I was in the medieval village of Tourettes-sur-Loup the other day, not too far from Nice, France. I had a gorgeous shot set up to record a new YouTube video. I hit the record button, turned to walk to my spot, and heard a loud smash.

I spun around and gasped at the wreckage.

My tripod and the remains of my poor camera were lying on the ground, surrounded by the shattered pieces of my lens.

The shot was so beautiful, and I was so excited to capture it, that I ignored the fact that my tripod wasn’t stable. I skipped the setup check that would have told me it was risky.

Something similar happens when health and wellness professionals fall in love with a program idea. They’re so excited to get it launched that they skip the most important part of the process — the part that tells you whether the setup is solid, or if it’s too risky.

Why do they skip it?

It’s often because they already know it’s a problem a lot of people need help solving. And they see other coaches selling programs that address it. So they assume the demand is there.

But that’s not validation. That’s an assumption. And it’s one of the most expensive mistakes I see. It can lead you directly into the most saturated, hardest-to-differentiate part of the market you’re entering.

When you see competitors, it lets you know a category exists. But it doesn’t tell you whether there’s room for you or how to make yourself stand out within the category. Those are completely different questions.

And they’re the ones that actually determine whether your idea becomes a thriving business or a frustrating grind.

After working with over 1,000 health and wellness professionals, I developed a 7-point validation process I use with my clients before we build anything. This kind of research does something that’s missing from ordinary research…

It shows you exactly where the gaps are. The underserved parts of the market, the unaddressed frustrations, and the unique angles that can give you a meaningful point of differentiation.

That turns a crowded market that every other coach in your niche is trying to make work into an opportunity for you to become the obvious choice.

Here are the exact steps.

First, set up your research.

Before we get into the seven questions, let’s set this up so you can go through it in one pass and keep your answers organized. You’ll be drawing from the same four sources throughout this process, so it’s worth setting them up properly from the start.

Open a spreadsheet and create three columns:

• Column 1: The question number it answers

• Column 2: Where you found it (Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, Google)

• Column 3: The exact words — copy and paste, don’t paraphrase

That third column matters more than people realize. The specific language people use to describe their problem is often the exact language that should appear in your marketing.

Now here’s where you’re going to search for answers. (I open a separate tab for each of them.)

Reddit — Type “[the problem] + Reddit” in your search bar. This pulls up conversations happening across multiple communities, and it’s where you’ll find the most unfiltered, emotional language about the problem.

YouTube — Search “[the problem] + how to.” Look for videos with a high volume of views and active comment sections.

Amazon — Search for books on the topic with 50 or more reviews — the more the better.

Google — Search “[the problem] + coach” and “[the problem] + program.” This surfaces competitors and tells you what the market looks like commercially.

Now here’s what you’re looking for.

1. Are there active, engaged communities?

The first thing you want to look for are active communities. Facebook groups, subreddits, and forums all signal ongoing demand. They also give you a real-time window into exactly what your potential clients are struggling with right now.

If you don’t find active communities where people post regularly and engage with each other, that’s a signal to pay attention to. It could mean there aren’t enough people looking for help with the problem.

What to add to your spreadsheet: Add the URLs of the communities. You’ll be going back to mine them for the rest of your answers.

2. Is the problem urgent enough that people will pay to solve it?

You already know your idea addresses a real problem. (If you’re not 100% sure about that, take a look at this article after you’ve finished reading this one).

But not every real problem drives people to pull out their credit cards. The ones that do are disruptive enough to a person’s quality of life that they’re motivated to get help with them.

First go to Reddit. Read how people describe their experience. Are they using emotional, urgent language — “I’ve tried everything,” “I’m at my wit’s end,” “I need help NOW”? That’s the signal you’re looking for.

If the tone is casual or future-focused — “someday I’d like to…” or “I’ve been thinking about trying…” — that’s not the energy of someone who’s ready to invest in a coaching program.

What to add to your spreadsheet: Any comment that describes the problem in emotional, urgent terms. These help validate your idea, and they’re great future marketing copy.

3. Is the market large enough?

Even an urgent problem needs enough people experiencing it to support a sustainable online business. A good rule of thumb is to aim for at least 500,000 potential clients. If you reach just 0.1% of them, that gives you 500 potential clients. If your market is only 10,000 people, you’d need to capture 5% to reach that number, which is extremely difficult.

Go to Google and search “[the problem] + statistics” and look for credible research or data. Then check the size of the Reddit communities and Facebook groups you found. Large active communities — tens of thousands of people across related groups — are a strong signal.

What to add to your spreadsheet: Any data on market size.

4. What are people dissatisfied with in the solutions they’ve already tried?

Most health and wellness professionals in a given space cluster around the same audience. Those clusters create gaps. And your competitors’ customers help you find them. They’re actually your most valuable research subjects because what they’re complaining about tells you exactly what nobody is delivering well.

Go to Amazon and read the 2, 3, and 4-star reviews on the books you found. Read the comments on the high-view YouTube videos. Go back to those Reddit communities and look specifically for threads where people discuss things they’ve already tried. You’re looking for the language of disappointment: “This was helpful but didn’t address my situation with…”, “I tried this and it worked for a while but then…”, “I wish someone would say more about…”

And don’t just use this to improve your program. Use it in your marketing, too. When you address what existing solutions get wrong, you’re overcoming objections before they arise.

What to add to your spreadsheet: Specific complaints about existing solutions, worded exactly as people expressed them.

5. Will people pay premium prices?

To make $10,000 a month, you can get there with 100 people paying $100, 10 people paying $1,000, or 4 people paying $2,500. The math on that last option is more sustainable. But only if your audience has both the means and the motivation to pay premium prices.

Go to Google and search “[the problem] + program” and “[the problem] + course.” Look at what others are charging. If similar programs are in the $500 to $2,000 range, that’s a promising sign. If everything you find is $20 ebooks and $50 apps, the audience has been trained to expect cheap solutions.

Then cross-reference the pricing with the reviews. Sometimes an audience is willing to pay premium prices, but nobody has built a program good enough to justify charging them yet. That’s an opening. If buyers are paying $500 for something that leaves the problem partially solved, there may be room for a $2,500 program that actually gets them all the way there.

What to add to your spreadsheet: Pricing you find across programs, plus any reviewer comments about whether the investment felt worth it.

6. Are there unique positioning opportunities you can own?

This is where all the research you’ve been doing pays off strategically. You’ve been collecting intelligence on what’s missing, who’s underserved, and where existing solutions are falling short. Now you use it to find the specific angle nobody has claimed.

Go to Google and search the top coaches and programs in your space. Look at what they’re all promising, who they’re targeting, and how they’re positioning themselves. When you see everyone saying the same things, you’ve identified the status quo. And that’s exactly what you need to move away from.

Then cross-reference that with everything in your spreadsheet. Where are the frustrated buyers whose specific situation nobody is speaking to? What complaint keeps coming up that no program is addressing? Which audience segment is being ignored while everyone chases the same demographic?

The overlap between strong demand and weak supply is your positioning opportunity. That’s the angle you can own.

What to add to your spreadsheet: Notes on how the top competitors are positioning themselves, and where the gaps are between what they’re promising and what the market actually needs.

7. Do you have a way to build trust before asking for the sale?

A validated offer with strong differentiation still won’t sell if people don’t trust you yet. Health and wellness buyers are skeptical. They’ve tried things before that didn’t work, and they’re protecting themselves from another disappointment. You need a clear path to earning their trust before asking them to invest.

There are two approaches I like.

The first is a high-ticket offer funnel. This is typically built around a webinar or masterclass that earns trust and leads people to book a call. This works best when you already have an established practice or proven online offer, you’re prepared to invest $5,000 to $7,000 in ads while optimizing, and you’re comfortable closing on calls. It can take 6 to 12 months to fully dial in, so runway matters.

The second is a Strategic Offer Sequence. With this approach, you start with something low-ticket that demonstrates your expertise and builds your list. Then you move people through higher-priced offers. This fits better if you’re newer or transitioning online, want to see revenue within 30 to 60 days, and have less than $5,000 to invest before seeing ROI.

Pick the one that matches where you are now. Without a clear trust-building pathway, tactics like posting, running challenges, or commenting in groups will keep you spinning your wheels.

What to add to your spreadsheet: Nothing new here. This step is about using everything you’ve collected to choose your direction.

What You’re Really Looking For

Most coaches do a quick scan, see that other coaches exist in their space, and call that validation. What they’ve actually done is confirm that a category exists and then walked directly into the most crowded corner of it, saying what everyone else is already saying.

Real validation tells you something different. It tells you where demand is strong and underserved. It shows you what people are paying for that still isn’t solving their problem completely. It reveals the specific audience segment, the specific angle, the specific insight that nobody has claimed yet.

That’s the foundation of positioning that lets you stand out in a crowded market instead of competing for the same clients as everyone else.

Run your idea through these seven checkpoints before you build anything. Make sure you’re documenting what people say is missing. What’s frustrating them about current solutions? What questions aren’t being answered? What audiences aren’t being spoken to?

That’s your goldmine.

Now I won’t pretend this research doesn’t take time. When it’s done thoroughly, it does.

But I’ve opened up some space on my calendar so I can do the research for you.

When you pick up a copy of The Trust-Based Marketing Method™, you’ll get the full details on the method, plus the opportunity to have me do all of this research for you. This includes everything in this article and more:

• Comprehensive market research across all five channels

• A competitive positioning analysis (including specific gaps you can fill)

• A full differentiation strategy

• 5 complete trust-building offer pathways (including recommended prices to charge)

• A 90-day launch plan

• 2 strategy calls with me

This, plus more, is part of The Launch With Confidence Formula™. It’s normally $497, but people who pick up the mini-book can get it for $397.

You can get your copy of the mini-book here.

And when you do, you’ll be guided on how to get The Launch With Confidence Formula™ for $100 off.

The Trust-Based Marketing Method™ walks you through how to validate your offer, find your differentiation, and choose the marketing approach that actually fits your situation. And it includes 3 bonuses:

1. The 7-Point Green Light Scorecard™. This goes into even more detail than what I covered in this article.

2. How to Win Clients in a Hard-to-Sell Coaching Niche. This helps you translate your expertise online (even ifi it’s a tough topic to market.

3. The Marketing Path Decision Guide. This shows you how to choose the right marketing path for your specific situation (so you stop copying strategies build for someone else).

The whole package is $17. Click here to find out more.

And if you found this article helpful, please show it some love by giving it one of those adorable little hearts!

Any questions or comments? Pop ‘em below and I’ll reply!

For a while, I worked on a team that helped health and wellness professionals build high-ticket coaching businesses. The approach was a one-size-fits-all model: cold traffic to a webinar, then a call with the coach. No alternatives. The guru believed anything else was a waste of time.

And for some people, it worked beautifully.

But I also watched others get absolutely crushed. They invested thousands of dollars in the program, then thousands more every month on Facebook ads — and nothing was converting. Some of them ended up with serious debt and no business to show for it. I won’t pretend that wasn’t hard to watch, because it was. It was heartbreaking.

Here’s the thing that stayed with me… These weren’t people who were cutting corners or ignoring the advice. Many of them were doing everything right. They were following the program to the letter. The strategy just wasn’t the right fit for where they were starting from.

That experience taught me something I wish more people in this industry would say out loud: there is no formula that guarantees you’ll get to $10K a month. Building a business involves risk. Anyone who promises otherwise isn’t being straight with you.

What I can tell you is that marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all. The approach that creates a thriving business for one person can be the wrong move entirely for someone else. It’s not because the strategy is bad, but because the fit is off.

So instead of a formula, I want to give you something more useful: two strategies that can work very well for health and wellness professionals, and a clear way to figure out which one actually fits your situation.

Strategy 1: The High-Ticket Offer Funnel

This is the one many health & wellness professionals picture when they imagine a successful coaching business. And it can be genuinely beautiful when it works.

Here’s how it typically runs: You drive traffic — usually through paid ads — to a webinar or masterclass. The webinar does the heavy lifting of building trust, establishing your authority, and creating desire for your program. People who are ready book a call with you. (Lately I’ve seen a paid consultation model work particularly well with this approach.) On the call, you learn whether they’re a good fit and present your coaching program — usually in the $3,000 to $5,000 range or more.

When this works, the math is beautiful. You only need to close a few clients a month to hit $10K. And your webinar scales without you having to repeat yourself to every prospect individually.

But this strategy has real prerequisites. Miss any of them, and it will burn you. I’ve watched it happen too many times.

You need a proven offer. Not an idea you’re excited about, not something you think should work — an offer you’ve already validated with real clients. You’re about to spend real money driving people to it. This is not the place to experiment.

You need a financial runway. I tell people to have $5,000 to $7,000 set aside for ads before they expect to see ROI. Funnels take time to optimize. Your messaging, your webinar, your ad creative — none of it will be dialed in on the first try.

You need to be comfortable on sales calls — or genuinely committed to getting there. One of my clients went from a 20% close rate to 50% in just a couple of months. I’ve seen coaches who dreaded sales calls start to actually enjoy them. But if you’re not willing to develop this skill, this strategy will be painful.

You need patience. It can take 6 to 12 months to fully dial in a funnel. You’re testing messaging, tweaking the webinar, optimizing ads, and building your sales confidence simultaneously. It’s not a quick win.

If you have all four of those elements, Strategy 1 can be one of the most profitable models in this industry. If you’re missing any of them, keep reading.

Strategy 2: The Strategic Offer Sequence

This is the right way to start for many health and wellness professionals. Especially if they’re newer, transitioning online, or don’t yet have the prerequisites for Strategy 1.

The structure looks like this:

You begin with a low-ticket offer, typically in the $17 to $97 range. This proves there’s demand for what you’re offering, gives people a low-risk way to experience your work, and builds your email list. From there, you nurture your list and invite people into a mid-ticket offer — maybe $197 to $497. That deepens the relationship and builds trust. Then you extend an invitation to your high-ticket program.

Each step in the sequence earns more trust before asking for a bigger commitment. By the time someone reaches your high-ticket offer, they already know you, they’re familiar with your work, and they believe in your results.

The advantages here are significant:

You can see ROI within 30 to 60 days. With a well-executed low-ticket offer, you could be generating revenue from the very beginning.

You don’t need a large upfront investment. If you’re going the paid ads route, a couple of thousand dollars gets you started. You test demand, build your list, and reinvest revenue as you grow.

The risk is lower at every stage. You’re not betting everything on a high-ticket funnel. You’re building incrementally, with proof at each step.

And by the time you’re ready to launch your high-ticket program, you’ve already validated your offer, worked with clients, and collected testimonials. You’re going in with evidence, not hope.

This strategy does require strategic thinking. You need to understand how your offers connect, create multiple buying opportunities, and be intentional about how you bring people from one level to the next. But for most people who are honest about where they’re starting from, this is the fastest route to $10K.

(And worth noting: it can be very lucrative even if you never want to offer a high-ticket program at all.)

