Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Lutz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you manage your own social media?

Social media is a hot topic today – especially for those of us who run our own online businesses. I’ve managed my own social media since I started Coaching Klutz at the end of 2020, and it has been integral to my success. Most of the runners that want to work with me have come from Instagram or TikTok (the two platforms I utilize the most).

Managing my own social media has been challenging, especially with the changes in the platforms over the years. Instagram was my go-to when I started, but with the shift in focus to video format and selling products on the platform, I’ve been feeling more frustrated with IG. I enjoy making static or carousel posts for my educational content (for example, 5 tips to help you start running), but the reach with these kinds of posts has plummeted lately. Which is why I’ve been leaning more into TikTok lately – I feel like I reach more people and the right kinds of people with my content on TikTok.

Managing 2 separate platforms can be a lot, especially while also working a full time job, but I’ve learned that taking the pressure off myself to constantly post helps keep my relationship with social media more positive than negative. And if anyone out there has a question or topic about running that you want to see content around, let me know!

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

For those who haven’t heard of me, I’m Coaching Klutz! I help runners train sustainably so they can enjoy running while chasing their goals.

I ran my first ultra (a 50k) in 2017. The feeling of crossing the finish line after running for 31 miles was one of the best feelings in the world, and I’m still amazed I was able to do that. Women are underrepresented in ultramarathons, and I wanted to help other women train for their first ultra so they could have their own amazing experience and get more women in the sport. Sometimes you don’t know something is possible until you see someone else do it. So at the end of 2020, I became certified as a running coach through UESCA and started coaching women, with an emphasis on those who wanted to run their first ultra.

The emphasis I put on my coaching doesn’t have to do with outcomes – it has to do with sustainability. My goal as a coach is to help athletes learn how to create a training plan that fits into their life and help them give themselves the grace to be imperfect. There are many ways to reach your goals, and following a training plan perfectly is only one of them. Success to me is when my runners enjoy training and become better humans from their running.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my social media presence for my business from scratch on Instagram and TikTok. For IG, when I was just starting, I focused on creating posts that provided value around running for those who followed me, which meant lots of educational posts and Canva templates. Along with posting consistently, I also made an effort to find other runners on the platform to follow and connect with. Social media can feel like a one way street, but if you want to find your audience, you have to put in some effort to make connections! What worked well for me is a mix of educational and personal content – I was training for a 50k at the time, and my posts about my own training and lessons I was learning were some of my most popular.

The biggest piece of advice that I have around social media is to be authentic. The people that follow me don’t follow me because of my knowledge around training for running (well, that’s probably a piece of it), but rather because they like me as a person. This is very evident for me on TikTok as I’ve grown my audience and gained some clients from there. I find it fun to show my personality through some of the silly trends on TikTok or just posting about random parts of my life.

Ultimately, find which medium you like creating for the best (whether it’s photos, video, blog, podcast, etc) and be consistent. Good audiences aren’t built overnight, and you need to build that trust and likability to gain long term followers who are your people. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, and have fun with it!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Something that is very important to me with my coaching is building a community. I know what it’s like not to have many people to talk to about running and everything that goes into training, so I wanted to create a space for women to make friends, find support/motivation, and get advice. Any runner that works with me, whether 1:1 coaching, a self directed program or a coaching call, gets access to my slack channel for life. This way, they always have access to the community even if we aren’t working together anymore. I like to foster this community by hosting quarterly Zoom “meet ups” so we can all talk “in person” (these are fairly new, and we’re loving them!).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.coachingklutz.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/coachingklutz
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@coachingklutz

Image Credits
Erin Enderle, Audrey Krum, Mackenzie Ahmadinia