Have a Unique Coaching Business

The world of online coaching has become intense - so many people want to share their knowledge and expertise with the world. One has to wonder though, with all these experts out there, which one do we ask for help? Which one is the expert-expert? Through my work with online coaches, I have found the main issue to be - "how do I build up my clientele and stand out from the crowd?" While this is a heavily loaded question, there is one very simple answer - stop doing what everyone else is doing!

I was recently on a telesummit call (The Shine Your Light Telesummit), listening to brand expert David Tyreman discuss the importance of being your own authentic brand. It really got me thinking, why are we constantly trying to duplicate the success of others? As Tyreman explained, "we start emulating others and the fact is the more we emulate others the more invisible we become because then we have nothing that makes us look unique or different or better." It makes sense.

Online coaches have a lot of competition, whether they are business coaches, life coaches, career coaches, food coaches or any other type of coach, the competition is fierce. Developing a unique program or service is one way to stand out, so is how you interact with your clients and the level of comfort and professionalism you provide them. What does your brand say about you? How do you stand out from other coaches in your industry?

Online coaches need to have a solid reputation online, especially on social networks. I have found that the coaches who connect daily with their network followers or connections are the ones that stand out as the more successful coaches. It's not just marketing online, but actually providing useful content and conversations daily. I love to see coaches providing free advice to their connections; along that same line, free tele-classes are great too.

All too often people just schedule all their posts in a system such as Hootsuite - which is a great tool - but that should not be the entirety of your social media strategy! Today's online businesses require relationships, and that can only be done in the moment, not scheduled in advance.

People are bombarded with information online every day, in order to stand out from the crowd, consider taking time to find new and creative ways to be unique and definitely take time to build relationships daily. People need your coaching services, but they won't reach out until they know you on some personal level.