How to Know Which Strategy Fits Your Situation

Run through these five questions honestly:

1. Do you have a proven offer? If you’ve worked with clients, have testimonials, and know your offer converts — Strategy 1 might be right for you. If you’re still figuring out what to offer or haven’t tested it with real buyers, start with Strategy 2.

2. Can you invest $5,000 to $7,000 or more in ads before seeing ROI? If yes, Strategy 1 is viable. If no, Strategy 2 is the smarter starting point.

3. Do you need to see revenue in the next 30 to 60 days? If yes, Strategy 2 is your best bet. If you can sustain yourself for 6 to 12 months while a funnel matures, Strategy 1 becomes a real option.

4. Are you comfortable selling on calls? If yes, Strategy 1 is faster. If not, Strategy 2 lets you build confidence with lower-stakes offers first — and by the time you’re on high-ticket calls, you’re practiced.

5. Do you have an existing audience or email list of at least 500 potential clients? If yes, consider Strategy 1. If you’re starting from scratch, Strategy 2 builds your audience while generating revenue at the same time.

3 Mistakes That Will Derail Either Strategy

Mistake 1: Buying into a promise without evaluating whether the strategy fits your situation.

I’ve seen health and wellness professionals invest $15,000, $20,000, even $30,000 in programs that teach Strategy 1 — before they have a validated offer, a financial runway, or sales experience. They’re told to “trust the process.” But the process only works when the right elements are in place. When they’re not, money flows out to ad platforms and nothing converts. The strategy isn’t wrong. The fit is.

Be honest about where you are right now before you invest in anyone’s program.

Mistake 2: Not understanding how your offers connect — and how to create multiple buying opportunities.

This is especially critical for Strategy 2, but it matters in Strategy 1 as well. Most people need significant time and exposure before they’re ready to invest in health coaching. A strategy that only creates one buying opportunity and then goes quiet is leaving most of your potential clients behind.

You need email marketing. Consistent, weekly at minimum. Some people are ready to buy quickly. But most need more time — your emails build the relationship until they’re ready. Your offer sequence needs to work for both types.

Mistake 3: Skipping your positioning.

This is the one that almost no one in the business-building world talks about. They go straight to tactics — build the funnel, run the ads, create the content — without doing the foundational positioning work first.

Here’s what strong positioning actually does for you: it makes your sales calls easier. When people get on a call with you already knowing what makes you different and better for their specific situation, you’re not convincing — you’re confirming. I’ve watched coaches go from dreading sales calls to genuinely enjoying them because better-positioned marketing pre-sold the relationship before the call even started.

Positioning gives you clarity. It differentiates you from every other coach people may be considering. And it shows them why you — specifically — are the right person to help them solve their problem.

Where to Start

If you’ve read this and recognized yourself in Strategy 1’s prerequisites — proven offer, financial runway, sales readiness, patience — that’s the direction to move.

If anything on that list gave you pause, Strategy 2 is where to build your foundation. It’s lower risk, faster to revenue, and it sets you up to move into Strategy 1 later with proof instead of hope.

Whichever direction you’re heading, the work is the same at the start. Validate your offer, develop your positioning, and make sure the marketing approach you choose actually fits your situation.

If you want a shortcut to all three, I wrote a book about it.

The Trust-Based Marketing Method™ walks you through the positioning and messaging framework I use with every health and wellness professional I work with. It comes with three bonuses — including the Marketing Path Decision Guide™, a 10-minute assessment that tells you exactly which strategy matches your timeline, budget, and risk tolerance, so you stop borrowing a plan built for someone else’s situation.

The whole package is $17. You can find out more here.

Which strategy fits your situation right now? Drop it in the comments. I read every one!

P.S. If you're a longtime reader, you may have noticed the name change. "Be A Profitable Health Coach" is now The Trust-Based Marketing Method. I made the change because trust isn't just a tactic I teach — it's the principle I believe everything else in health and wellness marketing has to be built on. In a space full of hype and high-pressure tactics, I think the practitioners who win long-term are the ones who lead with trust. It felt right to put that front and center. More on this soon.

PP.S. And if you enjoyed this post, consider subscribing. I write about marketing your health or wellness business in a way that feels good to you… and to your potential clients.

If I wanted to build a six-figure online health or wellness business in 2026, there are a few things I’d do differently than I would have done just a year ago. Because as you’ve probably noticed, times have definitely changed!

In this article, I’m going to share the 3 things I’d focus on this year.

The good news is that doing these things will help you whether you’re just starting out, or if you want to get your current marketing performing better.

Here’s exactly what I’d do:

1. I’d make sure there’s proven demand for my offer

Many health and wellness professionals focus on what they think people want to buy or they hope people will buy. Instead, you should look at real data to find out what people are actively searching for, asking for help with, and already paying for.

This comes down to answering two specific questions:

First, is there real demand? Is there actual search volume, book sales, and people on active communities asking for help?

Second, how much are people paying for help? Are they willing to pay premium prices? Are there successful coaches already charging $2,000 to $5,000 or more for their programs? Or is this a race-to-the-bottom idea?

Some of this may seem counter-intuitive. I know a lot of people are afraid of working in a market that seems “crowded.”

But that’s really the best indicator of proven demand. So competition is a good thing! (If you’re concerned about how to best deal with competition, stick with me. We’re covering that next.)

How to get the answers you need

This is where you need to invest time in deep research.

When I do this work for my clients, I look for activity on YouTube, Amazon book reviews, Reddit communities, and Google search trends. I look at relevant content. I pay attention to what people are actually talking about.

That’s where the gold is!

Look for things like what they love about the books and videos they’re finding. What do they complain is missing? What solutions have they tried that didn’t work?

This qualitative data is just as important as the quantitative data.

Then I’d analyze competitors and what they’re offering. I’d compare their programs and price points. This tells me the market is both real and profitable.

When you focus on an offer with proven demand, you eliminate the biggest risk in starting a coaching business. And that’s spending time building something no one wants and money trying to market it.

When you do the research ahead of time, you’re not hoping or guessing. You’re building on solid ground.

2. I’d develop unique positioning that shows people why I’m the obvious choice

Back when I was just starting out as a copywriter, a SaaS company hired me to create their website. Their product was software that could manage all your social media marketing for you. It would help you create the content and then you’d set up a posting schedule on all the social platforms you wanted to be on.

The first thing I did was research the market. I got a list of 22 competitors and analyzed them all. I put together a detailed spreadsheet that laid out all of their market positioning, their website headlines, and all the details of their offer.

Twenty-one of them said some kind of version of “all your social media marketing in one place.” And two of the company’s headlines were exactly that — Now You Can Manage All Your Social Media Marketing In One Place.

Only 1 of the companies had unique positioning. They focused their platform on a very specific target audience.

When I presented my research to the company president, I showed him why it was so important for us to have unique positioning.

But he pushed back. He said it would limit their market potential. And he was adamant about going with the ‘all your social media marketing in one place’ angle, even though I strongly advised against it.

A few years later I wanted to check in on them — but the company was no longer in business.

This is why having unique positioning is so important. It’s the best way to give yourself a fighting chance.

When you look at the health and wellness market, so many experts sound exactly the same. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard coaches say things like, “I help women in peri-menopause lose weight.” Or, “I help busy moms get healthy.” Or, “I’m a health coach for executives with burnout.”

Some people will tell you the answer is to niche down further. And yes, being specific can help. But that alone is an entry-level approach.

What you really need is a way to be in a Category of One.

That means you need to do the work to find gaps in your niche. You want to find the specific things people want that aren’t being addressed. That means looking at what your competition is talking about and what they’re missing.

For example, I was doing research for a health coach who focuses on thyroid issues. I found a few specific gaps in the market that people were desperate to get help with.

Those gaps are golden opportunities.

Whatever problem you focus on, there are gaps and underserved areas of the market. If you create an offer that focuses on addressing those gaps, you have a much better chance of standing out.

That’s the first part of positioning, but you can’t stop there. You need an additional layer of differentiation. This is what I call your “pixie dust.”

Turning plain old positioning into pixie dust positioning does take deep thinking, which is probably the reason why I haven’t seen a single business building program show health and wellness professionals how to do it.

It’s a bigger topic than what I can cover in this article, but if you’d like some guidance, I talk more about it in this one: “If You Feel Lost In The Saturated Health Coaching Market… here’s how to stand out and be unforgettable”

Okay, let’s move on to the third thing I’d do. This is something I developed after watching countless health and wellness professionals spend tens of thousands of dollars trying to launch high-ticket funnels that flopped.

3. I’d create a strategic offer sequence that turns unique positioning into revenue

A strategic offer sequence is a marketing approach that feels more authentic than a lot of the other approaches health and wellness professionals are given.

Instead of using marketing tactics that can feel sleazy or manipulative, it’s based on a value ladder that gives people multiple ways to buy from you at different price points. It’s a gentler approach that shows people why you’re the obvious choice. And it guides them naturally to your high-ticket coaching program.

This approach is ideal for people who don’t want to invest $7,000 - $10,000 or more in ads in a cold traffic funnel before seeing ROI.

What many people don’t realize is that statistically, only about 3% of people will buy from a cold traffic funnel. Add to that the challenges of selling to people in the health and wellness space, and it could be even less.

That’s why you need to focus on building trust, first. Trust is everything. And asking someone to invest $3,000+ before you’ve built that trust is a huge ask.

So if my only option is a high-ticket program, I’m asking people to make a huge decision before they’ve experienced my work. That’s a massive leap of faith, and most people won’t take it.

So what does this look like in practice?

I’d start my value ladder with something that helps people understand my process. I like a short e-book because it’s an easy decision for people to buy. But it could also be a short course or webinar.

The key is taking them through a process that changes their perspective about the problem they have. This is where your Pixie Dust Positioning shines. If you’ve done it well, by the time they finish the content they’ll see you as the obvious choice and want to know more.

Then they’re invited to take another step with you that moves them further along the transformation journey. These incremental steps ultimately lead to your high-ticket coaching program, where they complete the transformation with your help.

This approach has major advantages. It’s lower risk. You get revenue faster. You don’t create your program until you’re positive there’s a market for it, so you don’t spend thousands in ads testing your idea. There’s built-in validation plus multiple revenue streams.

I break down the exact structure and how to implement it in this video.

What’s next?

If you’re ready to create your strategic offer sequence but aren’t sure where to start, send me a DM. I’ll help you figure out the right starting point for your audience and how to structure the steps that lead to your high-ticket program.

Now a quick favor… If you enjoyed this article and got some new ideas from reading it, it would mean a lot to me if you gave it one of those adorable little hearts! And if you have a moment, let me know in the comments what your biggest takeaway was.

Be well…

The rules have changed.

If you’re a health or wellness expert building an online coaching business in 2026, the tactics that worked even a year ago are falling flat. And if you don’t adapt, you’ll join the 90-95% who don’t make it.

At the heart of this is intense market skepticism.

Of course, the market has always been skeptical, but it’s only gotten worse. AI-generated content has flooded every platform. And potential clients have been burned by too many promises that didn’t deliver.

That’s why I’m sharing these seven things that can help you move your business forward in 2026. But first, let me be clear about something.

There’s no shortage of “gurus” telling you what tactics to use. And here’s the problem:

Tactics without principles is a recipe for wasting time and money.

These seven habits are the foundation I now use with every client. They’re based on my 29 years building Fortune 500 brands and my work with over 1,000 health and wellness professionals since 2018.

If you use them, you’ll be a step (or seven!) ahead of most people.

Let’s dive in.

Habit #1: Focus on Building Trust

This is the foundation for everything else. And in 2026, trust is harder to build than ever.

Last year, I talked about building relationships as Habit #7. Trust is obviously part of that. But trust has been eroding so much recently that it’s now at the top of the list.

Because without trust, nothing else works. Not your offer, your marketing, your webinar… nothing.

It used to be that we could smell inauthenticity a mile away. But now it’s even harder. (I think of that every time I send my son a cool IG video, only to have him point out it was made with AI.)

So here’s what I’m recommending my clients and partners do to build trust in this day and age:

Create a clear trust-building pathway

Don’t just post random content on social media hoping something sticks. Have an intentional strategy for how you’ll build trust with potential clients. That way, when you give them something to invest in, you’ve already established trust ahead of time.

Some of the ways of doing this are to deliver consistent value without always asking for something in return. Also, show up authentically, flaws and all. (Not polished perfection — my YouTube videos are a perfect example of this!) And be transparent about your process, your results, and yes, even your failures and what you learned from them.

Another great way to build trust is to anticipate people’s objections and resistance, and address them head-on. And make sure you have some proof your approach works in the form of testimonials, genuine case studies, and your own story.

Understand buying speed

Most people need multiple touch points before they’ll be ready to invest with you. So create enough opportunities for people to get to know you, learn from you, and trust you. (More about this in Habit #4.)

Build relationships through email, not just social media

Email is the only platform you truly own. That means those pesky algorithm changes can’t take it away from you. And email gives you space for deeper, more meaningful conversations with your audience.

The bottom line: In 2026, trust is the currency that matters most. If people don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you, no matter how good your offer is.

Habit #2: Validate Before You Build

This is a critical shift for 2026. And it will save you from wasting your valuable time and money.

Too many coaches build first, then use their launch to validate their offer. They spend months creating a program and invest time and money trying to market it through painful social media posting or expensive ads.

But no one buys.

That’s a real possibility for people who don’t validated if there’s actual demand for what they created.

When you do the deep research I’m about to describe, you can validate your idea with up to 95% certainty that people will buy.

Here’s my validation process:

First, I look at YouTube demand. I dig into what people are actively searching for and what problems they’re trying to solve.

Second, I analyze Amazon book reviews. I’m looking at what customers love, what they complain is missing, and what questions they still have after reading the books.

For example, when I was researching for a client in the Hashimoto’s space, I found reviewers kept saying “I wish this book covered more about X.” That told us exactly what gap to fill.

Third, I spend time in Reddit communities. I want to see what language people use, what they’ve tried that didn’t work, and what they’re desperately looking for.

Fourth, I examine SEO data and search trends across the entire internet. What are people typing into Google? How many searches per month? Is demand growing or declining?

Then I run this data through my 7-Point Green Light Framework. This evaluates: problem urgency, market size, client affordability, your credibility, proven demand, competitive differentiation, and your path to reach ideal clients.

If your offer passes all seven criteria, you get a green light. If not, you know exactly what needs to change (or whether to pivot entirely).

By the time you’re done with this process, you’re not guessing. You’re building on solid ground with real data backing you up. (At the end of this article, I give you a way to fast-track this process because it can take a long time.)

Habit #3: Build AI-Proof Marketing

One of the biggest problems I saw in 2025 was assembly-line marketing. The result was people were given templates and generic funnels created by AI that made everyone sound the same.

And the problem has only gotten worse. Now marketers see AI as a way to pump more people through their programs and boost their profits. That means your potential clients are being bombarded with even more assembly-line marketing funnels.

