Are you struggling to make your coaching business stand out?
Maybe your market is crowded, you don’t have an “in your face” personality, or maybe you’re stuck figuring out what makes your business different.
Here’s what you need to know about branding for coaches. Let’s get started!
Key insights:
- A coaching brand helps you differentiate yourself and stand out from other coaches. It helps clients pick you as their coach.
- Your brand consists of several elements, such as your story, brand identity, and values and mission.
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How do you brand yourself as a coach?
At its core, branding is about setting yourself apart in a crowded marketplace. Your brand is much more than a logo or a catchy tagline. It’s your unique identity as a coach and gives people a reason to choose you over other coaches.
Branding is what has made Apple, Nike, and McDonalds into multi-billion dollar brands. A report by Lucidpress shows that a consistent brand identity can increase a company’s revenue by up to 23%. Moreover, 46% of consumers are willing to pay more to buy from a brand they trust.
Why is personal branding important for coaches?
Branding is important for a successful coaching business because you…
- Differentiate yourself: Make yourself visible in a crowded market.
- Show your unique strengths: Highlight your USPs. What makes your coaching offer different and more valuable?
- Attract your dream clients: Reel in clients who click with your offer.
- Build trust: Create a personal bond with your audience. If people trust you, they’re more likely to want to work with you.
- Grow your business: Increase your client base and set yourself up for long-term success.
How do you create a coaching brand?
By now, you know just how important branding is for your coaching business. But to create your brand, you need a coach branding strategy. And the steps for a successful brand are:
- Niche: A segment of the market that is interested in your coaching.
- USP: The benefits that set your coaching apart.
- Brand story: Your unique story of how your business got started.
- Brand identity: All the elements you use to convey your brand to your audience.
- Bio: A summary of your experience, values, and unique approach to coaching.
- Content: Your content expresses your unique voice and helps you attract and connect with your audience.
- Website: Your website helps you communicate your brand.
- Values and mission: Your values and missions offer clarity and explain the “why” behind your coaching.
- Testimonials: Results build social proof and show that your coaching works for your target audience.
1. Niche
A niche is a market segment that’s interested in your coaching. A few niches are career coaching, health coaching, and mindset coaching. And if you want a highly successful coaching business, you need to pick a niche.
Here’s why: Your niche decides the direction of your brand. And when you specialize, you attract people who really need what you offer.
When I started, I helped women with office jobs who wanted to build their own fulfilling businesses. My Facebook group at the time was completely aimed at them.
Later, I started helping men too, and shifted to focus on “Entrepreneurial Leaders.”
Today, I’m like a “Business Big Sister.” I help people find freedom by running their own businesses.
At every point, I knew exactly who I was catering to and what I was offering. This clarity let me put together a message that resonated with my ideal clients, making it easy for them to find me.
P.S.: Want to learn more about what are the most profitable coaching niches? Then this video is for you:
2. USP
A USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, consists of the benefits that set your coaching services apart. This often involves a different approach or offering a unique solution.
Here are some examples:
- Career coach: Specialize in using LinkedIn to land dream jobs.
- Financial coach: Focus on helping freelancers or artists manage unpredictable income with budgeting systems.
- Fitness coach: Help retirees get into the best shape of their lives using a particular type of low-impact exercise.
- Nutrition coach: Specialize in plant-based diets for athletes, offering meal plans and nutritional guidelines that maintain protein levels and muscle mass.
- Communication coach: Cater to non-native English speakers who are in leadership positions. You could focus on cultural communication barriers and business terminology.
A unique angle grabs attention AND attracts the clients who are looking for your specific type of coaching.
For instance, I started my current business when I saw the following:
There wasn’t a good product for people who wanted to leave their corporate jobs and become small business owners.
So, I made them my target audience. This helped me stand out in the crowded field of business coaching.
To find your USP, fill in this formula:
I help___so that___.
For more, watch this short YouTube video where I share the three big things that make a business stand out:
3. Brand story
Your story is your unique brand asset and it offers a relatable insight into how your business got started. It’s something no competitor can ever take from you.
And no, it does NOT have to be a “rags to riches” tale — unless that’s your truth, of course.
For instance, before I started my current business, I had a six-figure corporate job. Yet I felt unfulfilled and trapped in endless, uninspiring meetings.
Then a series of family health crises happened.
My mom was diagnosed with cancer, my dad had to have emergency heart surgery, and my sister suffered a serious accident. These events were a huge wake-up call. I realized that what I needed most was the freedom to be there for my family.
This is what drove me to start my own coaching business.
I wanted to live a life of freedom so that I could spend time with the people I love the most.
Family and freedom became my guiding values. This adds realness to my brand and shows clients why I’m the right coach for them.
My message resonates with people who want to start their own businesses and change their lives.
4. Brand identity
Your brand identity is the different elements that convey your brand, such as logos, colors, and typography. But it also includes intangible elements like your story, mission, and values.
