Market Your Coaching and Healing Practice Without Social Media

Marketing without social media is possible

It’s true: social proof is essential for large, small, and micro businesses.

But social media isn’t the only kind of social proof. Press, Interviews, Guest Lectures, Course Development, Testimonials, Referrals, High ratings, Raving Reviews, and Client Success Stories are all ways to build your social proof in business.

Plus, relying on social media for client acquisition isn’t ideal for all businesses —especially transformational service providers like Coaches, Healers, Helpers, or Consultants.

Social media companies earn income based on client attention —and on guiding that attention to the content they want to show. That content is monetized and optimized. The higher your social buzz, audience size, and advertising budget, the higher you rank. That doesn’t bode well for independent, small or micro-businesses—like most Coaches, Healers, Helpers and Consultants.

Social media presence and social media advertising are different.

If your business is looking for new leads, paid social media ads are one way to acquire clients who are searching for the solution you’re selling. Paid social ads don’t require a huge following, but they do require investing in an expert (or spending a good chunk of time and resources to DIY it) plus the actual fees for advertising.

With a large enough following, your consistent and relevant social media presence may be enough to bring potential clients to your digital (or actual) doors…

…but you’ll need to spend resources (your own time, a strategic hire’s time, or advertising dollars) to gain that following.

If you don’t have a large social media presence yet, strategic social media advertising can help you reach more of your ideal clients. Targeted ads that drive those interested clients to your valuable, relevant free (or paid) products or services are the aim —and those ads are often effective but require time, testing, and resources.

What if you don’t have a large social media following, a big advertising budget, or a desire to engage on the socials at all?

While you’re growing your following or building your advertising budget, go back to basics! Build or scale your business the time-tested way: and remember that vanity metrics like social media followers are rarely indicative of actual income.

Here are 25 creative ways to build, grow, or scale your business without social media (plus a few that DO require social, but take a stress-less approach).

I used these exact strategies to build my unknown yoga therapy and wellness coaching studio in a small town back in 2008 when social media was a thing… but not a huge thing for business. Those same strategies allowed me to pivot into location-independent yoga teacher training after I closed my studio to spend more time with my little one. And I used these strategies again when I deleted all my social media back in 2019 (I’m back now, but…you get the picture!). Get the full list here.

Plus, here are 20 more ways to grow your business without relying on a large social media presence or paid social media advertisements:

1. Offer memberships or discounted rates to local firefighters, police officers, or other first responders to show appreciation for their service.

2. Partner with a local sports team, special interest group or league to offer training, massage therapy, mindset coaching, or photography sessions to their members. Think: Yoga for Knitters, Mindfulness Training for Golfers, Tai Chi for Bowlers.

3. Host a "Lunch and Learn" events for community organizations, local businesses, or trade organizations. Network before and afterward with business cards, brochures, or the perfect elevator pitch.

4. Offer mobile services or corporate packages to busy professionals who can't make it to your studio or local business.

5. Attend local trade shows, conferences, or expos related to your niche and network with attendees and other vendors.

6. Host a live webinar, workshop or talk to showcase your expertise and offer a special promotion for attendees. You don’t need fancy equipment and can stream Live on YouTube with nothing more than your smartphone.

7. Offer specialized training, series courses, packages, or classes for specific populations in your niche that deliver a specific, singular solution. Examples: Prenatal Cooking Classes, Meditation for Legal Professionals, Wellness Coaching for WFH Parents.

8. Partner with local non-profit organizations and donate a portion of your profits to their cause! Usually, they’ll offer to feature your business or promote you in their outreach materials. (You’re doing it out of the goodness of your heart, but the extra shout-out is nice).

9. Offer a trial period for new clients to try out your services at a discounted rate, and follow up with them to encourage them to continue working with you once the trial period ends with a special package only available at that time (Pro tip: add value, rather than reduce cost).

10. Create a customer loyalty program that rewards clients for repeat business or for referring new clients. People like to refer people they know and are more eager to do so if you have a system in place.