Some of my clients who fell into that trap told me shocking stories. I heard quite a few times from experts about being on calls with potential clients who called them out. They said they’d already watched several other webinars that looked almost identical. Some even used the same stock images!

This kind of assembly-line marketing makes you invisible. And it kills trust before you even have a chance to build it.

Not only that, potential clients could post comments on your ads or social media and spread the word that you’re not saying anything new. (Talk about a trust-killer!)

Now I want to be clear about something. AI is a fantastic tool. I use it almost every day. I use it for research, like what I described in Habit #2. I also use it for brainstorming and rough copy ideas. And it can be a fairly good junior copywriter.

But I’m a professional copywriter with elite training. So I can tell the difference between good copy and junk. And the best AI can do is give me some ideas as a starting point. Then I have to develop them (usually quite extensively).

For people without solid copywriting skills, AI can give them a false sense of security. I can’t tell you how many times people show up on my weekly coaching calls with copy written by AI. They feel good about it because “AI wrote it.”

But it needs a major rewrite.

Most of the time, I don’t even have to read a word of the copy. I can tell just by looking at it that it was generated by AI because the writing is so predictable.

Many gurus try to fix the problem by hiring junior copywriters to edit the AI generated copy. That might improve it a bit. But it’s the idea behind the copy that’s much more important. (We’ll talk about that more in Habit #6.)

The best approach, if you really want to make sure you stand out and stack the marketing odds in your favor, is to hire a skilled professional who will help you craft unique positioning. Barring that, here are a few things you can do:

How to build AI-proof marketing:

Use AI as a tool, not a replacement. Use it for research, to brainstorm ideas, and to create rough drafts. But then rework it completely so it sounds like you.

Do your best to avoid templates and cookie-cutter funnels unless you feel confident in your ability to edit and improve them. Ultimately, you want to make sure your marketing sounds like YOU.

Habit #4: Leverage Different Buying Speeds

Leveraging different buying speeds is another key shift for 2026. And it’s a natural consequence of the 3 habits we just covered.

Here’s what you need to know…

Ultimately, the purpose of a marketing funnel is to help you get more clients. A lot of people try to use a short funnel that gets people to take an action quickly, like booking a call with them. And they end up frustrated when only a tiny percentage of people book.

The reason why this happens is that most people are not fast buyers. So if you have a short funnel, you need to be prepared for that.

Generally speaking, about 50% of people who encounter you will be non-buyers. They’re not your ideal clients, and you can forget about them.

Of the remaining 50%, only a tiny percentage are fast buyers (about 3-5%, at best). These are the ones who watch your webinar and immediately book a call.

But the vast majority are slower buyers. They want to get to know you better, first.

And these days, buying speed has slowed even more. People have a lot more choices. Plus, as I mentioned before, they’re ultra skeptical because they’ve been burned before. Add economic uncertainty to the mix and they’re even more cautious about spending.

So here’s what you need to do:

Understand that most people won’t buy right away, so you don’t get discouraged when only a few book calls with you immediately. That’s normal.

You can prepare for this by creating multiple buying opportunities, instead of having just have one offer at one price point. (We’ll cover this in more detail in the next habit.)

Finally, prioritize your email marketing. Stay in front of them. Continue delivering value. Give them more opportunities to see your expertise and build confidence in you.

Habit #5: Have a Strategic Offer Sequence

This is essential for 2026, and it’s a natural follow-on to leveraging buying speed.

If people need more touch points before they’re ready for your high-ticket program, you need to know what to offer them in the meantime.

That’s where a strategic offer sequence comes in.

A strategic offer sequence is a series of offers at different price points. They work together to:

• Build your email list

• Establish your expertise

• Educate prospects on your unique approach

• Create natural desire for deeper work with you

• Help you generate income faster

• Pre-sell your high-ticket program

Each step builds trust and commitment.

Here’s what I recommend:

Start with a low-ticket offer (under $100) that builds your list, educates people on your approach, and proves your expertise.

Then have a mid-ticket offer ($500-$1,500) that delivers quick wins, deepens trust, and creates desire for more.

Finally, create a high-ticket program ($2,000+) to give people a premium experience. For example, give them more support and direct access to you.

Each offer naturally sets the stage for the next.

What I love about this approach is that it gives you the chance to test different offers and messaging with your low-ticket offer. You can quickly figure out what resonates most with your market before investing time and energy in creating other offers.

Now, I want to acknowledge there’s another path, which is the high-ticket offer funnel. With this funnel, you typically run ads to a webinar or masterclass. The intent is to have people book a call with you, where you sell them your $2,000+ program.

I’ve seen this approach work very well, but only in certain circumstances. For instance, if you have a proven offer, financial runway, at least $5,000-$7,000 to invest in ads while optimizing, sales skills to close on calls, and time and patience. (It can easily take 6-12 months to dial in your funnel.)

I’ve worked with many health professionals who followed this approach and got clients in the first month. But I’ve also worked with many where it took 12 months (and thousands in ads). So I want to be up front about that.

Most health professionals starting out online don’t have all these pieces in place, even if they’ve had a brick & mortar practice for years. That’s why the strategic offer sequence is usually the better path, especially in 2026 with slower buying speeds and economic uncertainty.

Habit #6: Become a Category of One

Becoming a Category of One means finding a way where you’re not competing head-to-head with other coaches. You’re in your own category.

I know it’s not easy to do, but it can make a tremendous difference to your business in multiple ways.

First, it makes you sound different from everyone else. So you stop blending in with other coaches.

Second, this obviously helps you get more clients because people notice you. They see you’re different.

Third, when you know what makes you different, and you can articulate it clearly, it gives your confidence a real boost. The end result is many people end up charging more for their services.

Here’s my three-part Category of One formula:

First, fill the gaps. When you do deep market research (from Habit #2), you discover where people are dissatisfied with other options. What are other coaches missing? These gaps are your opportunities.

Second, create relevant uniqueness. This is about positioning your OFFER, not your personal brand. You need to show people you have a unique approach to solving their problem. This makes you unique in a way that’s relevant to your audience and the problem they have.

One of the best ways to do this is by helping people see their problem in a new light (which also establishes your thought leadership position). You can also address their resistance head-on and create a Signature System that shows your unique approach.

Third, share your story. Most coaches are told to focus on this first as part of developing their brand. But people with health problems don’t initially care about your brand.

Your story only matters AFTER you’ve shown them you have an offer that fills a gap and a unique approach.

Your story should help people see why you’re qualified to help them. You can share your personal experience with the problem or helping people with it, as well as your lifestyle and values. Just make sure they’re relevant to your ideal client.

One of the things about my personal story that makes me different is that I’m not a former health coach, like so many people giving marketing advice. Instead, my entire career has focused on marketing, including my 29-year background turning entertainment properties into high-profile brands.

My personal story also includes my advanced copywriting training and my passion for building a business that allows me to travel 2-3 months a year.

These things help my ideal clients see why I’m uniquely qualified to help them and what kind of business I can help them build — one that gives them freedom and supports the lifestyle they want to live.

Habit #7: Build for Sustainability, Not Quick Wins

This final habit might be the most important because it ties everything together.

The first six habits are tactical. They’re the “what.” But this final habit is about the mindset that determines whether you’ll actually succeed or quit before seeing results.

The sad fact is, most people give up too soon… often because they’re not following these principles.

They launch their offer. Run ads for a few months. Don’t see results. And quit.

I’ve seen coaches give up after 4-5 months of not seeing a return on their investment. They’re afraid they’re throwing good money after bad. (Revisit Habit #2 to help avoid that fate.)

Let me tell you about a health coach who helped high school hockey players improve their performance. It was a challenging market because she needed both the teen and parents on board.

It took 12 months before she really gained traction. But now she’s hitting consistent $20,000 months.

If she had quit at month 5 or 6 like many do, she never would have seen that success.

(And to be very candid, I suspect she would have gotten there much faster if she had followed a validation process earlier in the game.)

Here’s what building for sustainability involves:

Commit to the long game. Understand that building a profitable coaching business takes time. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme.

Invest in optimization, not just creation. Don’t just launch and hope. Validate your idea first. Track metrics. Test different approaches. And make data-driven decisions.

Give yourself a financial runway. Don’t put yourself in a position where you HAVE to see results in 30 days or you can’t pay your mortgage or rent. Give yourself space to test and optimize without panicking.

Persist through the “messy middle.” That’s the phase where you’re working hard, spending money on ads, not seeing results yet, and questioning everything.

Many quit in the messy middle. The ones who succeed push through. And you can get through the messy middle much faster when you’ve validated your offer, first.

Your Next Move

When you combine all seven habits, you’re not just building a coaching business… you’re building a sustainable, profitable business that can weather almost any market changes.

These aren’t just theories. This is the exact framework I use with my clients. And it works. One of my clients increased her enrollments by 41% once we did some of the work I told you about here.

If you want deeper strategies on each of these habits, I cover them extensively in this newsletter. There are already dozens of articles giving you specific marketing insights to build a profitable coaching business.

Since you’re still reading, I’m guessing you liked this post. If that’s the case, it would mean a lot to me if you gave it a like. And if you have a moment, let me know in the comments which of the habits was a new idea for you.

That’s all for this week!

Be well…

Nicole

P.S. I talked a lot about market validation in this article because it makes such a difference. That’s why it’s the first thing I do when considering working with someone. It’s so important that I’m now offering it as a stand-alone service. If you’re interested, click this link to find out more.

Has this ever happened to you?

You’re reading something and after a few minutes, you realize you don’t remember a single word of it.

I used to blame myself when that happened to me. I’d think I had a concentration problem. So I’d go back and reread the text, forcing myself to focus harder.

It felt like a personal flaw — like I just wasn’t paying attention. But then my copywriting mentor said something that completely reframed why that happens…

“If someone’s mind wanders while they’re reading, it’s not their fault. It’s the writer’s fault.”

Mic drop.

The problem wasn’t me. The problem was the writing. It didn’t keep my attention. So while my eyes kept reading the words, my brain had moved on to something more pressing (like that errand I need to run before the end of the day) or interesting (like when the next season of The Bachelor is starting).

That insight changed the way I read and, more importantly, the way I write.

Because it’s simply not good enough to grab people’s attention… you need to keep it, too.

My mentor taught me this is true for every paragraph, sentence, and even every word.

I remember debating for 20 minutes whether a client should say their program helps people “achieve lasting energy” or “unlock lasting energy.” Same outcome, completely different psychology.

“Achieve” implies hard work and willpower. “Unlock” implies the energy is already there and you just need the right key.

The point is, attention is fragile. You need to earn it every step of the way.

Once I understood this, I started seeing all the places where my health and wellness clients were losing people’s attention in their webinars.

At the time, I was helping my clients create webinars to book more calls with potential coaching clients. And while I was reviewing their slides, there was one moment when my brain almost always wandered off.

It was the part of the webinar where they introduced their Signature System (or their roadmap, blueprint, proprietary process… it goes by different names).

They were proud of their Signature System, and for good reason. Their Signature System represents how they get clients results.

But when I’d get to that part of their webinar, whatever energy and momentum I’d been experiencing until then deflated like a punctured balloon. And I’d have to work hard to keep my brain engaged.

Of course, I found a way to do it because they were coming to me for help. But the likelihood of someone else doing that out in the internet wild was very slim.

And here’s the sneaky part…

There wasn’t anything “wrong” with what they wrote. There just wasn’t anything about it to keep my interest. And I knew if my brain was drifting, the audience’s would, too.

Keep in mind this wasn’t just about the ocassional webinar I’d see here and there. It was a pattern I kept seeing over and over. And I knew every time a coach lost attention at this crucial moment, they lost a potential client who might have said yes.

That’s so important, I want to say it again…

The moment a person’s brain drifts off is the moment you lose a potential client.

That was the moment I realized what a major “client leak” a person’s Signature System could be. And once I saw that, I wanted to find a way to plug it.

So I went back to what I learned during my apprenticeship — the idea that attention is earned, line by line, idea by idea, and even word by word. And I started helping people reshape their Signature Systems. I wanted them to become something that was more likely to get people leaning in instead of tuning out.

That meant creating a “roadmap” wasn’t good enough. I wanted to help my clients create something that seemed like a magic wand. I wanted people to see it as a breakthrough, not a list of instructions.

That shift completely transformed how I now build webinars and teach Signature Systems. Instead of creating generic roadmaps, I help coaches build breakthrough moments that make potential clients lean in and think, ‘This is exactly what I need.’

If you’d like to learn how to create a Signature System that holds attention and converts more prospects into clients, let me know in the comments. If there’s enough interest, I’ll create a workshop walking you through the exact process.

Be well…

Nicole

P.S. If you want to know the specific problems I see with coaches’ Signature Systems, and what to do instead, check out this article I published earlier this week where I break it all down.

Most coaches do have a Signature System. But very few have one that actually helps sell their program.

That’s a missed opportunity. Because a strong Signature System makes people feel hopeful and excited about working with you… before you’ve ever had a conversation with them.

I’m going to show you how to do that in this post.

But first, I want to walk you through the 3 biggest mistakes I see health and wellness professionals make with their Signature System so you don’t fall into the same trap.

If you’re more of a visual learner, I also recorded a video about this when I was in France recently. I break down the 3 mistakes and also show you a real example of a Signature System that absolutely nails it.

Now let’s get to those mistakes…

Mistake #1: Thinking your program is your Signature System

This is the most common trap I see.

Coaches are often told to give people a “roadmap” — something that walks people through the actual steps of their program.

But a roadmap doesn’t create desire. In fact, it can often make the process sound more like work!

Instead, think of your Signature System as a marketing message, not your program outline.

• Your program is how you deliver results.

• Your Signature System is how you communicate the promise of those results in a way that sparks anticipation.

Let’s look at an example:

“Assess → Plan → Implement” is not a Signature System. It’s more like a project plan.

Instead, you want your Signature System to feel more like a magic wand — something that makes people think, “Finally… this might be the thing that actually works.”

(I’ll show you how in a moment.)

Mistake #2: Making it too complicated

Another mistake is trying to cram everything you do into your Signature System. You end up with a six- or seven-step monster that overwhelms people before they’ve even booked a call.

Instead, try to stay in the sweet spot, which is three steps.

Three steps feels complete but doable. It’s enough to give people a clear path from where they are now to where they want to be.

And when people can actually see that path in a way that excites them and doesn’t feel overwhelming, they feel confident you can help them. That’s what turns curiosity into commitment.

Now let’s talk about the third mistake. This one costs coaches the most sales.

Mistake #3: Making your Signature System sound informational instead of transformational

Even a clear, 3-step system will fall flat if it has steps that sound like this:

• test

• plan

• assess

• evaluate

• adjust

These are boxes to check. They’re tasks. And people don’t buy a list of tasks. They buy transformation.

Your Signature System should make the results feel inevitable, not like work.

And you do that by creating steps that feel transformational the moment someone reads them.

