Setting Up A Website For Your Coaching
Having a website is a no-brainer these days. With the entire world doing business online on a global scale there’s really no excuse for not having a website with, at the very least, your information, rates and experience on it. There’ simply no way to compete in your chose field without having a presence online but unfortunately so many people settle with having a mere informational page that does little more than list your phone number and general services. This is not the best way to go about having a website to complement your coaching services and there are far more engaging methods you can use that will encourage people to not only come to your website but also to hopefully sign up for your coaching as well.
Different Methods for Setting up a Website
The many different methods you can use to set up your website along with various promotion techniques, design intricacies, traffic building, conversion and monetization are beyond the scope of this article to describe but what I do want to touch on is one really important topic that so many people miss when it comes to establishing a presence online. It is really easy to simply set up a website and then let it sit but even nowadays most people know that it really isn’t enough to just have a website hanging out there in no mans land while you hope and pray on the other end that maybe someone will hire you out from it.
Most people are aware that your website is an extremely important marketing tool and that, if used correctly, it can make you a lot of money - the problem is that most people don’t know how to do that. If you knew how to do that (and do it well) you wouldn’t be a life coach, you would be a marketing specialist, a web designer, or an SEO expert. Or maybe you’d be all of those things. But you aren’t - you’re a life coach. So what people do is they turn to other people who are web designers, seo experts, and marketers, and say “Hey look, I have a website. Please make it make money!” and think that they’re doing something smart and competitive. Unfortunately, they aren’t.
The problem with this method is that it simply doesn’t work anymore. The internet is filled up with useless content and pointless drivel that if you send out a designer, a developer, and an seo expert to make your website make money they’ll use the only methods they know how to make money which are ones that have been so thoroughly wrung of their effectiveness that all you (the paying customer) ends up doing is wasting your money. What happens is a person with less than adequate technical skills has a business or a service (that’s your life coaching) that they want to do more of and make more money from.
They’re smart (good on you) so they know that having a website can bring in more cash for them. They may even know of a few ways to do this like having ads on their website, using their site to get an email list to promote a new product, say a book they’ve written, or even by selling products on their site like intellectual property such as audio downloads, coaching calls, ebooks and so forth. They explain all their knowledge to their web services company, tell them what they want, and then their web company proceeds to run right out and make them no money whatsoever.
Yep. Sadly, that’s how it works. Because the problem with this scenario is that the designers and marketers we turn to only have half of the solution that we need. It’s like they’re giving us the car but there’s no gas in it to make it run. What’s missing is the value that’s created by the website. So the poor people who have paid for their services end up with a shiny pretty website (if they’re lucky), that accomplishes none of the goals they needed it to. It may have their information on it (which is great) and it’s certainly better than nothing but here’s the kicker - even a poorly designed website set up on a basic system (like a blog, for example) would do hundreds of times better at making money for it’s owner than a really spiffy expensive site that doesn’t have anything worthwhile on it - and that’s where most people get hung up.
What To Know When Setting Up A Website for Life Coaching
Most new business owners (or service providers) are so invested in having a professional appearance and being “in” on the online marketing game that they completely forget the golden rule of business that determines everything from profits to growth to development:
Create Value when Setting up a Website!
Even better: Create rare, unique value that fills a need and then deliver it to people who want it and can use it. So while it’s great to have a glossy website it’s not rare and it’s not unique. Good website design will never be rare anymore - it’s far too easy to get - you can just pay for it. However, unique, useful, and valuable content is extremely rare (especially in this day and age where the internet is akin to the bathroom wall of society) and on an individual level it’s rarely something that can be paid for.
There are many fantastic copywriters out there and seo experts that can get you some good traffic in the short term that will assure you that you don’t have to worry about content on your site and that there are “tips and tricks” that will make your website (and thus your coaching business just as successful without you having to write a single word but the bottom line is that it really doesn’t work that way. You don’t want a bunch of random search engine traffic coming to your site anyways - that may be great on a small level, perhaps for a few ads that you have placed up on your website that get some clicks here and there, but for the most part this is the kind of traffic that won’t stay long, won’t come back, and isn’t going to be very interested in your website. What you do want is a lot of very specific niche traffic that genuinely wants what you’re offering (that would be the life coaching you provide) and is willing to pay for it.
How Should You Set Up Your Life Coaching Network Site?
