You don’t want people seeing a corporate image for a personal experience. So how do you brand yourself as a coach?

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People work with people. 

That’s something I always say. 

And that’s the thing about business. Nobody wants to do business with someone they don’t know.

People want to work with people they trust. Somebody they know and somebody they have faith in. With coaching – this is very often feeling like you “know” someone through their branding and socials. 

How many people out there do we follow on Instagram who we feel we know? Who’s lifestyle we have a peek into and have a fairly good idea of what they’re about. 

That’s why branding yourself as a coach is so important. 

Personal branding brings people in. It harvests a sense of trust and a feeling of “knowing” someone already, be it through your email marketing, social media, or website. There are so many ways. 

That’s exactly why a personal brand is powerful. Because people do business with people, not faceless corporations. Even in vast organisations, there are faces of the brand who are instantly recognisable. Their audience connects with the brand through them. 

Here are the key benefits of branding for coaches;

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1. Authenticity & Connection

A faceless conglomerate is not somebody you’re going to trust with your wellbeing or the wellbeing of your business. That’s why being personal online as a coach – in a professional sense – means that people are going to become invested in your journey, and thus – in you. 

This is what’s going to brings you your clients. The authenticity that you project and energy that you cultivate in sharing your journey. 

People want to know how you help people. How your clients feel. How they benefit from your services. Personal stories – yours and your clients. 

There’s power in the personal as much as there is in numbers. So embrace that people want to get to know you – and put yourself out there.

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2. Visibility

As a brand – you want to be distinct. Huge businesses have a cold, distant tone to them. No matter how hard they try to make it personal, we kinda always see past that. 

But as an actual personal brand working as a coach – you have a chance to truly be real. 

This authenticity breeds visibility. People are immune to bullshit, now, to put it bluntly. We’ve seen it all. 

So when those ads pop us, we check out. They’re not visible to us, because we don’t connect to them. So when we do connect to something, we click “follow” or “subscribe.” 

The more people who follow you, visit your website, leave a review – the more visible you become. And the more visible you become – the more opportunities you create for yourself. 

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3) Sets You Apart 

We live in the age of individualism now, where we’re all fighting to be “unique.” There are fewer and fewer groups of people aligning with each other like there were in past decades (think punk rock or the 60s age of ‘free love’).

And that’s good, in a sense. Why should we want to be like anyone else?

As a coach, you are helping people become better versions of themselves. So you want to put your best self out there online. And that is what will set you apart. 

Hone yourself down to the best of what you can offer people. 

Put your professional hat on and think about what sets you apart from other coaches. What experience do you have that others don’t? What areas are your expertise in?

One of the best lessons to learn in business is if you don’t know it – outsource it. To build a personal brand, you’ll probably be looking at things like logos, websites, CTRs etc. If you know all that – great. If you don’t, you can learn it if you have the time. 

But if you don’t – outsource it. Sit down with graphic designers, web designers, marketers – whoever it might be, to get the best out of those areas. Work with them until your happy that you have a brand that is personal, true to you, and feels good. 

Because that is what will set you apart.