Copywriting is a very interesting part of setting up your coaching business because unlike tech skills that must be learned in adulthood (for most), for better or worse, we can all write.

And with the right information and enough time spent on the project, you too should be able to write all the copy you need for your coaching website and marketing.

I've seen countless coaches jump right in and start writing. 

And the results were… confusing at best. 

Why does it sometimes seem so difficult to proficiently put into words what we do professionally?

Like all skills, writing your marketing copy is one that requires structure, skill, and practice. It doesn’t come naturally to all - and that’s ok too!

Simply put, as much as I believe that everyone should use writing in the form of journalling for emotional release and for mental exercises to process complex thoughts, not everyone should be writing the copy of their own website and marketing.

So whether you decide to give it a shot yourself... ask a friend with great writing skills to do it for you... or hire a professional copywriter, I will show you exactly how to hone the basic skills so you are able to recognize good copy when you see it, including your own.

Marketing copy begins with crystal clear clarity on what your marketing message is. It’s not like writing fiction where you can let your story grow and develop into something completely different than what you initially planned. No. 

Marketing copy has to be strategically planned as you want it to affect your potential customer in ways that make them want to connect with you as a coach. Here is the key to all marketing copywriting: Connection. All marketing copy - ever - is written with the purpose to connect potential customers with a brand or message. There are 1,000 ways to go about it. But the outcome is always the same: To connect.

Firstly, you must connect with your message. So what is a coach's marketing message?

It is your nutshell, one-line explanation of what you do. 

You will hear some marketers call it your "elevator pitch", meaning that you should be able to explain what you do to someone else in the time it takes to travel in an elevator. Google tells me that the average elevator ride takes 10 to 90 seconds.

(Now you can argue that you plan to go and live in an old Parisian hotel where the lifts are still made out of the original metal cages that creak and wobble as you travel up and down for a couple of minutes at a time - usually with your fingers crossed, hoping the mechanics don't give up today - but that's not what I mean. I mean the ultra-modern elevators that take seconds to travel a dozen levels or more. Think "the bullet train of lifts!" Yes, that's right. Your message should be so clear and tight that no elevator ride may be too short for you. ;-) )

Luckily, my business partner (and loving husband) and I have for years used a simple formula to do just that. And the formula to craft your powerful coach marketing message is:

We help [person] with [problem] to [promise].

So simple, yet so powerful. You just have to dig into these three components to become clear on your marketing message.

Let's look at every component a little closer...

1. We help [person]...

[Person] is your ideal client and their #1 trait that makes them so. 

It can be hard to decide which traits to not mention, but I've got a little hack for you to figure it out. 

Let's say you are a business coach specialized in working with women who have changed careers mid-life (often post-children) to train and become natural health therapists (massage, beauty, acupuncture, herbalists, naturopath, etc.), and ideally you like to work with Chinese Medicine Practitioners because of your Chinese background which helps you better connect with potential coaching clients. Of course, this description is much too long (even for Paris).

Tightened ever so slightly, you can say that your [person] is a “female acupuncturist”. Not bad but still a bit long. 

Here’s my tip, challenge every component of your phrase, for example:

- If any gender of acupuncturists came to you, could you still help them with their business? And would you accept them as clients?

- No, because you have a specific approach and rapport with women which doesn’t work with men?

Solution: Keep the gender info in your [person] description.

- If another type of natural therapist came to you (let’s say a female chiropractor), could you still help them with their business? And would you accept them as clients?

- Yes? 

Solution: Expand your description from acupuncturists to natural therapists.

In this example, your [person] definition is now clear: You help female/women natural therapists.

A final note about this component: Your potential clients must recognize themselves instantly by this description, so avoid cryptic wording that makes it hard for them to do so. 

2. ...with [problem]...

The best way to determine what you should put in your [problem] section is by remembering what people tell you their biggest problem is when you first meet them (or even better by going back to your client notes and finding specifically what they said to you).

This component is about your potential client and what they want to fix with your help. Again it’s important to name things what they are and not sugar-coat them. 

If you’re working with grief, call it that instead of “going through significant inter-personal changes”.

If you’re working with people who have failed in business and fear getting back in the arena, don’t start saying that they "have infinite potential and are lacking to see what is really inside them". You can motivate them in that way during your coaching sessions, but in your message, you must show them that you know what is happening to them and are not afraid of their problem.

It is easy to fall into the trap of putting too much information in your marketing message. Of course, you will help your clients with much more than this one problem. I've known business coaches who have saved relationships and physical health coaches who have given me the very best insights to help me heal emotions.

Just remember that keeping things clear and concise in your marketing message will help you attract your ideal client and make them feel connected with you in the first place.

Your marketing message is not you. 

Your marketing message is also not a reflection of everything that you do or are trained in.

Your marketing message is here to initiate the connection between you and your potential clients.

Your wording should be a short phrase that triggers an emotional response in your client. 

The best way to know if you've hit the spot is to test a few variations with existing clients and see what they say. (Using a poll in your Facebook Group is a super-easy way to do that - you will find that most of your coaching clients will love being involved in your own business growth and success).

To continue our example: “We help female natural therapists with their fear of business failure…” 

3. ...to [promise].

The final component of your coach's marketing message is your unique approach to solving your ideal client's biggest problem. The promise is where you must align your skills with your integrity, the ultimate meeting point between a client’s needs and your ability to help them. 

No need to say that it is essential that you are capable of delivering consistently the results that you promise. No coaching business can survive long-term without delivering the promised results.

You must find the balance between the truth of what you do and the wording of it that is exciting and highly desirable for your potential clients.

If needed you can expand this final phrase to build up motivation and encourage action-taking.

You want people to feel hope within reach: the achievement of something bigger than what they can achieve on their own but not so big that they can’t connect with the message.

To reflect different options using our example, we could finish the phrase in various ways… 

• Version for the business coach focused on branding:
  “We help female natural therapists with fear of business failure to design a personal brand that transpires confidence and skill.”

• Version for the business coach focused on lead generation and sales:
  “We help female natural therapists with fear of business failure to x10 their active client's database.”

• Version for the business coach focused on mindset:
  “We help female natural therapists with fear of business failure to easily resolve their self-sabotage.”

Once your coach's marketing message is ready, make sure to use it as often as you can. Over time, coaches often want to refine the wording, which is perfectly normal. But don’t let perfection stop you from putting your first message out in front of your potential clients.

Your coach's marketing message can be published:

• On your coaching website

• On all your social media platforms (in the description)

• In your email signature

• In every conversation you have in industry events, with friends, prospects, and of course… in elevators whether you’re in Paris or not. 

Keep speaking about what you do and sharing your clear and concise new message, because the world needs your expertise and generous skills, and you never know who you’re going to meet in the lift!