How to create a powerful Signature System

Once you avoid the pitfalls above, building a strong Signature System becomes a lot easier. All it takes is a little shift in thinking.

Here some great thought starters to help you craft your 3 steps:

• How can you remove an obstacle that has blocked their progress?

• How can you make the process feel easier and more doable?

• Can you relieve a frustration they’ve been carrying for years?

• Can you turn a limiting belief into a new possibility?

• How can you make the result feel inevitable?

If your steps hit even one of these, you’re already on your way to crafting a Signature System that feels empowering instead of procedural.

If you want to see this in practice, I walk through an example in the video version of this post.

👉 You can watch the example here.

If you’d be interested in a workshop where I walk through how to build a Signature System that actually holds attention and helps you get more clients, let me know in the comments. If there’s enough interest, I’ll put something together.

Be well…

Nicole

Enjoy posts like this? Then don’t miss the next one!

If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber yet, what are you waiting for?!

If you’re like many of the health and wellness professionals I talk to, you spend at least some time agonizing over your website.

Maybe you’ve changed your homepage headline seventeen times…

Or you keep second-guessing your About page…

Maybe you’ve even dropped $3,000 (or more) on a photo shoot, web designer, and developing your “brand look”…

And you’re still not happy with it.

Meanwhile, your empty calendar stares back at you every morning … and that new program you’ve been wanting to launch stays tucked away in a Google folder.

If that sounds familiar, and you’re still worrying that you need a better website, you might be surprised to hear what I’m about to tell you.

Chances are, you might not even need a website. In fact, it might be the wrong tool for you entirely.

I’ve watched people spend six months obsessing over their website while their online program sits empty. Some may spend thousands on a custom site that’s pretty to look at. But what they end up with amounts to a beautiful monument that friends and family might “ooh” and “ah” at, but it doesn’t move the needle on their business.

Before you spend another moment agonizing over your site, the question you really need to ask yourself is, “Do I even need a website right now?”

What You Actually Need to Get Clients

When health and wellness professionals decide to launch their online coaching program, many are led to believe the path looks like this:

Build a website → Post on social or launch a funnel → Clients magically appear

When the path that actually works is this:

Create an offer → Test demand so you can launch with confidence → Get paying clients → THEN build a website

Notice the difference? One path has you building infrastructure for a business you hope to have. The other has you building infrastructure to support a business that already exists.

If your goal is to fill a group program, test a new offer, or run paid advertising to build your practice, you probably don’t need a website. You need a landing page — one page that’s focused on one thing that can be built in a day.

If you’re trying to create something you can send people to so they can “find out more about you,” then you might want to have a website. But even then, it better be one that helps you build your business and not just an “online brochure.”

The Critical Difference Many People Miss

Both a website and a landing page can be valuable marketing assets if they’re done in the right way. But they serve very different purposes.

Think of your website as your home base. It has multiple pages and various entry points. Someone might land on your blog, read your about page, then leave and come back three months later.

But a landing page is a focused conversion tool. It’s one page with one specific goal. There’s only one action you want visitors to take. If someone clicks your ad about thyroid health, lands on your thyroid program landing page, they’ll either take a specific next step with you or they won’t.

I often see people confuse the two. They create websites that try to do so many things that I feel overwhelmed just looking at them. They’re confusing. And a confused visitor clicks away.

That’s one problem with websites. The other problem is the exact opposite…

The $3,000 Website Nobody Reads

I’ve seen stunning websites with custom photography, a beautiful design, copy that tells the coach’s heartfelt mission of helping people transform from chronic illness to vibrant health, and lists out a full suite of services.

They look like a gorgeous brochure you’d see lying on the reception desk at a concierge practitioner’s office.

And that’s the problem.

That kind of online brochure website may be pretty, but it’s pretty useless at building a business.

And if your website isn’t helping you build your business, what’s the point of having it?

How to Know If You Need a Website or Landing Page

Here’s what I tell my clients:

If you want to get people to sign up for a specific program or offer, don’t waste your precious time creating a website. Create a landing page instead. Get it converting. Bring in revenue. Learn what messages resonate with your ideal clients.

Start with a landing page for your core offer.

Here are my top tips for make a landing page that converts:

• Talk about one specific offer (not three different programs)

• Start with a powerful headline that shows your ideal client why they should read on

• Include messaging that speaks to the problem AND to the outcome the ideal client wants

• Include “proof elements,” such as real testimonials from actual clients

• Briefly mention why you’re qualified to help them

• Make your writing so easy to read that a 12-year-old would get it (no jargon, long paragraphs, or complex explanations)

• Edit it down to only the essential elements. If something doesn’t help move people toward action, cut it

Watch This Playing Out in Real Time

I pulled a video out of the Website Wednesday Live! vault to show you this with a real example. My guest had fallen into the website vs. landing page trap. And she ended up with a confusing mess after following advice from another marketing “expert.”

Watch what happened when I showed her the difference:

In this video, you’ll see:

• The exact moment she realizes her homepage was sabotaging her conversions

• How trying to do everything with one page was costing her clients

• The specific fixes that would separate her landing page from her website

• Why the advice she was given would cost her clients

• My live reaction to some genuinely terrible marketing advice

Your Best Move Right Now

If you’re trying to get more people into a coaching program, put that website you’re agonizing over on hold.

Create one simple landing page for your offer. Drive some traffic to it and see what happens.

Because six months from now, you can either have a beautiful website with no clients, or a simple landing page that’s putting money in the bank.

I know which one I’d choose.

The moment they try to turn their expertise into a profitable online coaching business, they almost all hit the same wall.

It happens when they realize how hard it is to market themselves. And sadly, most of the marketing advice out there doesn’t help.

Chances are, somewhere along the way you were told to “pick a niche.” But that advice usually creates more confusion than clarity. Because the real issue isn’t picking a niche.

The real issue is choosing a profitable audience.

And those two don’t always line up.

A profitable audience isn’t determined by demographics, credentials, interests, or “who you feel called to serve.”

A profitable audience is determined by something far more blunt:

How disruptive a problem is to a person’s quality of life.

That’s it, in a nutshell.

People don’t invest in help for problems they can tolerate. They invest when something keeps interfering with their life, over and over, to the point where they don’t want to keep pretending “everything’s fine.”

And when it comes to successful marketing, there’s another part to the equation that’s just as important…

Because while many health and wellness professionals may choose a profitable audience, they lose them with their marketing for one simple reason.

They think like experts… not like the people they want to attract.

Let me give you a real example.

I recently did some deep market research for a coach. She helps people whose quality of life is suffering because of joint and muscle pain. And what I found was eye-opening.

Inside the clinical world, there’s a strong preference to avoid the phrase “chronic pain.” One Australian exercise physiology clinic even wrote this:

“The preferred term is now becoming Persistent Pain. ESPECIALLY when talking with clients about their condition. Words matter. Words form beliefs.” 1

They’re right. Words absolutely form beliefs. As a copywriter, I couldn’t agree more.

But I’m also a marketer. And so I also know this:

For marketing to have the highest chance of success, the words we use must enter the conversation people are having in their head.

And here’s where the research got even more interesting.

Using “persistent pain” or “ongoing pain” instead of “chronic pain” isn’t just clinically different...

It’s commercially catastrophic.

The market overwhelmingly uses the term “chronic pain.” It’s not even close. People use “chronic pain” nearly 100% of the time.

Google, YouTube, Reddit, Amazon… everywhere people talk about it, they use the word chronic. And while some search engines redirect “persistent” queries toward “chronic” content, relying on that is a gamble.

My analysis showed that using “persistent pain” exclusively could tank your discoverability by 95% or more.

That’s not just a small gap. That’s invisibility.

And this is why the “pick a niche” conversation often misleads people. If you choose what you want to do, your marketing could be a big disconnect with the people you can help.

That’s why building a successful coaching business isn’t about picking a niche. It’s about creating a marketable offer.

Once you understand that, choosing a profitable audience becomes a different conversation entirely. You have to look at the actual lived experience of the people you want to help.

If you choose an audience with a pressing, disruptive problem, you’ll have an audience that is hoping someone with the answer will come along… and the sooner the better.

I go deeper into all of this… including how to identify a profitable audience and the mistakes most professionals make… in this week’s video.

If you want to see more videos like this, you can explore the rest of my YouTube channel here. I’m adding new ones regularly.

If you’ve been trying to build a health or wellness coaching business, you know it isn’t easy.

You’re up against a lot of competition. And I bet all the ‘advice’ you’re hearing about what you should do is only making it more confusing

So I’m going to tell you exactly what I would do if I wanted to start a health or wellness coaching business today from scratch. No clients, no audience, and no website. This is based on what I’ve seen work, and what I’ve seen be a waste of time.

But first, in case you’re wondering why you should listen to me, let me give you a little background…

First, I’ve been a marketer for over 30 years. I don’t have one of those “I used to be a health coach, but now I help health coaches build their businesses” stories. My story is that I’ve been a marketer for my entire career. I spent years building brands like MTV, Nickelodeon, and Pokémon into global icons.

Second, I left the corporate world because I wanted to build a business that gave me two important things:

1. The freedom to work on my own terms

2. Work that focused on something I was genuinely passionate about (natural health and wellness).

Then I discovered copywriting. And I had the amazing fortune of apprenticing with one of the top alternative health writers (who is a legend in the copywriting world).

And third, since 2018 I’ve been using my Fortune 500 experience and advanced copywriting skills to help health and wellness professionals build profitable coaching businesses. I’ve helped over 1,000 of them. And many have gone on to add $10,000 to $20,000 to their monthly income (and some a lot more).

Okay, now let’s get to the three things I would focus on if I wanted to start a new health or wellness coaching business… and the three things people often tell aspiring coaches to do that I would completely ignore. Let’s start with those.

Here’s what I would NOT waste my time on

Everyone tells new coaches to “pick a niche.” Even I used to say the same thing.

But then I watched how it kept coaches stuck for months. And some a lot longer.

It feels like such a big decision. And honestly, the advice out there on how to do it is mediocre, at best.

Now there’s nothing “wrong” with having a niche. And if you’re already 100% certain what you want to do, that’s great.

But if that’s not you, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Because in a moment I’m going to tell you what’s even more important than picking a niche.

The second thing I’d skip is spending any time or money developing my “brand identity.” (And I say that as someone who had a 29-year career building brands!)

If I was starting a new health coaching business, I wouldn’t have a photo shoot. I wouldn’t worry about a logo. And I wouldn’t spend any time thinking about brand colors, fonts, or any of that type of stuff. Those things are all nice-to-haves. But they will not get you clients.

Honestly, a person with a health problem doesn’t care about your brand colors or your logo. All they care about is whether you can help them.

So building a brand identity at this stage is often procrastination disguised as productivity. It keeps you busy, but it won’t move the needle on your business.

And the third thing I’d skip is building a website. At this stage, you probably don’t have what you need to create a website that actually gets you clients. (And if your website isn’t helping you get clients, what’s it there for?)

Save the website for later. Right now, you need to focus on something else entirely.

So if I’m not picking a niche, building a brand, or creating a website… what am I doing?

The 3 Things I Would Focus On Now To Build My Coaching Business

The most important thing when you’re starting out is getting client experience. Hands down, this is your #1 goal.

When I was building my copywriting business, I already knew I wanted to help health and wellness professionals with their marketing. But my copywriting mentor told me to get any kind of client experience I could. So I worked with anyone who’d hire me — an interior designer, financial planners, a theology teacher, SaaS companies, a supermarket… and a bunch more.

And I learned so much! I learned how to ask questions that got people to reveal insights I needed to write their copy. I also figured out what kind of people I liked working with (and who I didn’t). And most importantly, I gained confidence.

I also started seeing patterns. I noticed where people lacked clarity and where they struggled beneath the surface. I got clearer about where I could make the biggest difference.

I hear the same thing with a lot of the health and wellness professionals I work with, too. As they start working with clients, they realize there are other factors that contribute to the problem. They see patterns, no matter what they’re helping people with.

Those kinds of insights only happen through real conversations with people. And that brings me to the second thing I’d focus on…

I’d build a deep understanding of the people I’m helping.

Every conversation with a client or potential client is a golden opportunity. And to make the most of it, you need to go beyond surface-level questions like “How long have you had this problem?” and “What have you tried?”

You want to understand how the problem affects their daily life. That means talking about:

• What things have they’ve stopped doing because of the problem?

• How does missing out on these things make them feel?

• Why do they think the things they tried didn’t work?

• How would their life be different if they didn’t have the problem?

• Why are they trying to solve it now?

Write down the exact words they use because these insights will become one of the biggest needle-movers in building your business.

When you use these insights in your marketing… especially if you use the words real people use… you’re speaking as a genuine person, not a marketer. And that builds trust.

Plus, when you understand their frustrations and obstacles, you can find ways to make those non-issues in your coaching program. That’s how you stand out.

Okay, now let’s get to the third thing I’d focus on…

Building social proof.

Working with clients is the only way to build your library of social proof. Even if your early testimonials are from people dealing with different problems than what you’ll eventually focus on, they’re still valuable. They show potential clients what you’re like to work with as a coach. And that’s one of the first things people want to know before they invest with you.

OK, so those are the three things I would do and the 3 things I’d ignore. Now let’s talk about how I’d put this into action!

How I’d Get My First 10 Paying Clients In 90-Days

Let me lay out the exact 90-day plan I’d follow to get my first 10 paying clients.

The First 30 days

My only goal during the first 30 days is to get three paying clients. I don’t care if they’re only paying me $100. As long as they’re paying me something, it counts.

1. First, I’ll ask friends and family if I can coach them. If I’ve already done that as part of my training, I’ll ask them for referrals. And I’m going to be honest about it. I’m going to say I’m looking to get some experience, and I would love it if they’d let me coach them.

2. I’m going to pick a topic that I’m interested in helping people with. Then I’m going to go to ChatGPT (or whatever AI you like to use) and ask it a few questions:

   1. What symptoms do people hate most about X?

   2. What frustrates people most about having X?

   3. What questions do people ask most about X?

3. With the info from ChatGPT, I’ll create an outline for a free workshop and put the date on my calendar for 10-12 days out. Then I’ll promote it:

   1. I’ll tap into any social groups, online communities, or organizations that I already belong to and let them know about it. I’m going to say something like, “I’m holding a free workshop about X where I’m going to (then I’ll list 3-5 things they’re going to find out about in the workshop). If you’re interested in finding out more, DM me.”

      The reason why is that I want to start a dialogue with people. That initial contact with them is important. So make sure you don’t give them all the details (day, time, etc.) until they’ve contacted you.

5. I’d reach out to my chiropractor, my functional medicine doctor, the yoga studio I go to, church, my kids’ school… in short, wherever I have any connections… and I’d ask if I can put up a sign about the workshop.

6. I’d make sure to somehow get people’s email addresses. Tell them you’re sending an email with the zoom link a couple of days before the workshop.

