164: Why Your Personal Story is Valuable to Coaching Clients

This episode is about how to be authentic in your coaching business and share your personal story to attract ideal clients. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/164Vulnerability Wasn’t Always PrizedWhen I launched Prosperous Coach, sharing your mistakes or shortcomings was not a great strategy. Unless you were famous already, sharing that you went bankrupt, ruined your marriage or lost your business wasn’t received as a reason to listen to what you have to say. Marketing and selling had a different style and come from.Facebook had only been around for two years. And few people were sharing selfies.If you were looking for help to achieve something you were looking for an expert who had significant credentials and social proof in the old fashioned way.And if you wanted to attract clients you needed to toot your own horn without much airtime, if any, on the zigzag it took you to get to where you are. Trust was built by showing people how you have everything figured out.So coaches and anyone selling a personal or business growth program were a bit more buttoned up. You pushed your knowledge and successes out ahead of you keeping more personal things to yourself.I’m not exactly sure when things changed. I’m guessing it was around 2010 — but I know that it was revolutionary when it became okay to be vulnerable with prospects and clients.More than that … vulnerability is now appreciated and even perhaps expected in many spaces. Thank you, Brene Brown!I was a late adopter of that in my business and it contributed to a slow down for a few years. I found it more difficult to drop the shield and even had some judgment about the messiness of other coaches and other people marketing approaches in a really loose and personal way. More Authentic Marketing for CoachesNow, I’m a total convert and can easily say that it’s a relief to just be me all the time. Not omit or hide anything. And I often have coaches tell me how much they appreciate my authenticity … how much they appreciate that I keep it real! Most of my clients worry that their faux pas or so called failures in life are not going to be well received.I was talking to one of my VIP clients the other day and she was concerned about whether her personal story would turn her clients off. But she had chosen a target audience and niche that’s related to those difficult times in her past. I could clearly see that sharing her story would build trust with her audience.Trust … that’s what creates followers and enrolls ideal clients. Think about it … if someone cannot see you as trustworthy, they certainly cannot hire you.You’ve heard of the know-like-trust factor. Bob Burg wrote a book called Endless Referrals and coined that term. But it’s an OLD concept. Yes, you can get referrals if people trust you. But that’s not the only benefit of trust.6 Powerful Questions Coaches Can AskWhen I’m helping my clients choose a target audience and develop their coaching niche, I ask questions to uncover their skills, experience and expertise, their interests and personal story. Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence. For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call. Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.