#214: How Long Does It Really Take to Get a Coaching Client?

Today , we are breaking down the timeline for exactly how long is it actually going to take in order to get your first or next or thereafter coaching client and , spoiler alert , it is not always overnight , in case you haven't noticed yet .

I'm going to share how to speed things up and what really moves the needle , especially for me back in the years , and how to keep your head in the game while you're still waiting for the result to catch up . So grab a notebook and your favorite drink . Let's get right into it . Hey , you're listening to Make it Visible podcast . I'm your host , michelle Kui .

I am a visibility marketing coach and soon to be your business bestie in the coaching business world . Not knowing how to connect with your audience , grab people's attention and get them excited to buy from you should never be the reason you give up on your dream to become a full-time coach .

I'm all about making marketing the easiest part of your coaching business , so that you can turn a passion for coaching into a visible and profitable reality . So buckle up , ladies , let's get started . One of the things I believe have really helped me , as well as many of my clients , is speaking .

So speaking actually allows you to build credibility , authority and the fact that you're actually out there creating content , not just on the social media posts , but you have a mic . You're actually speaking directly to your clients and the people that you're trying to serve .

So I personally believe one of the fastest way to get clients is actually by you turning on the camera , or , if you don't like the camera , at least it's a podcast , but grab that microphone and get onto the stage and speak . I am really excited because next week I'll be opening my Signature Talk Academy .

Very soon , the enrollment will be open In the Signature Academy . I'm going to show you my framework of how to structure your talk , how to create that presentation that your dream client just won't be able to say no to you .

And imagine , by the time you finish that talk , there's people lined up waiting at the door for you to sign up and wanting to work with you or inviting you back to this week at the next event .

So if you wanted to go check out my Signature Talk Academy , you'll be able to hop onto my waiting list and once the program is open for enrollment , you'll be the first person to know . All right , let's talk about exactly how long would it actually take for you to get your client . I know there's a lot of coaches out there .

You're showing up , you're playing the game , you're doing your best and you're posting every day , but that feeling of when am I going to see the result ? It always come back and haunt you . How long is this supposed to take ? So today I'm going to talk about a couple of things that I think it's really important for coaches to set .

Number one , to set your expectation , because a lot of coaches walk into this business thinking that if I do certain things , then I should see the result that I'm doing right and so it should be faster .

That mindset is actually a trap . Okay , because you're putting an expectation of if I do x , then I should see y . In business , it doesn't work that way , and it also depends on the niche that you're going to be in whether you're spending a lot of time still developing your niche and getting things together .

Or maybe you're focusing on a specific area of your business and you're not really paying attention to the other aspects . It should be faster mindset . It's a total trap . So number one to get your clients and to start seeing the result that you want is to actually drop that mindset . It's not going to be any faster .

Things will happen naturally and taking place at its own pace . Just because someone on Instagram can land a client in three days doesn't mean that's normal , right . Just because another coach posed my client just signed up a $30,000 client that doesn't mean that it's everybody .

So we need to stop normalizing that some of the posts or some of the claim of the success . It's not a standard for everybody and we don't have a one size fits all timeline , right . That's just in all honesty . There's no one size fits all timeline .

Some people because their background maybe they came from a sales background , maybe they came from an environment where they continuously had that demand for a conversation that they've been having on for a long time . We never know what kind of conversation they had in the past .

Right , it could be just everything was just fall into place so perfectly and so when they offer , it was just so much easier for their clients to say yes to them because they already had that conversation going . Now , for you , you might be coming from a place of I'm starting this from scratch .

Back in the years I was starting the business from scratch , I didn't have any background right , so it was very challenging and very difficult . This is why I get what you're going through . Is that a lot of time ? We're trying to figure out how do I even talk to people ? How do I even reach out to people ? How do I even send a DM to somebody ? Right ?

There's so many different variables when it comes to it should be faster . So number one is let's drop that mindset that it should be faster . There's no specific timeline .

So don't give yourself , don't box yourself in just because you saw a post that someone had landed a client in three days or five days or within a month , or this coach had made six figure coaching business within six months or three months . Let's drop that , because that is not normal . That is the exception , not the rule .

Okay , so building a business is about building trust . It takes time . Think about your own journey , right ? How long does it take you to trust someone to be in a relationship . That's not even talk about business relationships . That's talk about your personal relationship , right ?

How long does it take you to actually warm up to somebody or to even say hello to your next door neighbor ? Some of us , we don't feel comfortable at all . Some of us , we don't even know who our neighbor is , right ? So think about that building trust . Business building

is about building trust and trust is developed over time . So , client , they don't buy from you in that moment that they meet you because they are still trying to learn more about who you are . Can I trust this person ? Is this person honest ? Is this a scam ?

Especially nowadays , there's a lot of prospects who are very hesitant because of the things that they have . Maybe it's their experience that they had in the past . Maybe it's a bad experience . So you want to allow the time to develop so that they can trust you over time . So it should not be faster because there's no one size fits all timeline .

