When I started my coaching business the last thing I wanted to do was “stand out from the crowd.”
That’s probably because I was taught to blend in for most of my life. I was encouraged from an early age to not call attention to myself – the kids who did were considered to be obnoxious and no one took them seriously.
In high school, instead of sports, I played the flute in concert band and sang in in a special choir. Once again, you were supposed to blend in. The instrument and voice must be perfectly in tune with the others. For my senior year in band, I took second chair because I didn’t want to be the soloist flute (which is what the first chair was if there was a solo). In college it was the same. Plus I participated in the theater always working backstage with props or costumes.
So when I started my coaching business online, all that conditioning was challenged. Because here you are supposed to stand out. I ignored it for many years, thinking that blending in was OK and it was my comfort zone. But eventually, I had to admit that it wasn’t OK. In fact, marketing online is a whole different ball game. And Life Coaching was a crowded industry.
When I stepped out of my comfort zone and learned how to stand out, it became easier to market my business. It became easier to talk to strangers. It became easier to teach masterclasses and workshops. It became easier to take a stand for what I was passionate about without appearing “obnoxious”.
Does any of this resonate with you? If so, here are 8 quick tips for standing out in a crowd.
Here are 8 quick tips for standing out from the crowd so you can get more visibility, reach more people, and attract more aligned clients.
1-Always Be Yourself
You have a certain style and way of doing things, and you can capitalize on that, even if you’re using the same marketing tools everyone else is using. Authenticity is a precious commodity these days, so don’t discount it.
2-What 5 Words Describe You?
Ask a few colleagues, clients, and/or friends give you five words that describe you when you are at your best. They can only give you five. Then once you have all of their words, go through and see what words they used to describe you were repeated the most times.
3-Give Clear Communication
You need to be extremely clear in communicating what problems you can solve for people, what the benefits are of working with you in particular, and what the results are for them when those problems are solved.
4-Make Them Say “She Gets Me”
You want your ideal prospects to think that you are speaking directly to them. You know that feeling when you go to a talk and it feels like the speaker is talking directly to you? Well, that’s how you want your ideal prospects to feel. Like you are talking just to them.
5-Improve Communication
Survey your audience and ask open-ended questions about their challenges as well as what they really want. Their answers will give you the language THEY use to describe their problems and their aspirations. Then when you use THEIR language or the way they say it, it speaks directly to them.
6-Create Conversations
Offer free laser coaching sessions to your audience through social media, groups that you belong to, or your list if you have one. In the sessions you can discover how they talk about their challenges and what solutions they are seeking.
7-Nurture Your Audience
Create an email series of 7-10 emails that educate your subscribers about your topic. Include some personal stories or info about yourself. Telling your audience about how you struggled with the same issues they are facing, makes you more attractive and relatable.
8-Market With Content Before Making Offers
Share tips, videos, and related resources that are from you as well as other sources to show that your primary objective is to support them not sell to them. Use the 80/20 rule-80% content, 20% offers.
