Coaching Tools: How To Use Social Media To Get Coaching Clients

What the heck is social media and is it just a big waste of time? Social media and internet social networking has become a vital and lively part of our digital society. The way I see it, humans love and need to feel connected to other humans so social media has become the new vehicle for that connection.

Today you can instantly make connection and talk with people all over the world. You can search to find people with similar interests no matter how obscure those interests might be. You can find a group that is associated with any subject you can think of.

Social media is so many things to so many people that no one description fits. It is a place to meet with others with similar interests, to simply socialize and chat, to do business marketing, to express yourself, and to study human behavior and trends.
What Are the Best Social Media Sites?

The two social media sites I find most effective are Facebook and Twitter. There are many more but I find that these two sites deliver the most marketing bang. Myspace tends to attract younger people and many teens so it is not the best site for marketers. Linked in is a great place to meet business people but the restrictions on linked in do not make is a friendly place for marketers.

One of the keys to marketing with social media is to use the most effective sites and to limit the amount of time you spend on the sites. Many marketer have been swallowed up in social marketing sites spending endless hours engrossed in activity that is not income producing. Be sure to limit the amount of time you allow yourself to spend on social media sites.

What is Your Goal?
It is important to determine what your goal is with social media. I suggest that you use social media to increase the size of your contact list, meet potential joint venture partners, and people who offer products that will be good affiliates for your business.

Many times people will check out your profile then visit your webpage and decide to opt-in to your list. You should investigate the websites of the people you come across on social media sites and pay attention to those that have products or services that would compliment what you offer and become joint venture partners. You will also find marketers that offer products and services that you know your clients will be interested in then you can market those products to your list as an affiliate of the product.

Who is Your Target?
Who do you want to reach on social media? Remember you are using social media to grow your business so you must keep in mind who your target niche is and focus on those people.

Too often coaches get caught up in the purely social aspect of social media and soon have a group of followers or friends who are very interesting people but they have no interest in what you have to offer as a business person. You must stay focused on the target niche you are marketing to.

Determine who your market is or who you help and search for groups that have that same interest. Follow people who are involved in or have an interest in your target niche.

What is Your Message?
What is the main message, suggestion, or idea that you want to get out using social media? You need to determine what two or three things you want your social media contacts to know about you.
You can let them know about your products and services.

You can use social media to create a brand, and you can use it to establish your position as an expert. Decide what your message is and begin to get it across in your communications and conversations on social networks. Remember they are social networks not advertising networks so you want your message to be part of the conversation.