Why Your Coaching Website Is NOT About Getting Clients

As a coach, a healer or professional service provider, do you know why you have a website?

You know the answer to this, right? You have a website to get more clients.

Well, what if that’s not realistic? What if that’s not the true purpose of your website? What if your website isn’t meant to covert clients?

Then what is my website for?

Honestly, most people – most coaches, healers, professionals, etc – believe that they have a website to get them more clients. They see their website as a magical tool that if they say enough of the right things people will contact them to become clients.

And us marketing folks don’t help because we’re always talking about ‘conversion’ – getting people to answer your offer.

There’s some truth here – certainly. But the reason for your website isn’t to get you more clients. The reason is to get your contacts…what we often call ‘leads.’

You see most marketing advice online is about how to sell products.

But selling a service is very different than selling a product.

When you’re marketing and selling a product you do everything you can to answer your potential customer’s needs, wants and objections without ever having a one-to-one discussion. That’s why you (we) create those long sales pages. If we haven’t answered our customer’s questions or objections, we haven’t built a successful sales page.

Selling services (coaching, healing, professional services, etc) is very different. When you sell a service it’s less about convincing prospective clients that they should work with you (buy from you) and more about creating rapport and building relationships.

And that’s the key difference between selling products and services on your website

Different than selling a product, when you promote your services you want to begin a conversation with your potential clients. You use your website’s content, social media, your email list, your blog, etc, etc to have conversations with the people most likely to become your clients. The conversations are to engage possibly clients in a way that they begin to feel like they’re in a relationship with you. And then, when they’re ready to make change – they escalate the conversation you’ve begun with them to a live conversation through email or phone, etc to discuss working together.

So the purpose of your website is to build relationships not directly convert clients

As you’ve heard again and again, people become your clients when they know, like and trust you AND are ready to make the change you can support them in. So you use your website to build relationships. This takes time.

Very seldom will you have a person visit your site and call immediately ready to become your client. Yet I watch my clients all the time have that expectation. This thinking can put so much unnecessary pressure on you (and your website content…and your expectations) that it can cause great turmoil, overwhelm and even undermine potential success by setting unrealistic expectations.

My advice, stop thinking of your website as a client converter.

Rather, think of your website as a communication tool with the purpose of staring conversations with the people best suited to become your clients. While there’s many ways to do this, here’s a few suggestions you can begin today:

1. Start using your blog: Forget everything you’ve heard about blogging and think of it this way – you have a publishing platform that gives you the opportunity to easily publish content that’s useful to potential clients. Solve them problems, give them tips, use client stories, etc – just be useful in the same manner as you would if they were your clients. And if you’re having trouble cutting through the overwhelm of blogging – or if you believe you have nothing to say, I can certainly help.
2. Use your your email list: People have not only given you permission to share useful content with them, they want you to. Most of the people on your email list want to hear from you. They want to hear how you can help them. Forget big, bulky overwhelming newsletters and write short articles that will help the people on your list. Not sure where/how to begin, I’m happy to help.
3. Make your website content about ‘them’: This is key. You want your website’s content to be about and for the people you want to work with. Resist the temptation to make it about you, your modalities and how unique your solutions are. Rather, focus on communicating your understanding of their problems/issues, the discomfort around them and then lead them to the solutions. And more importantly, what their life will look like after they’ve solved their problems – health, life, marriage, job, etc. Edit your site’s content. And if you can’t then let’s get you on WordPress and show you (in about 20 minutes) how you can update your own content easily.
4. Ask your clients and past clients: No one knows the impact you can make on their lives like your clients. Ask them to describe their experiences of working with you, get testimonials (called ‘social proof’ that you can help folks), even ask them to review your website and give you feedback. They’re in a perfect position to help. Offer them something in exchange for their help. Nothing replaces website/content critiques from people who know your work. If you need to work up a basic set of questions, I can help with that.
5. Use social media: I know, I know – Facebook and Twitter are so overwhelming. Just forget everything you’ve heard that you’re ‘supposed to be’ doing. Instead, find and share content from sources you read or you find. Just like with your website, share content that’s useful to people who could become clients. Find your clients and people on your email list in social media and have chats with them. Social media is about the ‘social’ part. You know how to be social already. Just do so online. And yes, I can help you with that too.

​​The most valuable thing you can do is rethinking what your website is for.

It’s not a client magnet. It’s a tool to start conversations and build relationships. The great thing about your website is that it’s open 24/7 – whether you’re in the office, home, asleep or on vacation – your website is always there.

Just like with any tool, you want to use it properly to get the best results.

I’m starting a conversation on this post to answer your questions.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, answer your questions and hear about your successes and failures with you website. And if you’re lost, overwhelmed or about to give up on your site because it’s not working, definitely leave me a comment at the link below – or email me directly – and let’s see if we can help you.

Let’s start a chat in the comment box below…