And look: Your brand’s look plays a HUGE role in how people perceive your coaching services. This includes your website, social media posts, and overall design.
That’s why I recommend investing in quality branding and design once you’re ready for the investment. If you cut corners on your logo or website, your clients will notice. To be seen as a professional, you need to look the part. If you look amateur, potential clients are less likely to buy your high-priced services or coaching packages.
But as a new coach, don’t waste time mastering the “perfect” brand. Instead, use this video and focus on getting your first clients. Once you have enough clients, you can invest in a better brand identity.
5. Bio
A coaching bio is a summary that highlights your experience, values, and methodology. Bios are often included on websites and social media profiles.
To create your bio, take these steps:
- Include your name, what you do, and who your audience is in 1-2 sentences.
- Use clients’ results in the second paragraph to show that your coaching works.
- In the final paragraph, include your experience.
- If you want to, end your bio with a fun fact or personal detail about yourself.
6. Content
Your voice is a crucial part of your brand, and the best way to find it is to start using it in your content. Your content is all the content you produce – whether on your website or on social media.
The key is not to overthink it and to simply start writing as yourself.
Feel stuck? Try this exercise: Set a timer for 15 minutes and write about something you’re passionate about. Whatever comes out of it is good enough.
7. Website
Your coaching website helps you communicate what your brand really is. In other words, it’s a hub for your brand.
At the same time, it builds trust. For example, by including your testimonials and case studies and telling your story, your clients get a sense of who you are.
However, while a website is important, you don’t need to spend a lot of time creating one as a new coach. Instead, focus on getting clients! If anyone asks you, you can always send them to your LinkedIn page.
That’s what I did early on. And while my website looked like this….
It helped me grow my business, so that I could invest more into my brand and website.
8. Core values and mission
As mentioned above, your marketing should reflect your values and beliefs.
That’s why you need to know what you really care about. We talk more about how to define your values below, so read until the end!
When you know your values, show them in your business. This is how you build your own personal brand that genuinely reflects you.
For example, are you a…
- Relationship coach who believes people don’t need to settle
- Financial coach who believes finances are really easy and can be automated with a simple system
- Weight loss coach who believes weight loss is about a three-step system
…You get it. The point is, what’s something you strongly believe in, in your business? Those are your values and beliefs.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom!
9. Testimonials
Simply put, a testimonial is a positive review from a happy client.
They’re super important to build trust.
Stats show that 77% of people look at online reviews before they decide to buy something. And if your website has reviews, people are 63% more likely to actually buy from you.
Coaching isn’t cheap. So, potential clients want to feel confident that they’re making a wise investment in you. Reading testimonials can offer them that peace of mind.
Imagine someone is checking out your website. They like what they see, but they’re still unsure. Then they read a glowing review from a past client who raves about how you changed their life. Boom! That’s the push they needed.
Plus, well-placed testimonials can serve as key elements of your personal brand. They not only show what you do but also how well you do it.
5 strategies to build your personal coaching brand
Want to know how you should brand yourself as a coach?
I’ve got five strategies you can use to make your coaching business stand out from day one.
Strategy #1: How are YOU different?
The first step is to differentiate your brand based on how YOU are different.
As a coach, you’re a huge part of your business brand, especially when starting out.
Start by asking yourself:
How are YOU different from your competitors?
Do you have characteristics or a background that your competitors don’t have?
How is your personality different? How is your coaching style or your voice different? And how are your stories different?
That’s not all:
How is your experience different from your competitors’? Do you have more years of experience? Do you have better qualifications? Is your experience more diverse?
Take a minute to think this through and let me know in the comments below how YOU are different. Because I promise, you are.
If you’re struggling with this let me share an example.
When I first started helping people build their own online coaching businesses, I thought, “There’s no way I can stand out!”
I don’t have an in-your-face personality, I don’t have a crazy story, and I’m pretty “normal,” for lack of a better word. But then, I dug deeper and I realized that I was different in a lot of ways.
My experience was different because I built my first online business WHILE working a demanding job, which most of my competitors had never done.
Also, I have a background in engineering, which is pretty unique for this industry. (And it’s also kind of cool to be able to share that I used to be an engineer for the Space Station.)
And last but not least, I love to watch TV shows.
You might think this last trait is not a big deal, but I can’t tell you how many people have told me that they so relate to the fact that I love to watch TV because it shows that I’m human!
This should have you well on your way to standing out.
And that’s just with one strategy when it comes to branding your coaching business!
Strategy #2: How is your “secret sauce” different?
The second strategy is to differentiate based on your “secret sauce.”
In other words, how you help your clients get results.
For example, a lot of my clients are health coaches.
And you know what?
Each one has their own “secret sauce.” For instance, one of my students helps people lose weight using herbs, another one helps them using customized workouts, and yet another one helps them through mindset work.
And that’s just a few examples!
Your “secret sauce” will help you stand out big time. And the next strategy is going to help you stand out even more while building a powerful relationship with your ideal clients…
Strategy #3: How are your values and beliefs different?
