There are a lot of members in Social Curator who are coaches—from business to life, health to family—we have them all.

(And we LOVE them all!)

Recently, I was chatting with a Curator in the coaching profession that just launched her business and she wasn’t sure how to get people in the door.

She was toying with the idea of offering free discovery sessions—a 15 minute coaching call for them to get a taste of her style. But I told her:

>>If they’re getting even 15 minutes of your time for free, why would they pay for 60?!<<

She pushed back, which I love because I like to have REAL business conversations, you know what I’m sayin’? She said:

“But I need testimonials to get paying clients, and I don’t know how to get them when just starting out unless I offer free sessions.”

And friend, I *totally* understood where she was coming from.

It’s hard to build up a coaching business, especially if you’re in a niche market like many Curators.

>>The smaller your market gets, the more lucrative it is but the longer the conversion will take.<<

So how do you get new clients? There are two main ways I recommend coaches land their first paid sessions:

1. Start a beta group.

Nope, not for free boo boo, but a DISCOUNTED rate for a limited time in exchange for a testimonial you can use later. Beta groups can be as small as 1 person or as large as 50. *There are no rules!* 

Read my blog post to get the 4-1-1 on beta testing, if you think this is the route for you!

2. Play the long game.

Hear me out before you hop off this post, buttercup! Sometimes, your ideal client isn’t ready to invest in your coaching YET. Why? Because they don’t trust you yet, and trust takes time to develop with your audience.

My recommendation when starting a new business is to ask yourself what your clients are looking for and serve, serve, serve them with free content that positions you as an authority.

>>If you get the same five questions all the time in your DM’s, create resources your they can download for free, funnel the lead to your email list, nurture them all along with free content, and when they’re ready to invest in a coach, you’ll be the no-brainer for them.<<

Remember: most business don’t begin to profit until 2-3 years in.

You need to play the long game if you want to have a sustainable business that is not a flash in the pan but a long, slow burn for years to come.

Are you ready to the light the match and be patient?