Some coaches will get a client within 30 days . A lot of my clients they get clients within four weeks or five weeks , but they already had conversation going . I pointed direction for them to where to look . But these are some of the clients that they already have conversation to start with . So some of the coaches will get a client in 30 days .

Other coaches it may take 90 days , it may take six months , it may take up to a year to finally get the hold of it , because they need to figure out the niche , they need to figure out the messaging , they need to figure out like which platform do I want to be on , what visibility strategy do I want to use and how do I warm up to my audience , and so

there's a lot of things that you need . I'm still trying to figure out for yourself as a business owner , as a new business owner , and trying to get people to familiarize with you , right , to get to know you and understand what is it that you can offer that people would actually want , and that takes time to develop over time .

The key thing here is that , because it's not one size fits all , so you're not really behind , right , this is not a competition . You're not in a race with anybody else . It's just part of the process of trying to get your business going . So just keep that in mind .

What you do today is going to matter because if you continue to allow yourself to be that mindset of you . Know what ? I'm not moving faster enough , I'm not doing this quick enough . Oh , I should have my niche statement already . I should have this message clarity already . All these should have , would have , could have . And you know how it goes .

It goes down to the spiral of that blame I'm not good enough , the shaming of I should have a business already , and maybe it is even the pressure from your family . When we started our coaching business , we were so excited and share with all our friends and family , and every now and then they're just here to remind us is your business taking off ?

Yet I go to work , and a lot of time my co-worker would be like , when are you going to quit this job ? But I thought you have another job , right , and so you couldn't help but feel like , oh , I'm not moving fast enough . But remember , what you do today is going to pay off later .

Again , things like posting consistently right , you don't have to do it daily , but are you doing it consistently ? Are you creating your email list ? Are you building your email list ? One of the things that I had talked about in some other episodes was that one of the greatest assets that you can have in your business is actually creating that email list .

Now , how do you get people onto your email list ? There's so many different ways . Right , you can create lead magnet , but where do you get people onto your email list ? There's so many different ways . Right , you can create lead magnet , but where do you share your lead magnet ?

You can share on social , and one of the great plays I encourage all my clients to do is , every time you go onto a podcast , every once you turn on a camera and do a webinar , start sending people to your email list . Right when you go to a speaking engagement , send people to your email list .

And that's how you curate that email list that you own and not just relying on social . And so , again , if you are interested to leverage speaking as part of your marketing visibility strategy , I highly recommend to go and check out my Signature Talk Academy . I'm opening up the re-enrollment soon , next week .

Definitely go check it out , because it's really a game changer for myself and for many of my clients , so I definitely don't want you to miss it . So go check it out at mysignaturetalkacademycom . You'll learn more information about it . One of the mindset

I teach and I share with my clients is that you don't want to be on social just to consume content . What you want to do is actually to not being the consumer , but being there to study , to learn . I would say that it's not so much to consume them , it's to research them and see what they did well , like .

Sometimes I will read a post and there's so many comments and replies or reaction to it . If I were to be a consumer , I would be there , I would be one of them . I would like , oh , this comment , I want to comment on it . Or I want to like that post , I want to follow that person , I want to do the X , y and Z .

So that's being in the consumer mindset . Now , when you are on social and you're following people who maybe they're doing the same niche as you , maybe they have similar program as you , and you realize that , how come that every time they post , there's so many of their clients are just commenting on it ? What is it about them ?

So , instead of consuming their content , I want you to start studying their content . So what you do is you study their content . What worked well for them , learn their strategy right , go around and learn how they did it so that maybe you can turn it and do it for yourself with your own personal magical touch .

I'm not saying to copy them , but I'm saying that take what worked well for them and learned it right , learn their strategy of what worked well and turn it into something that has your voice , that has your magic . There's a great book I can't remember the author , but it's called Stealing Like an Artist and I love that book .

One of the key concepts behind that stealing like an artist is that a lot of us , the innovation comes because there's someone else who had the innovation and we saw that it sparked something , a light inside of us , and we actually take that idea and turn it into something even more magical .

Elizabeth Gilbert , she wrote a book and it's called the Big Magic , and in her book the Big Magic , she also talked about this idea of if you have an idea , right , the idea itself is contagious , and so if you don't act on that idea , someone else is going to find somebody who is more willingly to act on that idea , and I love that because that's what you

do in marketing , basically , right , you see a lot of marketers doing the similar things or doing the same thing because it works . It works , but somebody else who comes along and who's great in things that they do .

What they do is the same strategy , but they're just taking it into a whole different direction and whole creatively , and they create something even better , something like a better version of that original idea that came from . My point is right .

All that is to say that when you're on social , don't be the consumer , study what have worked and try and bring in your own magic , because everything that you do is going to matter and going to pay off later . So if you have this idea of maybe I should start a workshop or maybe I should do a webinar , then go for it .

