Sitting on a Hidden Goldmine of New Clients?

Most health & wellness coaches are, without even realizing it. Here’s how to tap in.

Every week, I hold 2 coaching calls that focus on email marketing. The attendees are health and wellness coaches who use a funnel that starts with Facebook or Instagram ads (also known as a cold traffic funnel).

While the primary goal of the funnel is to book calls with potential clients, it also does a fantastic job at building the coaches’ email list.

These coaches know that done right, their email list can work like their own personal ATM.

Take my client, Sarah, for example. We just ran a one week, 4-email campaign to her list. And those 4 emails got 15 people to book calls with her!

We’re working to get her call close rate up to 60%. But even at her current close rate (about 30%), those emails will very likely bring her $20,000 in new clients.

Not bad for a week's work!

When I first started helping Sarah, one of my primary goals was to optimize her funnel. And that meant getting people on her list to book calls with her. Without an email strategy to do that, Sarah was basically throwing money out the window.

Remember that every lead costs you something to acquire it. That “something” is time and/or money.

In Sarah’s case, each new lead typically costs her between $3 and $8. As with any type of funnel, some of those new leads will convert as they’re going through it. (In this case, “convert” means they booked a call.)

But the fact is, very few people are willing to book a call right away because they don’t know enough about the coach.

Most funnels convert around 3% of new leads. That means 97% won’t book a call. If Sarah didn’t have a strategy for following up, the money she spent to acquire 97% of her leads would be completely wasted.

That’s why having an email strategy is so important.

Without question, email is the most intimate form of online marketing there is. When you email your list regularly, you build a connection and trust. That’s how over time, your list becomes your best source of new clients.

But the way you get people onto your email list makes a huge difference

Many marketing “experts” encourage coaches to make a simple lead magnet that provides value, usually by helping people solve a problem they have.

But unless the lead magnet is aligned with your overall strategy, it might get you names and emails, but not the right people.

So I prefer taking a more strategic approach. Here’s how…

Think of your lead magnet as your entry-point offer. You want it to bring the right people into your world and prime them to take the next step with you.

Ideally, your entry-point offer does these 3 things:

1. Positions you as the expert

2. Shows people what makes you different

3. Leads naturally into the next step you want them to take

Your entry-point offer could be:

• A free download of some kind

• A subscription to a newsletter (free or paid)

• A workshop or masterclass (either live or pre-recorded)

• A low ticket offer (typically between $7 and $97)

Sarah’s entry-point offer is a masterclass we created. It’s a 30-minute video that brings the right people into her world. The masterclass is specifically designed to:

✅ Position Sarah uniquely and highlight her expertise

✅ Show people why all the things they tried to solve their problem haven’t worked (in this case the problem is on-going pain)

✅ Show them the exact system Sarah developed that’s already helped thousands of people get the results they want. (This primes them to take the next step with her.)

Some people book a call right from the masterclass. But most don’t. That’s where the email strategy comes in.

We typically send 3 emails a week that help people understand more about what Sarah does. They work to build trust and to help people see why she’s the best choice to help them.

Why this approach is more important than ever

If you want your email list to become your most reliable source of new clients, you can’t just build a list and email them when you want clients. You need a real strategy.

So the 1st step of the strategy is creating the right entry-point offer to ensure you get the right people on your list.

The 2nd step is to email your list regularly. This is about creating connection, helping them get to know you, and building trust.

Now we get to the 3rd step. This is essential because you could have a list full of great leads, but they’ll never convert if your emails never make it to their inbox.

This is where your sender reputation comes in.

Your sender reputation is like your email credit score. Every time you send an email, inbox providers like Gmail and Yahoo are evaluating whether your message deserves to land in the person’s primary inbox. If not, they’ll push it to the promotions tab. Or even worse, into the junk or spam folder.

And that destroys your sender reputation.

That’s why smart coaches don’t just build their list. They manage it. (I’ll put a link to an article that shows you how to do this at the end.)

How to find out if your sender reputation is in trouble

If you’ve been emailing your list and your click-through rates are low… or your open rates are slipping for no clear reason... your sender reputation may be working against you.

I recommend running a deliverability audit. It’s a simple way to check your domain health, engagement history, and inbox placement. It will show you if your emails are being flagged, filtered, or buried… and what you can do to fix it.

If you’re interested, I recommend Scott Hartley’s Hit The Inbox Audit. It’s affordable and incredibly insightful. It’s something I do for all my funnel optimizer clients. (That’s an affiliate link, which means I get a small referral fee if you decide to do it.)

If you want help building a strong, engaged list from the start, I also promised you a link to another article that will help you build your email list. Here it is:

3 Email Mistakes That Cost You Coaching Clients. Plus, the "You had me at hello!" welcome sequence that shows people why you’re the best coach for them

So to summarize, you want to build and manage your email list strategically by:

1. Creating an entry-point offer that:

   1. Positions you as the expert

   2. Shows people what makes you different

   3. Leads naturally into the next step you want them to take
      

2. Emailing your list regularly so you build connection and trust. Then you can invite them to take the next step with you.
   

3. Managing your email sender reputation

That’s how health and wellness coaches build an email list that becomes their best source of new clients!