This year, my writing and coaching business actually works. Clients come in without me chasing them like a desperate mall cop, conversations feel natural, and the calendar doesn’t look like a ghost town with Wi-Fi.
But it wasn’t always like this.
In fact, not that long ago, I was doing what most coaches do in the early stages: posting constantly, overthinking captions, refreshing analytics like they owed me money, and quietly wondering why “visibility” wasn’t paying the electric bill.
Even then, though, there were a few things working in my favor. I paid attention and noticed patterns. I watched what actually moved people, not what gurus said should. And I learned early that trust beats traffic every single time.
Eventually, I got a real break.
Not a viral post.
Not a lucky ad.
An actual conversation.
One person read something I wrote, felt understood, and raised their hand. That led to another. And another. Suddenly, momentum showed up without an invoice attached.
Just when it looked like things were about to smooth out, they didn’t. Algorithms shifted and engagement dipped. Platforms changed the rules again. And for a minute, it felt like the universe was reminding me who was in charge.
So, I doubled down on relationships instead of reach, and stopped trying to impress strangers. I also wrote clearer while inviting conversations instead of waiting for permission.
After enough missteps, false starts, and lessons learned the hard way, something clicked. The business became simpler, more human, and more sustainable.
That’s when it finally felt like I’d made it.
And looking back, the “rags” part is exactly what makes the “riches” meaningful. Because real success in coaching isn’t ads, hacks, or overnight wins. It’s learning how to promote yourself in ways that feel natural, honest, and repeatable… without selling your soul or your sanity.
Which brings us here.
Because if you don’t want to run ads, you don’t need to. You just need intricately better moves.
Let me show you ten of them.
http://childpsychiatryassociates.com/treatment-team/kathleen-morgan/kathleen_morgan-600/ The Problem Isn’t a Lack of Content – It’s a Lack of Gravity
You keep circling the same thought, usually right after you hit “publish” again.
This should be working by now.
You’re not guessing or flailing. You’re doing the things you were told to do, showing up, posting, and explaining your work clearly enough that people nod along and tell you it’s “good,” which is apparently where enthusiasm goes to take a nap. From the outside, it looks like momentum. From the inside, it feels oddly weightless.
Nothing is pulling people closer.
You tell yourself it’s probably just consistency, or timing, or one more angle you haven’t tried yet. So – you do the next reasonable-but-slightly-unhinged thing. You add another post to the pile, tweak the phrasing, maybe changing format, and keep going.
That part makes sense. Effort is visible, effort feels productive, and gives you something to confidently point to when the results are thin, late, or apparently stuck in traffic.
What quietly nags at you is the mismatch between activity and outcome.
There’s movement everywhere, but no real shift, no uptick in conversations, no emails that start with, “I feel like you’re inside my head.” Just more output floating past the same people who were already watching.
That’s usually when confidence does a small, unannounced wobble. You don’t crash and burn. You start wondering whether you’re missing something obvious, or worse, whether the thing you’re good at simply isn’t translating into demand.
This is where most coaches and freelance copywriters turn the dial up instead of sideways. More posts, more platforms, more noise. (Blech.)
That sounds reasonable until you notice it hasn’t changed anything yet.
The issue isn’t that you don’t have enough ideas. It’s that none of them are creating gravity.
Think of it like cooking. You can keep adding ingredients to the pan, but if there’s no heat under it, nothing binds, nothing transforms, and nothing smells like dinner. It just stays separate. Technically present. Emotionally inert.
What actually moves people isn’t volume. It’s coherence. A single idea strong enough to hold everything else in orbit, so each piece of content doesn’t have to work so hard on its own.
Once you see that, the question stops being “What should I post today?” I guarantee you, partner, it starts turning into something more interesting, quieter, and carrying a lot more leverage.
That’s when things finally begin to shift into high gear.
VROOOM!
Cue the Beach Boys “Little GTO”. Just… not at full volume yet.
Why Your Smartest Content Gets Politely Ignored
At some point, you realize something uncomfortable.
The posts where you explain things clearly, thoughtfully, and with obvious expertise are the same one’s people scroll past with respectful indifference.
There’s no pushback or disagreement. The post just gets the same quiet treatment as a restaurant menu you already know you’re not ordering from.
You might as well be hogging it down at Golden Corral, while you’re at it.
That’s because credentials don’t create urgency.
