I’ve worked with dedicated health coaches over the years, and one of the most common things they want to know is how to get clients as a health coach.
How do you find people you can really connect with?
And how can you show them that you’re the one they should choose?
At EHQ, we’re all about helping people grow their coaching business, and I’ve learned some simple tactics many coaches can implement to grow their contact list, both from my own experience and via my clients. Here are 12 actionable ideas for how health coaches can find new clients, with real-life examples to learn from.
1. Host Virtual Workshops and Webinars
I’m always going to talk about the benefits of virtual workshops and webinars because I’ve seen success by running them myself. Workshops and webinars are the perfect way to showcase your expertise to a pool of potential new clients. It’s also handy to have these running occasionally as another passive source of income.
What are the pros of running virtual workshops and webinars? There’s a lot! They’re fairly easy to set up (especially in comparison to in-person events), they give you the opportunity to meet people who are struggling with a specific area that you can help with, and you can even reuse some of the content for social media platforms (but more on that a little later in this article).
The main con is that they take time and effort to set up.
Example: Sara Artemisia’s free plant workshop
One of my EHQ clients, Sara Artemisia, is a plant language expert. She guides people on how to use plants for physical and mental health. Her free workshop, How to Learn Plant Language, is a good example of creating a valuable workshop to showcase skills and increase your pool of potential clients.
Sara’s workshop is free, which means she’s had to put time and effort into creating it with no guarantee of financial return. However, I know from my own experience that workshops have led to a huge boost in finding ideal clients: I’ve held over 1,000 appointments after my own workshops and summits (more on that in a moment) with people who were interested in becoming clients, so it really does work.
Key Takeaway: Virtual workshops and webinars are a great way to showcase your expertise. And sometimes, offering a freebie is just the thing you need to get on the radar of the right people.
2. Host a Virtual Summit
Virtual summits are another excellent option for finding clients, and this is an area I’ve personally had success with since 2015. Virtual summits are different from workshops and webinars. You might collaborate with other experts in your field, for example. But you’re positioning yourself as a person with knowledge and expertise in your specific niche, and you’re also creating a contact list of people you can follow up with after the summit.
The pros of creating a summit are that you may get to network with others in your field and you’ll have a pool of potential clients who will come away from the summit with actionable insights, as well as seeing you as an expert in your field.
The downside is that you have to invest some time in creating the summit in the first place, without a guaranteed financial return.
Example: Carl Cincinnato’s migraine summit
Another one of my clients, Carl Cincinnato, is doing excellent work with his Migraine World Summit. This summit brings together experts in the field, offering vital information to migraine sufferers. He gained over 100,000 email subscribers by working with us to create his summit.
Key Takeaway: Summits can be a powerful tool and a useful resource for your potential clients. A potential client will recognize your name and face as an expert in your niche. If they’re looking for coaching, you will be an attractive option if they’ve gained valuable information from your summit.
3. Host a Podcast
I love podcasts, and I think they’re a fantastic way to attract new clients. You can build a relationship with your audience by posting consistently, and if you’re creating useful content in your niche, people will keep coming back.
The pros of hosting a podcast are that they’re a pretty easy way to grow an audience if you market it well.
The cons are that there is a time and monetary cost, of course. For instance, investing in a quality microphone is essential to keep your audience engaged. Additionally, the time spent on planning, editing, and reaching out to potential guests can be quite demanding.
Example: Normanie Ricks’ health podcast
Let’s take the example of Normanie Ricks. Normanie runs a podcast called Health Facts with Normanie Ricks, shared on my podcast networking site Talks.co, a platform I created to help podcast hosts connect with guests. This allows her to showcase her knowledge and create content that is valuable to her listeners, which I think is great.
Key Takeaway: Podcasts take time and effort, but you can grow a committed community of people who are the perfect people to reach out to as potential new high-paying coaching clients.
4. Visit In-Person Events
In-person networking events are excellent for health coaches. You can travel to various events in your local area or across the country and meet like-minded people. These events offer a fantastic opportunity to network without social media, and I believe there’s something powerful about talking to people in person. In my experience, they’re more likely to remember you.
The pros of this are that you can meet people in real life, and if you’re looking for a new local potential client and this happens to be a local event, that’s even better. The cons are that you may have to pay to attend as well as travel expenses.
