Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited about the topic that I've chosen today that I'm calling “Fundamentals of Creating One-on-One Clients.” And it's been a while since I've talked about one-on-one coaching as a business model, but I have a cool event coming up in March and so it's been on my mind and I will talk a little bit more about the event later.
But if you are in the Conscious Coach Academy, get excited. And if you're in the Matrix, get excited. We're going to have so much fun talking about the business of one-on-one coaching. Today I want to talk about the fundamentals of creating one on one clients that it goes beyond posting content. Even though I love creating content, as you know, I'm creating content right now. To me, creating one-on-one clients has gone way beyond just like talking about what I do.
Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin talk about this in their book The Prosperous Coach. They talk about don't share the concept of coaching, share the experience. And so I'm going to talk about some of the ways that I've done that and how my clients do that because despite what is happening on the internet, one on one coaching is not dead, and it is not like an archaic business model.
I think it's a beautiful business model, especially if you are introverted or you don't care about being like mega successful and visible. If you're like me, I love working at home, I love talking to people, I love helping people achieve their dreams. It's a skill set that I've had for a long time, but like, I've also honed it. We're gonna talk about that.
So it's something that I feel like I'm good at, and it's something that I enjoy. And part of our work is to not be distracted by the shiny things happening on the internet. Like these huge mega lunches and these mega businesses. I think it's great. I don't think it's bad to have a mega business. But many of my clients resonate with the quieter business model of one on one.
And so I'm going to talk through how to create one on one clients, that doesn't include like talking about it on social media. I mean, that's going to be part of it, but that's not the only thing that I do to create one on one clients. And so I wanted to kind of share my process and kind of some frameworks for you to think through for yourself.
Because I really believe that people can have an amazing business that changes your financial trajectory for your family, that gives you the freedom to buy what you want, to vacation, to create financial options for you and your family, just from one on one.
And so that being said, I know that it can be difficult, especially with all the noise online to think that it's viable, but I promise it is. I would say a majority of my revenue, I should talk to my bookkeeper about how much revenue actually comes from one on one, but I would say a majority of my revenue comes from one on one, not courses, not scaled products, not scaled offers, but from one on one.
And I love it. I love working with people up close and personal. I love having a relationship with my clients where I actually like know their life and their history and their spouses and their kids and their preferences and like what they like to do for fun. And I just feel like I know them so much better because I have the chance to spend more time with them because it's a one on one container versus a group or a membership or things like that.
And I'm not dissing those offers. I have those kinds of offers, but I think there's just something really special about one on one. And so I wanted to kind of make a case for it, but also many of you are trying to create one on one clients and then you're listening to people teach you how to go viral on social media or how to scale a group program or just things that I'm like, ah, that doesn't line up cause one on one is so intimate. Going viral on Instagram or get blowing up on Tik Tok or growing your podcast, aren't necessarily how you create one on one clients. So what does create one on one clients? Let's dive in.
So number one is to prioritize one-on-one conversations with real humans. This is not sexy. This looks like nothing's happening, right? This means like sending an email to an old work colleague and checking in and see how they're doing, responding to, you know, maybe someone's Instagram story of a past client or someone that you are friends with. This looks like texting, you know, your best friend, texting an old boss, texting someone that you've been thinking about, responding to people who are following you on social media or like catching up with someone who sent you an email pitching their podcast or whatever.
But it's prioritizing one on one conversations with real people. This can happen virtually or in person. I would say half of my one on one clients came because I met with them in person somewhere and we developed a relationship over time until they were ready to work with me one on one. I'd say the other half we met virtually, but either way, every single client I've ever signed came because of a conversation I had with them. And so I know my business is healthy if I'm prioritizing and having amazing conversations with people where I'm being a service. This is not super sexy, right?
Like posting on Instagram, recording podcasts, creating courses is all sexy. I'll add reading books, taking courses, listening to podcasts, like working on growing your mind doesn't create clients either. It's using the things that you've learned, using your skills that you've developed as a coach with real people that signs one on one clients.
And so one of the things that I notice for coaches who aren't fully booked is they'll do things with little risk. And so what I mean by that is they will post about their one on one, but they won't DM their college roommate asking how they are and trying to serve them. And I've been here, so this isn't coming from judgment, this is just coming from an observation.