They create reassurance, which feels nice, but rarely moves anyone to action. Your reader isn’t waking up thinking about how qualified you are. They’re thinking about the problem that won’t leave them alone.
When your content starts with what you know instead of what they’re stuck in, it asks them to do extra work.
They have to translate your insight into their own situation, and most people won’t bother.
Not because they’re lazy, but because they’re already overwhelmed.
Problem-first content flips that effort back where it belongs.
You begin by calling out the frustration they’ve been circling like a starving buzzard.
The one they’ve half-articulated to themselves but haven’t quite pinned down yet.
Once they feel recognized, and insight lands like a Space-X rocket.
Context matters.
Timing matters.
And only then does a next step feel like help instead of like scrubbing a yellow-stained toilet.
It’s a quiet shift, but it changes everything. (Plus, it doesn’t smell as bad.)
The reader stops evaluating you and starts leaning in. Not because you impressed them, but because you understood them.
That’s when your content stops sounding smart and starts feeling useful.
And usefulness, inconveniently, converts far better than expertise ever did.
Why a Small Email List Can Still Kick Ass
At some point, you start noticing something strange. The people with the biggest followings aren’t always the ones with the fullest calendars.
Meanwhile, someone with a modest little email list seems to be doing just fine, quietly booking calls without announcing it to the internet.
(Yeah, that stings, doesn’t it?)
That’s not an accident.
A hundred people who actually want to hear from you will outperform ten thousand who ignored you in the first place.
One group opted in…
The others went back to watching stupid cat videos.
But listen close, please. Email works because it’s intentional.
Nobody “accidentally” reads an email the way they “accidentally” watch a video.
When someone opens a message from you, they’re choosing you, even if it’s just for a minute between meetings or before the coffee kicks in.
But here’s the thing; the usual hesitation shows up right about here.
You’ll tell yourself, “Meh, I don’t have anything new to say. Or perhaps you’ll think you should polish the crap out of your writing.
That’s backwards. The emails that convert aren’t the ones that sound important. They’re the ones that sound human.
What you really need to write is what you’re noticing and what keeps tripping people up. And you need to say it in simple, plain language instead of trying to overdeliver or sound “knowledgeable”.
Clarity beats clever every time.
This is why email quietly outperforms social media as a conversion engine.
There’s no algorithm audition.
No performance anxiety, or need to go viral before you’re allowed to matter.
Just a direct line to people who already raised their hand and said, “Yes, I’m listening.”
When you treat that kind of attention with care, it compounds slowly and reliably. Without requiring trying to tap dance for strangers.
And once you experience that shift, social media starts to feel less like the main event and more like what it always was: the invitation, not the conversation.
Why Stories Succeed Where Advice Usually Falls Flat
Advice sounds helpful in theory.
In practice, it often lands like stale fart. People sniff and nod, and then politely walk away to go right back to doing the same old thing. (Whatever that was.)
Stories work differently, and they don’t smell bad to readers either.
A story doesn’t tell someone what to think. It lets them recognize themselves without feeling corrected.
When you talk about a mistake you made or how you turned a situation around into a successful experience, it has far more impact.
You are handing your readers context.
When you simply hand someone an opinion or a set of instructions, you’re coming off as a boring know-it-all.
Right?
That’s why context matters.
It creates an emotional orientation.
When you use a story, you are removing a pedestal from under your feet.
You aren’t a know-it-all guru dispensing knowledge. Your readers are recognizing a parallel to their own life experiences. And they are inserting their details into the story you’re handing them.
Have you ever watched a good movie like “Rocky” or “Rudy” and identified with what the character was experiencing?
Did you feel like you were on the same odyssey or quest?
This is why advice gets ignored while stories get remembered.
Advice asks for compliance.
Stories offer understanding. People can actually feel what is happening in the story, somewhat.
Reading information feels like work, while stories are like turning on a light switch. The reader can immediately comprehend what you’re telling them.
The most effective stories aren’t dramatic or polished – they are specific.
It could be a story about a client who didn’t hire you.
Or, a mistake you made and corrected.
Or it could even be a life choice that looked trivial at the time but changed everything.
Stories let people see how you think, not just what you know. And that visibility generates more trust than any checklist ever could.
Once you start leading with stories, something subtle happens. People stop asking whether you’re qualified and start asking whether you’re available.
Not because you gave better advice but because you gave them something tangible to remember.