Example: Yogi Aaron’s yoga masterclasses
One example of a conference is the Yoga Expo in LA, which brings together yoga teachers and experts and allows people to learn new techniques for their own yoga practice. One coach, Yogi Aaron, ran a couple of talks last year that appealed to yoga enthusiasts, and this was a great way for him to link back to his services and yoga studios.
Key Takeaway: Don’t forget about in-person events. These can be really powerful in connecting with your target audience, and if you’re looking for local clients, look up events you can join nearby.
5. Build a Website
While social media is key, a good website is still a valuable tool for business owners. A website can act as a central place for all your information. Your social links, your blog posts, your YouTube channel if you have one, your contact details, and your coaching services. If you have any free resources, you can put them here.
The pros of building a website are that it’s a pretty easy online method for increasing your client base. You can use a website builder, and you don’t need to be technically minded to do it.
Example: Michelle Roots’ client testimonials
Fitness and nutrition coach Michelle Roots has a good website linking to her YouTube videos, her online shop, and her blog. Plus, she has a useful testimonial page from past and current clients, which is a great way to build trust with a potential health coaching client. I think her website builds a strong picture of who she is.
Key Takeaway: Think about building a website as a central hub for your online information, which will make it easier for clients to get to know who you are and what you’re offering. You can even build a booking form, allowing clients to book a consultation or fitness classes online, so that’s easier for them.
6. Get on TikTok
TikTok is an incredibly popular platform, and many personal trainers swear by it as their main online presence. Filming useful content for TikTok takes a little time and some trial and error, but once you’ve figured out what a health coaching client is looking for, you can film and edit content in bulk sessions, so you’re not filming every day.
I like that TikTok is fairly accessible, and it’s a great way to reach people looking for help with their health and wellness. The downside is that it’s a popular platform, and it’s competitive. You’ll have to create content that helps people to stand out, and there is a larger time investment needed than some other tactics in this post.
Example: Michelle Chong’s eye-catching TikTok titles
Fitness coach Michelle Chong is a good example of TikTok done right. Her most popular video (with 1.7m views) has the title ‘When you realize you only need five exercises to slim down’ – it’s an intriguing headline that naturally makes you want to watch to find out more if you’re trying to reach your health goals. I certainly wanted to watch the whole thing.
Key Takeaway: People like helpful information delivered in a fast, concise way on TikTok. If you can find the right formula and create the content your clients are looking for, you can build an audience that will become the perfect place to find new clients.
7. Try Out Instagram
Instagram is another good option to find high-paying clients as a health coach. Instagram is a visual platform, which is ideal in a lot of areas when it comes to health coaching. Exercise routine videos do well on Instagram, as do short, snappy recipe videos. Some of my clients have seen big success with tutorial-style videos or even carousels of images with practical advice: Sara Artemisia, who I mentioned earlier, gets a lot of engagement on posts like this.
The pros of Instagram are that it’s easy to use, and there’s a huge potential audience out there to advertise your health coaching services to.
Example: Kimmy Lee’s aesthetic Instagram grid
Kimmy Lee is a holistic health and wellness coach. She uses Instagram to showcase healthy recipes. What makes her profile stand out to me is that her grid is inspirational to look at. Her recipe videos are paced well and beautifully presented, and this has gained her a lot of followers.
Key Takeaway: Instagram is a good option to build your online community, and these are the people you will want to reach out to when you’re looking for new coaching clients. You just need to be consistent and thoughtful about the content you create, which I say to all my clients. Consistency is key.
8. Create a Pinterest Board
Pinterest is another excellent choice for advertising your health coaching services. It’s another visual platform, so it takes time to perfect an eye-catching pin. You can use something like Canva, which has a premade template optimized for Pinterest, to save a little time – I recommend this to my EHQ clients.
The pros of Pinterest are that it’s a give-and-take platform. The idea is that you’re not just promoting your own pins but also sharing and pinning other people’s pins, too. That way, you’re involving yourself in a community specifically related to your niche. If people like your pins, they’re more likely to reach out to you. The cons are that you need to post a lot and post consistently to grow your following.
Example: The Hormone Honey’s inspirational Pinterest account
A good example of this is The Hormone Honey’s Pinterest account. Emmalee has created her own pins and curated a specific and useful collection of pins that people will want to follow. For example, her ‘cycle syncing’ board is packed with information that positions her as an expert within that niche, and it’s a real boost to her online presence. If I was looking for information about this, I’d see her as a good source.
