Ask any coach if they're worried about competition, and you may get a variety of interesting responses.
Some will tell you that they're the only life coach in their area, so they're not worried. Others will say that they're abundant thinkers and worrying about competition just isn't a part of their mentality.
But with at least 40,000 coaches and hundreds of new ones entering the field every year, how do you not "drown in the sea" of such a fast growing industry?
The truth is, coaching is an extremely competitive field. Most coaches will not send a referral to another coach, and many will become frantic if another coach decides to enter their “territory.”
The reason this is happening, is because coaches look alike to potential clients. A prospect thinking of hiring a coach, cannot tell the difference! We all offer accountability, lifestyle improvement, personal growth, better jobs, healthier relationships, and so on. How can an average person make a decision of who to hire?
In my experience of working through ACCPOW and rubbing shoulders with some of the most successful coaches in the industry, there are five factors that will make you unique and eliminate most of your worries about competition.
Here they are:
1. Target Audience - having a specific target audience will allow you to customize all your materials and marketing messages to the people you want to attract. If you can't visualize the person you're speaking to, your writing may become diluted and generic, making you look just like any other coach out there.
2. Specialty - even if you chose a target audience to focus on, you need to know what problem you can help them solve, or what goal you can help them accomplish. In other words, you need to specialize and become known as the #1 coach in your niche.
3. Visibility - don't “lay low.” Clients will not just magically appear out of thin air. Every month, every week you must do something that gets you in front of your target audience. Articles, teleseminars, workshops, newsletters, speaking gigs, and other ways to create visibility is what every successful coach does.
4. Credibility - coaches with impressive testimonials, success stories, and information products demonstrating their expertise are much more likely to stand out than the ones without any of the above.
Even if you work within a specialized field, there may be other coaches who to target your clients. They're doing just as much marketing as you do, and possess a great amount of credibility.
How do you make yourself unique in this environment? The only way to avoid direct "competition" is to understand and implement the fifth factor.
5. Personality - some clients will be attracted to you because of your personality. They will not be oriented, patient, aggressive, funny, compassionate, etc.) bring them out in your writings and marketing materials. This will make you unique, attract your ideal clients, and eliminate any "competition" - because there is no one else just like you!
