The Ultimate Guide
To Personal Branding For Coaches
Master the Art of Personal Branding, Exponentially Grow
Your Business, and Become an In-Demand Coach
You probably got at least one answer right. In fact, there’s a good chance you nailed all three and here’s why…
Oprah, Richard Branson and Tony Robbins have created personal brands that are instantly recognizable and easily differentiated from everyone else in their industry…
And that’s the power of an awesome personal brand.
When it’s done right, personal branding can take you from being a completely unknown coach to the heights of global recognition and, right now, personal branding for coaches is more important than ever.
According to global statistics, the coaching industry has been growing steadily over the past 5 years and the business coaching sector in the U.S. alone hit over $10 billion in revenue in 2019.
These are some mind-blowing numbers and it’s all great news except for one thing…
A fast-growing industry signals intense competition and what this means is that
no matter where you are in your coaching journey -- whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the game for a while -- you need to know how to stand out and be seen in an increasingly crowded industry.
And this is why it becomes more important to build your coaching brand.
As a coach, you cannot shy away from personal branding. It is you, as a person, as a brand, who forms the backbone of your coaching business. Yes, you might be a person who shies away from the limelight, but your prospective clients will form opinions of you and your coaching based on the information that is available to them.
Therefore, it is crucial for you to present yourself as a brand that exudes the positivity and confidence of your coaching business.
Many people find the prospect of building a personal build quite overwhelming. However, if you follow a few simple actionable steps and arm yourself with the tips and knowledge, it will help you leverage your coaching skills and build an effective brand around you.
Be it Oprah, Richard Branson and Tony Robbins, they all started small and scaled up their personal brands along with their skills as renowned coaches. While the goal might seem insurmountable, it is important to realize that small steps in the right direction will help you catapult your brand. This will in turn help you build a faithful repository of clients who will swear by you, not just as a brand but also as an effective coach.
Over the rest of this Ultimate Guide, you’ll learn exactly how to do that with a powerful personal brand that attracts your ideal audience and sets you up as a world-class coach.
We’re going to explore what personal branding is and how you can work on your coach branding consciously to help you dominate your area of expertise and exponentially grow your coaching business.
Sounds good? Let’s roll!
Chapter 1
What Is Personal Branding For Coaches?
Chapter 2
The 4 Pillars Of A Powerful Personal Brand For Coaches
Chapter 3
How To Craft A Powerful Personal Brand Story
Chapter 4
Creating A Loyal Community For Your Personal Brand
Chapter 5
Put Your Personal Brand Into Action
Chapter 6
Additional Resources
CHAPTER 1
What Is Personal Branding
For Coaches?
You’ve probably heard that old saying and it’s more relevant and accurate now than ever before.
A great personal brand is essentially your chance to create a powerful, purposeful “first impression” on the world stage.
It works like a calling card.
It tells people who you are, what you do, and what you stand for as a coach – sometimes without you having to say a word!
At the highest level, a powerful personal brand is a sophisticated blend of your:
Personal branding can also include what you look like. For example, how you dress, walk, speak, your tone of voice, your energy, etc.
Personal branding for coaches is about how you show up and connect with clients channeled through pathways that have the potential to reach a massive audience such as your social media presence, your website, your videos, blog posts, and other digital and in-person content and appearances.
When you invest your time and energy into consciously cultivating a powerful personal brand, you can:
These are just some of the benefits you can look forward to when you create a great personal brand, but they are virtually endless.
When you have a strong, authentic personal brand working for you day and night, you’ll see your income and impact grow at an exponential rate as you continue to build a solid reputation with audiences around the world.
Building a personal brand as a coach is well worth the effort, but make no mistake… it can be challenging at times. Especially when you're just getting started.
That’s why it’s good to be crystal clear on why you want to cultivate a personal brand, so you can stay motivated and consistent - no matter what.
Answer the following questions and work through the visualization exercise. They will help you create a clear view on why you want and need a personal brand as a coach, and what direction to take with it.
Question #1
What do you love about being a coach?
Question #2
Why do you want to reach more people with your personal brand?
Question #3
What makes you different from any other coach in your coaching niche or area of expertise?
Visualization Exercise
Based on what you know so far, how do you see a powerful personal brand creating a positive impact on your business and in your life? Close your eyes and visualize your answer. Take at least 5 minutes to do this. Then, grab a pen and piece of paper, and write down any ideas and insights that you received during the visualization exercise. Use these as the starting point to start crafting your personal brand.
CHAPTER 2
The 4 Pillars Of A Powerful Personal Brand For Coaches
Don Draper is the lead character in Mad Men, a highly popular TV series that aired a few years ago. The show was all about the world of advertising in 1960s Madison Avenue, New York.
If you’re a fan of the series, you were probably drawn in by the gorgeous set decorations, compelling characters and storyline that revolved around the golden era of traditional advertising.
