Have you ever investigated how your coaching clients became clients? What was their journey from first encounter to first invoice?

By Google’s research, people tend to follow a predictable path toward a purchasing decision.

They call it the 7-11-4 Rule:

Consumers need 7 hours of engagement across 11 touchpoints in 4 separate locations before they decide to work with you.

Boiled down, the 7-11-4 Rule is about creating surface area and allowing for serendipity. I resonate with this model of marketing (probably because it’s exactly how I make purchasing decisions).

Most healthcare practitioners lack the surface area to facilitate this journey. Instead, they rely on referral networks—which is great, until it’s not.

If you’re a coach or direct primary care clinic, you need to start creating your own surface area so that prospective clients/patients can find you, explore your thinking, and come to their own decision to work with you.

How to create surface area

Your own content

The primary way to create surface area on the internet is to publish your own content: blog articles, YouTube videos, and podcast episodes. You may not be able to do all of these, so choose a primary channel that you can do consistently.

I like to write articles as a primary channel for creating surface area. Writing helps clarify and structure my thinking. Then I can use the articles I write as fodder for videos and podcasts.

Listings & Directories

You should try to get listed on all relevant directories.

For direct primary care clinics, here are a few resources to get listed on:

• Your local chamber of commerce
• DPC-specific directories: DPC Frontier, Allied National DPC Directory, etc
• Healthprofs.com
• Google My Business
• Wellness.com

If you’re a health coach, you might look at Upwork, Thumbtack, and other contractor/freelancer listing sites.

Partnerships

A super powerful way to increase surface area is to develop partnerships with complementary service providers. Who else might your clients/patients see before you? That’s who you should develop some professional symbiosis with.

How can you serve them and complement their services? A great way to develop these relationships is by sharing their content, commenting on their posts, and reaching out directly to find potential shared opportunities.

• Do shared webinars with a local chiropractor, acupuncturist, therapist, etc
• Create a “trusted partners” page on your website with links to complementary experts
• Host local workshops or participate in conference panels together

Become ubiquitous

It’s important to be visible in relevant spaces. Imagine the new clients you’d bring in if you were on the health podcasts they listen to, show up in the forums and communities they frequent, and are recommended by their chiropractor.

Think they’d check you out at that point?