Afleveringen
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In this episode, I explore two fundamental coaching approaches that impact your practice's financial stability. "Hygiene coaching" serves clients who view coaching as essential maintenance—like brushing and flossing for their thoughts and relationships. They renew consistently but relationships eventually end naturally. "Repair coaching" serves clients who reach out only during acute situations—positive breakthroughs or challenging crises.
The most sustainable practices blend both approaches, similar to dentistry. Dentists build predictable income through regular cleanings while accommodating emergency repairs. They reduce friction by scheduling next appointments while you're still in the chair.
For coaches who rely on practice income to support their families, predictability matters. We need financial stability to keep our attention where it belongs—on our clients, not on our bank accounts. The goal isn't just stable income, but creating an environment where you remain happy, healthy, and clear-headed for decades of service.
To discuss topics like this one, network with other coaches, and get support directly from me in running your practice, consider joining my Office Hours membership: https://officehourswithmark.com.
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In this episode, I explore the territory of superiority - that place where I position myself as right, evolved, or "above" while seeing others as wrong or behind. This pattern emerges most in emotionally activated moments, when I'm feeling insecure or fearful.
For me, superiority manifests as becoming a well-spoken, fast-talking bully, using my natural ability to rapidly process ideas as a weapon rather than a tool for connection. Through coaching and my patient wife's feedback, I've developed awareness of the physical sensations that accompany this pattern.
Practical strategies like 24-hour processing periods with Kate and creating intentional space in client sessions have been transformative. I no longer incur the internal penalties of superiority as often, though the sneaky internal voice of criticism still appears.For coaches struggling with superiority (and many of us do), I recommend regularly checking: "Was I being superior or collaborative in that interaction?"
The goal isn't perfection but awareness and correction when we slip. -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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In this episode, I share a new hypothesis about how coaching practices can get full without spending too much time or money pursuing clients. I've reduced my ideas into a simple mantra: "As I spend time in spaces and with people I enjoy, always working to be more interested and interesting, coaching clients will appear."
I break down how this approach relies on confidence, curiosity, and patience rather than anxious, desperate chasing. The goal isn't trying to "get clients" but rather investing deeply in areas that genuinely interest you, developing hard-to-ignore perspectives (often through productive disagreement with conventional wisdom), and creating a practice that feels good now and will feel good later.
If you'd like to create a sustainable 5-15 session per week coaching practice without exhausting yourself in the pursuit of clients, this episode, I think you'll enjoy what I have to say.If you'd like support and community around these ideas, consider joining my Office Hours community:
https://officehourswithmark.com
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Most months I start with no idea who will hire me. That uncertainty creates anxiety, even though I've learned to manage it well.
Here's what helps: While my practice feels unpredictable month-to-month, it's actually quite predictable year-to-year. In the past three years, I've rarely had a month with zero coaching transactions.
I've found that reducing uncertainty comes down to nurturing three types of relationships:
People who already trust me in a coaching context (past clients, podcast listeners)People who like and trust me, but not yet in a coaching contextComplete strangers who might eventually become clientsThe coaching transactions that happen this month won't be random or "out of the blue" – they'll be the natural outcome of relationships planted and nurtured days, weeks, or even years ago.
So yes, coaching is an unpredictable business. But by nurturing relationships, we make the unpredictable parts less volatile.
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My friend Chantel Allen uses personal practices like "the hour of silence" to calm her mind, heal her pains, and prepare herself to coach her clients in the way that feels right to her. I brought her back on the show today to discuss how coaches can serve their clients better and grow their practices through doing the inner work.
To find out how you can with with Chantel, join her waitlist here: https://www.chantelallencoaching.com/waiting-list
Here's a GPT-generated outline of the conversation:
1. Coaches Often Focus Too Much on Providing Answers Instead of Asking Questions: The episode discusses how coaches may feel the need to prove themselves by giving advice and answers, rather than facilitating deeper client insights through powerful questioning and active listening.
2. The Impact of Unresolved Personal Issues on Coaching: The conversation explores how unresolved personal challenges in a coach’s life can unconsciously affect their coaching, causing them to project their own need for validation onto their clients.