It doesn't seem like the conversation with the college roommate serving them is going to pay off. But this is how I think about my business and I've used this metaphor before where it's like, you have to think about it like a garden. And all the relationships that you have with your entire life, not just with your audience on social media, but with your entire life is like a garden of relationships. Some will bloom into client relationships and some will not. Your only job is to nurture relationships, serve, and then invite people when the time is right. I like to invite on my public platforms, or like on my website, on my Instagram. And I like to personally serve, so like in my DMs or when I call someone or when I text a friend or an old work colleague or an old client, I'm just serving.
I'm not trying to pitch them personally. I pitch my stuff and I put that in quotes, but you can't see it. I sell my stuff publicly so that they feel safe to interact with me privately and they can take me up on an offer that I'm making publicly.
All of that to be said, if you're not prioritizing one on one conversations, my guess is is that you don't have as many one on one clients as you want. Because think about what one on one coaching is, it's a conversation one on one. So to give the experience of that helps me sell my packages by default, right? Like they get to experience what it's like to talk to me and work with me one on one when I prioritize conversations. And so if you've fallen into the internet marketing trap, there's no hard feelings here.
I did for a long time. I read all the books about funnels and internet marketing. And I realized that didn't really help me create one on one clients because one on one clients are created in powerful conversations. And so the less powerful conversations I had, the less clients I had. And so the more conversations I can prioritize, the better my one on one spots are filled. And so I want to challenge you to do the same.
Number two is to create value both in content and beyond content. And so what I mean by that is yes, create the podcast. Yes, post on social media, you know, share value that way. But also I think there's a lot to be said about serving beyond content. And I think this is something that has been a secret advantage of mine is like, for years I have served people in my DMs, I have sent people books, I have sent people podcast episodes without any attachment to them becoming clients. I've served people by getting on a phone call with them, even if I had no expectations of them hiring me. I've sent people resources.
I've shouted out people. I've invited them to be on my podcast to talk about their offer with my audience. There's so many different ways that you can serve people and create value that goes beyond the traditional sense of internet marketing, where it's like I create content and I sell to my audience. That's definitely one thing that you can do. But if we're remembering number one, where we're prioritizing one on one conversations with real people, creating the value is not just in the content, it's also serving people and following up. It's reaching out when people maybe lost a loved one and saying, how are you? Like, I know that that must be difficult.
It's sending people, like I said, like books and resources that might contribute to what they're trying to create in the world. I think that this requires you to slow down and really be with people. You can't skip to the part where you're selling. Like I said about the business being a garden, this means that things are going slow with each individual.
There's not a rush to get people to work with you. You're able to develop a relationship, whether of value, or they see you as a valuable part of their life. Whether or not they hire you, and this is very hard for, I think, people who are in a rush to really come to terms with because they want to capitalize on all the relationships too soon.
And I think that that hurts business more than it helps it. And capitalize means you make the sale too fast, or you try to make the sale too fast versus being with someone, problem solving, demonstrating your value in a conversation, and then letting go, then walking away. I have a belief that my best clients find me when they're ready to work with me.
And so what this might look like, and this is hard for people to wrap their minds around sometimes is I will serve someone, let's say, in a physical location, maybe we're at a retreat together or I'm at a conference together and we're talking and I'm solving their problem, I'm coaching them in real time, I'm helping them be their thought partner, I'm offering ideas, I'm sharing, you know, things that I've been through, I'm coaching them if I've gotten permission to do so, and I'm actually in real time helping them.
And then at the end of the conversation, I say, it was really nice to meet you. And I walk away, I don't try to say if you ever want to work together. And I'm going to give you an example of this. I've shared the story before, but I think it's relevant. I was watching my daughter play tee ball once. And I sat next to someone who's a realtor and we just started chatting and I was like, hey, what do you do?
She's like, I'm a realtor. What do you do? I'm like, I'm a coach. And we just kind of chatted about each other's careers. And she talked about how she wanted to break into luxury real estate. I talked about kind of what I'm up to and my coaching business. And this was a few years ago. And my husband was sitting behind me and he was like, why didn't you sell her?
