{Guest post by Krista Goncalves, founder of Making Lemonade}
Hey there Health Pro!
I’m Krista - a Holistic Nutritionist turned Brand Strategist + Copywriter for Health & Wellness Business Owners… oh, and I make lemonade too!
One of the harder lessons I’ve had to learn over the time that I’ve been building each of my four health-focused businesses (spanning over 12 years), is that unless you’re actually putting yourself out there, and being seen…
You know, interacting, engaging and actually socializing with your people, then they simply won’t be open and receptive to getting to know you.
And if they don’t know you, they won’t readily TRUST YOU.
The importance of “being seen” all comes down to this simple equation:
NO visibility = NO connection = NO trust = NO signups or sales of your health coaching services, programs & products.
That all said, I’ve got some of the best tips for how to get much more visible, and achieve a better "face-of-brand" status in your health & wellness business - which doesn’t always mean having to show your face!
A quick side note… what is a PERSONAL BRAND anyway?!
From Influencer Marketing Hub:
“Your Personal Brand is how you promote yourself. It is the unique combination of skills, experience, and personality that you want the world to see.
It is the telling of your story, and how it reflects your conduct, behavior, spoken and unspoken words, and attitudes. You use your personal branding to differentiate yourself from other people.”
1. Imagery: Stock photos, graphics & professional-looking headshots
The look or visual vibe of your brand can truly make or break your business. Make sure your visual elements pop off the screen and catch your potential clients’ attention.
That means that glue + popsicle stick pieced-together websites, images that aren’t aligned with you or your brand, and badly designed graphics will reflect poorly on you — no matter how good you are at health coaching.
Then, there are the oh-so-necessary professional-looking photos of YOU. These are a ‘must-have’ and even just a few good ones can go a long way.
These would be used for such purposes as:
- Homepage (and throughout your website)
- Including About Me/Start Here page
- Author bio on your blog or for guest blogging
- Other contributions in the media
- Profile pic on social platforms
- Social posts
- Email signature
If you’ve avoided getting them and need new headshots… make a date with a photographer (or at least someone who’s handy with an iPhone) and just get ’em done! Oh, and as I always say: “done is better than perfect!”
As for graphics, Canva, Easil, DesignWizard, and Stencil are great alternatives for the creative-minded Health Pro who wants to start designing their own graphics - these are just four of the cool design apps for non-designers - like me!
However, if it’s in the budget (find it!), pony up the cash for a good designer who just “gets” you and your brand.
At the very least, buy yourself some delicious stock photos that feel like you and are aligned with your brand.
However, there are some great free stock image sources to get started with, but you will run the risk of seeing the same images in multiple places online, especially in the tight knit online health & wellness space.
Some of my favorite free image sites are Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay.
2. Your super-important About Me page
Speaking of an ‘About Me’ page… you aren’t boring (nope, nope you aren’t!), so this super-important core web page shouldn’t be either.
When you write it, make sure to get inside your readers’ head. The way you speak reflects who you are - and so does the way you write!
Find your voice and stick to it – if you’re sassy, BE SASSY! You want everything you write to be part of your bigger picture brand.
Be upbeat and sell your prospects on your ability and personality. Don’t skimp on credentials, either – your potential clients want to know that they can trust you and your services or programs.
However, this is not the page to display your resume. No one is terribly interested in that these days anyway - they’re more about “what’s in it for me?” when it comes to what solutions you offer.
Also, be sure to include a recent and professional-looking photo of yourself – and bonus points if you include a short intro video 😉
3. Social media platforms - and why you don’t need to master every platform!
Let’s face it (pun intended), social media is a huge asset for most health experts, so be sure to leverage it!
I know some of you just said “ick!!” right now, but chances are, 99% of your target audience is on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Youtube – those are the top 3 to start using for wellness biz + branding purposes.
Be sure to post cool, relevant stuff on at least one of these platforms often. And it’s OK to get personal too, including tasteful images of yourself. Hellooo IG – I’m lookin’ at you!
