5 Client Attraction Mistakes Most Health Coaches Make

Why does it seem so hard to get clients? You’re passionate, talented, and people get amazing results when working with you. But you’re struggling to grow your health coaching practice.

Over the years, I’ve talked with many health coaches, and invariably, I find that these amazing coaches are making one (or more) of the following five mistakes.

If you’re having trouble attracting clients, chances are good that you are making one of these common mistakes, too. The good news is that these are all easy to fix, and you’ll learn how in this article.

See which ones you are likely making right now and learn what to do instead.

Mistake #1 – Not Talking to Clients at Their Level

If you’re struggling to grow your coaching practice, it may be because you’re talking enthusiastically about things your ideal client doesn’t understand like: gut health, liver cleanse, adrenal fatigue, leaky gut syndrome, or green smoothies.

Although you have an understanding and appreciation for how these things can transform people’s health and lives, chances are good that the people you talk to won’t. Worse, they may automatically discount working with you because they don’t identify with what you are saying.

If your clients get amazing results, but you feel frustrated trying to convey the value of what you offer when you market your services, this may be the biggest mistake you are making.

SOLUTION: In order to attract clients, you want to use the same words they are using to describe their problem and the solution they are looking for. Listen to what people are saying and use the phrases they use. When talking with potential clients, include words and phrases like: weight loss, more energy, reverse diabetes, or stop mood swings. They may not understand what adrenal fatigue is, but they will understand the phrase “all day energy.”

Mistake #2 – Believing You Need to Have All the Answers

This is a two-fold mistake. First, it causes you to under-change for your services. And second, it is the false belief behind mistake #3: not promoting yourself.

I’ve talked to so many holistic practitioners who are holding themselves back because they believe they need more education, certification, or an online presence before they can promote themselves.

Are you waiting to start your business once you finish a certain course, complete a training program, or jump over the next hurdle? If so, then this could be your biggest mistake.

SOLUTION: This requires a mindset shift. As a health coach, you are a supportive mentor who motivates and guides your clients into making positive lifestyle and behavior changes.

Having all the answers isn’t part of your job description. And no matter how brilliant you are, I’m sure you realize that even top professionals in the medical field don’t have all the answers. So why should you?

Accept that you only need to know a little more than your client in order to help them. That’s it. And if you passed your health coach certification, then you already know 90% more than the general population on your expertise.

If you’ve ever helped someone transform their health (including yourself), then you already know enough to help others. No one is expecting you to know everything or have all the answers – except maybe you.

Mistake #3 – Not Promoting Yourself

It’s wonderful when you have a waiting list of clients ready to work with you. And most coaches dream of day when they can fill their practice by referrals alone. But the reality is that you won’t get clients unless you market your services.

Promoting yourself is especially important in the beginning when nobody knows about you or what you can do for them. But it doesn’t have to feel “salesy.” Marketing is not a 4-letter word.

If you feel that you’re a best kept secret, then this could be your biggest mistake.

SOLUTION: Understand that marketing is about attracting the people you most want to work with. And it can be fun and easy.

It can be as simple as sending announcement letters to friends and family, writing guest articles for someone else’s site, or posting to social media sites.

You can hold free, live presentations in your area on your topic of expertise, such as “How to Drop 2 Dress Sizes in 30 Days” or “The Top 5 Cancer Fighting Foods and How to Cook with Them.”

When someone asks you what you do, have a short response ready that gets people curious. Instead of saying, “I’m a health coach,” you might say “I help women over 40 fight cancer.” Most people who heard that would ask how you did that and want to know more.

There are more ways to market than you can imagine. And you don’t have to have a website to get clients, though it can help.

Mistake #4 – Not Specializing (Niching and Branding)

If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll end up helping no one.

As a health coach, you have the skills and training to help a great many people with their health and wellness. But if you want to easily attract clients, you need to choose a unique group of people to work with. That includes a niche and branding. It will make you – and your future clients – much happier.

