stay productive. Take advantage of those areas which provide you with the best return on investment (ROI), whether in the long or short term. Find out how you can improve. Find out what your audience likes. Change your strategy as needed.
Always have a way to collect new prospects. Whether through a variety of email marketing tactics or through offline list-building strategies.
Continue to build demand. Establish yourself as an expert. Continue to engage and connect with your audience both online and in person.