11. Host a free seminar or workshop on a topic related to your niche and invite your local community to attend. Bonus: invite “sister service providers” and turn it into a Panel where you all build interest and promote one another’s transformational services. More clients book with you, more clients book with them, and everyone benefits. Win-Win-Win.

12. Develop a Talk Show, Podcast or Video Blog, featuring your work and services. Regularly provide valuable content and promote your services at the end of each show or in the show notes. Discuss topics that your ideal clients are interested in, problems they’re already asking about, and showcase how your services or products provide a solution to those problems.

13. Develop a customized corporate package and pitch your local businesses with more than 50 employees. Use this as a way to build your referral network or create a collective to provide services on-location.  

14. Create an online course or e-book and offer it for sale on your website or at trade shows and events.

15. Collaborate with influencers and thought leaders in your niche to promote your business with an event, challenge, or contest.

16. Host a Continuing Education or professional development training for a trade organization in your industry to share your expertise and build your corporate consulting opportunities.

17. Use search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to improve your website's ranking on search engines and attract more traffic. Develop lead magnets for your best SEO ranked content and grow your email list at the same time.

18. Host a contest or giveaway to engage with potential clients and build your brand.

19. Develop a mobile app to make it easy for clients to book appointments and stay connected with your business. Or use one of the integrated apps that comes with course creation membership sites like Passion.io, Thinkific, and AttractWell.

20. Start a Membership site using software (like this or this or this) to grow your community and monetize your creative content at the same time. Substack or Patreon offer email marketing and social sharing options that allow you to market your business and earn income at the same time.

I’d love to know—what are your tried-and-true client attraction strategies that don’t rely on social media?

Join the conversation in the Kula!

And if you missed KULA CONVERSATIONS with Kristina Molnar, Hypnotherapist + Coach yesterday, catch the replay right here.

We talk neurodivergence, WFHmom-life, designing your business around your body-mind-heart needs (instead of sacrificing your core needs for a broken business model). And Kristina shares a mind-shifting tip to support you (and your clients) in making big changes in life. Hint: it’s word magic! Head here to catch the replay (for 2 weeks).

See you in the Kula!

~Kellie Adkins, MS, C-IAYT, Business Coach + Yoga Therapist

Founder | Wisdom Method School of Yoga

P.S. Want to Map our your non-social media marketing strategy together? Start here.

25 Creative Ways to Build Your Coaching and Healing Practice Without Relying on Social Media

Every business needs a way to reach potential customers.

Your marketing strategy needs to get your Coaching, Healing or Service-based Business in front of the people who want what you have—and who want it now.

Nowadays, most people think of social media as a viable way to market and grow their coaching, healing, or transformational service-based business.

But the truth is that relying on social media for clients isn’t tenable for most businesses because social media trends come and go.

Do you remember MySpace? Tumblr? Periscope? Google+? Yeah, me, too. But no one is using them now.

Social media platforms make their money by keeping people on the platform NOT by sending their users elsewhere (like your website services page).

There are creative and effective ways to market your coaching or healing practice that don’t require much social media.

While the market has shifted considerably in the direction of social proof for businesses, maintaining a strategy that works for you is key….but that doesn’t mean you have to jump on every trend bandwagon or go viral to get clients (and remember, there are other forms of social proof for your business. You’re getting testimonials, right?).

Your marketing strategy needs to get your business in front of the people who want what you have: and who want it now.

That doesn’t require a million followers on social media (or even 1,000). It does require some higher-order thinking, market research, and creativity. In other words: YOU GOT THIS, brilliant one!

When I first started a business in 2007, having a website was a novelty, and a social media presence wasn’t required.

But a business card? Absolutely.

Local networking events? You betcha.

Print advertising and PR: even better.

Back then I didn’t have the budget for glossy paid ads in the local style magazine.

I had to get creative!

Below are 25 things I did to market my Yoga Studio and Coaching Practice, that are as relevant now as they were back then. In fact, when I quit social media for a few years, I relied on these exact strategies to fill my calendar with long-term consulting gigs.

25 ways to attract clients without using social media:

1. Print business cards and give some to friends, family members, and colleagues. Ask them to keep a small stack in their car or purse and hand them out to people that might be a good fit for your services.

