Repeatable Method to Bring in New Wellness Clients, And It's Fun!

The challenge that was supposed to bring you coaching clients is usually lost before day one ever starts.
Not because your plan was weak, but because nobody prepped your participants,  and by noon on the first day you have already lost the room.

WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER
• How a six-person challenge became 500 participants, starting from five existing clients
• Why your doors should close days before day one, and what to send in the gap
• The engagement question that gets replies, and the one that kills a community dead
• Why saving your next-level offer for the last day is costing you the client
• The five things a challenge actually needs, and which "bonuses" are just fluff

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Grow your coaching business with a challenge
0:56 How my first challenge (just 6 people) worked
4:02 Why challenges work for health and wellness coaches
5:36 Mistake 1: not setting expectations before day one
7:50 Mistake 2: weak engagement, ask specific questions
9:40 Sorry to interrupt: Challenge Builder Bootcamp (Aug 10)
10:11 Mistake 3: not showing your face as the coach
12:05 What makes a challenge convert (fun with a purpose)
12:34 Run your challenge as a lead magnet ($27 to $2,000)
13:10 Align the challenge with your next-level offer
14:16 Give it a clear concept and measurable outcome
15:28 Deliver a quick win and pitch your offer early
16:44 The challenge skeleton: what it takes to host one
17:12 Make it easy to sign up
17:57 Deliverables that move the needle, skip the fluff
19:11 The right communication cadence and accountability
20:26 Key takeaway: you don't need a big audience
21:17 Join the Challenge Builder Bootcamp + final thoughts

MEMORABLE QUOTE
"People are already behind the eight ball from day one."  Valerie Feghali

STOP THE ENDLESS HUSTLE TO FIND CLIENTS
Build a challenge your clients actually want to join, and walk away ready to host it. The Challenge Builder Bootcamp starts August 10th.
https://wellnessvault.com/challengebuilder2026

THE WELLNESS VAULT  done-for-you content, programs & tools for health & wellness coaches.

Start your 7-day free trial: https://wellnessvault.com/

Watch this episode on YouTube: 
https://youtu.be/XvwmQAA_2rA

CONNECT
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/v.feghali/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ValerieFeghali

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Disclaimer: The Fuel The Flow Podcast is for educational purposes only. The information provided is not intended to replace professional medical or business advice.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

