This episode is part of the series about lead magnets and how to make sure yours will help you enroll ideal clients who pay you well. Find the show notes at prosperouscoach.com/125.

And, if you haven’t heard it yet, first listen to Does a Coach Need a Lead Magnet? at prosperouscoach.com/124. It’s super short.

When I started my coaching business, if you would have asked me my marketing approach I would have said “I let people know I’m a coach and offer a free sample coaching sessions to enroll clients.”

Everything I did reflected that basic misunderstanding about what effective marketing is — from the topics of public speaking I did, to the types of articles I wrote, all the way to the messaging on my website.

Did that approach work for me. Not a wit. Even though I got a lot of praise for the sessions, people who had a free session said “Thanks” but had no interest in long term coaching. And sometimes I fell into the trap of coaching them for many, many free session just hoping it would hook them in.

It took me a long time to realize why my mindset and actions weren’t paying off. But also it seemed most others coaches were doing the same thing so like a lemming I followed them off the cliff.

Two decades later, I’m a bit surprised when I look at coach’s website and see them trying this same approach.  I feel so much compassion for them and I am instantly transported back to my own frustration early on – working so hard and not getting results.

Mistakes Coaches Make on Their Websites

There are loads of mistakes I see on coach’s websites and I have a whole series about client-winning coaching websites to help you with this, which you can find at prosperouscoach.com/websites.

One of the big coaching website mistakes, but by no means the biggest, is offering a free coaching session. Sometimes it’s high up on the home page. Sometimes it’s buried where it will never be found. 

Either way, a free coaching session is not a strategic approach to enroll paying clients who are serious about transformation. A free coaching session is not a smart lead magnet.

Why not? 

1.     The coach cannot possibly demonstrate the real value of ongoing PAID coaching through a single free coaching session.

2.     It’s too soon to offer a live call.

This last point is my main point. Too much too soon makes coaching prospects turn and run.

Fast Marketing Only Sells Products Not Coaching Services

I admit I’ve purchased things through a single Instagram ad IF the unique value of the product is clear AND I’m already seeking a solution to the problem that product answers. That’s fast marketing.

But services, and especially paid coaching programs, aren’t easily sold through fast marketing. Coaching is still a relative unknown. Rarely do people seek it, but that’s j

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