Look, you guys, I’ve seen so many coaches who have incorrect messaging that is just not attracting their ideal client. And I get it! When I first started my business, I knew for a fact that I didn’t understand how to craft my message for my ideal client or even what to say – but I don’t want this to happen to you.
Messaging and the story you tell your ideal client is essential to building a successful health coaching business!
I am excited that Michelle is back on the podcast to talk about messaging, why it’s essential to message correctly to your ideal client, and how to verbalize your message effectively so you can turn those prospects into coaching clients. In this episode, we’re deep diving into some practical messaging strategies you can implement today.
Connect with Michelle:Michelle’s website: https://michelleellisco.showit.site/#/
Michelle’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theorganiccopywriter/
Rachel: Hey there, guys, so excited for this episode. We are going to talk about messaging, why it’s important to message correctly to your ideal client, we see so many coaches who have that incorrect messaging, and they are not attracting your ideal client. Hence, they maybe are sitting in your Facebook group just hanging out, not ever buying from you. Or maybe they’re consuming your social media, but they’re not ever becoming a client. Or maybe you’re having these amazing DM conversations with people, but they’re going nowhere. A lot of this can be because of your messaging.
So today, Michelle and I are going to deep dive into some messaging strategies that you can use and utilize right after this episode. All right, Michelle, seriously, you can hear my excitement for that?
Because I know how difficult it was for me, when I first started coaching, I didn’t really understand how to message. Luckily, I knew the pain points that I’ve gone through and had a feeling that they were similar to my clients. But let’s start in the beginning. Why is messaging really important?
Why Messaging Is So Important & How To Clarify It
Michelle: Messaging is super important, because that’s what’s going to connect any health coach with their audience, with their ideal client. And that’s really what’s going to captivate them start building that relationship that trust, and just the connection overall. So when your messaging is clear, and your messaging really speaks to the heart of your ideal client, that’s when they start reaching out or commenting more or DMing you or asking how they can work with you.
So the more clear that your messaging is, and the more that you speak to their pain and their struggle and relate to them back to when you had that similar struggle, where you found the solution, then that’s what’s going to get you the most conversions.
Rachel: What would be the first step for a coach to take to clarify their messaging?
Michelle: The first step is to dig deep into your story, in the sense of that painful part that most coaches and entrepreneurs in general are scared to go down the road. It might be a really difficult time if you’re, let’s say, a weight loss coach, and it’s really painful to think about when you were bullied for being overweight or something when you were younger, or maybe you’re a hormone coach, and you’re still going through on the tail end of some of that struggle, so you don’t feel comfortable talking about it. Those types of things that would really relate to your audience.
If that’s the problem that you’re solving, typically 99.9% of the time, it is the same problem, then the more that you talk about that, the more that somebody’s going to see that and say like, wow, they understand. They empathize with what I’ve gone through, they’ve been ther and, look, they know now what to do to get over these problems. So the more that you remember that you only have to be a few steps ahead of your ideal client.
Rachel: Absolutely. And don’t be afraid to share the journey. Even just from an audience perspective, when I sit back, and I look at the amazing people that I follow the people that I follow, and I know the people that most people follow, are the people who shared that struggle. it’s always goal cast, right? They have these videos from all these famous celebrities even and there’s always like, these backstories and it’s those stories that people look at, and they’re like, Wow, that person went from this painful time, they found this way out, and through whichever type of health coaching signature program they want to offer, and then they go for it because they see that it’s been done.
Michelle: The great thing about messaging and getting clear on your own story is that that’s the starting place for any new coach. You might not even have client stories, you might not even have clients yet, so you can’t really dive in deep there. So really getting clear on the pain that you’ve gone through and then connecting that to your ideal client and their pain.
How To Connect Your Message To Your Signature Offer
Rachel: Also I think messaging and the clarity of their pleasure. So we have their pain, but really getting clear on what they desire. And that key messaging can tie into your signature offer.
Michelle: Absolutely. So you always want to connect it to that like, wow okay, that was something that happened or it’s happening for their ideal client. And but this is how you really wish you could feel, this is what’s on the other side. So really looking at it from that perspective of where they are right now.
The other side of that is where they really want to be. That’s the results that they want. That’s how they want to feel, connecting that on an emotional level of really how it makes them feel. Typically, that might be more messaging and languaging around that emotional goal. How would it feel if you got this result? Whatever that is for your niche, and then how would that feel every day in your life? And paint that picture.