You don't need a massive audience to run a challenge. This is a sample of your coaching. They came to you for a coach, not a friend. They know it's going to be hard. It's going to be challenging. If there isn't a clear outcome for the challenge, people likely won't join. Challenges are one of the best ways. Welcome to the Fuel Your Flow podcast. I am your host, Valerie Fagali, physical therapist, turned software CEO and business coach for health and wellness coaches. We are going to be talking about all things health and business. They might be more closely related than you think. So let's go ahead and get into it. Today I want to talk about hosting challenges as a way to bring people into your world and eventually get them to sign up as a client with you. The very first challenge that I ran had six participants in it. So not 106, not 600, but just six participants in it. But the thing I want you to know about that challenge is that it has created momentum for me for years. And now we have over 500 participants in every challenge that we run. And I want you to know that you can do this too, even if you have a small audience. You don't need to have a big audience in order to host challenges. So let me tell you a little bit about how that first very initial challenge that I ran worked and why it's been the catalyst for a marketing strategy that we have used now for many, many years and we have optimized and changed and improved in so many ways. So that very first challenge, I hardly had any clients. I was very new to the space. I had just started my holistic health business. I was working with clients via Zoom. So it was all online coaching. And I had maybe five clients at that time. And I presented the fact that I wanted to host a challenge to these five clients. Now, two of them bit and they wanted to join, and each one of them brought two friends. So that challenge was a test. It was a test to see is this something that's going to get people a quick win? People are they going to want to sign up with me afterwards? Is this something that's going to work? Now, about four out of those six people ended up continuing on with me after the challenge. So they continued with one-on-one coaching with me, specifically after the challenge ended. So that showed me that there's some real grit here. There's something behind this. Now, I want you to remember that these were warm leads, right? They were clients' friends. So people who already trusted me talking to their friends about somebody that they trusted and that they would suggest working with. And so it's going to be a little bit different if you're selling to cold leads. For example, if you're running like Meta or Facebook ads and you're getting people from, you know, the internet that have never seen you before, they're not going to convert at that same rate. But the point is that this challenge showed me, okay, wow, I put very little effort into marketing this challenge. And I just got four new people who are going to be working with me after this. And so that was pretty incredible. Now, the next thing that happened was that a few months later, those same people came back to me and were like, hey, we want to do this again. You know, we we liked it the first time, we got some progress, and now it's like about to be summer, and we want to do this again as a little bit of boost to get us into like being fit for summer. And so I hosted that exact same challenge a second time, and we got more than double the participants that second time. And so you can see how a challenge like this can snowball and it becomes this repeatable system that you can do over and over again. Not only will you get new participants every time, but even the people that joined you in the last challenge will likely want to join you again and do it again. And then they tell their friends, and it really can help your business take off. Now, a lot of coaches that I've spoken with have hosted challenges before and say, like, you know, I didn't get the results that I wanted. And part of that I think is that they had expectations that were outside of what was really realistic for them at their point in their business. So, like I said, I was very happy with the six. And then when that six turned into 12, I was happy. And now that that 12 has turned into 500, I'm very happy, right? But it does take time in order to build the system. However, there are things that I do want you to know before building a challenge so that you can get the best possible results right out of the gate. And then again, continue to snowball that even faster. Challenges, I believe, work specifically well for in the health and wellness space because it allows people to trial your coaching and see where they're lacking before they sign on with you as a coach, before they buy a higher ticket program and continue either in a group program or an online course or one-on-one, whatever it is that you are selling on the back end of the challenge. It gives them that experience with you so that they start to trust you. They start to see your energy, see how you coach, see if it connects with them. And it brings that awareness around where they need help in their health and wellness journey. A lot of people, the general public thinks, okay, if I want to get healthy, I just need to eat less and exercise more, right? Kind of that's the general thought process for most people. And a lot of times when they get into their chat, your challenge, they see that there is so much more and they see where they can improve that maybe they thought they were doing pretty well in, but you're bringing attention to those areas where it's like, oh my gosh, I have so much work to do here still. And they're getting that quick win, that momentum building with the challenge, and then they want to continue on with you. So it works very, very well for people in the health and wellness space. Also, just the word challenge alone implies that it's going to be something difficult. So the people that are coming into your challenge, they're ready to go. They have made the commitment to do the challenge with you. They know it's going to be hard, it's going to be