7. I’d try to get workshop attendees to schedule a call with me:

   1. At the end of the workshop, I’d invite people to speak with me if they want to have a more in depth conversation about their own situation.

   2. After the workshop, I’d contact everyone by email and invite them to book a call.

8. I’d do everything I can to get some of them to sign up for coaching. If they schedule a call with me, I’d weave that into the call. I’d send them emails about an opportunity for me to coach them to achieve X outcome.

9. I’d look at local companies that have wellness programs and offer a free lunch-and-learn session, where I’d present the workshop. I’d do this ASAP because I know it will probably take a few weeks (at least) to get on their calendar and promote it within the company.

The key here is that I’m not trying to build an audience on social media. I’m having real conversations with real people who might actually hire me.

So that was the first 30 days. Let’s look at the next 30 days…

Days 31 to 60

Now I’m working with those first three clients and refining my process. I’m asking those deep questions I mentioned earlier. I’m tracking what’s working. I’m writing down the exact words they use to describe their experience.

I’m also figuring out what I love about this work, what kind of people I enjoy working with, what patterns I’m seeing, and what obstacles keep coming up.

By the end of the second month, I should have a much clearer picture of where people need the most help and what I’m good at. And I’ll make sure to get testimonials from every client I’m working with.

Days 61-90

Then in the third month, I’m packaging what I’ve learned into a clear offer that solves a specific problem for a specific type of person. I’m going to use the language my first clients used (or anything I heard in the workshop or other conversations) to describe their problem and transformation they want.

By now, I may have at least one lunch-and-learn on the calendar. And I’ll add any insights I came up with to strengthen that session.

I’ll also go back to those same strategies from the first 30 days and try to get more paying clients.

If I haven’t reached my 10-client goal by the end of ninety days, I’ll at least have a handful of paying clients, a library of testimonials, deep insights into what people really need, and confidence in my ability to get clients.

Then if I wanted to try a different workshop topic, I’d go through the process again. Only this time I’d be able to do it faster.

So that’s exactly what I’d do if I were starting a health or wellness coaching business today. I’d skip the niche paralysis, the brand identity, and the website. And I’d focus on getting client experience, building a deep understanding of the people I’m speaking to, and I’d collect testimonials.

If you’d like to find out more about the path to building a successful coaching business, I laid it out in this article: The Best Strategy For Coaches Right Now

If this article helped you in some way, I’d love for you to give it a like! And if you have other ideas to share on how you got your first coaching clients, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

See you next time!

A few years ago, on a warm, sunny day, two health & wellness experts met at Starbucks to chat over an Iced Passion Tango Tea.

These two experts were very much alike.

They had the exact same credentials…

The same motivation…

And they were both pursuing the same dream…

They were starting online coaching programs that would allow them to help more people live healthier, happier lives.

Online coaching would also give them more flexibility so they could spend more time with their loved ones, travel more, and have the freedom to live life on their own terms.

And for a while, their paths looked nearly identical.

But fast-forward to today, and their lives couldn't be more different.

One of them is now living their dream!

They have an online coaching business they can do from anywhere. So they travel regularly, often through southern Europe, coaching clients from their laptop. Their calendar is full. And their business supports them financially and emotionally.

The other expert just made the tough decision to shut everything down.

Their business never got off the ground. Clients were inconsistent. Their marketing efforts never really worked. They were broke and burned out. And they had no choice but to find a job to pay the bills.

Sadly, I've seen a version of this fictional story play out over and over again.

How can two health & wellness experts start off in the exact same place, and only one achieves their dream and the other doesn't?

It often comes down to how they handle a critical phase of the journey that every health and wellness expert reaches early on in their coaching career.

The Most Important Phase Of Building A Coaching Business

There's a time in every coach's journey when they have to make some key decisions. It happens in Phase 2 — The Acceleration Phase.

The Acceleration Phase separates the coaches who are most likely to build a successful business from the ones who won't.

Make the wrong decision, and you may never gain enough traction to make your coaching business sustainable.

In my last post, I talked about Phase 1 — The Launch Phase. To give you a quick recap, Phase 1 is all about gaining experience and confidence. You say yes to everything… coach whoever's willing.

But eventually, you reach a point where continuing to say yes to everyone will keep you scattered. Stay the course, and it could eventually lead to burnout. That means it’s time to shift to Phase 2.

For me, that shift happened after about a year of working with just about anyone who would hire me, even though I knew I wanted to work with people in health and wellness.

I gained a lot of client experience during that time. And eventually, I was ready to put a stake in the ground. I started turning down work that wasn't related to health and wellness.

And what happened next surprised me.

I thought I'd have fewer clients. But instead, more aligned opportunities started showing up.

One of those opportunities was to join a team that was helping health & wellness experts create funnels to attract new clients. During that experience, I saw firsthand how powerful a well-positioned offer and a simple webinar funnel could be.

I also saw what's possible when a coach makes a clear decision about who they help and builds an offer around that focus. (And what happens when they don't.)

In short, Phase 2 is about creating a marketable offer. Let's get into the actual steps…

1. Create an Irresistible Breakthrough Offer™

The first thing you have to do is choose the one problem that will give you the most traction… the most irresistible thing you can offer to your dream clients. But that’s often easier said than done.

Let me give you an example from one of the coaches I worked with.

I was helping a gut health coach, who told me something I hear a lot:

"I can solve so many health problems just by healing the gut. So that's what I want to focus on."

It's true that gut health is foundational. The list of symptoms she could help was long—brain fog, fatigue, weight gain, food sensitivities, bloating, constipation, poor sleep, anxiety, IBS, IBD…

The challenge wasn't her gut health solution. It was how she talked about it.

Because unless someone has already been diagnosed with something like IBS or IBD and knows they need to heal their gut, they wouldn't see a gut coach as the best person to help them.

In other words, if a person doesn't have disturbing digestive symptoms, they won't be walking around thinking, "I need a gut health coach.” They're more likely to think things like…

"I'm exhausted all the time."

"I can't seem to lose weight anymore, no matter what I try."

"My skin keeps breaking out."

All of those things could be improved by healing the gut. But the person with the symptom probably doesn't know it.

When a coach tries to market their solution, they often get frustrated because their marketing isn't bringing them more clients.

It's not because their offer isn't good. It's because there's a disconnect between what the offer focuses on and what people actually want help with. Because in many cases, the message that gets a person in the door is different from the one that talks about what you do to get them results.

What I just said there is so important I want to repeat it.

The message that gets a person in the door is often very different from the one that talks about what you do to get them results.

I've seen many coaches give up on building an online business… and some even give up on coaching altogether… because they didn't focus their offer on something the market already wants.

(That often happens with poor niche-picking advice. The coach ends up picking a niche that the market has little interest in.)

So you need to make sure you focus your offer on something people know they want help with. Of course, it should also be something you enjoy helping people with, too.

If you've focused your Phase 1 efforts on gaining experience, hopefully you'll have a good idea what that might be.

The key is finding the sweet spot where market demand meets your expertise and passion. This alignment is what transforms a struggling coach into one with a thriving practice.

2. Establish your trust-building positioning

Your positioning is what gives you a way to stand out from other coaches. But it can do something else that's equally important, provided it's done in the right way.

And that's build trust.

For health and wellness coaches, building trust with potential clients is more important than ever. With so many people trying to market health & wellness offers, chances are that they've already tried many things that haven't worked. So they're jaded and skeptical.

Not only that… A lot of the marketing out there is full of hype and often uses scare tactics.

People are worn out by this type of marketing. And their BS detectors are on high alert.

A better approach is one that gently softens skepticism. This takes powerful, well-crafted messages that reframe what's possible and gives people a reason to hope again.

3. Create Your Marketing System

Once you have your offer, your positioning, and your well-crafted messaging, it's time to create a lead-gen marketing system. And the most powerful one I've seen for health and wellness coaches is a webinar.

A well-written webinar does 4 important things:

1. Shows people why they can trust you

2. Positions you as the obvious choice for them

3. Gets them excited to get on a call with you

4. "Pre-sells" them, so it's easier to get them to say yes to your program when you're on a call

Let's focus a little more on point 3 — getting them excited to get on a call with you.

There was a time when people were happy to get on a "discovery call" with a coach. But times have changed.

It's harder than ever to get people on a call now. So your webinar has to make a strong case that getting on a call with you is a smart idea.

You do this by making sure they will get something of value on the call.

Not an ebook, a list of recipes, or a checklist.

I mean something that's going to make a big difference in whether or not they achieve the results they're after.

This has to be woven throughout the webinar. So by the time you offer them the opportunity to book a call with you, they've already been thinking how they wished they could speak with you!

That's what a well-written webinar can do for you.

4. Market your Webinar

Of course, you need to get people to your webinar. Here are some ways you can do that:

• Put links in your social media posts and bios

• Put it on your website

• Present it live if you have the chance to speak in front of a group

• If you have an email list, send it to them

That last one raises an important point.

Your webinar is perfect for helping you build your list. So you need to make sure people need to opt in to watch it. That means they have to fill in a form where they give you their email address, first. This is how your webinar helps you build your list, which is an essential part of Phase 2, as you'll see in the next point.

Before I get to that, there's one more way you can drive traffic to your webinar. And that's through paid ads, such as on Facebook or Instagram.

If your budget allows for this, running paid ads is a great way to build your list and get people to watch your webinar. It's one of the fastest ways to test your IBO.

5. Email your list regularly

You need to be emailing your list every week. Even better, email them two to three times a week.

This is important because email is the best way for people to get to know more about you. And the more expensive your coaching program is, the more they want to know about you before they'll be willing to invest.

Over time, your list can become your best source of new clients.

The Choice Is Yours

Remember those two coaches I told you about in the beginning?

If you want to be like the one who started traveling through Europe, laptop in hand, living their dream, you have to master Phase 2.

• Focus your offer on what people actually wanted help with

• Build trust through trust-based positioning

• Create a marketing system that consistently brings you qualified leads

Phase 2 isn't easy. It requires you to make some tough decisions. You'll need to resist the urge to help everyone with everything.

But the coaches who are willing to make the decisions, then build a powerful marketing asset and test their IBO, are the ones who lay the foundation for success.

Not only that…

Their positioning gives them the confidence to charge more because they know exactly what makes them different. And they know how to talk to people about the value they bring when they talk to prospects.

They're the ones building sustainable, fulfilling businesses that give them the freedom they dreamed of.

So where are you right now? Are you still in Phase 1, saying yes to everyone? Or are you ready to make the leap into Phase 2?

If you're ready to create your Irresistible Breakthrough Offer™ and build the marketing system that will fill your calendar with ideal clients, then it's time for Phase 2.

The market is waiting for what you have to offer, but only if you package it in a way they can understand and desire.

If you want help picking the right offer, The $10k/Month Offer Finder™ might help. In less than 30 minutes, it helps you choose the one program that’s most likely to attract your dream clients and get you to $10k months the fastest.

Get the details here.

There’s no shortage of advice out there about how to launch an online health or wellness coaching business. But if you’re in the first stage of building your business, some of it can do more harm than good.

In this article, I’m going to tell you the advice you probably heard and should skip.

Even better, I’m going to give you tips so you can make the most of this phase… because coaches who do the Launch Phase right will set themselves up perfectly for Phase 2. (I’ll cover that in a future post.)

First, here are a few traps I often see coaches fall into…

1. Forcing themselves to “pick a niche”

Every time I hear people advising new coaches to pick a niche, it always makes me cringe.

Truth be told, there was a time when I said the same thing. But then I saw how it can keep coaches stuck.

The thought of picking a niche when you’re just starting out can feel overwhelming.

When a decision feels overwhelming, it’s usually because you don’t have the information you need to make it with confidence. And you probably won’t have the insights you need to pick a good niche when you’re just starting out.

So a “niche” is NOT something to stress over in the Launch Phase (or really ever, as far as I’m concerned).

If you do have a niche, and if it will help you build the kind of business you want, that’s awesome!

Otherwise, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Because there’s something else that’s much more important to building a successful coaching business, as you’ll see in a moment.

2. Building a “brand identity”

I've seen people spend a lot of money on creating their brand identity before hanging out their shingle.

They invest in photo shoots, hire “branding experts” to create their brand archetype and design their brand look, including colors, fonts, a logo, and other completely meaningless things. (And I say that coming from a 29-year career building brands around the world!)

The truth is, all those are nice-to-haves. They will not help you get clients.

A person with a health or wellness problem doesn’t give a hoot about your brand colors, logo, or the photos on your website.

In fact, investing in a brand is often a way for people procrastinate. It keeps them busy so they feel like they're accomplishing something… but it won’t move the needle for their business.

3. Building a website

The third piece of common advice you can ignore is that you have to build a website. At this stage, it’s unlikely that you’ll have what you need to create a website that will help you get clients. And if your website isn't helping you get clients, what's it there for?

To me, the website falls in the same category as building your brand identity. In phase 1, it’s a nice-to-have. But it keeps you from focusing on what's truly important.

This Is Your #1 One Goal In The Launch Phase

The most important part about the Launch Phase is getting client experience. Hands down, it’s your number one goal.

The Launch Phase is about doing the reps. You want to get as much client experience as you possibly can.

Because that’s the only thing that matters when you're first starting out, no matter what kind of business you’re in.

When I was in the Launch Phase of building my business, I already knew I wanted to help health and wellness professionals with their marketing. But both of my mentors told me to get any type of client experience. So that’s what I did.

I worked with interior designers, financial planners, theology teachers, SaaS companies, supermarkets, and yes, even the occasional health professional.

I was open to working for anyone who’d hire me. And I learned so much in the process.

I learned what questions to ask.

I figured out what kind of people I liked working with (and who I didn’t).

And best of all, I gained a lot of confidence.

Eventually, I started seeing patterns.

I started noticing where people were struggling beneath the surface (and it wasn’t what I expected it to be). I also got clearer on what I loved doing, what was missing in the market, and where I could make the biggest difference.

Here’s Exactly What You Need To Do

Now let’s talk about the best way to approach this phase so you get the most out of it. I don’t mean from a coaching perspective. That’s your expertise. I mean from a marketing perspective, which is my expertise.

Every time you speak with a client, or even a potential client, you have a golden opportunity to understand people on a deeper level.

If you ask the right questions, you’ll gain insights that will make your marketing infinitely more effective. It makes the difference between marketing that brings you more clients, and marketing that wastes your time and money.

So let’s go through the things you’re looking for…

1. What are people really going through?

You want to understand how the problem affects people’s lives and how they talk about it. So you’ll need to go beyond the obvious questions, like “how long have you had the problem?” and “how have you tried to solve it?”

You need to get to know how the problem affects them on a personal level. Some of the things to find out are:

• In what ways has the problem changed their life?

• How does the problem show up in their lives?

• What are some of the things they stopped doing because of it?

• How does having the problem make them feel?

• Why didn’t the things they tried work?

• How would their life change if they no longer had the problem?