Remember, it’s far better if readers imagine something in their brains as though they’re experiencing it.
That mind-connection beats the crap out of raw knowledge every time.
Why Naming Your Thinking Changes Everything
At some point, you’ll notice that being helpful isn’t the same as being memorable.
You can give solid advice all day long, and still watch people fumble when someone asks what it is you actually do.
That’s where frameworks are so important.
A framework doesn’t make you smarter – it makes your thinking visible.
Instead of sounding like an experienced helper who can solve things, you’re sounding like someone who understands the shape of the problem itself.
That shift matters more than most people realize because you’re already doing this work in your head.
A Quick Example of a Framework in Action
For example, when someone says they “need more clients,” you already know that’s not the real issue.
Sometimes it’s clarity or trust. Other times, it’s timing. Occasionally, it’s all three showing up in a trench coat pretending to be one problem.
Being able to see that distinction, and guide someone through it in order, is the framework.
You don’t need slides or a trademark, you just need to recognize the pattern and name it out loud.
Experience Let’s You See Patterns
You know which problems come first and which ones are downstream.
After a while, you can recognize when someone is stuck because of mindset, messaging, timing, or all three tangled together.
Naming that sequence doesn’t turn it into a gimmick.
It turns it into something people can hold onto.
When your approach has a name, it travels.
Clients remember it and repeat it.
They will reference it when they’re explaining why they hired you.
Instead of saying, “They helped me with some stuff,” readers and clients will say, “They have this way of breaking things down so that it clicks in my brain.”
That’s the difference between being useful and being referable.
Frameworks can also simplify your own work.
You stop reinventing the conversation every time a new client shows up.
You know where to start, what to listen for, and how to guide without overexplaining.
Clarity compounds on both sides of the table.
Once your thinking has a shape, people stop asking whether you can help and start assuming you can.
The only question left in their minds is whether or not they want access to how you see things.
And that’s a much better conversation to be having.
Why the Smartest Move Often Happens in the Comments
Sooner or later there’s a realization that sneaks up on you like a blood-thirsty ninja.
Posting a lot doesn’t make you more visible. Matter of fact, it only makes you dead tired.
Not only that, you’ll notice something else. (Ready for this?)
If you post a well written comment under a powerful, influential post, you’ll be noticed far more that if you wrote 15 posts in a week.
Well, OK, I exaggerated a bit, but you get the drift.
And leaving great, mind-blowing comments is not magic – it is proximity.
When you comment where your clients already spend time, you’re not interrupting them. You are joining in on a conversation they’re already reading.
The mental scaffolding is set and the problem is already in the air. Your words don’t have to work nearly as hard.
The mistake that most so-called influencers make is treating comments like used toilet paper. They drop a compliment like, “Great post” but…flush…it is pretty useless.
What actually draws people in is valuable perspectives and framing.
When you add a perspective, you’re naming something that wasn’t said out loud yet. You’re gently extending the idea instead of agreeing with it and moving on.
A good comment makes someone think, “Wait, who is this?” Not because you were louder, but because you were clearer.
This is why good commenting often beats posting constantly. It positions you as someone who understands the conversation, not just someone trying to start one. And when people are curious, they do the most natural thing in the world.
They click.
Not to be sold to but to see how you think.
And that’s usually all it takes to turn a comment into the beginning of a conversation.
Why Early Sales Calls Feel Like, “Too Much, Too Soon”
There’s a moment when interest stalls, and that usually happens right after you ask for something bigger than the relationship can support.
A sales call too early doesn’t feel professional. It feels abrupt, like cutting to the end of a joke too soon.
Example: The chicken got to the other side of the road, so that’s why he crossed. (Yeah, it really sucks that way.)
Anyway, most people aren’t avoiding you, they’re avoiding commitment before they have confidence.
They want to get between your ears so they can understand how you think.
They also want to know how you listen and whether working with you will feel empowering or exhausting. So, jumping straight into a call asks them to decide about working with you is tough for them to handle.
Especially when their trust in you is below sea level.
What you need is a low-friction entry point that solves a problem by letting people experience you without pressure.
A short audit.
A simple diagnostic.
Or even a brief email challenge.
This is not some sort of funnel trick, but a way to reduce uncertainty.
And the reason these moments work because they’re concrete. The prospect isn’t imagining what it might be like to work with you. They’re feeling it, experiencing it, and benefitting from it.
