Most of my clients are still grinding away at their 9-to-5s while trying to build their coaching practice on the side. And you know what? I'm totally on board with that strategy.
Me? I did things a bit differently 10 years ago. I went all in and burned the boats. Yeah, it was pretty risky and kinda wild.
But hey, it had its perks. Like being able to shout from the rooftops about what I was doing without worrying about who might hear.
We’ll debate the pros and cons of each strategy another time.
Today, let's chat about how to promote your coaching services on LinkedIn when you don't want to lose steady corporate income.
Maybe LinkedIn isn't your coaching playground
I know, I know. This isn't what you expected to hear. But let's be real: if you can't go all out on LinkedIn as a coach, why not try another platform? There are tons of places to build an audience and start selling your services.
Instagram is still a thing, so why not go there and take full advantage of the platform? Before choosing a platform and going all in, make sure you know your ideal client and where they spend their time already to meet them where they are.
Focus on building your personal brand
This strategy works particularly well if your coaching niche aligns with your current job expertise:
- Post regularly: industry news with your opinion on them, personal updates, articles, and interviews
- Comment on other experts' content often
- Contribute to collaborative articles to get a Top-Voice badge
- Launch a LinkedIn newsletter like this one
To be on the safe side, post outside working hours using the scheduling feature and avoid direct calls to action for your coaching in your public posts.
As people recognize you as an expert in that niche, you will start getting inbound requests via direct messages or at events and will be able to use them to offer your coaching services.
Go outbound in stealth mode
There is a shorter path, but it is more risky. If you don't want to wait for inbound invitations and want to use LinkedIn for outbound reach, here's what you do:
- Modify privacy settings to limit who can view profile updates
- Focus on commenting rather than posting to demonstrate expertise
- Send invitations to connect to potential clients
- Contact potential clients via direct messages (increase capacity with Premium or Sales Navigator)
Again, this is a good strategy, but not fully bulletproof. You might get exposed and, depending on your corporate rules, suffer some consequences.
Look, whether you choose to explore other platforms, build your brand, or go outbound in stealth mode on LinkedIn, the key is to make a decision and go for it. Even if you decide to do something completely different later on, these efforts won't be wasted. You'll learn how to use the platform, how to write better, how to grab people's attention, and so much more. If do nothing, you learn nothing.
Actions for this week:
- Make a decision if you're going to use LinkedIn as your primary platform to promote yourself as a coach and how you're going to show up.
- Take the first action: review the profile, change the privacy settings (if necessary), and start posting and/or commenting.
Please let me know what you think:
Was it useful?
Did you enjoy the format?
What’s your strategy for LinkedIn?
I’d love to hear it. Post it in the comments for others to see, or send it to me via direct message here on LinkedIn.
See you next Sunday.
Lidia