Turn it into your own magical webinar that what you do is going to matter and what that does is . It also gives you clarity and once you get a hang of it , you can start getting more consistent with it . But you got to find what really lights you up , really makes you happy , right ? If it's not webinar , is it a podcast ? Is it a YouTube channel ?

Is it something ? Or maybe writing a blog , whatever it is right . Find your magic and do more of it and make it something that you do it for fun , make it a game , make it something that you would just challenge yourself and say you know what this sounds like . Fun , I'm going to make it fun and make it yours , and that's how you build consistency .

Okay , consistency doesn't mean that just posting every single day . Consistency , it's about wanting to do it , having fun doing it , so that you don't even think about that you have to do it . Right , that's what consistency is . And consistency is also is it aligned with your brand ? Is it aligned with your who you are ?

Is it aligned with your integrity , with your character ? Right , there's a lot of things that just simply , the word consistency doesn't cover at all . So when you think about consistency , don't just think about in the logistic term . I need to have the consistency in my messaging . I need to consistently posting . No , it's more than that .

Right , it's how you yourself show up the full package . What do you love ? Do what actually brings smile on your face when you're actually doing it , and if it is doing webinar , do one more webinar . If it is doing more workshop , do more workshop . But whatever it is , find something that lights you

up . Here's the last thing I wanted to talk about on this episode . Is that things as you're waiting about on this episode is that things as you're waiting , there's going to be a moment where you have these self-doubt that creeps in . But don't base on your confidence with what you're currently seeing . Base it on your commitment .

Base it on the things that you're willing to do , despite of how challenging it would have been and have been right . Don't base it on the result . A lot of us base our confidence on the result . Oh , I didn't get that client and therefore I'm a failure . I should have my niche figured out by now , because I don't have that . I'm a big failure .

So don't base your confidence on your current result . You want to base it on your commitment , on your achievement . So what you want to track is you want to track what you're doing and not just what you're getting . Okay . So when I do my to-do list , when I write down my goals , I don't just write down .

I want to have three clients by the end of the month . I write out what is it I'm doing in order to get those five clients ? Do I have a website ? Do I have a calendar ? Do I have a payment plan set up ? Do I have a way of taking their money ?

So all these are the to-dos and not just the tangible , the goals , that how many clients I want to get or not , how much I want to make right . It's not just that .

What I'm getting , what I'm doing is going to help me to build my confidence , knowing that every day I'm waking up as I check things off , I'm accomplishing something , and then that accomplishment itself is going to help me to build my confidence , knowing that every step that I take is leading me to getting that first and the next and many more clients .

Who's waiting for me out there , right ? So make sure that you track what you're doing and not just what you're getting . What you're getting is important , but what you're doing to get what you're getting , that matters even more . So what you want to celebrate is did you send a pitch to somebody ?

Maybe it's a podcast , maybe it's a media outreach , maybe it's local television or the local newspaper . Have you sent a pitch ? Celebrate that . Did you send a follow-up to a conversation that you had ? If you did , celebrate that . Did you record a video ? If you did check it off , celebrate that .

And the result is going to come from your willingness to keep showing up , doing the things that you gotta do so that you are closer to getting to what you're getting , okay . So if it feels like it's taking forever to land your first or the next coaching client , just remember this you are not alone .

It takes time and that's totally normal , especially since , I would say , last mid-year , in July or September , things have slowed down for many of us . Okay , many of us are feeling it , we're all all in it , we're on the same boat , okay . So don't feel like you're the only person who's feeling , oh , is it harder to get clients nowadays ?

Yes , it is , and we're all feeling it . But just be clear of who you're going to help and what problem you're going to solve , and just keep showing up , even when it feels like it's pretty quiet . I promise you it is those moments where , even though it is quiet , you're still doing it and that's what it counts and that is definitely going to pay off .

So remember you're not behind . You're right on time .

If this episode gave you some clarity or maybe even just a little bit of encouragement , today I would love to hear from you . Okay , take a screenshot of this episode . I would love to hear from you . Take a screenshot of this episode . Tag me at my Instagram , at Elevate Life Coach , and share your biggest takeaway and give me your shout out .

And if you're ready to shorten that timeline and start getting more of the high quality coaching client without spinning your wheels on social , definitely go check out my Signature Talk Academy . The enrollment will be opening very soon and until next time , just keep showing up , keep shining and I will see you in the next episode . The next episode .

Thank you for listening . To Make it Visible . Podcast . If you love this episode and want deeper support for your coaching business , head over to elevatelifecoachingorg and see how we can partner together to turn your passion into a profitable business .

I help female coaches launch and scale their coaching business faster than ever , without wasted time and money , filling the gaps in your marketing strategies , creating a simple and easy to follow system so you can accelerate on the path of coaching business that you love to wake up to . Head over to elevatelifecoachingorg and grab a free strategy audit today .