3. The Shift from Hustle to Heart in Coaching: Mark and Chantel highlight the growing importance of slowing down and focusing on internal work and connection, rather than obsessing over external achievements and hustling to gain clients or success. This shift in mindset leads to more genuine and impactful coaching.
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In this episode, I talk about an experience with a friend in high school that shaped my love for listening. She shared the details of a tough season in her life, and then thanked me for the way I listened to her. I know this isn't a unique experience, but it's my first memory of realizing that just paying close, compassionate attention is a way to connect with people. Now that I'm a coach, I believe listening is our most important skill, and one we can develop through careful practice and repetition.
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Along with a few other ideas about what numbers a one-on-one coach might want to track in order to keep the practice healthy.
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Part of the appeal of a one-on-one practice is that its hard parts aren't as hard as other business models (like "scalable" training), and its easier parts are even easier (and more happiness-producing) than other models.
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Coaching can be a utility the client views as a semi-permanent part of their life, or a luxury they view as a special one-off event. Both approaches offer great experiences for both coach and client, but the the choice to be a luxury or a utility will inform the rest of your strategy, so it's worth a careful look.
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The best coaching is an invitation to productive pain in pursuit of the reward on the other side. Today's episode inspired by this essay, shared with me by my coach, Liz.
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Kristen Boss's coaching business started in 2019 with pajama-clad Facebook lives at 6am. In the five years since, she's generated millions of dollars in revenue -- mostly using the launch-based marketing and sales model. After she listened to episode 19, she offered to come on the show to talk about the high highs and low lows she's experienced as a launch-based coach. I'm grateful Kristen would share her story in such an honest and vulnerable way.
Kristen serves network marketers, but I think new coaches would be wise to check out her work: https://kristenboss.com
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Paula Engebretson coaches people with an ADHD diagnosis (or ADHD tendencies). Since I know she has ADHD, and since I may or may not be a member of her target audience, I've been surprised at how consistently she publishes her newsletter and podcast. People like her (me) are not supposed to be as reliable as she is. But she shows up like clockwork. I asked her to come on the show to talk about how she does it.
My key takeaways were:
1. Why Paula won't take on a project unless it's a "full-bodied yes".
2. How her personal mission keeps her motivated.
3. How my own lack of consistency probably stems from #1 and #2.Connect with Paula:
I'm Busy Being Awesome (website and podcast) -
I've been wondering whether a membership model would be the best way to set up a practice space for coaches (discussed a few episodes back). You may not know that between 2009 and 2012 I ran a membership with a partner that had as many as 1,700 members. About seven years ago I recorded a retrospective of the whole experience. Today I listened to it and, although I don't agree with everything I said in 2017, there's a lot of gold in it. Today I thought I'd share it with you.
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Two weeks ago I went to Tennessee to speak at an event hosted by my friend, Edie Wadsworth. This week, Kate (my wife) taught some classes at a church camp for young women. We both loved our experience, and it reminded me of one of my most important lessons from over ten years in the world of coaching: there's no substitute for being in the same room as the people you want to serve.
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I've recently taken a walk through dozens of coaches' websites and social media profiles. I found many of them are just like me: we tend to forget, ignore, and/or abandon our web presence. I've finally admitted to myself this makes me harder to trust and engage with. This episode talks about why this is an issue and how to fix it without too much work or expense.
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You may feel like you're working as hard (or harder) than your peers but not seeing the same (or any) results. This episode explains what I think you're experiencing, what you can do about it, and why I'm confident you'll succeed in the end.
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As we grow our practices, it's helpful to know the big picture (what I call strategy) and the specific actions (tactics) that flow from the big picture. But if we don't know ourselves, we'll look to coaches and communities to tell us what to do and why and how to do it. This is not ideal.
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Although I don't care much about certifications (see last week's episode), I believe strongly in the benefit of supported practice for coaches. We can elevate individual coaches and the whole coaching community by creating spaces and times in which coaches practice, correct, discuss, and support each other.
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Twenty years now since I started doing money stuff online, and the urge to create a course still creeps up on me. Let's talk about it, and let's make sure to work in some Prince Bride references.
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There are good reasons and bad reasons to pursue certification(s) as a coach -- up to and including becoming a licensed therapist.
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