Many coaches come to me complaining that they do not have enough clients and they are not making enough money. Often they are ready to give up on the idea of being a full time coach thinking that there is nothing more to do. The truth is most of these coaches have not even gotten started marketing their coaching business.

Marketing a coaching business is a daily activity. You need to do at least three things each day to attract clients to your coaching business and to ensure that you get repeat and referral business from your existing clients. Planning is also a key ingredient to a successful coaching business.

I always have several questions that I ask new clients and they are “What are your goals for this year” and “How are you marketing your coaching business”? Sadly the responses I get are usually something like “I want to earn a lot of money” and “I have a site on the internet”. Well, that is not enough to compete successfully in today’s market!

You must have defined goals for the upcoming 5 years, 1 year, month, week and day. You must also market your coaching business in several ways daily. That is simply what it takes to grow a successful coaching business.

I don’t think the problem is that coaches are not willing to do the work. Rather, I think the problem is that coaches don’t take the time to plan and they allow themselves to lack the required discipline. So set your mind to taking action and take responsibility for doing what it takes to grow your coaching business this year.

You must clearly define your goals
Many coaches start their coaching business without clearly defined goals for their business. A vague concept of getting more coaching clients, making more money or a desire to coach full time are not clearly defined goals.

An unclear goal will lead to little accomplishment because you have no true direction or path. It is very common for a coach to work very hard yet see little results because it is difficult to get where you are going when you have no clear direction.

When you have a clear goal in sight, you can always determine if a particular action is going to help, you achieve that goal. Clearly defined goals provide focus, clarity and direction. Working toward a specific and achievable goal will increase your determination, patience and persistence. Setting and reaching goals will increase your self-esteem and help you to become proactive rather than reactive.

Plan your success and visualize it to make it happen. Set goals that you can achieve in a realistic time frame and make sure you measure your success to ensure that you are on track to meet your long term goals.