So also being very visual when you say things in your messaging online. Really just painting that vivid, colorful picture for people almost like a story book where somebody wants to keep turning the page, they want to keep reading. Or it’s as if it was like watching the movie, they want to keep listening. That’s really what’s going to help captivate and connect to people.
It also builds a lot of trust. So once they have that trust, and then they’re like, Well, yeah, that’s how I want to feel. That’s what I’m looking to do. That’s when you position and lead to your signature programs.
Rachel: Even if we think about your signature freebie, or your signature workshop, or your signature masterclass, or that quiz, we’re really thinking about your overall messaging, and what you offer. What you want to be known for. The pain, the pleasure and the results that your ideal clients looking to get. But then we’re thinking about the messaging around each of those free offers, leading to our paid offer.
Michelle: Yeah, I am a very visual person too. So I imagine four columns, and you have the pain column. For your ideal client, you have the pleasure column, and then maybe that third column could be those free things like your freebies, your free workshops, free challenges, anything that you’re doing, and then the fourth column would be great to then lead. Where does that lead your offers? So what does that look like? Do you have signature programs? You take him through detox what exactly does that look like for them? Because then that just helps connect the dots and bridge everything together.
Rachel: Let’s talk about a question that I keep seeing in my group and other groups, is that coach who wants to do it all? Because people are coming to them with a myriad of different health issues. Let’s talk about how essential it is to have clear messaging to not serve everyone and to really niche down.
Why Having Clear, Niched Messaging Is Essential
Michelle: Yeah, trust yourself. I think that people are so afraid, coaches especially, to trust themselves to do that, especially if you came from a school, like I did, that was very holistic. Circle of life covering every aspect of nutrition and never covered, from my experience, when I went back then, this is 10 years ago, they never covered specializing a certain way.
Rachel: We talked about niching and we talked about getting clear, but I think these days because I’m 12 years out from graduating from this great nutrition. It’s very different to have your business these days, it was important to niche down. But I think it’s 100x more important to niche down these days in such a competitive online market.
Michelle: Yeah, I think honestly, the biggest answer to that question would be, what does it mean? Because, for example, if you’re just a health coach, and you’re saying I can help you get optimal health, but what does that really mean? That means you didn’t really dig deep enough, because that’s just very wide and it can cover a lot of things.
Rachel: But how hard is it to speak to what they’re really going through? What’s that struggle like for them? Are they struggling with their heart to get specific when you’re serving?
What To Do If You’re Struggling To Verbalize Your Messaging
Michelle: Yeah, would you say for a coach that is doing really well in messaging on their website, but it’s really struggling in verbalizing their message. So they’re great on the copy, but they are having a difficult time verbalizing it. I don’t know if it’s that they’re getting tongue-tied or difficult time verbalizing it to somebody, what do I do?
I would say practice and write a script with key points. So that there are different types. I’ve written scripts, obviously, as a copywriter, and I’ve had clients that can go off of a script and do really well and they rehearse it and everything’s great. And then that sometimes can actually trip some people up. So don’t be discouraged by that if you’re not a person that can follow a script that way.
Rachel: That actually makes it worse than using bullet points, almost like a bullet point here.
Michelle: Yeah, so take the bullet points of the conversation flow and then make sure that you still treat them like that. They’re not this unreachable person, they’re like a friend of someone, you’re someone that they can confide in. So it really should be a personal relationship. And that really takes talking the same way that you would a friend.
It’s weird because I would consider myself in between introvert and extrovert, I would say over the years, I’ve been a more introverted extrovert. So now in my life I just spark conversations with people. If I’m at a kid event and there’s a mom next to me, I’m just like, Oh, hey, blah, blah, pretty soon, we’re talking about nail salon doing whatever. And that’s the same exact thing. Just as if you’re in the coffee shop, or whatever, and you’re just talking to someone about their life, the more questions that you ask, and that might be helpful, too, the more that that gives that person the room to open up and share with you.
Unless it’s an educational workshop or something, it shouldn’t be where you have to be the sole person talking, it should really be like, what key questions will help that person open up? Write those down, ask those questions in the conversation, and then let them lead the conversation.
So you’re still then coming back and verbalizing your message, because now you have something to respond to, which might make it easier. So when they’re complaining or like, I’ve been feeling this, this and this, or I’ve been struggling with this, you can go back to well, I did the same thing. I struggled with that for X amount of years and then I went to nutrition school, or I went to whichever school. I learned by X amount of years doing it the wrong way, or I just learned about doing it the right way. I read books.
