Coaching Tools to help Coaches Get More Coaching Clients. Suzan Schmitt: The Coach Marketer

Business cards and website

July 9, 2008

How am I going to design business cards?

The next thing I had to figure out is how the heck to get a website.  I had to have a website if I was planning to put the web address on my business card and any legit business has a website.  This one could have stopped me in my tracks because this is an area I know nothing about!  The first thing you need is a domain.  I went to www.godaddy.com to find an available domain name.  I chose a name and no surprise to me it was not available.  There are a few tricks about choosing a domain name.  Make sure that common search words are in the domain name and that it represents your business.  I found that my original choice was taken so I started to change the order of the words in my name and still no luck.  Finally, I found that by adding a word like team or group the the end of my name worked.

What are the first steps to getting a domain and web address?

Whew!  Name accomplished.  The next step to getting a website up was to find a place to host the website.  This is where I made a big mistake…be sure the place you choose to host your website will handle all the possible things you may choose to do on your website like ecommerce!  I chose one that does not accommodate everything I wish to do in the future.  I also needed a website host that had templates for designing my website because I am not looking to pay a web-designer.  There are several options for hosting that can be found by searching for website hosting. I suggest you go for a blog rather than a website. I talk about this in detail in my post Coaching Business: Blog vs. Website.  I strongly suggest that you start with a blog (took me months to figure this out so I am going back to edit this post now). If you do choose a blog, I highly reccoment Typepad for blog hosting.

What about printing business cards and how do you design them?

Now I had a website address so I could finish up the business cards process.  I chose an online business card printer that was very inexpensive.  There are many available on the Internet and I also discovered a few tricks to getting the most value.  These websites have business card templates available so there is not need to design your own card unless you want to.  I chose to put information on the front and back of my card.  On the front, I put the usual stuff and on the back I put a description of what benefits my business offered and a description of the problems my business can solve.  Using the back of the card is a great idea especially if you business may need more description than just a name.  The truth is people buy solutions so any solution you can add is great.  One other little trick is to go through the order process and if there is an opportunity to upgrade the order to a greater amount at a reasonable price…take it.  I found that the upgrade was less expensive than placing a large order initially.  I used Vista Print.

If you liked this post you can get more information about starting a Coaching Business by going to "Coaching Business Blast Off" and getting my free eCourse.

What I learned today.

1)  There is a website to do almost anything!

2)  Your website name should represent your business and include words that someone might use in a search.

3)  Adding a word like team or group to your preferred name can be helpful when looking for an available domain name.

4)  Make sure the place you choose to host your website has all the functions you want or may want in the future.  Website tonight was a good choice for me.

5)  Use the back of your business card to describe the benefits or your business or the problems you solve.

6)  Check out the whole order process and take advantage of ordering offers that make sense. 

Related posts:

1. Marketing Coaching: Tell Them How You Can Help
2. Starting a Coaching Business: Start-Up and Client Attraction Phase
3. Today I start a blog!
4. Coaching Business: Blog vs. Website
5. Life Coaching Business: Website or Blog

Filed under: Basic business decisions

Tags: coach marketing, getting coaching clients, marketing, selling coaching, starting a coaching business, suzan schmitt