People want to see your authentic, human side as there’s really no more boundary between “church & state”, as they say.
But you DON’T NEED to be on every one of them! Choose one and master it. Give your other channels a bit of love for sure, but put 80% of your social time budget into just one platform to get started.
Ultimately -- the best social media platform for your business is the one that your prospects are hanging out on!
[good reference post >> https://marketingforhealthcoaches.com/best-social-media-channels-health-coaches/]
For Making Lemonade, it’s Instagram all the way!
For Wendy it’s her Facebook group.
4. Instagram specifically
I encourage you to consider ditching the perfectly plated meal photos and the strategically placed paper clips in your branded color flat lay with some wonderfully messy pieces of your life that show who you are, and what you – and your business are all about.
Let your followers see the recipes you botched (dropped on the floor?) or share snippets of your own health journey so your people can get to know the REAL YOU - and so they’ll come to discover that you truly have been in their shoes.
And that probably doesn’t mean displaying your perfectly round peaches in a thong on a beach in Mexico. But that’s another post altogether 😉
5. Sharing juicy, relevant content: written + audio + video/ livestreaming
Livestreaming on Facebook and Youtube plus FB & IG Stories are the hot trends in audience engagement right now.
Everyone wants to make connections (real ones!), and live video feels more personal and direct than pre-recorded content, and certainly more than just your written blogs.
Plus, video, of any sort, is quickly becoming the visual content of choice – both for content creators and consumers of it.
And here’s an interesting stat: Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to only 10% retention when reading it.
[Source: Wordstream.com]
Obviously, there’s a difference between jumping on camera and doing an often unscripted, spontaneous live video to preparing a script, staging your background and having the ability to put together a more polished evergreen video.
(I’m currently using iMovie & Magisto for this type.)
But, I truly think that’s the beauty of livestreaming – it’s just you connecting with your people, with none of the other fluff. Just the real, authentic YOU.
And again, this is where you’ll definitely need to dig deep to overcome those fears of being physically seen. Your hair, makeup & outfit does not need to be perfectly in place in order to jump on and chat live with your community!
Just be you, share what you know and what you know your people want to learn about.
6. Storytelling & Interviews: written + audio (podcasts) + video-recorded
Your brand starts with your story - and YES, you’ve got one! Everybody does.
For example, how did you get to where you are today? What’s your ‘why’ for doing what you do?
This is the “backstory” of your brand, but it could be more likened to the “backbone” of your business! And it’s quite literally the most powerful tool in your marketer’s toolbox.
It can help give your brand a solid foundation and attract the right audience (= your ideal or dream clients) because, again, you’re showing your people that you get where they’re coming from and you deeply understand what their pain points are.
By the way, your story doesn’t have to be dramatic, and you certainly don’t have to share more than you’re comfortable with, but it does have to be all yours. However, I do urge you to drift out of your comfort zone more than you ever thought you would or could.
WHERE to find places to share your story?
Find news media sources (I’ve used HARO - “Help A Reporter Out”), online magazines, blogs and podcasts with “copycat audiences” to yours, and live or prerecorded web shows.
Pitch them your story, and how it’s shaped what you do and why you were called to do it.
Compared to other marketing strategies, getting interviewed on podcasts is pretty easy to do as it doesn’t cost any money and doesn’t take very much time.
It’s a pretty ideal way to get your name out there, enhance your credibility and boost your visibility. Think about it -- getting interviewed on podcasts exposes you to hundreds, sometimes even thousands of listeners – for every single podcast that you appear on.
Simply start hitting up your fave health & wellness industry podcasters – who also just happen to have your similar (copycat) target audience in their back pocket. But, don’t just randomly send out cold pitches to anyone and everyone.
Start following them on socials, comment on their posts, and begin to build a relationship first. Then you could reach out with a friendly introduction via Messenger, for example, and ask if it would be OK to send them an interview pitch via email, so they know to look out for it – as many of the bigger “influencers” in the health & wellness space will have a VA (Virtual Assistant) handling their emails.