Whatever your scope is on how you got to where you are as a health coach, and then you share that with them. You share the solutions that you have for them. It’s just conversational. I think people forget about that. Because they just think marketing. But the core of marketing is just being a human and connecting with somebody else. That’s, I think the best marketing.
When I think of the people that I watch, and I listened to, it’s always a conversation, it’s never sell, sell, sell. It’s always how do you connect with that person, especially in coaching and health coaching, especially, I think, because health coaching is very vulnerable. And there’s a lot of health issues that maybe they didn’t even tell their doctor, or they might be going through things they haven’t even told there’s their significant other like, Those are problems that are embarrassing. If you’re a digestion coach and you specialize with someone with IBS, or something that’s an uncomfortable to talk about. But having those uncomfortable conversations and speaking to that pain, and that pleasure is really going to help someone understand I’m not alone and there’s a way for me to get help.
So really, to unpack your message and not complicate it. We’re writing down our story, Then we’re really looking at our story timeline, that journey that we took and remembering, what life was like and what happened? What brought us to our knees? Where we are now? What do we teach? Then also, making sure that you have those four columns? I think that’s such a great exercise the pain and pleasure, the free and the paid.
Rachel: So what actually are the solutions? Is the solution is your free offer? And then your paid offer? And any other suggestions for mastering your message in a simple way?
Michelle: The biggest thing that I could say is not to be fearful. Keep practicing it until you’re not afraid and that might mean opening up your voice recorder on your phone or going on Zoom and just practice the whole elevator pitch. Just keep practicing it. Because the more that you can clearly deliver your message and confidently deliver your message that’s going to make you a better communicator, and it’s going to make your audience really relate to you.
Really, it’s just practice and knowing that it’s never going it may never be perfect, nothing’s ever going to be perfect. It can evolve too. So your story can evolve. Life, things happen. Everything can evolve. Just knowing that the more that you share, as vulnerable as you’re willing to be is as vulnerable as your audience is willing to reciprocate. I think that’s important for people to know.
Why Being Transparent In Your Messaging Matters
Rachel: I think that’s beautifully said, I know when we’re messaging to our client, we really are telling that story. I love that shared for that coach that’s brand new, they might not have those stories to share or those client wins yet. But it’s very important to go back to our own story and pull out those nuggets that would help our ideal client identify with us, and not to be scared.
I know, there were times when I was going through my gut health issues because I had ulcerative colitis. And that just doesn’t go away overnight. But I was helping people, and they weren’t as bad as I was. I knew that I could step into their shoes, I knew that I could be of help to people who are dealing with Candida and parasites and all that fun stuff that I dealt with. So really being vulnerable about that kind of stuff. Urinary tract infections, all the things that I had struggled with, and are not things that you easily talk about, to really be transparent. With my transparent with my story.
Michelle: Yeah, transparency is huge. That’s what people look for. The minute I see someone sharing their message I’ll know right off the bat, they’ve done that inner work and really sharing from a place of raw honesty, which is what people are really looking for these days. That’s why reality TV shows are such a hit because people are really sharing the vulnerable parts of their life. And that’s really what we have to take and learn from what works and what’s successful is really sharing that. Sharing those stories and making it as you said about our ideal client. Not overcomplicated.
Rachel: So do you have any parting words for everyone listening? Who’s saying, Okay, this was a great little exercise. What’s next? Journal it out?
Michelle: Yeah open up a notebook, start writing it down, make those columns like start doing it, take your time with it, if you have to it might take you journaling through some of your own stuff. And if that feels too complicated, just use it like a voice recorder. Just get it out somehow. and just make sure that you always have that available to you. You can even print it out stick it on your wall and know that this is the pain that I’m always talking about. This is the pleasure and the result that I’m always sharing and these are my free and paid offers so that there’s always a pathway for your audience come through
Rachel: I love that. All right, guys, this was a short snippet episode this week. I said you know what I want you guys to have something that was easy to digest something that you could apply love the four column method, make sure that you do that and make sure that if you haven’t updated your messaging to go back to it and kind of refine it and make sure that it’s all aligned between your website, your social media your free offers your paid offers. And with that, guys stay tuned for the next Healthy Hustle episode. Alright guys, peace out and have a great one.
