#findingclients

I’m available for ghostwriting short stories, essays, poems, fanfics, and novels. I offer one-time services and long-term services.

I will not do NSFW topics, but any other themes are accepted.

eCoach 74: It’s Never Been Easier to Build Your Coaching Business

With all the tools we have at our fingertips today, it’s never been easier to build a coaching business – but that doesn’t mean that some coaches still struggle to build their coaching businesses!

When I began coaching back in 1995, e-mail was hardly used, web sites were the domain of the few, and social media consisted of chat rooms on America Online!

To get clients, you either had to show up…

With all the tools we have at our fingertips today, it's never been easier to build a coaching business - but that doesn't mean that some coaches still struggle to build their coaching businesses!

When I began coaching back in 1995, e-mail was hardly used, web sites were the domain of the few, and social media consisted of chat rooms on America Online!

To get clients, you either had to show up and speak in person, use direct mail, or wait patiently for referrals!

Today, we have 24/7 access to social media and the ability to easily reach out to the kinds of people we most want to work with - often without having to spend a dime to do it!

The landscape has changed and I believe that it's easier today to build your coaching business than at any time in the history of coaching!

In this episode of Coach's Corner, I share some of my ideas on this and how to get going on building your coaching business!

Great question. An agent can certainly help land the big clients, and many big clients go to reps first.

But you don’t need a rep to get ad gigs. The best way, I’ve found, is through friends who are already doing the work. Agencies get so much work and need so many hands, get a friend to refer you, make an intro, and add the ad agency contact to your short list of people to update and follow up with, like your AD contact list. 

You might even find that the ad work you get will land you an agent.

So be nice to your peers and colleagues, and ask them to get you in the door. You never know who might show up to help.

-Agent Deadline

Hi alexandergrahovsky,

I “like” lots of work, but that doesn’t mean it is relevant for the brands or products that I work with. That could be what you are tripping over. In the world of commercial art, it isn’t about like - it’s about matching up your work with a client that doesn’t just like your work, but needs your work.

My suggestion is that you spend some time really getting real about your art, and who it is out there in the commercial world that really needs your work. The number one skill set we can develop is the ability to be objective about our work and evaluate it not as an artist, but as a potential client.

The Other Side of the Coin

Now, that all said, there might be something else in play. This one is a little more insidious. There are a lot of artists out there in the freelance world that do work I like, but I don’t quite need. in this regard, I’m talking about that more subjective issue of good enough, but not good enough to knock out one of my standard artists on my roster. As an AD, I have a finite amount of projects, art commissions, and potential to work with artists. If I’m commissioning 100 pieces of art during the course of the year, I have only 100 potential artists I can work with (at the most). I’d love to say that I’m going to go out of my way to work with every new artist I meet that hits my standards, but the truth is that the bulk of my work is going to go to artists that I have worked with  in the past, do consistently solid work, hit there deadlines, and create work that I love. If you want to break into that roster of 100, you have to do more than just have work that I like, you have to produce work that I need so badly that I’m willing to bump an artist I’ve been working with for years. 

Needless to say, this isn’t something I do lightly. Every time I work with a new artist I’m potentially putting my job on the line. Folks forget that AD’s keep there job because they get art done. An artist that blows a critical deadline, creates a piece that brings the Eye of Sauron onto the AD, or leaves the AD hanging in some other manner doesn’t just get themselves a bad name - the put the AD in a position that compromises their integrity in a job. We love our jobs…so we tend to be a little protective of them. Next time you are talking to an AD and getting pissed because they won’t give you a chance, think about that concept and find ways to show the AD how you will help them protect their job. Better yet, show the AD how you will help them get accolades by working with you. Now that is a powerful place to come from when promoting yourself.

Now get out there and create something!—AgentOrder