challenging. And so they are the type of people that want to put in the work and the type of people that are going to get a result and therefore want to continue on with your coaching. Let's talk about some mistakes that I see coaches make when they first start their challenge. One mistake that I see a lot of coaches make is that they're not setting the right expectations for their participants before the challenge starts. So, what I see happen a lot of times is that the coach will only, you know, go live in their community or send out an email or wherever they're hosting the challenge, send out their first text or Zoom lesson the first day of the challenge instead of starting before. And what happens in this situation is that then people are already behind the eight ball from day one. So let's say you have a live Zoom call for your first day one of your challenge and it's at noon, right? Well, you've already lost them in the morning. Maybe they could have gotten that workout in or that breakfast that you wanted them to have or started that morning ritual or routine, whatever it is that you're coaching inside of your challenge, they've already lost the morning in that, in that case. If you're doing a nutrition challenge and they're following some sort of meal plan or they're logging their macros or whatever it may be and they're following some sort of nutrition plan, they need to prep for that. They need to go to the grocery store, they need to meal prep their protein for the week. They need to make sure that everything is like pre-packaged and pre-portioned, right? We want all of that to happen before the challenge actually starts. So, what we like to do for a challenge like this is we set a deadline that the door closes a couple days before, often for a challenge like that, where they need to get prepared. So we will say the doors close on, you know, the fifth and the challenge starts on the seventh. And that way we have everybody in by the fifth and we're sending out those emails ahead of time to tell them how to prepare and get ready for when the day when the challenge starts on day seven. So that's one mistake that I see coaches make. Make sure that you are setting the expectations. As soon as they register for the challenge, you're sending them an email with all the details that are included. This is the workbook, if they need a workbook, this is the meal plan, if they need a meal plan or the workout plan, whatever resources that they need to complete the challenge, they need to get access to earlier on. And then you need to break down. You might even send out a quick video to say, hey, here's how I would meal prep for the week and demonstrate it, something along those lines to make sure they are ready to go on day one. The second big mistake that I see people make is that they lack engagement in any sort of community that they're doing alongside the challenge, oftentimes because they're asking these open-ended questions. So this could be something like, How is everybody feeling today? Are you staying on track with the plan, right? Like these are more open-ended questions that takes people a lot of thought of how they're going to respond to it, and then they just don't. And so if they have to really think hard about how they want to respond to your question, they're likely not going to respond. Whereas if you ask a very specific question that's easy to answer, they're much more likely to engage in the community. So this could be something like, What did you have for breakfast this morning? Take a picture of it, or did you hit your protein goals yesterday? Right. And it's a yes or no question. Maybe you even have it as like a poll inside of the group. And this starts conversation. So then someone might post like, I almost did, but I had a hiccup because my, you know, mother-in-law showed up at the door, whatever it may be. So this starts conversation. It makes an easy entry point for people to start posting their wins, for people to start posting where they're having trouble. And you can then step in as the coach and either congratulate them for that or show them another way that they can be successful in completing the challenge, keeping that momentum going, making sure that people aren't just stopping the challenge because maybe they messed up one afternoon or one meal or missed a workout. They want them to continue on. So you need to step in as the coach. You need to get a feel for where people are by asking very specific questions and following up with that engagement. Also, if it's a small group, reach out one-to-one, right? And then you might find something within that conversation, that one-on-one conversation, whether that be through text or email or DM, and you might say, Hey, can you post that in the group? I think people would love to see that. Let me interrupt real quick and invite you to our challenge builder bootcamp, which starts on August 10th. This is a massive opportunity. We are going to be building your challenge alongside you, including getting your deliverables done, creating your promotional plan, creating your engagement schedule, and so much more. This challenge builder bootcamp is incredible. And you are going to walk away with a challenge that you are ready to host. So don't miss it. Join us on August 10th. We'll attach the link in the show notes. Another mistake that I see people make, the last one I'll talk about, is not showing your face enough. It's really important to show up as the coach during your challenge. This is your opportunity to make connections, to build relationships, to allow people to see who you are as a person and as a coach. And so you want to show your face. And I know how uncomfortable it can be to come on camera. I struggled with this for years. And I see so many of coach, the coaches that I work with struggle with the same thing, where they just don't want to get on camera because they feel awkward and they feel like they have to look a certain way and they feel like they have to speak a different way. The truth is, people want to see your natural self. People just want to see that you are there engaging, that you're you're either cheering them