2. Host pop-up demonstrations or mini-classes in local parks, botanical gardens, downtown areas, or during large events (ask permission).

3. Collaborate with local partners, such as dance teachers or salons, to create joint events or performances.

4. Develop a signature workshop, training or course and deliver a free mini-course to local businesses or offices during lunch breaks.

5. Print glossy postcards or business-card size passes with your class schedule, website, and discount codes, and distribute them at local gyms, fitness centers, and coffee shops.

6. Offer referral fees or commissions to local health professionals or complementary service providers for sending clients your way.

7. Pitch your training, course, or programs to local colleges, vocational centers, or educational institutions to secure contract gigs.

8. Send personalized emails to people in your network and ask for referrals or introductions to potential clients.

9. Host seasonal special events and open houses or sample classes at your studio and offer exclusive membership packages.

10. Add your Training, Workshops, Courses or classes to Google and share them on local networking and events websites or print publications.

11. Advertise at local farmers' markets, craft fairs, or events that attract your ideal clients.

12. Join your local Chamber of Commerce, municipal business association, or business networking groups and share your elevator pitch during their monthly events.

13. Offer complimentary mini-sessions or exclusive discounts to local service providers that also serve your ideal clients (stylists, estheticians, etc.) in exchange for referrals.

14. Collaborate and co-promote with other practitioners or businesses in your niche or local area for special events.

15. Send thank-you postcards or free class cards to clients, friends, and colleagues to express appreciation and encourage repeat business.

16. Print mini-cards or flyers with your business information and a QR code to a complimentary download (valuable content) and distribute them locally.

17. Organize a charitable fundraising event or sponsor a charitable event in your community.

18. Order custom promotional items, such as water bottles, yoga mats, tote bags, or T-shirts, with your business name and website. Give them to friends and clients. Use them as raffle items or gifts during events. Sell them on your website.

19. Offer special packages and customized classes to members of local churches, community organizations, or neighborhood associations.

20. Teach a series class, signature workshop, or specialized training at a local church or community center and offer their members a special rate for private sessions.

21. Print neon flyers or posters with your business information and distribute them strategically in town and at events (ask permission).

22. Wear branded T-shirts or ask family and friends to do the same to raise awareness about your business.

23. Keep business cards handy for networking events or other opportunities to share your contact information or get one of these nifty cards.

24. Book a booth at local health, wellness, or education events in the area to showcase your business.

25. Order or make special swag that showcases your brand and advertises your business. Then hand out around town or at events. Examples: custom herbal tea sachets with handstamped tags, Wildflower seed paper business cards, Hand-stamped leather cards (upcycled leather, of course).

Ok, and because I can’t stop myself, here are 4 more ideas that do require social media, yet allow you to be more strategic in your use since content on these platforms performs well in driving traffic to your website and has a longer shelf life than Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.

*Want even more? Here are 20 more marketing ideas to grow your coaching, healing or helping practice that don’t rely on social media.

For a “stress less” approach to social media marketing:

1. Start a YouTube channel and create content optimized for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to drive traffic to your website.

2. Start a Substack, Vimeo, or Patreon account to monetize your content, then share bits of paid content to your social media channels to increase your subscriber base (pre-schedule the posts for even less stress).

3. Write and publish a book, e-book, audio book or podcast, sell it on Amazon, Etsy or your website. Promote it everywhere you go.

4. Craft a public talk or presentation. Contact local organizations to invite you to speak at their events. Promote your book and / or services when you do!

I’d love to know—what are some non-social media ways you attract clients?

If you liked this post and you want to learn more about scaling your business for more influence and ease, join me every week for LIVE workshops to make growing your business more fun (and less stressful).

With gratitude,

~Kellie Adkins

Business Alignment Coach + Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT)

Founder | Wisdom Method School of Yoga

P.S. If you missed KULA CONVERSATIONS today, join the Kula and catch the replay right here! I share my simple 3-step process for creating irresistible courses your clients want NOW, not later.

P.P.S. Want to Map our your non-social media marketing strategy together? Start here.

5 Tips to Improve Your Content Marketing

Do you want to become a leader in your industry?