They see how you frame problems, what you notice first, and whether your approach actually brings relief.
That experience does more than any explanation ever could. It turns curiosity into confidence without forcing a decision before it’s ready.
When people get a taste of how you think, their next step stops feeling like a leap into a bottomless mud pit.
It feels more like a continuation.
And continuations are much easier to say yes to.
Why Borrowed Trust Beats Chasing Eyeballs
Sooner or later, you’ll realize the internet isn’t short on audiences, it’s just lacking trust and credibility.
There, I said it!
Screaming and shouting into the void is expensive even when it’s free.
So, you get a free spot on Substack or LinkedIn, big deal. You might as well go downtown, stand on a crate and scream at the top of your lungs.
Yeah, you’ll get attention all right. Pedestrians will look for a second, cringe and walk away.
The problem with using free social media platforms is you have to constantly reintroduce yourself, reprove yourself, and remind your brain that this might work. (Usually, it doesn’t.)
And by the way, nobody wanted to read your posts, memes, and thoughts in the first place.
But here’s something that works: borrowing someone else’s audience.
Yeah, that’s the ticket!
When you show up in a space where trust already exists, you don’t start at zero.
A guest email…
An appearance on a podcast conversation…
Or even a collaboration with someone adjacent to your work.
By the way, it’s not merely about exposure. It’s about context and perspective.
And the best part?
You can easily arrive pre-framed.
The difference is subtle but powerful. You’re no longer “a coach or copywriter who does X.” You’re someone this person chose to bring into the room. That choice does more persuasion than any bio paragraph ever could.
But hang on a second, Bochombo!
This only works if it’s done cleanly.
No awkward pitching or hijacking the spotlight.
Just showing up to add value in a way that feels aligned with the audience you’re speaking to.
When the fit is right, curiosity does the rest of the work for you, and you can gain a lot of trust from getting this kind or exposure.
Trust transfers faster than traffic because it skips the convincing stage. People don’t have to decide whether you’re worth listening to because you’re and invited guest and not a pest.
Once you experience that dynamic, grinding for reach starts to feel unnecessary. You stop trying to be everywhere and start being intentional about where you show up.
And that’s when borrowed audiences stop feeling borrowed at all. They start feeling like introductions.
Neutrality Has No Flavor and is Ignorable
Trying to appeal to everyone is trying to appeal to no one.
Let that sink in, friend.
Neutral language that has no spice is as bland as a baloney sandwich without mayo.
When you adopt a vague, boring position, people don’t agree or disagree. They just keep searching online for someone who knows how to get into their psyche. It’s like watching a boring movie or TV show.
Think Brady Bunch versus Malcolm in the Middle.
One has everyone agreeing to be nice, and the other is constant, hilarious chaos. So, you tell me, which one would you rather watch?
Without a clear point of view and a marshmallow stance, people won’t read your crap.
So, having a strong position in your business and writing is paramount. People who are on fire to change some aspect of their lives, appreciate your stance because you’re articulating exactly what they’re thinking.
And if you do have a strong position about something and some of the buggers leave and go elsewhere…GOOD! That is exactly what you want…To weed them out.
I’m not saying to position yourself as a rebel, because when you do that, you’re faking it for the sake of getting attention. (Think of Gretta Thunberg for example.)
So, don’t polarize for the sake of it, because when you do, people just seem to know.
But to get back to the point, premium clients aren’t looking for neutrality. They’re looking for conviction grounded in experience, knowledge, and research.
You want conversations…
Disagreements…
People passionately, yet peacefully clashing.
But once you’ve thinned out the herd and they know where you stand, persuasion is more like alignment, and they are the people you want for long term clients and followers.
Capisce?
And let’s face it, the ones who don’t stick with you were never meant to be.
If You Hate Selling – Don’t Go into Business
This is already a rather long post, but if you’ve gotten this far, then this is a bonus within the last section.
If you’re going into business of any kind – writing, coaching, making cakes, fixing fiddles, you are going to need to sell.
It is the core of any business.
Any business opportunity that comes along that tells you that you don’t need to sell or know how to…RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN.
Because that is pure B.S.
But let me give you a perspective, you my not have read anywhere: Selling can and should be…FUN.
Period.
Full stop.
I love selling face to face, and quite frankly, that’s the kind of selling that works to best.