7. Guest Blogging (like this one!)
Writing for someone else’s blog gives you an opportunity to amplify your business’ growth in a short amount of time by exposing you to an already established audience.
As a new health & wellness business owner, connecting with other people in your industry on a more personal level is a surefire strategy to show up and really grow your business. Collaboration over competition!
The other huge bonus of guest blogging is that the host site will likely offer you an author bio section with your photo, a brief write-up and a link back to your website. They *may* even allow you to promote your current freebie resource, lead magnet or other type of promotion.
But, how the heck do you find the gigs in the first place?!
Sean Seale of The Holistic Nutrition Hub says:
"Start compiling a list of 5-15 blogs that you could realistically write for. You should write a piece of content that will not only offer value to the owner’s audience but also makes you look like you know what you’re talking about – in other words, YOU ARE the expert!
Once you’ve narrowed down your list, and have found the right people to guest post for (ideally with a copycat audience to yours), and you’ve established trust with them through numerous social interactions — it’s time to go all-in with THE ASK."
Just remember that the same rule applies to seeking interview or podcast guest opportunities… do not just randomly cold pitch! Nobody appreciates or even responds to that.
8. Media page or “As Featured In” section of your website
Following up on guest blogging and interviews… start off by putting your “as featured in” sites’ logos on your homepage or another prominent area of your website.
Then, once you’ve got a few contributions under your belt, you can start building a media page of all your featured work. This lends credibility to the fact that you’re an expert – because you are, so be sure that your target audience knows that too!
9. Webinars (self- or co-hosted) = web-based seminars and/or video conferencing
Webinars can be a great way to connect with your audience, deliver a massive amount of high-value content and resources as well as generate leads for your services or a new health & wellness program you may be launching.
They’re usually 30-60 mins long and shot as a “talking head” style educational video or as a slide presentation - or a combo of the two.
Don't spend the entire webinar trying to sell your products or services to your attendees – be sure to provide real value and solutions to their pain points for the majority of the webinar. Then, at the very end, you can present your current offer to help your attendees who may need further assistance in implementing your suggestions.
10. Local speaking gigs as a guest or featured speaker
We can get so focused on making our online presence picture-perfect, that we often overlook the power of some proven OFFLINE tactics that can not only land us new and raving fans and clients, but can also boost our bottom line!
Getting upfront and “in-personal” with your target audience can be pretty powerful – even if your business is not necessarily rooted in your local market or it’s 100% online.
You do have to weigh out whether this strategy is worth your time, energy and resources depending on what type of business you run, and what your specific niche is.
When you’re figuring out HOW you’re going to land speaking opportunities, you’ll need to determine what type of places you want to be a guest speaker, and of course, this should be based on your chosen niche.
For example, if your target audience are millennial female holistic health seekers – then yoga studios would be a great place to start 😉
Then, research and create a list of all of the local hotspots where your target audience hangs out and craft your friendly introduction email to the company or facility owner. Better yet, drop-in or make an appointment to chat in person.
Once you’ve landed a gig or two, don’t pressure yourself to be an amazingly dynamic, engaging and professional speaker à la Mr. Robbins right from your first speaking opportunity - that’s totally unrealistic!
But, I will say that speaking gigs and hosting workshops (lots of them!) are two of the key things that helped me grow my nutrition consulting business – just before I took it completely online over five years ago.
It was the in-person interaction, confidence-building and brand identification from these local talks that really made growing my online business that much easier!
I do hope that you’ll take action on some of these stand-out brand builders so you can experience more growth and progression in YOUR business… using your new superpowers of VISIBILITY!
Want even more tips like this and valuable resources on how to juice up your health coaching biz + brand AND uplevel your visibility even more?
👉 Challenge YOUR personal brand with the FREE 5-day Brand Yourself Challenge - on now! 👈