Are you ready for a steady stream of perfect-fit clients to knock down your (proverbial) door?

Awesome! You are in the right place.

Becoming a known expert is easier than ever with the power of information —and you have valuable wisdom and insight to share!

The key to content marketing success is creating interesting content that your audience is going to find valuable, useful and shareable!

In our last post on the subject of content marketing, How to Create Engaging Content that Attracts Your Dream Clients, I talked to you briefly about something called VIRAS. VIRAS is an acronym that, when followed throughout the content creation process, improves our content and attracts more of the best-fit clients.

VIRAS stands for = valuable, inspiring, relevant, actionable and specific.

Let’s take a look at each of the five pieces of VIRAS —together they form a five-step process you can apply to improve your own content marketing.

1 // V is for Valuable

When considering content to share, ask yourself — will my potential client receive value from this information? Even better: will my perfect-fit client? If the answer is no, then skip it and focus on what WILL deliver value to a potential or existing client.

For example, is it important for you to know that I cleaned houses for 5 years during high school and college? Only if I can connect it to a specific lessons learned to deliver a valuable insight: such as, doing whatever it takes to reach your goals, time management, early entrepreneurial skills and developing boutique services that advance your income and opportunities.

2 // I is for Inspiring

Keep your content inspiring and positive. Although you definitely want to employ effective psychological triggers (like loss-gain, opportunity cost, and urgency), remain as positive as possible in your messaging. Walking the line between motivating and empowering is a skill in sharing content that your perfect-fit clients and customers will adore. Remain as positive in your language as possible —including reframing negative calls to action in positive terms.

For example: Although I could have written the first sentence of above paragraph as follows: "Don't use a negative tone in your content." Do you notice how that sentence elicits a different feeling? A simple reframe using positive language has a lighter tone and an empowering after-effect.

[Tweet "People won't always remember what you say, but they'll remember how you made them feel"]

3 // R is for Relevant

Is the content you are sharing relevant to your perfect-fit client? Only share content that is of direct relevance to your potential client or customer. If you can connect an experience, story, or insight to a current lesson that interests your Dream Client, then by all means, go ahead.

Here’s a quick example: Although I’m a certified yoga therapist and have a yoga teacher training school, I don’t share content related to yoga anatomy, therapeutic yoga or the Wisdom Method on this blog. Why? Because it’s not relevant to my perfect-fit client — unless I’m sharing exact strategies I used to grow my business.

[Tweet "Your business isn't about you: it's about the problems you solve for your clients. @thekellieadkins"]

4 // A is for Actionable

Your content needs to have a point. Asking yourself a simple question — “What’s the point?” — is a great place to begin to ensure your content is actionable to your client. There needs to be a clear action for the reader / viewer to take after consuming your content.

What do you want to the reader / viewer / listener to do after they read / watch / listen? What action-oriented tips will you leave them with? Is there a next step —either in another piece of Free content (perhaps behind an opt-in gate or application) or in a paid product or service?

5 // S is for Specific

Last but not least, ensure the content you are sharing is specific to a particular person, client or customer. Your mom may read your blog, but chances are you are not trying to attract your mom into your business.

Consider what the client needs that you, or your amazing offers, can provide. In fact, be sure that each piece of content you share has a specific gain for your client. Better still, noodle over the top 5 problems you solve for your Dream Client and create content that provides those solutions!

It helps to envision your specific Dream Client when creating content. Imagine them receiving the content in great detail: how will they feel before reading / watching / listening? How will they feel after? Who will they share it with? The more specific you become with your content, the more it will resonate with your Dream Clients.

[Tweet "Envision a specific Client to create content that converts "]

Pass each of the content pieces you create through this VIRAS litmus test and you’ll see more engagement and interaction on the content you create. This interaction will lead to you gaining more followers / fans who will want even more of what it is you are sharing. Keeping people waiting on the edge of their seat for the next thing you create is a total business sweet spot.

I’d Love to Hear from You

What were your biggest takeaways from today’s article? How will this help you move your business forward and attract more clients? Leave your insights in the comments below!

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I'm loving these content marketing tips from @thekellieadkins