• Why are they trying to get help now to solve this problem? Did anything happen in their life that made them want to focus on it now?

Of course, questions like these will help you build rapport with the person you're trying to help. But there are 2 other ways they will help you with your marketing.

First, they help you build your clients’ emotional profile with the words they use.

This is the biggest needle-mover in marketing. When your marketing includes words real people use, you’ll be talking to them as a genuine person (versus speaking like a “marketer”).

The second thing is you’ll be gaining important insights that will help you stand out from other options out there.

When you understand people’s frustrations and the obstacles that have been getting in their way, you can figure out ways to make them a non-issues in your coaching.

2. Get a feel for what you like, and don’t like

You want to build a business that you enjoy. And part of that means working with people you like to work with… and avoiding the people you don’t like to work with.

For example, one of the things I see is some people start identifying with the problem. They subconsciously become resistant to change because that means losing their identity… even though they complain about having the problem.

People like that can be a real drain on a coach.

As you gain more experience working with clients, you'll start to see clues in conversations that will flag the people you don’t want to work with.

3. Testimonials

Working with clients is the only way to build your library of testimonials. Even if they're from people who are dealing with a different problem than the one in your program, they’re still valuable. They can speak to what you're like to work with as a coach, which is one of the things people want to know.

How To Find Your First Clients

You could try to find your first clients online, but I think there are better ways. For example:

1. Ask your friends and family if you can coach them. (And ask them for referrals, too)

2. Tap into any communities or social groups you belong to

3. Ask your health and wellness providers — doctors, chiropractors, yoga studios, etc. — if they can recommend you, or if you could put up a sign in their office, or if you can offer a workshop for their clients

4. Look at companies nearby to see if they have corporate wellness programs and offer a free “lunch and learn” session. At the end, give the participants the opportunity to schedule a call with you to discuss their specific health goals

5. Have kids in school? Pull together a workshop for parents in your kid’s class

The Launch Phase is about gaining experience, insights, and confidence. It’s your foundation-building phase. This can only happen by having real conversations.

You don’t need a beautiful brand yet.
You don’t need a crystal-clear niche.
You don’t need a website.

You need reps.
You need data.
You need stories and sessions and lived experience.

Because that’s what gives you something to build on.

Some final tips to totally rock this phase:

1. Say yes to coaching as many different people as possible
   This is how you get better. It’s how you discover your voice, your process, and what makes you different

2. Focus on building your understanding of people on a deeper level
   Track what you’re learning and, most importantly, write down the words they use to describe their experience

3. Let people know what you’re doing
   Tell friends, family, communities you’re in (both online and in real life). Connect with your own health and wellness providers, local businesses, and kids’ schools to see if you can collaborate with them or offer workshops

4. Focus on the transformation
   Figure out better ways to help people get results by looking at the things that blocked them in the past. Keep tabs on what’s working for them. And make sure you get a testimonial from them!

Coming Up Next: The Acceleration Phase

In my next post, I’ll walk you through what happens after you’ve coached enough people to start your acceleration strategy.

We’ll talk about how to narrow your niche, shape your first strong offer, and start building real momentum in your business.

Until then, what part of Phase 1 resonated most for you? Leave a comment below 👇And if you liked this post, please give it a ♥️.

Early in my copywriting career, I was fortunate to work with 2 amazing mentors.

Both were expert marketers and exceptionally talented.

And like me, they both placed a high value on helping people live healthier, happier lives.

I worked closely with them for years. Honestly, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was!

My first mentor — a legend in the copywriting world — is like a copywriting hitman. I apprenticed with him for 6 ½ years.

He has one of the highest success rates in the industry for beating controls. That means when his sales copy goes up against the best performing copy (the control), his sells even more… usually much more.

And he was teaching me all of his secrets!

These are secrets you can’t find in any book, course, or copywriting workshop. (I even had to sign an NDA promising not to divulge them to anyone.)

Everything The Hitman taught me was about writing high-converting copy… copy that hits the bullseye.

Things like…

• How to write in a way that’s practically impossible to ignore

• How to keep people reading

• How to overcome their doubts and skepticism

• How to show them why the thing I’m selling is exactly what they need

And so much more…

To him, everything was about quality.

In fact, whenever I submitted my copy for him to review, he would ask me this question:

"If your life depended on this working, is this the copy you’d put out there?"

He called it having a “gun to the head” mentality.

So that gives you an idea of what The Hitman was about. Now let me tell you about my other mentor… the one I came to call The Hustler.

The Hustler’s clients were building online businesses. And my role was to help them create digital marketing campaigns designed to help them.

The thing I loved most about working with The Hustler was helping his clients develop their unique positioning.

I knew from my training with The Hitman how important it was to have unique positioning. It was one of the key factors in creating a successful marketing campaign.

This is especially true when you’re competing in saturated niches, which The Hustler’s clients were. So I worked hard to make each of them stand out.

I loved that I was applying the advanced skills I was learning with The Hitman to support the work I was doing with The Hustler. It made everything I was doing feel so connected and aligned!

And then… the whole vibe changed.

The Hustler started to shift his thinking. He became laser-focused on growth and profits. His mantras became speed is king and done is better than perfect.

Now don’t get me wrong. I believe in growth and profit, too. But there’s a tipping point where the drive for growth and profit comes at a price. I saw that happen over and over again in the corporate world.

Fast Food vs. Home Cooking

The bigger a business wants to scale, the more automated and repeatable their processes need to be. That’s a simple fact.

Just think of fast food restaurants. They can’t offer healthy, home-cooked meals. That’s impossible at scale.

So they systematize, automate, and streamline.

Fast food restaurants like McDonald’s design everything to squeeze out the most profit:

• Where they get their ingredients

• The quality of those ingredients

• How the ingredients are processed to fit into a highly automated system

And The Hustler was doing something similar.

He had a well-oiled marketing engine. But to scale it, everything had to be simplified and super-efficient. It had to become as “plug & play” as possible.

And that’s when things started falling apart for me.

The Hustler didn’t want me to bring a “gun to the head” mentality to create quality marketing assets for his clients anymore. That approach slowed things down, which didn’t align with his obsession with speed.

So he revamped the system. He figured out a way to build plug-and-play marketing assets for his clients. If they didn’t like them, they were told to trust the process.

Then when they had spent enough money on ads to prove the funnel wasn’t working, they’d come to me to help them fix it.

By that point, they were often very upset. They had already spent oodles on the program, and oodles more on ads.

When I looked at their funnels, I could often see immediately what wasn’t working—and exactly how to fix it:

• How to help them sound different from everyone else out there

• How to make their videos so compelling people wanted to keep watching

• How to position them as the perfect person to solve their audience’s problem

When I got to do that kind of work, people on the team said it was like watching The Mentalist in action.

But my approach didn’t fit with The Hustler’s new direction.

I was about home cooking from scratch. But what he wanted was ultra-processed fast food.

I was told to simplify my coaching… to give people one surface-level tweak and get them back out there fast, pouring their hard-earned money into ads that led to a generic sales video.

I couldn’t do it.

The Hitman’s precision training had become second nature to me. It was part of my copywriting DNA.

Besides, I saw too many of The Hustler’s clients “trust the process” and end up going broke and getting burned out.

I wasn’t okay with that.

To be fair, some of The Hustler’s clients had plug-and-play funnels that worked great. And a rare few even knocked it out of the park.

But there were so many people who floundered. Some even had to drop out and get a job to pay off the debt they had wracked up.

Maybe “done is better than perfect” has its place.

But personally, I like to create assets that are more like a home-cooked meal, made from scratch, crafted with attention and with, well, love.

That’s how I work with my clients. (And that’s why I’m no longer coaching The Hustler’s clients.)

When your dream clients scroll past you…
When your webinar flops…
When your funnel is a dead end…

You don’t need “fast.”

You need focus.

You need copy that connects…
Messaging that moves people...
And a strategy that positions you as the best and obvious choice.

That’s how I help my clients win.

If you enjoyed this article, please give it some joy back by clicking that adorable little heart below. And if something about it resonated with you, please leave a comment letting me know. I’d love to hear from you!

Every week, I hold 2 coaching calls that focus on email marketing. The attendees are health and wellness coaches who use a funnel that starts with Facebook or Instagram ads (also known as a cold traffic funnel).

While the primary goal of the funnel is to book calls with potential clients, it also does a fantastic job at building the coaches’ email list.

These coaches know that done right, their email list can work like their own personal ATM.

Take my client, Sarah, for example. We just ran a one week, 4-email campaign to her list. And those 4 emails got 15 people to book calls with her!

We’re working to get her call close rate up to 60%. But even at her current close rate (about 30%), those emails will very likely bring her $20,000 in new clients.

Not bad for a week's work!

When I first started helping Sarah, one of my primary goals was to optimize her funnel. And that meant getting people on her list to book calls with her. Without an email strategy to do that, Sarah was basically throwing money out the window.

Remember that every lead costs you something to acquire it. That “something” is time and/or money.

In Sarah’s case, each new lead typically costs her between $3 and $8. As with any type of funnel, some of those new leads will convert as they’re going through it. (In this case, “convert” means they booked a call.)

But the fact is, very few people are willing to book a call right away because they don’t know enough about the coach.

Most funnels convert around 3% of new leads. That means 97% won’t book a call. If Sarah didn’t have a strategy for following up, the money she spent to acquire 97% of her leads would be completely wasted.

That’s why having an email strategy is so important.

Without question, email is the most intimate form of online marketing there is. When you email your list regularly, you build a connection and trust. That’s how over time, your list becomes your best source of new clients.

But the way you get people onto your email list makes a huge difference

Many marketing “experts” encourage coaches to make a simple lead magnet that provides value, usually by helping people solve a problem they have.

But unless the lead magnet is aligned with your overall strategy, it might get you names and emails, but not the right people.

So I prefer taking a more strategic approach. Here’s how…

Think of your lead magnet as your entry-point offer. You want it to bring the right people into your world and prime them to take the next step with you.

Ideally, your entry-point offer does these 3 things:

1. Positions you as the expert

2. Shows people what makes you different

3. Leads naturally into the next step you want them to take

Your entry-point offer could be:

• A free download of some kind

• A subscription to a newsletter (free or paid)

• A workshop or masterclass (either live or pre-recorded)

• A low ticket offer (typically between $7 and $97)

Sarah’s entry-point offer is a masterclass we created. It’s a 30-minute video that brings the right people into her world. The masterclass is specifically designed to:

✅ Position Sarah uniquely and highlight her expertise

✅ Show people why all the things they tried to solve their problem haven’t worked (in this case the problem is on-going pain)

✅ Show them the exact system Sarah developed that’s already helped thousands of people get the results they want. (This primes them to take the next step with her.)

Some people book a call right from the masterclass. But most don’t. That’s where the email strategy comes in.

We typically send 3 emails a week that help people understand more about what Sarah does. They work to build trust and to help people see why she’s the best choice to help them.

Why this approach is more important than ever

If you want your email list to become your most reliable source of new clients, you can’t just build a list and email them when you want clients. You need a real strategy.

So the 1st step of the strategy is creating the right entry-point offer to ensure you get the right people on your list.

The 2nd step is to email your list regularly. This is about creating connection, helping them get to know you, and building trust.

Now we get to the 3rd step. This is essential because you could have a list full of great leads, but they’ll never convert if your emails never make it to their inbox.

This is where your sender reputation comes in.

Your sender reputation is like your email credit score. Every time you send an email, inbox providers like Gmail and Yahoo are evaluating whether your message deserves to land in the person’s primary inbox. If not, they’ll push it to the promotions tab. Or even worse, into the junk or spam folder.

And that destroys your sender reputation.

That’s why smart coaches don’t just build their list. They manage it. (I’ll put a link to an article that shows you how to do this at the end.)

How to find out if your sender reputation is in trouble

If you’ve been emailing your list and your click-through rates are low… or your open rates are slipping for no clear reason... your sender reputation may be working against you.

I recommend running a deliverability audit. It’s a simple way to check your domain health, engagement history, and inbox placement. It will show you if your emails are being flagged, filtered, or buried… and what you can do to fix it.

If you’re interested, I recommend Scott Hartley’s Hit The Inbox Audit. It’s affordable and incredibly insightful. It’s something I do for all my funnel optimizer clients. (That’s an affiliate link, which means I get a small referral fee if you decide to do it.)

If you want help building a strong, engaged list from the start, I also promised you a link to another article that will help you build your email list. Here it is:

3 Email Mistakes That Cost You Coaching Clients. Plus, the "You had me at hello!" welcome sequence that shows people why you’re the best coach for them

So to summarize, you want to build and manage your email list strategically by:

1. Creating an entry-point offer that:

   1. Positions you as the expert

   2. Shows people what makes you different

   3. Leads naturally into the next step you want them to take
      

2. Emailing your list regularly so you build connection and trust. Then you can invite them to take the next step with you.
   

3. Managing your email sender reputation

That’s how health and wellness coaches build an email list that becomes their best source of new clients!

I spent my 20s trying to move back to Paris. I had only lived there for a year, during my junior year abroad. But the city had cast its spell on me, like it does to so many.

I applied for jobs and interviewed with companies, but as soon as they found out I didn’t have les papiers (the documents that allowed me to work in France), they dropped me like a day-old baguette. It was just too much of a hassle to go through the paperwork to hire me.

So I let go of the Paris dream and focused on building an international career that still gave me reasons to visit.

But 29 years later, I left the corporate world to build my dream business—one that I could do from anywhere. And once my writing and coaching business had gained traction, I thought, why not spend a month in Paris?

That was October 2022. And it felt like a huge, exciting, scary leap.

There’s a big difference between being in Paris as a college student with a bunch of classmates and being there on your own in your late 50s.

But the images in my head of what it could be were stronger than my fear. So I started planning my “mini relocation.”

I wanted to live in one of the livelier parts of the city, so I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect Airbnb. I finally found one right around the corner from Rue Montorgueil—one of the liveliest market streets in Paris.

I imagined walking through the market every day. I’d plan my menu based on whatever ingredients tempted me the most. Maybe I’d become enough of a regular that the vendors would start to recognize me!

My plan was to spend 4–5 hours a day working, and then spend the rest of the time enjoying life like a Parisian.

I sought out some activities that would have me interacting with French people. I found a couple of dance studios—one for ballroom and the other for West Coast Swing. I also found a couple of wine tasting classes in French.

As my departure day got closer, the reality of leaving my comfort zone started sinking in. I actually started feeling more nervous than excited… even to the point where a little scolding voice would pop into my head saying, “What the heck were you thinking?”

Then, about five days before my flight, I got an email from my Airbnb host. It said how excited I must be that my trip was just around the corner—and that the apartment I wanted was no longer available.

Wait… what?

The perfect apartment I spent weeks finding was “no longer available”? How could they do that to me?

They told me not to worry because they had two other apartments I could choose from. (That’s when I realized my host was a real estate agency.) One apartment was in a quiet residential area near the Eiffel Tower. The other was on Rue de Rivoli.

