“What you taught me doesn’t work.” Said the new coach to me. ME: “Really? How do you know?” NEW COACH: “Because I tried it and it didn’t work.” ME: “Oh. OK.” “How many times did you try it?” NEW COACH: “I tried it once. And then I stopped, because it didn’t work.” ME: “So because you tried it once, you’ve decided that it doesn’t work?” NEW COACH: “Yeah, because if what you taught worked, it would just work every time.” ME: “Even the first time you do it? When you … [Read more...]


$100K from One Coaching Session?
Want to know the one sentence that made me over $100K? It all started when my coach said the following to me… “You’ve got to correct your language.” And, over the next few years, that ONE SENTENCE made me over $100K. Sound implausible? It’s ABSOLUTELY true. I was in a session with Matt (my coach)… …talking about money issues (a common subject of concern for me at the time)... …and, more specifically, how I wanted to make more money. And THAT’s when I said it… “I’m not … [Read more...]

The “Hard to Get” Coach
Many coaches over-coach. It’s understandable. Coaches LOVE Coaching. But OVER-coaching loses you clients. What if, instead, you WITHHELD Coaching? It’s counterintuitive, but withholding coaching… …ATTRACTS MORE CLIENTS. Can you imagine getting more clients (And getting paid more per client)… …because you REFUSED to Coach? It might sound crazy… …like I’m asking you to pull a ‘soup nazi’ on your coaching clients. But withholding coaching is critical if you want a … [Read more...]

How to Charge For Coaching
A coach recently complained that their potential clients resisted PAYING for coaching… …so she struggled getting them to ‘cross the finish line’, and ENROLL. She said “Giving valuable coaching isn’t my problem… it’s CHARGING for coaching that seems to elude me.” The process of CHARGING for coaching permeates every coaching practice… UNATTRACTIVE charging practices kill coaching businesses. For example, this coach explained: “Last week I had a discovery session with a potential … [Read more...]

Coaching The ‘Downward Spiral’
Last week we talked about how language creates all the meaning in your client’s life… …and how those meanings dictate their emotions, actions, and results. If your client wants to change their life… …that change starts with their language. Your client’s language falls across two simple ‘spectrums’: Disempowering / Empowering (Negative / Positive)Fantasy / Reality (Truth / Lie) If your client's language is disempowering, it’ll cause major limitations… …while if your client's … [Read more...]

Giving Advice in a Coaching Session
Recently, team member Kris Thompson wrote about how Coaching Works Best in a “Loop”. His point was “Get ahead of your client through learning and experience so you can ‘lead the way’ more powerfully and authentically”. But it wasn’t more than 24 hours after he shared his message… …when another coach commented “You mean TEACHING works best in a loop. A Coach doesn’t teach”: And I thought “Oh no. Here we go.” (See my response to this comment at the end of the email.) Dogma … [Read more...]

The Introverted Coach
A new coaching student just quit because they’re afraid to talk to people. And it reminded me how DEADLY fear is to a coaching business. The truth is… even after 22+ years of full-time professional coaching… I’m STILL afraid to talk to you. Perhaps most coaches don’t have this fear of talking to people. Meeting people. …and, yes, COACHING people. But I certainly DO. So why am I still here, a successful coach… …while other coaches quit due to fear? I still had to … [Read more...]

“Bait & Switch” Coaching Funnel?
Lately I'm seeing “bait & switch” coaching funnels. Here’s how coaches are applying the “bait & switch”: Dangle some precious resource, idea, or service in front of your prospect (the bait)...… to get them to commit time, money, and energy to your coaching. Then, after the prospect has committed (and usually freed from their money)… …give them a second rate product, resource, or coaching service (the switch). Often this bait and switch mechanism … [Read more...]

“Hard” Versus “Easy” Coaching Business
One of the things that comes up for new coaches as they start their coaching business… …is that it starts to become hard. Some things in the coaching business are fun… no doubt. But some of the stuff you’ll do in your coaching business is not about having fun. it’s about: …you get the idea. The good news? Most people can handle doing some things that aren’t fun. For example, my wife, Maribel, just came into my office to ask me, “Will you build a website for my … [Read more...]

Coaching Business “Easy Button”
Last week, I asked you the question… “What if your coaching business was easy?” Today, I'm going to give you my ‘goto’ strategies to make hard things easy. Even if you eat hard things for breakfast… EASY has lots of applications… …not just for your coaching business. You can apply ‘easy’ to your client’s, and anyone else’s life. Think about how ‘easy’ applies to: Business / careerFinancesRelationshipsHealthTimeProblemsGoalsEmotions How many of those areas do you think … [Read more...]