on or showing them a different way, or at sometimes giving them a little bit of tough love because they need that. They came to you for a coach, not a friend. And so you need to step in and show up, right? And be the true leader inside of that group. So that could mean that you do a pre-recorded video and you send that out in your welcome email, right? That's a great way to start showing your face. You also likely are going to want to record some videos for your community if you do have a community. Not all challenges do, but many do. If you have a community with your challenge, you don't necessarily have to go live. It can help to go live, but you could just do a pre-recorded video to say, hey, this is what I'm having this morning. I just got back from the gym. You can be sweaty, you can be gross. It doesn't matter. You're just showing that you too are doing the work alongside them and that you're there for questions, for encouragement, for people who are having a hard time that need maybe a slightly different adjustment to their plan, that you are there and available to answer their questions. And so show up as a coach, show your face. Even if that's in a short 30-second video, it is very meaningful. Now let's switch gears and talk about what makes a challenge convert. So there's a difference between just having fun and having a challenge. And honestly, they can be fun. That's one of the reasons that I love hosting challenges, is because me as the coach has a lot of fun with it. And the participants also have a really good time. But you want there to be a little bit more purpose behind your challenge than just having a good time with the challenge. Most likely you're going to want to convert them into your next level program. So most challenges are run as a lead-in. Now, the challenge can be the product. It's possible that you just say, hey, I'm running a, you know, $400 challenge or whatever price you want to charge. And that is the product. However, a lot of challenges are segues into your next level program. So let's say you have a small group coaching program for $2,000 and you run a either very low cost challenge for maybe $27 for five days or a free challenge, right? That would be a lead magnet into your next $2,000 program. If this is the case, if you're using it as a lead, as a segue into your next program, you want to make sure that they are in exact alignment with each other. So an example of this is a lot of times I'll see like a fitness coach do a nutrition challenge. And those two things aren't totally related. So if you want people to sign up for your personal training after the challenge, but you're running like a five-day no sugar detox or something along those lines, those things don't quite match up. Yes, they are, you can coach both things as that particular coach, but they don't, it's not a direct, okay, I did this and now I want to continue my momentum onto this. It's not that connection point. There isn't that flow between those two products. So what I want you to think about is is the challenge that you're running a direct segue into your next level program? Is it basically the beginning phase, the first few steps that people need to take in order to really get the ball rolling and go into your next level program and have a tremendous success? So make sure that those two things align. Another thing is that you need to have a clear concept and outcome. If there isn't a clear outcome for the challenge, people likely won't join. So an example of this would be that we run a seven-day no sugar challenge. This is basically, or actually, let's use, we use a seven-day no processed foods challenge as an example. So this means that our participants, they don't eat anything out of a box. They only eat things that you can find in nature for seven days. And the outcome of that is that they will lose between one and sometimes five pounds of bloat just from cutting out all processed foods. This is also a great self-awareness tool because a lot of people think, yeah, I eat mostly whole foods. We work with coaches. They'll oftentimes introduce themselves in the community and say, like, I just wanted to see how this challenge would go. I eat mostly whole foods. And then by the end of the challenge, they come back and they say, Whoa, I didn't realize all of these things that I'm having when I started paying attention. Right. And so this is a great self-awareness challenge to help people realize, oh my gosh, I'm having way more of these things throughout the day, just picking from my kids' snacks or eating while I'm cooking dinner, right? Things like that that bring awareness to what people's habits truly are. Another thing that it needs to convert is a quick win. At the end of the challenge, people need to feel like they got success, that they got a result. If they didn't get the result that they were expecting, then they're likely not going to want to continue on. This is a sample of your coaching. This is a sample of what is possible for them if they continue on with you long term. So they need to get that quick win. You also need to talk about your next level offer early on. What I see happen is a lot of coaches talk about it only at the end of their challenge, that's the last day or even the day after the last day of the challenge that they finally bring up what their next level offer is. Now, the people in the challenge, they want to know it's a service to them in order to offer them what else you have in in your coaching because they want to continue what they've already started. They have made a commitment to changing their health, to getting better at whatever the thing is that they're working on in your challenge. And they want to know how do I continue on with you? So it is a service for you to say early on, hey, if you want to continue on with us after this challenge, we have a, you know, six-week, $2,000 program, whatever it is that you are selling, bring that up early on from the very beginning of the challenge or just a couple days into the challenge. You want to start talking about your next level program. So, what is the skeleton of a program? What does it take to actually make a