Over the last several years, I’ve been selling a lot of jam at the local farmer’s market. My wife makes the best jam in the world, and I’m very confident in that product.
When I’m selling it, I tell people that we are the Ben & Jerry’s of jam. We’re a little more expensive, but we’re worth it.
Anyone who comes anywhere near my display get’s a bright and shiny, “Good Morning” from me. And if they respond, I tell them how much I like their hat, shirt, dog, whatever.
Guess what?
A lot of people stop to talk to me. Most of the time they smile, nod and keep walking. But there is a good percentage that stop, and after we talk for a while, I say something like this:
“Well, since you’ve stopped by, let me tell you about our jam.”
And I go into the whole process of how we grow our own fruit or buy it from one of the local farms, and how my wife and I get into fights in the kitchen while making the stuff.
(Remember, people love conflict. Ha – hah!)
I sell a lot of jam doing this, and it is so fun that the 5 hours I’m there seems to fly.
So, if you’re into coaching, take every opportunity you can to sell to your target market. Once you get into a groove, you’ll get used to it.
And this applies directly to selling in an email or a blog post, too. A lot of coaches try to sell on LinkedIn, and that’s not a bad idea, either.
So, my advice is to learn to love selling, because you’re going to be doing a lot of it.
You Don’t Need Pressure – Just a Nudge
An invitation doesn’t have to be loud or pushy to get people to make a decision.
It just has to exist.
People need to know there’s a next step and that it’s welcome.
There’s a thing called a “soft invitation” that works quite well. It is merely a nudge in your writing or media presence that let’s people know what you’re putting out.
Basically, it’s a short reminder to keep people aware of your offer.
I have a popup that appears on my site that reminds people to subscribe to my newsletter.
That’s a soft invitation.
Once they’ve raised their hands to get emails regularly from me, I can pitch my products and free services to them.
And when you sell your products and services in this manner, it is shifting the burden of decision to the reader. And this changes the dynamic, considerably because it is not a forced decision but a natural one.
So don’t be afraid to say, “This is a place you can step into if you want to.”
And when you do that, the whole system you’ve been building finally has somewhere to land.
You Don’t Need Pressure – Just a Nudge
An invitation doesn’t have to be loud or pushy to get people to make a decision.
It just has to exist.
People need to know there’s a next step and that it’s welcome.
There’s a thing called a “soft invitation” that works quite well. It is merely a nudge in your writing or media presence that let’s people know what you’re putting out.
Basically, it’s a short reminder to keep people aware of your offer.
I have a popup that appears on my site that reminds people to subscribe to my newsletter.
That’s a soft invitation.
Once they’ve raised their hands to get emails regularly from me, I can pitch my products and free services to them.
And when you sell your products and services in this manner, it is shifting the burden of decision to the reader. This really changes the dynamic considerably, because it is not a forced decision but a natural one.
So don’t be afraid to say, “This is a place you can step into if you want to.”
And when you do that, the whole system you’ve been building finally has somewhere to land.
Conclusion: Pick 2–3 and commit for 90 Days
A word of caution…
Trying to jump on all these steps at once is not ambition, it is craziness.
So, slow down, Ging-Ga!
When all of these become important, you’ll wind up doing most of it half-assed.
Burnout is definitely NOT the way to go.
Instead, choose a few of these channels and run them for 90 days.
Pick 3 based on:
- Where you already show up naturally
- What doesn’t drain the hell out of you
- Where your ideal clients already pay attention
So, if you like to write, then lean into email and commenting.
Like talking?
Make podcasts, videos and Zoom meetings.
And if you enjoy thinking deeply, write long-form content like a massive blog post.
Remember one thing, there is never a “best” platform. There are only the one’s that you’ll stick with and use long-term.
And honestly, that’s the part most people miss. You don’t want to be a coach / copywriter who is everywhere. You want to be one that is recognized.
And Now for My Incredible, Inevitable Call to Action
Look, don’t just sit on your profusely sweating buttocks waiting for something to happen.
If you want to promote your coaching business by using copywriting tactics, here are a few low-pressure next steps:
- Join my email list for simple, usable strategies you can actually launch
- Purchase a related resource that shows you how to jump start your business
- Book a short, no-sales intro conversation if you want clarity on what to focus on next
No funnels or pressure, just plain and simple directions on how to get where you really want to go.
Also, if you liked this post or want to ask me questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment in the wide-open text field below.
It would really make my day.