Why didn't you tell her that you could help her? And I was like, that's not how one on one clients are created. And so she thought it was fascinating that I'm a coach. She had started to read some personal development books. And so she thought that was really interesting. So like two weeks go by and we chat a little bit on the sidelines while our kids play tee ball.
I was serving her. So I was like, hey, like, I remember you said that you wanted to get into luxury real estate. How is that going? And she's like, I'm working on it or whatever. And I was like, what's coming up? And she's like, I feel like I don't have enough context in that world to make it a viable way of creating money, long term. And so I just engaged in helping her. I dove right into like asking her questions and like kind of saying, do you want help with that?
And I got permission and we just chatted and I just served the heck out of her. I like was trying to be really helpful. And at the end of the conversation, she was like, can we talk about like you helping me as my coach? And I was like, of course, like we can set up a formal consultation if you want and we can go from there.
She's like, that sounds great. And then we ended up working together for three months. And this is what's interesting is I didn't try to sign her as a client. I was just trying to create value for her. And that's what I mean. It goes beyond content. She wasn't even following me on social media, but I created value for her because I was making myself relevant to her and her problems and what she wanted. I wasn't trying to pitch her on the idea of coaching. I wasn't talking about how great coaching is. I just served her and by serving her it created the desire for what I do. And then she signed as a one-on-one client.
And so creating value is not just selling people on the idea of coaching. I think the best thing you can do is actually to demonstrate it by helping them.
Number three, serve existing clients so powerfully they want to renew and refer. And so I wanted to share a few different ways that I do that. So I work with a limited number of one-on-one clients, but I serve them really powerfully.
I'm very available for them between our calls. I have calls with them, obviously some of them a couple of times a month, some of them once a month. I use Voxer with them. So like, I feel like I'm really in their corner. I offer spot coaching if they need coaching between a call. I like to serve two layers deep.
I got that idea from Rich Litvin, which is basically like I help my clients with their clients and I problem solve for my clients on how they can serve their clients even better. I highly recommend that. If it's in a corporate setting or if you're working with real estate agents or business owners, coaches, people who have their own group of people that they are helping, serve two layers deep, Help them help their people. I like to brainstorm and share resources as I think about my clients. So it's like, hey, listen to this podcast episode, read this book, etcetera. And I know by slowing down and being super useful and relevant for my current clients, they renew and they refer. I've worked with some clients for years and it's not because I'm keeping them stuck.
It's because we grow really well together and they're accomplishing things that they didn't think were possible. They're blowing their own minds and they want more. And then the referral is like, hey, help my friend. And they send me people that are connected to them in their life. And that's really how I create clients now is renewals and referrals.
And I think this requires you to slow down. You have to find the abundance and the overflow of the current clients that you have. This starts with just one client. Even if you're not fully booked, I've told this story before, but even when I had one client, I celebrated her, I honored her, I was grateful for her, and I slowed down and served her so powerfully, before I was ever fully booked.
And I know that that's a principle that I've applied longterm that has deeply served my one on one coaching practice.
Number four is to do the belief work yourself as in believe in coaching. I think if you don't have a firm belief in coaching, it's going to be really hard to sell it, it's going to feel like you're scamming people.
And I think coaching does one of three things. Either it helps you accept circumstances that cannot change. Like things that are beyond your control, coaching helps you navigate and change your perception about things that are unable to change, which is valuable.
It enhances people's quality of life. Even if they can't change a circumstance, they can think different thoughts and have more peace of mind, suffer less, choose a different thought. It also helps you change circumstances that can be changed. The things that can change can change through coaching.
And then the third thing is create circumstances. So, accept circumstances or make peace with circumstances, number one. Change circumstances, number two. Or create different circumstances, number three. I think coaching works on all three levels. The other thing that I'll mention here is like, if you're not being powerfully coached yourself, sometimes it's like we forget how powerful coaching is. So I think one of the things that has deeply served my business is that I'm always getting coaching, whether that's one on one coaching, group coaching, masterminds, I'm in it. I'm always growing and expanding myself. So I'm a believer in the power of coaching and mentorship, which is why it's easy for me to sell it.
I know the power that it has to have someone in your corner fighting for your dreams. And like not arguing for your limitations, right? Like that's super valuable to me. So it's easy to turn around and say, this is what I've done with coaching. This is what I can help you with coaching.