I had no interest in being in a bourgeois residential zone, so I opted for Rue de Rivoli and crossed my fingers.

A few days later, I landed at Charles de Gaulle airport. I grabbed a taxi and started practicing my French with the driver. So far, so good.

But when we pulled up in front of the building, I almost cried.

The entire front was covered in scaffolding. I entered the code to get inside—and walked right into a construction zone.

I had a pit in my stomach as I made my way up to the fourth floor. I kept thinking, What on Earth have I gotten myself into?

I opened the door to the apartment and stepped inside.

It was gorgeous!

Even though scaffolding covered half the windows, the apartment was still sunny and bright. And it was beautifully furnished!

I was amazed at my luck. The apartment was much nicer than the one I was supposed to be in. And it turned out to be a fantastic neighborhood—just around the corner was a square filled with lively cafés. It was buzzing.

Not only that… I soon discovered a small, open-air market right across the street on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I couldn’t believe my luck!

How This Experience Helped Me Build My Business

There are three important lessons I took away from this experience—and I’ve been using them ever since to help me grow my business.

Lesson #1: Growth lives outside your comfort zone

As I got closer to my departure day, I grew more nervous. I wanted to cling to what felt safe—familiar routines, my go-to workspace, the language I didn’t have to strain to speak.

But staying in your comfort zone feels good short-term. In the long-term, it’s a trap.

Real growth—whether personal or business—is sparked by challenge. There’s even research to back this up…

Psychologists call it eustress—the good kind of stress. It’s what happens when you stretch just enough to activate focus, resilience, and creativity… but not so much that you shut down.

Here are some examples:

• Meeting with your first few clients

• Moving from 1:1 to group coaching

• Hosting a live webinar

Every time I’ve done something that made me nervous—like teaching a new workshop, launching something imperfect, or spending a month in a foreign country alone—it’s paid off, even if I didn’t get the exact results I wanted. Because I did it—and it made me feel more capable (and even a little daring!).

Comfort won’t build that kind of confidence.

Lesson #2: A change of scene changes your brain

There’s something powerful that happens when you change your surroundings.

Even though I was doing the same kind of work while I was in Paris that month, I started approaching things differently. My brain felt flooded with new ideas. My writing came alive. I started thinking about my business in ways I hadn’t before.

This wasn’t by chance.

Neuroscience shows that novelty stimulates the brain. When we step out of familiar environments, our brain makes new associations, processes information differently, and taps into more creative problem-solving pathways.

And you don’t need to go overseas to get the effect. You could:

• Take your laptop to a café instead of your desk

• Go on a weekend retreat to a new place

• Schedule “white space” away from your routine

The point isn’t about geography. It’s about energy.

When you change your environment—even slightly—you shift your state of mind, reawaken your imagination, and open up new paths forward in your business.

Lesson #3: The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

When I found out I lost the Airbnb on Rue Montorgueil, I felt blindsided. And if I’m honest, kind of crushed.

I pictured myself on that exact street, walking to that exact market. And now, it felt like the whole trip might be ruined.

In situations like this, we tend to default to certain language:

“The rug got pulled out from under me.”
“Life threw me a curveball.”
“I got derailed.”

That’s how I used to talk about it too.

Until a friend offered me a better phrase—one that instantly shifts how I see this kind of situation.

She calls them plot twists.

And that tiny shift in language changes everything.

Because a curveball feels disruptive. A plot twist? That’s just part of a good story.

Since then, I’ve been using this reframe anytime things don’t go to plan—like:

• The tech snafus during last week’s $10k/Month Offer Finder™ launch

• A client backing out of a $50,000 project at the last minute (it’s true)

• Accidentally re-posting the same article on Substack twice in a row (yep… that just happened)

Instead of spiraling, I ask myself:

What if this is just the middle of the story—and something better is on the other side?

For coaches (and anyone building something meaningful), this isn’t just a mindset hack. It’s a lifeline.

Because things will go sideways. And the people who succeed don’t let plot twists bring them down.

They keep writing the next chapter anyway.

Final Thoughts

That month in Paris didn’t go exactly how I planned.

But it gave me something better than just beautiful memories: it reminded me what it actually takes to keep growing—as a person and as a business owner.

It takes the courage to leave your comfort zone. It takes a willingness to shift your environment and your mindset. And it takes the flexibility to treat the unexpected as part of the process (and not a sign that you’ve messed up).

Whether you’re launching a new offer, raising your rates, or just hitting “post” on something a little more vulnerable than usual, remember:

• Growth comes from doing the thing that scares you a little

• Creativity gets a jolt when you shake up your surroundings

• Plot twists aren’t failures… they’re how the story gets interesting

So the next time something goes sideways, look at it as a plot twist. And invite a better outcome by saying: “I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but it’s gonna be good.”

In case you missed it…

I launched The $10k/Month Offer Finder™ last week—a 3-step system that helps you choose the one program that’s most likely to attract your dream clients and get you to $10k months the fastest.

If you want to know more, you can get the details here.

Every Saturday, Dijon has a huge open air market. There are stands inside the covered hall, all around the outside perimeter of it, and spilling into the narrow streets that lead into the medieval village.

I love going to this market because you find the most amazing fruits and vegetables, fish, meats, cheeses, wine, bread… everything you need to make a fabulous meal!

As I walked through the market recently, I counted 24 produce stands outside the main market hall and another 14 inside.

As beautiful as it looked, it was overwhelming.

The stands all sold the same things. They blended in with each other, so I had no idea which one to buy from

…until one of them suddenly caught my eye.

It wasn’t because the produce was different or looked better. It was because of something written on the sign.

Right under the vendor's name, Pré Velot, it said:

“Maraîchage biologique.”

In French, that means:

• The stand is run by the actual farmer (not just a reseller)

• The food is organic

That one little phrase told me everything I needed to know.

Out of 38 stands… I instantly chose them.

And I’ve been going back ever since.

That’s what the right messaging can do

If your social media posts, emails, or any other type of content isn’t bringing in clients, it means your messaging is off.

The right messaging does one essential thing…

It taps into the conversation that’s already happening inside the reader’s head.

Since I always prefer to buy organic, and I value buying directly from farmers, the messaging on that sign caught my eye and spoke directly to what I value most.

And that’s where most content falls short.

Why talking about a specific problem your reader has is a good start, but it’s not enough

You might be posting about blood sugar or bloating or burnout. But if it still feels like your content is being ignored, here’s why.

It’s not because you’re talking about the wrong things. It’s because you’re not going deep enough into how your reader is experiencing them.

Here’s an example:

“Do you struggle with low energy?”

That message talks about a problem.

“You get 8 hours of sleep, start your day with a mug of strong joe, and still feel like you’ve been hit by a truck—and it’s not even 9am.”

That message describes the experience. It brings it into their life.

And that’s much more powerful!

When your content reflects what your reader is actually thinking, feeling, or experiencing—that’s when they stop scrolling.

You have their attention. And without that, you’ll never turn them into a client.

Try running your next post through this quick filter:

1. Does it speak to how a specific problem affects their life?

2. Will your ideal client feel like you get what they’re struggling with?

3. Is the content pointing toward a solution you offer—or is it just filling space?
   

If it doesn’t check all three, it may not land the way you want it to.

If you want help writing content that does land…

I put together a free guide called:

Content That Converts: 12 Prompts to Turn Your Posts Into Paying Clients

These prompts are designed to help you stop “adding value” and start creating content that speaks directly to the reader’s experience.

They’ll help you go beyond surface-level problems—and write content that gets people nodding, clicking, and reaching out.

Click here to grab the prompts

If you’re a subscriber, next week I’ll be showing you a way to know what kind of offer to make that people will want to buy. So keep an eye on your inbox next week!

I’m writing this week’s article from the village of Dinan in Brittany, off the northern coast of France. It’s early morning. The doves are cooing. And the smell of freshly baked is wafting into my window from the boulangerie below my Airbnb.

So yeah… life is good when you have a business you can do from anywhere!

When I turned in my commuter pass to create that kind of business, I knew I wanted to focus on natural health and wellness. But I needed client experience. So I said yes to anyone and everyone who would pay me to write for them.

One particular experience I had with a software company is a great example of why you should not follow some of the common advice I often hear. That advice is you shouldn’t pay attention to your competitors. You should keep your head down and focus on your own thing.

As an experienced marketer, it pains me when I hear that. Especially in the saturated health and wellness space. Any coach who follows that advice can run into trouble building their business.

Case in point… my social media platform client is no longer in business. Here’s what happened…

When they hired me to write their website copy, I asked them for a list of their top competitors. They gave me 22 company names. And I researched all of them because I wanted to see how they were positioned.

I had to know what their potential customers would see so I could position my client in a way that would make them stand out.

When I researched the websites of my clients' 22 competitors, all except one of them used a headline that was a variation of this same message: “Manage all of your social media marketing in one place.”

In fact, 2 companies had the EXACT same headline on their websites. (Whoopsies.)

The Kiss of Death for Your Coaching Business

If your offer sounds like other offers, it’s the kiss of death for your business. And the only way to avoid that is to know how your competition is positioning their business.

This is especially true if you ever do any kind of online advertising. Because once your potential clients click on your ad, the algorithms make sure they see all the offers out there that are like yours.

Now this comes with a word of caution.

You shouldn’t obsess over your competition. And if it’s going to make you feel insecure, then it’s probably better to have someone else do it for you.

But it is important to have some intel into what your direct competitors are saying. That way you can make sure your positioning is different.

How to Position Yourself

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a coach say, “But I can help people with any kind of problem,” I’d be sitting in a cafe in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

Oh wait… I’ll be doing that next week. (Just a friendly reminder that you can create a coaching business that gives you the lifestyle you want. 😉)

That brings me to some common marketing advice that I DO agree with…

If you try to market to everyone, you market to no one.

That’s the problem I ran into with my software client.

When I first interviewed them, they told me the best thing about their software was that it gives anyone and everyone who does social media a way to manage it all from one place.

Just like all but 1 of their 22 top competitors.

The 1 company that stood out said their software was only for social media marketing agencies.

If I had a social media marketing agency, that’s the platform I would pick. Because I’d know it was for people just like me, with my unique set of agency challenges.

So I worked on a bunch of positioning ideas for my client. I wanted them to see that having a product for “everyone” made them sound like all of their competitors.

Instead, I wanted them to become the perfect option for a specific group of people.

But when I presented my ideas, they weren’t interested.

Don’t Make This Same Mistake with Your Coaching Business

My client didn’t like that idea at all. They told me, “but our product can help all kinds of companies … big and small! Public and private! Everything from single bloggers to agencies!”

They said if they followed my advice, they’d miss out on attracting a much larger pool of potential customers. They’d be leaving money on the table.

At least they’d have plenty of company because the 21 other companies would be in the same boat.

And with a bunch of options available to people shopping for a social media management platform, their potential customers would focus on price.

It’s a race to the bottom.

Something Magical Happens When You Put a Stake in The Ground

When I decided I only wanted to work with people in health and wellness, my business went from inching along to taking off!

Of course it wasn’t overnight. And truth be told, it felt strange to turn down writing projects that I knew I could do well. But something shifted.

I felt more empowered because I was in the driver’s seat. I was choosing who I wanted to work with. I knew who I wanted to serve … and I wanted to super-serve them! I wanted to become the best option for health and wellness coaches.

So now, when I work with clients to help them create an Irresistible Breakthrough Offer™, the first thing we do is figure out what problem the offer will focus on.

If you’re interested in finding out which kind of problem will bring you the most clients, here’s a link to an article that shows you how.

HERE’S WHY YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD READ THAT ARTICLE…

It’s usually a paid article. But I’ve opened it up for the next 48 hours so anyone can access it. The reason why is because I know how much people struggle with this.

I’ve also updated the article from when it was originally posted.

But before you go, if you got some value from this article, please give it one of those adorable little hearts.

I had to get out.

Even though there was a time when I loved my corporate career, it eventually started feeling like lingchi - or “death by a thousand cuts.”

My work didn’t feel aligned with me or my values. And I was at the point in my life when I ached for all parts of my life to be authentically me.

And I knew that I wanted to work with people who valued and lived authentically, too.

That’s one of the reasons why I was so drawn to work in natural health and wellness, and especially with coaches. The vast majority of health and wellness coaches are caring people who strive to live in alignment with who they are.

This trait is also what can make marketing for many of them so difficult. And it’s why every once in a while, I have to have “the talk.”

“The talk” is when I explain why being 100% authentic in marketing can backfire.

At first, this idea can trigger a lot of resistance. The coach naturally feels like I’m asking them to go against their values.

I’m not suggesting they use sleazy “bait & switch” marketing. But the fact is, not everyone is ready to accept the truth, right off the bat.

If you’re a parent, or if you know one 😉, you know exactly what I mean.

The Sneaky “Mom & Dad Technique” That Brings You More Clients

Here’s a story from my life that I bet a lot of parents can relate to.

When my son was a toddler, I was always looking for ways to get more vegetables in him. One of the best ways was in pasta sauce – the perfect hiding place!

I could grind broccoli, kale, or spinach in the food processor and toss it in the sauce. He got what he wanted… his beloved pasta… and I got him eating the nutrient-rich vegetables I wanted him to eat.

Everyone was happy!

Is that sleazy? No. We both know that if you give a toddler a plate of broccoli, kale, or spinach, it could very well end up on the kitchen floor!

Every parent on the planet finds ways to get kids to do things they would otherwise resist.

That’s why caring parents often find ways to give kids what they need disguised behind something they want…

Give them what they want in a way that allows you to give them what they need.

And as a health or wellness coach, sometimes you have to use this “mom & dad technique” with your potential clients, too.

Keely’s story illustrates this perfectly.

Keely had been a nutritionist for 10 years when I met her. She was helping women who were emotional eaters and chronic dieters. But she struggled to get clients.

Before working with Keely, her clients were miserable. Their entire lives revolved around dieting.

And yet by the time they finished Keely’s program, they stopped emotional eating and loved their bodies, no matter what size they were.

Keely brings peace and joy to their lives, but her clients would never have believed her if she was up front with them from the start.

I helped Keely construct a cold-traffic funnel (meaning a funnel that’s designed to attract people who don’t know her).

The only way to have a successful cold-traffic funnel is with messaging that focuses on something the audience wants. So in Keely’s case, that was weight loss.

Now to be clear, we didn’t promise people would lose a certain amount of weight. We focused on why diets didn’t work for them and how to break the yo-yo dieting cycle.

Shortly after Keely launched her funnel, she said she signed a woman up to her ticket program on the spot. She asked her new client if there was something in particular in her webinar that resonated with her the most, the women said, “It was everything. It was like you were inside my head!”

That’s the power of the right messaging! And Keely went on to sign up 7 more clients.

Even though she was thrilled about her new clients, there was something bugging her.

She felt like her webinar wasn’t exactly true because she knew women wanted to lose weight, but that wasn’t what her program was about.