So are you asking “How?” yet? Good, you should be. It all comes back to creating value and delivering it. If you want your website to be a useful way of finding new clients, promoting your business, and (god forbid) earning you an extra stream of income you absolutely must must must have value to it. Now I know that sounds like an abstract term - “value” but that’s only because value is different to everyone and subjective to some. What value means is to create something that is unique, useful, fills a need or a gap, and solves some sort of a problem or answers a question for people. The tricky part with this is that not everyone places value in the same things. You may place a lot of value in creating online scrapbooks of your cat Muffy and her crocheted bumblebee costume but other people probably aren’t going to get quite as much out of it as you do.
On the other hand, if you create a motivational podcast that helps people get excited to give speeches or speak in public some other way that is genuinely well-thought out and executed and then do something really scary like, say, give it away for free - that provides tremendous value and people will notice. You can ask for an email or something like that as a trade if you want but don’t turn around and spam those emails with request to buy every product you or every person you know has ever made. Instead use those emails to provide even more value like a free newsletter that isn’t just a request to join your coaching (but hey, put a little plug for yourself down at the bottom of each) but something that has lots of substance like helpful articles, updates on what’s going on in the life coaching industry, shout outs to people who have made outstanding contributions in their field and so forth.
Value will always trump massive link-building campaigns and a frenzy of seo work. Because when it really comes down to it if your website is filled with nothing but random links, useless content that is little more than a string of keywords with a few conjunctions mixed in, along with a bunch of adds and affiliate programs - all because your developer says this is the way to go, you’re going to end up with a mediocre amount of visitors and a disappointing return on your investment.
Focus on Value
So instead, focus on creating your value and then delivering it to people the easiest way possible and with the simplicity of technology these days (and the availability to have the hard stuff paid for) there’s no reason why your website can’t serve as a perfect foundation for your life coaching business. I wouldn’t recommend investing a ton of money into your website until you’re already bringing in some steady income from it in the first place though as that really isn’t good business sense unless you depend entirely on your website as your source of income and need it to serve as a way for people to have access to your products or services.
For example, if you’re planning on selling products like CD’s, audio download, ebooks and so forth then you will need a site that allows you to take credit cards and deliver goods and that sort of thing. This is a time when it’s wise to get a decent, well functioning site up and running. However if you really just want your website to bring in more income and gain you a reputation as an expert in your field then you’re much better off waiting for it to produce some revenue for you prior to investing a great deal into it’s design or function.
There are so many ways that you can use your website as a resource for value for other people and by doing so you make it so much easier to improve your business as a life coach. By focusing on providing value to people with your website (as opposed to letting it just sit out there in cyberspace) you give people a reason to visit your site as well as a reason to keep coming back. And the more they come back the more likely they are to buy a product or a service from you - it’s not rocket science.
One of the best ways to do this is by providing a resource for others on a topic or field you specialize in. If you want to write articles about life coaching methods, tips, organization, habits and so forth then do that. Make sure your articles are helpful, informative, well written, and provide something worthwhile to any potential readers. If writing isn’t a personal skill of yours (and you aren’t willing to develop it further) look to other means of sharing what you know in a helpful way. Create podcasts or audio clips for people to listen to. Make videos and have a whole bunch of them on your website for people to browse through at watch. Fill with them good, solid information and lots of ideas and suggestions for people.
Remember to fill a need or solve a problem for people. Don’t push people to come to your website without justification. If you’re simply trying to make a whole bunch of extra money from your site without giving anything back to the people that are visiting it (whether it’s in the form of useful content, helpful tools or programs, valuable information, important news and updates, or a sense of community) your visitors will be able to tell that. They won’t respect you for it - and they probably won’t return. However, if you make an effort to provide value, give a genuine reason for users to come back to your site, and do your best to help them in some way - people will notice and down the line you’ll be rewarded for it.
So yes, when the time is right invest in a good design, have a clean, well organized website. Be up to date on the latest technology. Have your information, pricing, a contact form and so forth on the site. But don’t forget that your website is more than just a calling card for the visitor that stumbles across your page to leave with. It’s a dynamic tool that allows you to make a contribution, stand out in your field, earn a status as a respected authority in the life coach industry and really make a difference in your profession.
Don’t become another coach with a website that is easily forgettable and does no one any good (least of all you). Use your website as a resource for others, a place for people to connect, and most importantly an opportunity for you to create value, deliver it to others, and reap the rewards. Once you’ve got that figured out - the rest of the website stuff is a piece of cake.