Don Draper is considered an authentic depiction of a real-world advertising “Madison Avenue Man” or “Mad Man.” His belief that “they’ll listen to anyone” reflects the heart of traditional advertising but the truth is things have changed…
A lot.
People have become more sophisticated in ways that the Mad Men of the 1960s could not have imagined.
Today, customers and clients everywhere question everything -- they don’t listen to anyone anymore. They only listen to people they trust.
This is why taking the time to build a personal brand - and a really good one - is absolutely critical.
Personal branding works to attract clients only where there is deep trust and this is why TRUST is the key element you need to aim for.
Building trust with your personal brand comes down to these 4 foundational pillars:
Let’s take a closer look at each of these pillars:
Pillar #1
Authenticity
Co-Founder of Evercoach and master coach, Ajit Nawalkha, shares that being authentic and real is more important than just about anything else when it comes to communicating with your audience. Ajit prioritizes authenticity in every piece of content that he shares whether it’s his videos, blog posts, emails or any other type of content.
Being authentic is about speaking from the heart and showing up as yourself.
It’s about sharing your ups and your downs, showing people that you are human and allowing them to peek behind-the-scenes into your life and not just presenting your “best, Instagram-worthy self”.
Being real brings people into your world and lets them get to know you on a deeper, human level. This builds trust faster and more effectively than anything else.
Pillar #2
Reliability
You probably know someone who shows up on social media or email for a couple of weeks and then disappears for months before reappearing again. And then off and on again, and so on...
This is never a good idea when you're trying to build a brand and position yourself in the industry.
Being reliable is essentially about being consistent.
There are some coaches who are so irregular and unreliable on email that their subscribers can’t even remember signing up to their email list in the first place. One random email later, they hit the "unsubscribe" button and they're gone. This is a huge mistake!
You simply cannot build trust with your audience if you don't practice consistency. A “hot and cold” approach will leave people feeling doubtful and most importantly – distrusting – of you and your integrity as a coach.
So, remember to go all in. You don't need to commit to a lot at once. Start small, but be consistent with it.
Pillar #3
Confidence
Confidence is a core driving force that builds deep trust in your personal brand.
A confident coach is someone who radiates certainty and this gives the audience a sense of knowing that you believe in what you teach and share.
Confidence doesn’t happen overnight and it’s definitely not something where you can go with the “fake it ‘till you make it” approach. You can cultivate authentic confidence by sharing your message and personal story (read Chapter 3 for more on this) that will communicate your values, your ideas, and your teachings to your audience in a way that lets them know you are who you say you are.
Confidence also arises through repetition and practice. Keep sharing your message, your values and your story again and again, and you’ll find yourself becoming more confident and certain each time.
Pillar #4
Values-Driven
As a coach, choosing and living by strong values is possibly the most important thing you can do to build a powerful, trustworthy personal brand.
Values are basically the core principles of your life and work and your values could be anything from creativity and ambition to community and connection.
Values help you make decisions with alignment and integrity, and they let your audience know what you believe in and what you stand for as a coach through your content, offers, and how you show up in the world.
If you're not clear on what your values are, check out this in-depth article on how to identify your core values and beliefs, and use that to connect with your clients.
In this chapter, you learned about the 4 foundational pillars with trust as the key element of a powerful personal brand.
Work through the following questions and activities for insights and ideas on how you can build deep trust with your audience with each of the 4 pillars.
Authenticity
Reflect on a personal or work-related failure you experienced in the last 3 to 5 years. What are some positive, personal traits that helped you overcome the failure? What did you learn from that experience? How did you grow?
Reliability
Think about a content creation timeline and plan out a schedule so you can show up regularly for your audience on social media, email, etc. Identify which platform(s) you want to focus on and your weekly cadence. Add the timeline to your calendar and promise yourself that you’ll stick to it until it becomes a long-term habit to consistently show up and share your content.
Confidence
Where do you feel you lack confidence in your work as coach? Is it speaking onstage or on camera? Is it in sales or marketing? Is it in communicating your message? Is it during your actual coaching sessions with clients? After you’ve identified areas where you need a boost, look for training or programs that can help you gain more confidence.
Values-Driven
Choose 3 to 5 core values that you’d like to infuse into your personal brand. Give yourself time to choose values that feel aligned and congruent with who you are and what you’d like your personal brand to represent. Here’s a quick list of values, to get you started:
Abundance | Accountability | Adventure | Balance | Beauty |
Clarity | Confidence | Connection | Creativity | Decisive |
Ease | Empowered | Family | Fearless | Fun |
Generosity | Gratitude | Growth | Happiness | Honesty |
Inclusive | Integrity | Justice | Kind | Leadership |
Love | Motivated | New | Optimistic | Original |
Passionate | Quiet | Real | Self-Reliant | Successful |
Truth | Understanding | Useful | Virtuous | Wonder |
