Once you get a good name and a logo, you’re off and running as a coach, right?

Not even close. Creating a great brand as a coach is actually MORE difficult than creating a brand for a product-based, or brick-and-mortar company.

And problems with your brand can really hold you back as a coach. Having a poor brand as a coach can keep you from getting clients, and limit the money you can make.

Here are the top 6 branding mistakes coaches and healers make.  Are YOU making any of these?

Mistake #1 – Making it about the coach

Unless you’re vying for guru status, having your website or your brand be all about you won’t get you clients.

People aren’t interested in you, until they understand what you can do for them.

Here’s an example of this from a badly-branded coach’s website. (The coach may be fine, but the brand isn’t.)

An example:

Mistake #2 – Trying to sell coaching

There are some people who understand that they need a coach.

Sports figures. Maybe C-suite execs who have been told everyone’s doing it.

Not most people, and not most people you want to serve.

Here’s an example of trying to sell coaching:

If you’re trying to explain what coaching is, and keep people’s attention, and then sell yourself in the mix, you’re working WAY too hard. 

Mistake #3 – No specific target market

I can help everyone, from college students to grandparents. This actually hurts your brand, and your marketing.

Think about it: If you’re a 30-something professional mom looking for someone to help her navigate how to balance her career and her new baby, would you turn to someone who’s talking about college students and grandparents?

Probably not. If you don’t have a specific target market, your ideal client doesn’t know that you’re the answer to her prayers.

Mistake #4 – Jack of all trades

This is closely related to mistake #3 about the target market. If you say, I’m a life, career, and business coach, you don’t sound credible. It’s like saying, I can perform surgery, help you renovate your home, and I make jam.

If you have multiple super-powers, that’s awesome! But the phrase, jack of all trades, usually goes along with the phrase, and master of none.

People won’t believe you’re a capable expert if you’re a jack of all trades. Better to claim mastery in one area, and attract people looking for an expert in that area!

Mistake #5 – Describing the problem, not the pain

Particularly with coaching and healing work, the presenting pain that your client is experiencing is usually not the same as the underlying problem.

Unfortunately, since your potential clients don’t have your expertise, speaking to them about the underlying problems just means that you confuse them.

For example, an inability to sleep at night (pain) could be caused by emotions (problem) or hormones (different problem).

So your brand should talk about the pain (not sleeping at night) rather than than the different problems that COULD be causing that pain.

Most coaches and healers go into describing the underlying problems immediately, leaving people unsure about what they deliver. This keeps you from attracting clients, and keeps people from referring you.

Mistake #6 – No CTA

A CTA is a ‘Call to Action’. Every good website (in fact, every page on a good website) has one. It’s an instruction that tells the reader what to do next, whether that’s email, call, or download some additional information.

If you don’t have a CTA that’s congruent with your brand, you’re missing opportunities to serve people who may want your services.

How many of these mistakes are YOU making? (If you answered none, good for you! And there are more, these are just the top 6).