As a business coach, I have explored the process of finding new coaching clients extensively. I think what I’ve learned probably also applies to other professionals, such as financial advisors, doctors, accountants, etc.
There are lots of ways to become known, including:
- Networking groups, such as BNI and your chamber of commerce
- Writing articles
- Maintaining a blog
- Giving presentations for local and national groups that match your desired client demographics
- Advertising – print and Web
Many coaches and other professionals I know have had beautiful brochures designed and printed, and hand them out to prospects in many contexts. I’d like to suggest replacing your brochure with a book.
There are several reasons why brochures don’t work well for coaches and other professionals:
- Few people keep brochures; they glance at them and toss them (isn’t this what you do?)
- A brochure doesn’t contain much information; emphasis is usually placed on a pleasing design and good materials
- Brochures are either expensive or look too cheap (even if they’re not) to reflect well on you
A book, on the other hand,
- Automatically establishes you as an authority
- Gives you room enough to define your uniqueness
- Is unlikely to get thrown away
- Can actually be less expensive to produce than a moderately-priced brochure (a 48-page perfect-bound book with a color cover is just over $1 in quantities of 500)
I’ve created a template-based kit for coaches to produce a 48-page book without difficulty, and I have additional kits planned for other professions. But whether you use my kit or not, I recommend you consider producing a book to replace your brochure.
