How I landed coaching clients (and you can too)

Hi Reader,

For years, I ran a content publishing business.

I worked with a team of writers and editors. We published dozens of articles each week.

As my sites grew, I spent less time writing.

Instead, I spent hundreds of hours refining my SEO strategy to get MORE TRAFFIC to my site.

More traffic meant more revenue.

Thanks to AI and a brutal series of Google algo updates, I stopped investing so much time and money in content and SEO.

The online publishing model demands increasing amounts of effort for diminishing returns.

I don’t recommend this model at all for writers today.

So, I let my team of writers and editors go.

And I simplified my business.

Now, I write a daily newsletter (you’re reading it) and work on a few other creative projects like my YouTube channel.

To pay the bills, I shifted my business towards the coaching model.

I was reluctant to offer coaching.

The prospects of so many Zoom calls shoved into my calendar didn’t appeal.

But I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it.

I vet potential clients to ensure we are a good fit.

For example, I don’t accept clients who want to write best-selling genre fiction… because I don’t write that.

I also limit the number of clients I work with each month so I have time to work on my business.

More than three calls a day is too many.

In the mornings, I still focus on personal writing projects like writing this newsletter.

I work with clients who want to build a writing and coaching business in the afternoons.

It’s a good balance as I don’t have to spend all day in my company!

Three hours between 9 and lunch is enough meaningful progress for any writing project.

I can write what I want, help some readers with their businesses, and get paid.

Coaching isn’t for everyone.

If you’re writing genre fiction, don’t do it.

If you’ve already got a full-time job you like, the last thing you need is more calls and meetings.

But consider this:

As a writer, you already understand a topic or niche, such as health, personal development, or your B2B niche or choice.

Now…

You could write articles for 4–6 cents per word, but that’s a grind.

Or you could pitch clients on LinkedIn or over email, coach a select few and earn far more.

With a few clients on a weekly retainer for $150, you can easily earn $5k, $10k, or even $20k per month.

The model is adaptable, too.

You can offer one-on-one coaching or group coaching.

Or you can offer consulting to business owners who need help with their content strategy.

However you position yourself, the coaching model is FAR more profitable than freelancing. And it’s less of a grind than content publishing.

If you want to build your coaching business, reply “COACH” to this email.

Write on,

Bryan Collins