Your Frugalness Might Be Costing You Clients

by Carole Nicolaides
Featured in Coaching Scoop, September 5, 2001

Survival as a coach depends greatly on the image you portray both visually and verbally. I understood this, but in the beginning I was trying to save as much money as I could. The problem was, my frugalness was costing me clients!

When I first began my coaching practice, I truly felt as though I had to do everything myself out of necessity. I was designing my own Web sites,writing my own copy and doing all the marketing myself. I hardly had time to coach! I'm sure you've felt the exact same way at one point or another.

I kept looking at the situation as though I would "lose" money if I hired professionals to help. However, in reality, I was losing clients because the image I initially portrayed was sorely lacking. That's when I realized that a partnership of people was exactly what I needed in order to move my business forward without the risk of exhaustion!

If I were to "make it", I was going to have to find some qualified people who could offer assistance and professional guidance. I couldn't do it all myself because the tasks involved took too much time away from me being able to call on corporations and provide my coaching services.

Because I needed to reach a global audience, I had to focus on my Web sites first. That's when I came across 2 people who have made my life so much easier… a great Web site designer and a talented copywriter. Viki Nygaard and Karon Thackston have formed a marketing partnership with me in order to help me promote my business in the most professional of ways.

I can't tell you how important it is to have these two types of experts in your corner. Viki took my "homemade" looking site and completelytransformed it into something a corporate executive would take notice of.

Karon revised and rewrote my copy so that it spoke specifically to the needs of corporations and professionals in regard to the Knowledge Management coaching I provide. What a difference!

By getting to know these 2 ladies, and working with them on a regular basis, ALL my marketing efforts have improved. I continually get compliments on the professionalism of my site and the most important thing I get my target clients. My ads pull responses better than they did before. My brochures sound and look spectacular and my audience anticipates my true value. No more hassle in how much I charge. What a relief!

Let me say that if you want to improve your marketing position, don't look so much at the amount of money you will spend, but at the amount you will earn due to the end results. I am now in a much better position to approach executives and corporations because I LOOK and SOUND professional in all my efforts. Bottom line: If you're going to do it - do it right.