How to create opportunities
Congratulations! You’re a qualified Mindfulness and Compassion teacher, and ready to share mindfulness with the world, all you need now is people to teach! Finding clients and getting people booked onto your courses can feel a bit daunting – especially if this is your first experience of self-employment and self-promotion.
In this short article, I will share 6 ways to open doors to help you find clients, but before you start any type of effective marketing, you need to get really clear on who you are talking to and how you will help them. I’ve created a worksheet to help you do this – see the end of the article for how to access it.
Once you’re clear on who you are talking to, here are some strategies to help you grow your business and open doors to new opportunities.
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Build an online presence.
Social media (Instagram, Linked In, Facebook) is a powerful way to reach people. Create a content plan and be as consistent as possible. Your content can include tips on how to live mindfully, the benefits of mindfulness, you can share mini-meditations, short talks or quotes or poems. There are a number of great accounts to follow for tips on how to build your following (message me for my faves). Just remember, when you’re posting to always include a call to action, whether that is to book onto a course, join a waiting list, follow your account or join your mailing list.
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Collaborate.
Think about your ideal customer and what else they might be into. For example, if you were targeting mid-life women, consider other areas of their life that they may be investing in, e.g. nutrition, menopause support, exercise, parenting support. Create a list of businesses in your local area that are targeting the same group of people and get in touch to offer a free introductory talk to their clients or write a guest blog for their website or do something on social media together. Collaboration in this way opens new audiences to you and your service.
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Network.
Have a look for networking events in your local community – there will be lots! Not only will you meet potential collaborators, and customers, you will meet other business owners who could be a great source of support for you. If networking feels a bit daunting, rather than focussing on talking about yourself, focus on talking about Mindfulness and the benefits. This detachment has helped a number of my clients feel more confident with networking. Also, try and find events that connect with you and your values. You can also join events where you know your target market may be. For example, Local Wellbeing events. Take some fliers and talk to people about Mindfulness and what you offer.
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Leverage your existing network.
It always surprises me how many of my clients are not leveraging the amazing connections they already have. I get it, but there are ways that you can do this that don’t feel ick! A great place to start is to write a big long list of everyone you know. Include people you may not have spoken to for many years. Include friends of friends, previous employers, colleagues past and present, friends of friends. Then make some decisions about who you’re going to reach out to for a coffee and a catch up. It doesn’t have to be a hard sell, but I can guarantee they’ll be interested in what you’re up to.
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Position yourself as an Expert in the field.
You know more about Mindfulness and Meditation than a lot of people out there. Don’t be afraid to feel confident about that. One great way to establish yourself as an Expert in your field and gain clients is to be a Podcast guest. Get listening to ones that are relevant to your market and get in touch with the hosts to be a guest. Podcast hosts are keen as mustard to have guests!
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Offer Free Taster Sessions.
This is a great way to give people a chance to dip their toe in before investing. Ensure that you provide some value, but also don’t give too much away. The key here is ensuring that you collect email addresses and permission to email them after the session. Doing something like this ahead of launching a course is a great idea as you can offer a small discount to those attending the taster session. Do make sure that you follow up – on average it takes 7-11 touch points before someone will buy!
Now’s the time to make those small steps to feeling ready to launch, and we hope the tips above will help. Good luck. You have totally got this!
Introducing Tracey Butcher:
Tracey is a MindfulnessUK graduate and has been teaching Mindfulness via courses and in the corporate space since 2020. She gained her coaching diploma and now offers coaching to help and support people who want to launch their own businesses or make big changes to their lives.
W: www.hummingbirdcoaching.co.uk
E: positivecoachuk@gmail.com