How to use video in your coaching business (ICF Blog)

The Why

• Without boring you with endless statistics and projections, video is the communication medium of the future.  It is a skill that you need to learn and get comfortable with, period.  Just like you learned and adopted blogging, and then social media, video is the next extension of your communication platform.
• Coaching is personal and you need to personally connect with prospective clients.  Clients want to meet you before they meet you because you are in the relationship, authenticity and credibility business.  Video is the only tool that allows for a true virtual introduction of yourself online.
• People want to watch, not read.  You can say more with video and you can connect more effectively with video.

The What

So what should the focus of your video be?  My prescription is as follows:

• Everyone needs a video bio that will go on your website, as a link in your email signature and on your LinkedIn profile.  This is the virtual introduction to you.
• You will also require a video that describes your business, your focus, your services and how you can help clients.  Some people choose to combine their video bio and their company video into one.
• You probably want a customer testimonial video that has 2-4 clients talking about you and your services and how you have made a difference for them.
• You may want to capture events or moments and add your insight or narrative to it to share with clients and prospects.
• You could interview other experts or clients on particular topics of interest as a way to educate potential clients.
• Remember, not all your videos have to feature you.  You can use just your voice or music, text and graphics, or a screen capture.  There are many different production styles of video and you want to mix it up!

Ask yourself, what video styles am I attracted to and why?  What opportunity does video give me to personalize my brand and business and how can I capitalize on that opportunity to set myself apart?

The How

• Mix and Match: When it comes to video you want to mix and match your style and production value based on what you are communicating and to whom.  Ask yourself, will this video have a long shelf life?  Is it central to my business and brand identity? If the answer is yes, you probably want to invest more in a fully produced video.  However, these days you should also be creating video regularly–as in once a week or even daily.
• Share everywhere and regularly: You should be posting your videos on YouTube, your website and social media channels. For everyday user generated video, using a video app or webcam is more than acceptable.   These everyday videos can include daily tips, a video message to your client, a video invitation to a colleague, an introduction to a new service or an announcement.
• Plan out your content: You have learned how to market yourself and build your personal brand and you know that a big part of that is communication and content.  Think about making more, or most of this content in video format.  I recommend creating an editorial calendar of sorts.  Think about if you were a publisher of a magazine and needed to formulate your entire year of article topics in advance.  This is the way you should be thinking about your content. Think about video in terms of building a library that you can access and share across many platforms–both one-to-one and one-to-many.

Commit

And finally, commit to video this year.  You need to make it a priority in your marketing plan and a personal development goal to learn a new skill.  If you set goals and timelines for your video strategy you will be more likely to follow through.

The article is not written by the staff of the Academy of Coaching Excellence, we don't own the rights. It was originallly published at the ICF website. If you liked this, read other great articles at the ICF website.