“Your personal reputation or branding as a coach can attract and repel opportunities for your business. It has a powerful effect on people’s opinions and actions.” ~Allie Mendoza
Branding for coaches can focus on your personal branding and your coaching services.
Branding a service-based business — like your coaching business — is very different from strategies used to brand a product-based business.
Most of the branding strategies offered online are actually for products and product-based companies. This means that if you apply them to brand your coaching services, they’re likely to be ineffective. They can even damage your brand.
By focusing on specific strategies for branding for coaches, you can simplify the process of differentiating your coaching business.
Read on…
Most people assume that for your coaching service to stand out from the crowd, it has to be actually unique or different. You’re not differentiating your actual service. Instead, you’re differentiating the UNIQUE EXPERIENCE of working specifically with you. What stands out in the client’s mind is you. The relationship is with you. There is only one you. If you’re the right match for your client, (s)he will recognize it.
It’s a big challenge for experts and other service-based entrepreneurs to stand out in the crowd.
Most coaches, consultants and other experts get this wrong about differentiation…
When you try to stand out from the crowd by trying to differentiate your ACTUAL service, you’re going to fail. You’re looking at the wrong place.
The problem is how we think about differentiation. Most people assume that for your service to stand out from the crowd, it has to be actually unique or different.
This is a big mistake…
Differentiation involves creating a perception in the minds of your prospects and clients. You want them to perceive you and your services as both distinctive and valuable.
In order to stand out positively and distinctly in their minds, you need to manage their experience of you and your services.
Perception is grounded in experience…
Whenever clients hire you to provide a service, they are purchasing two things simultaneously: they’re buying the service itself and the relationship with you as the provider of the service.
The good news?
You can influence and reverse-engineer this perception…
BEFORE prospective clients start working with you, you need to create your preferred perception of the relationship and experience they’re going to have.
This gives you an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE over your competitors when potential clients are trying to decide to hire you.
When they ask themselves: what would it be like to have this person as my coach? They don’t have to guess or imagine. They would already know what it’s going to be like to work with you.
Why?
They would already know because they should have had some experience with you as the awesome coach that you are.
How?
You can influence this process when you create your client-attraction content or lead magnet that you provide to your potential clients.
When they read articles you’ve written, they can get an idea of how knowledgeable you are and how you present your ideas. When they watch your videos, they can experience how you teach and answer questions.
For example…
If you want your prospective clients to think of you as someone with the knowledge, skills and capability to meet their needs, you need to establish these perceptions in their minds… BEFORE they even become your clients.
When you provide value-in-advance content to attract your potential clients, you can create your desired perception in their mind. With intentional relationship-building, you can differentiate your coaching relationship and experience in every prospect’s mind.
Here’s what you need to understand…
You’re not differentiating your actual service. Instead, you’re differentiating the UNIQUE EXPERIENCE of working specifically with you.
What stands out in the client’s mind is you. The relationship is with you. There is only one you. If you’re the right match for your client, (s)he will recognize it.
The experience of working with you as a coach is one-of-a-kind. This is how you put yourself in a category-of-one coaching brand.
Branding at its most basic level is how you make your clients feel. It’s about you making them feel seen, heard, understood and valued. It’s about you making them feel significant and important. It’s about you delivering what you promised.
When you have a memorable brand, it makes it easier for your clients to refer you to others.
What if they need more coaching in the future?
Having a memorable category-of-one brand simplifies this process for all your clients…
They need only to think of you.
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