Strategy number three is to define your values and beliefs.
What do you strongly believe and stand behind? What could you shout from the rooftops all day long?
For example, one of my students is a career coach who strongly believes that you CAN have the career you want without working 24/7 and burning out. And her entire brand is centered around that.
And you know what I love?
Her brand is completely different while being equally powerful compared to one of my other students who is also a career coach. However, this other student’s core value is that your job is not just a job. She believes that it can and should also be something that you LOVE, your calling.
Can you see how even though these two career coaches technically do the same thing, their businesses and brands are so different that they naturally stand out in very different ways?
And the beauty of this is that these beliefs are simply the result of their own experiences.
We all have these strongly held beliefs.
Here’s one of mine: I believe that anyone can build the life and business that they want IF they truly want it and they’re willing to do the work.
Not only can you differentiate your business based on you and your values, but it’ll also help you create stronger relationships with your customers.
Speaking of customers, they’re key to succeeding with this next strategy…
Strategy #4: How is your audience different?
Strategy number 4 is to differentiate based on your audience.
Think about it like this:
Walmart and Whole Foods both sell groceries, BUT, the audiences that they’re selling to are very different.
Walmart is geared toward more price-conscious customers, so its business centers around low prices.
As a result, the customer service might not be as great and the experience might not feel as luxurious, but that’s OK. Their audience doesn’t care about those things as much as getting lower prices for their groceries.
With Whole Foods, though, their audience cares much more about the quality of their groceries and experience.
Accordingly, the brands that Whole Foods stocks are quite different, and their shopping experience in general is a bit more pleasant, to say the least. Because their audience cares more about that.
Once you’re clear on how your audience is different and who they care about, you’re ready to implement the final strategy…
Strategy #5: How is your product different?
The final strategy is to make your business stand out because of your product.
No matter if you’re selling a coaching service or a course that lets people guide themselves through your coaching process, you should definitely be incorporating this strategy as your product SHOULD be different.
At least if you want to make sales.
You have to be able to answer:
Is your product more comprehensive? Do you provide better service? Is your process more cutting-edge?
Are you able to help your clients get results faster? Does your product make the process easier for your clients?
Note: You don’t have to overcomplicate this!
When I was starting out, I decided I was going to differentiate my product by creating the most comprehensive course on the market, which it still is, for building your own online coaching business.
Branding your coaching business with even one of these strategies can make a massive difference for your business.
When done right, using personal branding for coaches will help you attract more customers who are also a better fit, and of course, make more sales.
Inspirational coach branding examples
Looking for inspiration in building your own coaching brand?
You can learn A LOT from great personal brands. Check out these examples of business owners who have mastered their brands.
Marie Forleo
Marie Forleo was named by Oprah Winfrey as a thought leader for the next generation.
What sets Marie’s life coaching brand apart is her emphasis on values and purpose. As she often says in interviews, “It’s not so much about what you sell, it’s about what you stand for.”
What do you value and what inspires you?
Her beliefs come through in the genuine and upbeat way she talks online. This mix of being authentic and easy to relate to makes people love her and trust her as a coach.
Cultivitae
Emily Liou, a former student of mine, wasn’t fulfilled in her work. She was a top sales rep and later a recruiter for Fortune 500 firms but felt something was missing.
Tapping into her unique skills, she started her own coaching business, Cultivitae.
Now she helps people get better jobs and be happier at work.
She’s a perfect example of using what you already know to build a successful coaching business.
She found her niche by thinking about her past work. And she used that knowledge to start her own business.
This is what creates her strong personal brand.
Top Law School Consulting
After working as a high-level lawyer, my student Mara Freilich shifted her focus to helping others get into top law schools.
She now has a successful business doing just that.
Mara understands that your story and how you tell it matters the most. And she helps her clients present themselves in the best way, regardless of their grades or test scores.
Her business name, “Top Law School Consulting,” says it all. When you hear it, you know exactly what she offers. Such a descriptive name also reinforces her brand as a go-to source for expert help.
FAQ: Coaching branding
How much should you pay for branding?
When you’re ready to invest in your brand, the average branding package costs anywhere from $4,000-$10,000. But while coaching branding is important, you don’t have to invest in branding as a new coach. Use that time and energy to find your first clients.
How do you market yourself as a coach?
Your brand is part of your overall marketing strategy. Simply having a brand won’t help you get clients, you also need to market yourself. You also need to get yourself in front of your audience. Start with ONE strategy, such as video marketing, podcasting, or social media to connect with people and build relationships.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom!
What’s next?
There you have it. Branding for coaches made easy.
As a business owner, you need to have a powerful personal brand. Good branding makes you stand out and helps people remember you.
But branding is just one step new coaches need to take.
I remember feeling completely overwhelmed. If you do, too, then check out my free blueprint for building a successful online coaching business that will help you leave your 9-5.
Read more:
How to Become a Branding Coach
