More than 80% of Americans surf the Internet. For most markets, an Internet presence creates a sense of establishment, credibility and accessibility. If your prospect "googles" and finds you, it conveys a sense of your professionalism and reliability. If they search and don't find you, it may make them think twice about hiring you.

For those who choose to market on the Internet, the website is an inexpensive billboard in cyberspace. Even if you don't intend to market extensively on the Internet, consider the benefits of a website as:

• An online brochure.
  
  
• A platform for your ezine or blog.
  
  
• A cornerstone to expanding your business.

Do you have trouble telling prospects what you do? One of the hidden rewards of writing web content is that it helps you develop your essential message to your ideal clients.

Start your website project as soon as you've chosen one distinctive target market for your coaching business, but not before. Design your website to inform, attract and pre-qualify your target market. Paired with an ezine - an electronic newsletter, it will also help to build visibility and credibility.

Good Bones

Your website is the foundation of your marketing. Give it good bones - a structure that is strong and reliable that will grow along with you and your company. These are the six essential web pages or bones for your website:

1. Home
   
   
2. About You
   
   
3. Coaching Services
   
   
4. Events
   
   
5. Ezine
   
   
6. Contact

No Place Like Home

Your Home page is like the threshold of your business. First impressions will most likely determine whether your visitors click through to other pages. Imbue it with a look and words that invite your target market in. Include:

• Your company name logo or logotype.
  
  
• A succinct, compelling sentence that defines your target market and what you do for them - called your Unique Benefit Statement.
  
  
• Your name and title.
  
  
• A professional photo of you.
  
  
• Attractive but not distracting graphics and colors.
  
  
• Evocative words that invite and pre-qualify your target market.
  
  
• An invitation and subscribe box for your ezine. Include this on every page.

Speak to Your Target Market

Resist the impulse to genericize your website by using language that is vague, catchall or abstract - "I am the life coach to help you achieve your dreams." People respond when something is specially designed for them. And they will refer others in that niche. Targeting one distinct market creates a buzz and a sustainable coaching business.

Attractive Streamlined Language

The other pages on your navigational bar are more informational but continue to move your target market to action - signing up for your ezine and events, contacting you for a sample session. Keep your visitors reading with:

• Streamlined concepts and language.
  
  
• Occasional bulleted lists and short, titled paragraphs.
  
  
• Links to full-blown documents for deeper reading such as: FAQs, assessments and tools that you've created, relevant articles.

Tell Your Story

About You (your name in place of You) is your bio page. Write a 300-400 word story that tells prospective clients the relevant work and life experiences that brought you to offer coaching services to them. Include only relevant credentials in a list at the end or in a box to the side.

Its All About Benefits

Coaching Services is a description of each service you offer now, (not what you hope to offer later). List the features but emphasize the benefits. Offer a free sample session. Link the words to the contact page.

Ease Enrollment

Only post an Events page when your events are available. Never put "under construction" signs on your website. Post succinct but compelling descriptions, benefits of attending, and specific logistical details for your speaking gigs, workshops, teleclasses, group coaching - any public event featuring you that is relevant to your target market. Ideally, have an on-line registration system using a shopping cart.

Get Their Permission for Future Marketing

An ezine is an essential network and credibility-building tool. Plan to launch your ezine when you launch your website. Make it easy and attractive for every visitor to subscribe to your ezine. Your ezine page will have a full description of the ezine as well as archives for each edition as you publish them.

Start the Relationship Now

Your Contact page isn't just about providing your contact information. Include a form that visitors fill out for a sample session with you. In addition to their contact info, ask them for answers to meaningful questions so that you will have valuable knowledge about them before the sample session.

As you write content for your website, aim for authentic and evocative language that will pre-qualify your ideal clients. Show yourself while you call them to take another step with you.

For in-depth support on putting together your website, get the ebook Working Websites for Coaches, a comprehensive resource on writing dynamic content that pre-qualifies your ideal clients.

Rhonda Hess is Founder of Prosperous Coach™ and a business success coach for professional coaches. She is co-author of the Coach Training accelerator, a comprehensive coach training manual, and senior trainer for Coach Training Alliance. She also wrote Working Websites for Coaches, an ebook available in Resources for Coaches. For more information about Rhonda, see: Contributors. For more information about Prosperous Coach, see: About Us.

Copyright © 2007 Bubbling Well Inc. All rights reserved.

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