So she made some changes to her webinar to be more authentic to what she does.

And it bombed.

Keely thought it was her writing. So came to me for help reworking her webinar so it would be aligned with what she does and work.

That’s when we had “the talk.” And Keely confessed…

Keely’s Confession

Keely told me she showed her clients the first few slides of the new version of the webinar and asked if they would have watched it. Every single one of them said, “No way!”

So Keely put her original webinar back up, and she started booking calls again.

The problem with the 2nd version of the webinar was it offered people vegetables when what they really wanted was pasta!

That’s why it’s so important to know who you’re marketing to and where they are on the marketing journey…

… and to realize that at certain times, effective marketing may mean you have to hold back a bit.

If you’re marketing to people who don’t know you, your messaging must be about what they want, even if you know they need something else.

If you’re creating content for social media, you can talk about the things you want to talk about. But if you do that in a cold traffic funnel, you could end up spending thousands of dollars and still struggle to get clients.

What Do You Value Most?

At the end of the day, what’s more important to you?

If it’s to help more people, your marketing needs to align with your audience. Then when they’re ready to hear it, you can tell them there are vegetables hiding in the pasta sauce.

On A Personal Note…

I broke my streak.

I’ve posted an article every week since I launched this newsletter 6 months ago. But I missed last week. This article sat on my computer, 90% finished, but I couldn’t get it done in time.

Life got in the way.

I was consumed with time-sensitive decisions, trips back and forth to Home Depot and Lowes, and countless hours spent online searching for ideas and answers.

Why? Because the toilet in my upstairs bathroom had started leaking. Or so I thought.

Turns out it had been leaking for quite a while.

When the plumber pulled the toilet up to replace it, the tile underneath came up with it! That’s when we discovered the toilet had been leaking imperceptibly for months. Water had been seeping under the tiles and eventually loosened them.

I considered a bunch of options…

I could just fix the floor under the toilet…

I could replace the entire floor…

Or I could remodel the entire bathroom and make it bigger, which was part of my long term plan.

Since I’d been living in my house for 22 years and still hadn’t done the project, I figured this was the push I needed to get it done.

The problem was I only had about 5 weeks to design the bathroom, pick all the materials, and get the project finished because I was heading out on one of my “mini relocations.” And I needed the project finished so my house and kitty sitters had a working bathroom.

So last week, I was running around like crazy and couldn’t get the article finished in time.

But today I woke up in Quimper – a town in Brittany about 20 minutes from the Atlantic coastline.

And as I sit in a café across from the Saint-Corentin Cathedral, putting the final touches on it, I can’t help but think how lucky I am. I was able to leave the corporate world and create a business I love and gives me the kind of lifestyle I want to live.

And that’s what I help coaches like Keely do, too!

If you’d like to know more about the formula Keely used to get 8 new clients so quickly, you can read about it here: The Proven Health Coach Success Formula.

And if you want to make sure you get my latest articles as soon as they’re published, now’s a good time to become a subscriber to Be A Profitable Health Coach.

I spoke to a coach based in the UK recently. He helps people with Irritable Bowel Disease.

When he told me his pricing, I nearly cried.

He charges 100 pounds (about $130) for an hour of coaching. He also has packages, which bring the cost per hour down even more.

No wonder he was floundering.

His fees were keeping him trapped in a cycle that would keep him struggling to get clients… and broke.

Whenever I hear stories like this, it reminds me of something I saw in Paris.

There’s a store in Paris that’s a cross between a luxury department store and an architectural wonder. It’s called Galeries Lafayette. It’s France's most iconic department store.

At Galeries Lafayette you can shop for Chanel lipstick, sip champagne under a jaw-dropping stained-glass dome, and catch a fashion show — all in one afternoon.

So imagine my surprise when I walked into the store one day and saw the mass-market brand, Revlon, right there next to Chanel, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent!

Not only that...

The prices were double what you'd pay for Revlon products in a Target, Walmart, or any U.S. drug store chain!

Same product… twice the price.

By charging more, Revlon gave their brand a more upscale positioning in France. And the market was fine with it.

What you must know about pricing your coaching program

Your pricing sets the perceived value of your program… and you as a coach.

That’s because the belief that “you get what you pay for” is ingrained in our psyche. So when you charge higher prices, people will think you must be better.

Higher prices are one of the things that position you as an expert.

When you charge premium pricing, here’s what happens…

1. You'll attract higher-quality leads

People who pay more are more committed. Plain and simple. They will be more vested in doing the work, which will help them get results.

The added upside for you is you’ll have better client testimonials.

2. You'll attract more leads

Many coaches make the mistake of thinking they’ll have more clients if they charge less. And they worry that they'll have fewer clients if they raise their prices.

But that’s not what I’ve seen.

Coaches I’ve seen raise their rates from $1,500 to $3,000 converted prospects at the same rate.

And here’s something else to keep in mind…

It takes the same amount of effort to sell a $1,500 program as it does a $3,000 program.

3. You'll earn more without working more

I know, I’m being Captain Obvious here. But it’s worth saying.

If you charge more, you’ll make more money without increasing your client load. That gives you more time to do other things, like be a bigger part of your kids’ lives, care for a loved one, take on a passion project, or whatever your dream life looks like.

And as far as I’m concerned, your work should help you live your dream life.

Is This Why You Don’t Charge More?

Of course, I realize it’s easy for me to sit here and type, “Just double your prices!”

If you're thinking that’s easier said than done, you’re not alone. Most people struggle with pricing. (I used to, too.)

If a coach is having a hard time getting clients to buy their programs now, how on earth will charging more make it easier?

And I have to admit, if your offer sounds like every other coach's offer out there, it will be an uphill battle. That’s why it’s so important to have a unique positioning.

When I work with coaches on developing their unique positioning, they often feel much more confident about charging more.

The reason why is now they can explain to people exactly what makes them different, and better, than other options.

I’ll write more about ways you can create your unique positioning in an upcoming post. In the meantime, this post is a good place to start: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Health Coaches

I meet many health and wellness coaches who have their heart set on helping people in a difficult niche.

What do I mean by a “difficult niche?”

Here are some examples:

• Helping people get “unstuck,” e.g. helping women who are unhappy, even though they “have it all”

• Prevention, e.g. helping people optimize their health so they can prevent diseases

• Mindset, e.g. helping people get past mindset blocks that keep them from achieving what they want

The reason why these are difficult is because they’re abstract concepts. They aren’t focused on a concrete problem. That makes them difficult to market because it’s almost impossible to write messaging that’s clear.

The Truth About Building A Business In A Difficult Niche

If you want to help people in a difficult niche, you need to understand that it’s harder to get clients. In many cases the best source of new clients will be word-of-mouth or referrals.

But relying on word-of-mouth and referrals is a passive approach.

If you want more control over your client flow, you’ll need to actively market yourself.

And the best ways to market yourself in a difficult niche will be places where you have the opportunity to give more of an explanation.

Here are some examples:

1. In-person networking

2. Speaking engagements

3. Social media (once you have a strong following)

4. Creating a blog (or a Substack newsletter)

5. Leveraging other people’s audiences, e.g. podcasts

Those approaches give you a longer runway, which is what you need to warm people up in a difficult niche.

But keep in mind, it takes more time and patience. Because it could take a loooong time to get traction.

If your dream business is one where you have more control of your income and time, there is a faster way to help people in a difficult niche… provided you have an open mind.

Let me show you how this works using a sailing analogy.

Imagine you’re the captain of a beautiful yacht, and you want to sail to a dreamy tropical island.

The wind is coming from the direction of the island, like this:

Even though the shortest path would be to follow the straight vertical line up, the boat would actually stop moving if you did. (In sailing terms, this is called “being in irons.”)

What looks like the shortest distance will actually stall you out completely because the wind would go around the sails instead of filling them.

Now let’s say your dream health coaching business is that tropical island. And you want to focus on a difficult niche.

If you want to go straight to the tropical island, you’ll have to trade in your sailboat for something that can move into the wind. A powerboat would be great!

But none of the approaches I listed in the beginning are like a powerboat. They’re more like a rowboat. So you’ll need to row yourself there. (And rowing into the wind isn’t easy!)

That’s why it can take a loooong time!

A sailboat is still fastest, but you’ll need to tack the boat to get to the island, which means go back and forth, like this:

That’s the only way the sails can catch the wind and move the boat forward.

As the captain, you have to strategically choose which direction to sail in and when to tack (turn the boat) to make it to the island.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re building. The path to get there is never a straight line.

I knew exactly what my dream business would look like when I left the corporate world. But it definitely wasn’t a straight line getting there. I had to make a bunch of tacks to get where I am today.

The important thing is knowing your overall goal and understanding the best moves to help you achieve it.

And the fastest way to get more coaching clients is to start with an offer that people know they want as soon as they hear it.

That requires crystal clear messaging that addresses something they know they want ASAP.

And that’s why I help my clients create an IBO (Irresistible Breakthrough Offer), first.

Your IBO is your point of departure – the port you set sail from. Its purpose is to bring people who are highly motivated to get your help into your world.

This is the fastest way for you to get new clients if:

1. You’re still kind of new to coaching

2. You’ve been coaching for a while and are ready to scale

3. You’ve had a successful “generalist” practice seeing people in person and now want to create a business that gives you more freedom

And while I say an IBO is just your starting point, it’s possible that it becomes the only thing you ever do.

In other words, your IBO is your dream destination.

I’ve worked with many health coaches who create massively successful health coaching businesses with just their IBO.

And why not if the coach enjoys their IBO and it brings them plenty of clients? It definitely makes running their business easier, so they’re happy staying the course.

In some cases, a coach will start with an IBO, then decide they need to shift directions a bit to create their dream health coaching business. However, it’s important that this be a strategic decision.

Sometimes coaches will try an offer, then get frustrated that they aren’t getting a lot of traction. They think it’s the offer and they decide to pivot.

But if you’ve been guided on how to create a good offer, the problem probably isn’t the offer. (It could be the messaging or the strategy.) That said, I’ve seen instances where the coach realizes the offer isn’t right for them once they start working in it.

So yes, you can change your IBO, under the right circumstances. Just remember you’ll be starting from scratch if you do.

What’s important for you to understand is you have options. You aren’t tied to your IBO forever, unless you want to be. You can certainly branch out when the time’s right.

There are 3 paths you can take. I call them The 3 Health Coach Success Paths. Let’s walk through them…

The 3 Health Coach Success Paths

Read more

It happened during my first trip with a new boss. I was working for Nickelodeon, and we were headed to London.

That’s how I found out New Boss Lady had negotiated some swanky perks into her employment agreement. One of them was that she could stay at super expensive 5-star hotels when she traveled.

(That meant anyone who traveled with her could, too. 😉)

Her assistant booked us in The Lanesborough… a hotel I’d never heard of.

I’d always been a “get down to business” type of person. So when it came to hotels, my only criteria were that it was convenient to where I needed to be, clean, and safe.

I was super busy the day we were leaving, I had a gazillion things to do.

When the car service pulled into my driveway, I hadn’t even started to pack!

I usually pack things carefully so they’ll be less wrinkled. But there was no time for that. I grabbed a bunch of suits and shirts and threw them into the suitcase, figuring I could get them pressed when I got to the hotel.

I was almost out the door, when I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten to pack – underwear.

I raced over to my dresser, grabbed a fistfull of panties, and shoved them into the suitcase.

Phew! That would have been really awkward if I arrived in London and had to tell New Boss Lady I needed to shop for underwear.

We arrived at The Lanesborough after our redeye flight. We had just enough time to grab a shower before our first meeting.

My first clue that The Lanesborough was different was when I was checking in. The lady at the reception handed me a stack of business cards with “The Lanesborough” and my name printed on them.

“Your calling cards while you’re in London, ma’am,” the receptionist said.

Huh. That’s a nice touch, I thought.

When I turned to go to my room, a man waiting nearby said, “Right this way, Ms. Kaufman” (my maiden name). “James, your butler, will show you to your room.”

Did he say, “butler?”

I’d been to London more times than I could count. I’d never heard the porter referred to as a butler before.

Well whatever floats Jamie’s boat! He had my suitcase, and I wanted a shower. So he could just butler me up to my room, pronto!

When we got into the room, James put my suitcase on the luggage stand and started showing me around. He told me where I could find everything, how to work the TV, etc., etc.

All the while I was thinking, “That’s great Jamie! Now get outta here so I can shower.”

Then James walked over to my suitcase and started unzipping it.

Wait … was James really my butler? And was he going to unpack my suitcase?

Dear God, please no!

I could already feel my cheeks starting to flush with embarrassment. I didn’t want him to see my careless packing job.

I quickly said, “That’s alright, James. I can take care of that.”

“It’s alright, ma’am … part of my job,” he insisted.

I had no idea what to do. I sat down on the edge of the bed, my mind racing. I prayed someone would pull the fire alarm. Or maybe I could fake a sudden illness?

James flipped open the suitcase. And there, right on top, was the wad of panties I had shoved in.

I felt completely and utterly exposed. There was nowhere to hide.

Butler James fished one of the panties out of the tangled mess and held it up.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I realized they weren’t panties. I'd accidentally grabbed a handful of thongs!

I watched in horror as James pulled apart the web of thongs, one by one. He held each one up, folded it carefully, and put it in the drawer.

All the while, James was the consummate professional. He didn’t even flinch as he went about folding my thongs. I heard him chatting on about something … but I have no idea what. My brain couldn’t process anything at that point.

Now you may be wondering, “Why on earth is Nicole telling me this story?”

Well, if I’d had a packing list, I wouldn’t have forgotten my underwear. And I wouldn’t have found myself in such an embarrassing predicament.

A packing list would have given me a clear plan to follow. And when we have a clear plan, it makes things so much easier!

It’s the same when you’re trying to create a successful health or wellness coaching business. That’s why I created a plan for you to follow.

I mapped it out in a free download called, How to Create a Profitable Health Coaching Business. It walks you through the proven, 5-step system natural health professionals use to turn their skills and expertise into a profitable online coaching business.

It’s free for subscribers to this newsletter, Be A Profitable Health Coach.

Be A Profitable Health Coach focuses on the proven strategies and techniques I’ve used to help over 1,000 health and wellness professionals build their dream businesses.

I cover the essentials, like how to…

• Position yourself so you become the obvious choice for your dream clients

• Create an offer that people want to buy

• Craft messaging that gets people excited to work with you

• Create key marketing assets, like a website and webinar funnel, that capture new leads

• Turn new leads into clients

• And so much more!

I want to help you create a coaching business that gives you the freedom to work when you want, where you want, and with whom you want. Because that’s the kind of business I created for myself. And I now spend 2-3 months a year traveling (mostly in France).

If you’d like a health or wellness coaching business that supports the kind of lifestyle you want to live, this newsletter will help you get there.

And if you want access to even more resources, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers get more in-depth posts that give you worksheets and other resources to help you implement the strategies I share.

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