To be clear, a niche is a subset of a community that relates to a specific topic. For instance, if the community you want to market to is “natural health,” then the niche could be “digestive issues.” You could even get more specific and choose the niche “food allergies.”

Your brand is how you clearly communicate who you are, what you do, and the results you can deliver. It identifies your specialty in terms that will attract your ideal client to you. So in the example above, if your niche was food allergies, then your brand might be a title: Mary Smith, Your Food Allergy Coach.

If you’re promoting yourself and getting little to no enthusiasm from the people you speak with, then this is likely your biggest mistake.

SOLUTION: Although you could help almost anyone with their health and wellness, I believe that your background, interest, experience, and training has prepared you to deliver amazing, transformative results to a specific group of people.

If you haven’t yet chosen a niche, start with that. Identify which group of people get the best results when working with you and what topic you enjoy most. That is your niche.

If you’ve already chosen a niche, then create a brand such as a title, a tag line, business name, and/or an introduction that can grab people’s attention in eight words or less.

Mistake #5 – Not Building a List of Prospects

This is the biggest client attraction mistake I see health coaches make, especially when they are just starting their practice. They tell themselves they have plenty of time to build a list later or that they’ll start once they have a website. But without prospects, there is no income.

The first step to having a list of clients ready and willing to hire you is to have a list of prospects that you follow up with regularly. Without this list, you’ll always feel like you’re starting from scratch when trying to get clients.

I see so many health coaches with social media pages or websites that have no list building strategies incorporated in them. Or they give live presentations, but don’t collect information from attendees so they can follow up with them.

If your income constantly fluctuates, this is likely your biggest mistake.

SOLUTION: You don’t need a website or an autoresponder to start building a list of prospects, so don’t let that hold you back. Both of these can, however, put your marketing on autopilot.

If you have a website, get an autoresponder account so you can start collecting names and email addresses from your website visitors. I personally use and recommend AWeber.com to all my clients. They offer a 30-day free trial, tons of tutorials to get you started, plus free phone support.

You’ll want to offer something valuable for free in exchange for their information, something more than just a newsletter. If you’d like a proven 5-step system for creating free offers that people love, see this article: Create an Irresistible Free Offer

If you don’t yet have a website, you can still start building a list. Write down people’s contact information when they seem interested in what you’re doing. Then follow up with them by email or phone with an offer for a complimentary strategy session.

Or the next time you attend a conference or networking event, collected a bunch of business cards from people who you think are great referrals. Then follow up with them, tell them a little about what you do, and ask if they know of anyone who would benefit from a complimentary strategy session.

Summary

There are many, many ways to attract clients. And probably just as many mistakes that chase clients away. After eight years of helping health coaches with their marketing, the above five are the biggest and most common mistakes that I’ve seen.

Ask yourself which of the above mistakes you are making today. Which of the above are keeping you from attracting the clients you most want to work with?

The great news for you is that many of the solutions above can be implemented in a week – and some in just a day.

· Do some online research tonight or talk to an ideal client. Listen to their words and phrases and you’ll be able to talk on their level in no time.

· Shift your mindset about the need to have all the answers, and you can experience a breakthrough in false beliefs that are holding you back.

· Start promoting yourself today – or the next time you meet someone.

· Think about what you are best at and which clients you love to work with. Pick a niche or create a brand in just 24 hours. Here’s how: Create an Irresistible Brand in 1 Day or Less

· Make a list of people you know who you’d love to work with. Include their names, email address, mailing address, and phone number (if you have it.) Then start following up with prospects tomorrow.

· Create a free, irresistible offer for your website and add a web form to start building your list on autopilot. If you use a checklist or assessment you’ve already created, you can have it online in just 1 week or less.

If you’ve found this article helpful, please leave a comment or ask a question. I love hearing from my readers.

For more tips, strategies, and articles on how to get more clients and create irresistible offers, programs, and websites, visit http://www.KarenBrunet.com. From Karen Brunet, The Irresistible Marketing Coach, where “It’s not just a website…It’s the Mother Lode!”