Guide

How to get online coaching clients without thousands of followers.

By Jason Odell, founder of RiseForIt

You don't need thousands of followers to get online coaching clients; you need the right few hundred. Pick one kind of client, post content that fixes their problem, give them a way to raise their hand, and ask them directly. Your first client usually comes from someone who already knows you.

Your first client is closer than you think

Nail one before you build for a hundred. Your first online client is usually an in-person client who moved, a friend of a client, or someone who has watched you for a while. Ask them directly. Most trainers keep building - a bigger audience, a better funnel, a finished program - and never ask one person to pay.

Then build for strangers

• Pick your pond: one client your proof can win, not 'anyone who wants to get fit'.
• Make every piece as if the viewer has never heard of you: who you help and why you, fast.
• Post one long video a week and cut it into Shorts. Small accounts grow on useful, searchable videos.
• Pair every video with a free tool and a comment word, and reply the same day.

Why a big following isn't the goal

A trainer with 50,000 followers can still sell nothing if those followers came for entertainment. A trainer with 800 followers who teaches one kind of client can fill a roster. What you talk about decides who sees you.

Common questions