A Podcast for Coaches

In this episode, I share a new hypothesis about how coaching practices can get full without spending too much time or money pursuing clients. I've reduced my ideas into a simple mantra: "As I spend time in spaces and with people I enjoy, always working to be more interested and interesting, coaching clients will appear."

I break down how this approach relies on confidence, curiosity, and patience rather than anxious, desperate chasing. The goal isn't trying to "get clients" but rather investing deeply in areas that genuinely interest you, developing hard-to-ignore perspectives (often through productive disagreement with conventional wisdom), and creating a practice that feels good now and will feel good later.

If you'd like to create a sustainable 5-15 session per week coaching practice without exhausting yourself in the pursuit of clients, this episode, I think you'll enjoy what I have to say.

If you'd like support and community around these ideas, consider joining my Office Hours community:

https://officehourswithmark.com

Most months I start with no idea who will hire me. That uncertainty creates anxiety, even though I've learned to manage it well.

Here's what helps: While my practice feels unpredictable month-to-month, it's actually quite predictable year-to-year. In the past three years, I've rarely had a month with zero coaching transactions.

I've found that reducing uncertainty comes down to nurturing three types of relationships:

1. People who already trust me in a coaching context (past clients, podcast listeners)
2. People who like and trust me, but not yet in a coaching context
3. Complete strangers who might eventually become clients

The coaching transactions that happen this month won't be random or "out of the blue" – they'll be the natural outcome of relationships planted and nurtured days, weeks, or even years ago.

So yes, coaching is an unpredictable business. But by nurturing relationships, we make the unpredictable parts less volatile.

My friend Chantel Allen uses personal practices like "the hour of silence" to calm her mind, heal her pains, and prepare herself to coach her clients in the way that feels right to her. I brought her back on the show today to discuss how coaches can serve their clients better and grow their practices through doing the inner work. 

To find out how you can with with Chantel, join her waitlist here: https://www.chantelallencoaching.com/waiting-list

Here's a GPT-generated outline of the conversation:

1. Coaches Often Focus Too Much on Providing Answers Instead of Asking Questions: The episode discusses how coaches may feel the need to prove themselves by giving advice and answers, rather than facilitating deeper client insights through powerful questioning and active listening.

2. The Impact of Unresolved Personal Issues on Coaching: The conversation explores how unresolved personal challenges in a coach’s life can unconsciously affect their coaching, causing them to project their own need for validation onto their clients.

3. The Shift from Hustle to Heart in Coaching: Mark and Chantel highlight the growing importance of slowing down and focusing on internal work and connection, rather than obsessing over external achievements and hustling to gain clients or success. This shift in mindset leads to more genuine and impactful coaching.

In this episode, I talk about an experience with a friend in high school that shaped my love for listening. She shared the details of a tough season in her life, and then thanked me for the way I listened to her. I know this isn't a unique experience, but it's my first memory of realizing that just paying close, compassionate attention is a way to connect with people. Now that I'm a coach, I believe listening is our most important skill, and one we can develop through careful practice and repetition.

Along with a few other ideas about what numbers a one-on-one coach might want to track in order to keep the practice healthy.

Part of the appeal of a one-on-one practice is that its hard parts aren't as hard as other business models (like "scalable" training), and its easier parts are even easier (and more happiness-producing) than other models. 

Coaching can be a utility the client views as a semi-permanent part of their life, or a luxury they view as a special one-off event. Both approaches offer great experiences for both coach and client, but the the choice to be a luxury or a utility will inform the rest of your strategy, so it's worth a careful look.

The best coaching is an invitation to productive pain in pursuit of the reward on the other side. Today's episode inspired by this essay, shared with me by my coach, Liz.

Kristen Boss's coaching business started in 2019 with pajama-clad Facebook lives at 6am. In the five years since, she's generated millions of dollars in revenue -- mostly using the launch-based marketing and sales model. After she listened to episode 19, she offered to come on the show to talk about the high highs and low lows she's experienced as a launch-based coach. I'm grateful Kristen would share her story in such an honest and vulnerable way. 

Kristen serves network marketers, but I think new coaches would be wise to check out her work: https://kristenboss.com

Paula Engebretson coaches people with an ADHD diagnosis (or ADHD tendencies). Since I know she has ADHD, and since I may or may not be a member of her target audience, I've been surprised at how consistently she publishes her newsletter and podcast. People like her (me) are not supposed to be as reliable as she is. But she shows up like clockwork. I asked her to come on the show to talk about how she does it.

My key takeaways were:
1. Why Paula won't take on a project unless it's a "full-bodied yes".
2. How her personal mission keeps her motivated.
3. How my own lack of consistency probably stems from #1 and #2.

Connect with Paula:
I'm Busy Being Awesome (website and podcast)