Key Takeaway: Pinterest takes time and effort, but you can build a community there, and attractive pins are a great way to link back to your other online efforts, like your website, webinar, or tutorials. This should be a good way to reach prospective clients.
9. Create an Email Newsletter
An email newsletter is a powerful way to reach people, and my clients have had great success with them. You can create short, powerful weekly emails for your followers to increase your authority in your niche within the wellness industry, show off your health coaching skills, and give yourself a pool of people you can reach out to for coaching opportunities.
The good thing about creating an email newsletter is that the technical side is easier than ever, with many user-friendly platforms to choose from, so you can create an appealing newsletter and focus on the content to grow your email list. The downside is that it takes a good time investment to send useful messages by email.
Example: The Nerd Fitness email newsletter
Steve Kamb offers online fitness coaching and has created an online community of ordinary people looking to increase their fitness levels. His newsletter, Nerd Fitness, is an excellent example of how investing some time in a newsletter can create trust and increase your authority, making you stand out as a leader in your niche to prospective clients.
Key Takeaway: A newsletter is a fantastic way to increase your following, create an online community, and nurture coaching leads by collecting email addresses. You just need to be consistent, send emails on a regular basis, and give useful, actionable advice to your readers.
10. Create a Lead Magnet
I think that lead magnets are a fantastic tool and a good first step for a high-ticket sales funnel. Lead magnets are a free resource. People can offer their email addresses in exchange for it, thus creating a pool of potential clients you can reach out to. I always recommend lead magnets to my clients if they’re struggling to gain new contacts.
Example: Liz’s Healthy Table free cookbook
In the above image, you can see how enticing the lead magnet is: sign up for Liz’s Healthy Table newsletter about health food and get a free pasta and pizza cookbook. The website makes it incredibly easy to sign up, and the lead magnet is useful. This is exactly what I recommend to our EHQ clients.
Key Takeaway: Think of something practical you can offer people. Recipes or workout ideas, for example. What will your clients find appealing? If you can create something useful, you should see a boost in numbers, and you can reach out to them to advertise your health coaching business.
11. Make Tutorials on YouTube
YouTube is a challenging platform. It’s hugely popular, but it’s also incredibly saturated. So, to stand out, you really need to work on finding useful content and a unique perspective. However, many health and fitness coaches have seen success on YouTube.
Example: Grow with Jo’s fitness routines
Grow with Jo is an example of a YouTube success story. You can see from her videos why people have connected with her. She offers useful content, but she’s personable and open about mental health barriers to fitness, and her community is thriving because she takes the time to interact, which I think is important.
Key Takeaways: I think that YouTube takes time and effort, but by offering useful information (this can be anything from recipes to workouts to meditation exercises), you can grow a dedicated audience, and these are the perfect people to reach out to when you need new clients.
12. Run a Health Challenge
This is a good option if you want to really engage your followers on any social media platform, from Instagram to TikTok to LinkedIn. It could be daily meditation, stretching, or eating a certain number of vegetables in a day. For a lot of my clients, half of the battle with social media is consistency, and a challenge solves that problem.
A health challenge is a good way to engage your audience and to let people get to know you. If they can see you trying to improve your health and fitness, they’ll see you as an expert, but they’ll also connect with you on a personal level, which is important for health professionals trying to reach new people. The downside is, of course, that you have to be prepared to stick with it.
Example: 30-day stretching challenge
In this example, Spencer Braddock (or the Stretch Warrior) is running a 30-day resting squat challenge. He posts short videos, and his community is engaging with him in the comments. This is a simple way for him to build his authority and create connections with his followers as he helps them reach their wellness goals.
Key Takeaways: It’s hard to know what to post on social media, but health or fitness challenges can help to keep you consistent, build your audience, and create a sense of community, which will hopefully lead to your target demographic reaching out for a coaching session.
Key Takeaways
The key is to connect with people who have faced the same challenges you have and to be authentic when you start to execute your marketing strategies. In my experience, you need to be authoritative, but you also have to be yourself too. This balance is what you’re aiming for with health coaching, and my clients have seen success with this.
Your potential future health coach clients are out there. You just need to speak with confidence and authority, and once the ball is rolling, it will get easier. Soon, you’ll be having a positive impact on your happy clients, and their word-of-mouth advertising will help you gain more clients in the future.
If you want to know more, watch our free training on how to get coaching clients for more tips, tricks, and insights.
