There's a temptation as a new coach to give your services away for free (or on the cheap!) in service of building a client roster, getting your hours for that ICF certification, and continuing on the coach journey. The thing is when you give something away for free, people treat it like its free. Clients blow off or stop showing up to meetings. They don't commit to the work. They show up disengaged. And they don't value or invest in the coaching process the way they should. You don't have to gouge clients, especially when you're starting, but it's important to make sure that your client has skin in the game. So go ahead and use a sliding scale if that's what makes sense for you, but make sure that the client is contributing and committing meaningfully.
My biggest mistake when I started my coaching business was believing that if you "build it, they will come." I put up a website, had a few early clients, and assumed that if I did good work and hung out my shingle, momentum would take care of itself. There's a seductive narrative in the coaching world that once you "step into your purpose," clients will just flow to you, especially if you're certified and passionate. That's not how it works. There is a coach on every corner. Certification programs keep producing more. Social media makes it look easy. There is real competition, and much of it is loud. If you want it to be your business, not your hobby, you have to build it like one. I've been coaching full-time since 2006. Nothing else. This is not a side hustle. It's the business I've built my life around. What I learned quickly is that coaching requires relentless, strategic visibility and emotional stamina. You are always marketing. You are always filling the funnel. You are always promoting. That doesn't mean being pushy or begging. I never wanted to cold call or chase people. It does mean you either knock on doors or make yourself so discoverable that people can find you when they need you. That discovery does not happen by accident. It happens through repetition. For me, it meant networking, speaking anywhere I could, saying yes to podcasts, then pitching podcasts. I've appeared on over 120, not counting the two I've produced myself. It meant writing consistently. I didn't write one book and hope for magic. I kept writing. I'm now working on my 33rd book. Not because more books automatically equal more clients, but because consistent output builds authority and search gravity over time. It also meant building infrastructure and a digital footprint that was indexed, connected, and coherent. Most coaches focus on inspiration. Very few focus on architecture and positioning. The lesson is simple: decide whether you want a practice or a business. If you want a practice, wait and see who shows up. If you want a business, treat visibility as part of the job. That includes marketing, positioning, partnerships, content creation, relationship building, and persistence long after the excitement fades. Coaching can be meaningful and financially viable. But it is not passive. It rewards consistency, structure, humility, and long-term thinking.
When I first launched my coaching business, I overcomplicated my offer and made some major mistakes! I created a fancy website, came up with many different types of packages, created workbooks, etc., but before doing all that, I had not validated if anyone wanted what I was selling (building in isolation with out actually having any real conversations). I will tell new coaches to sell before they scale!! Get on calls, have 1 clear offer and sell it to 1 specific target audience. The feedback you get from your first clients will give you more information than anything else (branding exercise) to help you with your business. Once I simplified my product and started focusing on helping one specific problem, I generated predictable revenue and generated referrals without trying.
Overfocusing on the niche of who to coach. It created more anxiety that was necessary. Instead it's about coaching people, having conversations with people about what you do, and allowing yourself to discover where you feel most energized.