challenge work? What are the basic things that we need to host a challenge? The first thing is we need a clear concept or outcome. And I see a lot of coaches go wrong with this because they'll give like this very generic challenge and then they don't get crickets. Nobody signs up for it. So we need to say this is the outcome. This is the result that you will get if you participate, if you join this challenge. You also need an easy way for people to sign up. So don't have them DM you, not at least not right off the bat. If you're just getting started with challenges, if you know your experience with challenges, there's that's another conversation. But if you're just getting started with challenges, don't have them DM you and send them a link and all these things. Have an easy way for people to sign up. Like post the link somewhere, right? If you're if you're doing a real or a story, post the link in the story. If you're sending out an email, post the link in the email. Or if you're going to a gym and you're, you know, promoting your challenge at the gym commute with the gym community, have a sign-up sheet. And once people are signed up, send them an email that evening, letting them know that they are signed up for the challenge. People need an easy way to register for the challenge. Now, the next thing is for the challenge to actually work, you need deliverables that move the needle. So, what happens a lot is that coaches will start packing their challenges with like information. And that's not helpful during a challenge, especially a short like five to seven day or three to seven day challenge. You need to only provide what's going to help the client get the result. So, an example of this would be a meal plan, right? If they're supposed to follow a specific nutrition plan, provide the meal plan for them so that it's it's easy, so that they can follow it because it's a short period of time and you want them to get the result. Maybe it's a workbook or a checklist that they have to do every day and make sure that, yes, I did this action step or no, I didn't, or I did this exercise, this mindset exercise, or no, I didn't, right? So that workbook can be very helpful in get achieving the goal. But make sure that those things that you are sending are not extra fluff. Sure. Can you have a couple bonuses? Yes, bonuses can help. It can help encourage people to sign up and come live if you're if you're hosting anything live. It can be encouragement, but it should not be the main part of the program. Okay, you have want to only provide for the main part of the program the things that are going to move the needle for the client and get them the outcome that they came for. You also need the right cadence of communication for your challenge. So if you're running a short challenge, so three to five days, you should be talking to them every day. Send out a daily email. Get into the community if you have a community for your challenge a few times a day. And this could be run inside of Facebook. We don't need fancy software to run a challenge. If you have only six participants in your challenge, or you have, you know, even if you have 15 participants in your challenge, you can do a text thread or a WhatsApp thread, but you do need that daily communication for a short challenge because people will drop off and they'll lose, they'll forget, they'll lose motivation and they'll just, it's on the back burner. They have a million other things to do for that day. They need the reminders. Let's say you're doing macro track tracking as an example for part of your challenge. Send a daily or even twice a day update or reminder to your clients to say, hey, how have you tracked your breakfast this morning? Hey, did you finish tracking for the end of the day? Or have you preset your meals for the following day, right? Doing those reminders helps keep people on track and it also helps them know that you are serious, that you are a good coach, you're paying attention, you're holding them accountable, you're not going to let them off the hook. And that again is why they came to you. They came to you for coaching. So here's what I want you to take away from today, from today's talk. You don't need a massive audience to run a challenge that actually works for you and starts building momentum towards bigger challenges. Challenges are one of the best ways to get new clients into your coaching business without feeling salesy because it's fun. When people join challenges, yes, it's work and it's hard, but it's also community building. People do it oftentimes with a friend. It's one of the easiest ways to bring new people in because people who are signing up and interested are going to tell other people about it because they want to do it with somebody. That collaboration and that community is part of the challenge. It's what makes the challenge so powerful. So if you think your audience is too small, challenges will likely be one of the best ways for you to grow your business. So if you got a lot out of this episode, go ahead and share this with a friend and make sure you come to our Challenge Builder Bootcamp, which starts on August 10th. We are going to be together building out your challenge. So in the five days of our Challenge Builder Boot Camp, you will be building your challenge, making sure that you know your engagement schedule, what your deliverables are going to be, how you're going to host your engagement. Is it going to be in a Facebook group? Is it going to be live via Zoom? How you're going to do all that, which program you're selling people into, and whether or not the challenge is truly in alignment with that program. We are doing all of that in our challenge builder boot camp, which starts again on August 10th. So don't miss it. Go ahead and sign up. I will put the link in the show notes. I'll see you on the next one. I hope you enjoyed our conversation from today. Any links we discussed will be in the show notes below. Also, we would be incredibly grateful if you would leave us a five star review. This helps us keep the podcast going so that we can continue to provide value for all of you. I hope we see you on the next one.