And then number five is lighthouse marketing. And this is a concept that I've taught for a while now and I love it and I'm going to be teaching it a lot in my live event coming up that I'm calling the “Business of One-on-One Coaching.” But lighthouse marketing to me is not trying to manipulate, of course, people. It really is shining your lights that people can find you.
And then when they are ready, they approach you about how to work with you. And so this means creating content. This means showing up places and adding value. But to me, this means I don't have to manipulate or coerce people, like I really trust that people find me when they're ready. And so to me, the principle, or I guess the metaphor of a lighthouse is really, really powerful.
That means you have to be known, right? You have to be available for people to see you and be solving people's problems, being relevant to them, sharing ideas of value, whether that's in content or in conversations. Whether that's with email marketing or podcasting or social media or speaking at events or speaking at retreats or whatever.
It means that you're making yourself available so that people can find you. You make it, I am here, basically. And so being the lighthouse to me has been a huge part of my business success because when I don't know what to do, it's like, well, how can I be a lighthouse today? How can I shine a light for people to know I'm here for you?
And like I said, I'm going to go deep into the business of one-on-one coaching. And so these five things, prioritizing one on one conversations with real people, creating value in content and beyond content, serving existing clients so powerfully they want to renew and refer, doing the belief work so that you are a believer in coaching, and then lighthouse marketing.
These five things have helped me create clients over a long period of time. And it's helped my clients create clients over a long period of time. And so I think that they are fundamentals. They're easy not to do, but they're the things that matter. When you do these consistently over time, you develop an unshakable business.
I think masters just always do the fundamentals. I'm always doing these things. Even though, I guess some people might think I'm beyond it, because I love one on one and because I prioritize one on one, I'll never stop doing these things, which is why I'll always have one on one clients. And so I want to share that with you is that the master just doesn't miss the basics.
They always do the fundamentals. They don't think they're beyond it. They don't think it's too small for them. They are always doing it, which is why they always have clients. And so fundamentals are because it's like what you do at a basic level, but you do it with mastery and mastery comes from doing it consistently.
And so I want to challenge you if you've maybe moved away from some of these fundamentals to come back and try them and see what happens. Whether you fall into the internet marketing trap or like where you're trying to do very complicated business things. Everything I shared today is super simple, but I would not make the mistake of overlooking it because I promise one on one clients are created in one on one conversations.
And so think about it. Try it. Don't just listen, like test it. All right. I think that's a really useful thing. That being said, I want to formally invite you. Like I said, if you are already in the Conscious Coach Academy, you're going to be receiving an email about the event that's coming up in March.
But if you're not in the Conscious Coach Academy and Matrix as well. Matrix, you're going to get it anyway, but if you're not in the Conscious Coach Academy, I really want to recommend that you join so that you can come to this event. I'm hosting this event called the “Business of One on One Coaching.”
We're going deep into these concepts and many more, so that you can create one on one clients on repeat. And like I said in the beginning, I think one-on-one coaching is an amazing business model and I want to teach it the way that I would teach it now. And so if you haven't joined Conscious Coach Academy, now would be the time. The link is in the bio.
It's a lifetime access course, where I teach everything that I know about signing clients. We do belief work. We do tactical strategic work. I teach how to run a consult. I teach how to create content. I teach what I call quantum play, which is like belief work at the next level. I teach the art of deep coaching in that program and I teach make it rain, which is how to sell group programs, like so much gold in the Conscious Coach Academy.
And now you're going to get the business of one on one coaching, which is a five module live program. Like I said, that I'm running in March, but the only way that you can come to that is if you join CCA. So come and join CCA, come hang out with me in March live. I'll be doing a Q&A as well. So like you'll have the chance to interact with me and ask me personalized questions.
And I just think it's gonna be a lot of fun and I'll share more details coming soon. What's cool about the Conscious Coach Academy is you can join today and like have access to all my modules immediately. And then in March you can come live to the “Business of One on One Coaching.”
So best time joined CCA was last year, but the second best time is today. So click the link in my bio to learn more and to join us. And I will see you inside the “Business of One on One Coaching” in March. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.
