Nobody gives a damn about your logo . . . Until they understand why you’re the right coach for them. Visual identity is the last 20% of branding. Yet it's all too easy to start there, agonizing over palettes and fonts before we can say, in one breath, who we serve and why it matters. Then we wonder why the shiny new brand still sounds like every other coach. We already know better. We guide clients into clarity every day. So take these as reminders, not revelations: Name the

What your client tells a friend: She showed me bravery I didnt know I had — enough to leave the job. I cant believe the life Im living now! What your website tells a stranger: I help professionals reach their potential. Thats the Reflection Gap: the distance between the juicy, life-altering transformations you deliver and the pale, cliche reflection on your website. It's not a design problem. Its three leaks. An impact leak. The people who most need your way of working cant t

Credit: Anton Bacon Congratulations on earning your PCC! Hundreds of hours coaching. Mentor coaching. Recorded sessions. An evaluation that doesn't care how you feel about your coaching — only what you actually do in the room. That's not a certificate. That's proof, earned the hard way. Bravo! Here's the thing: earning the credential does its work on you first, from the inside out. Your process sharpens. Your edge shows up. You learn about yourself deeply. But your website ju

So many coach's websites I view sound like it was written by the same central committee: "Transformational." "Authentic." "Empowering." "Unlock your potential." But you know those words don't begin to reflect the work you actually do — and the results your clients experience. So why does your website sound like everyone else's? Because you're trying to speak to everyone at once. You widen your language so no prospective client feels excluded. Every problem you might solve, ev

How well do you know your client sweet spot? It's the first key to an unmistakably unique coaching brand. I know what some of you are thinking. "Oh, he's talking about my niche. Well if I do that, I'll exclude clients I could serve." Or "I serve too wide a variety of clients. I don't need a niche." There's a lot of baggage associated with that word "niche." So rather than trying to sort it, let's start with a whole different idea: your client sweet spot. Any tennis play

Clients initially look for a lot things in a coach. Here are three. Authority - Expertise, experience, skills. I call all this professional authority. When we're not accomplishing what we'd like and we need help, we naturally look for someone who is "better" than us. They know more. They possess skills that we don't. I know, we coaches are fundamentally facilitators rather than "authorities," but clients often come to us with this mindset. Empathy and Relatability - Someone w

I had a wonderful working experience with Dan Lewis. I came to him seeking a photographer who understood leadership coaches to help me take photos for my new website. In working together we focused on my brand identity to ensure the most important messages came through in the photos. As I got comfortable with Dan and learned about his capabilities, I ended up hiring him to be my partner in creating the website. He understood what I was trying to accomplish (even if I didn't)

Coaches, does your statement of core values set you apart from other coaches? We've all seen them. And many of us have them. A statement of your values posted on your website. I love the intent. If I'm hiring a coach, I want to be sure that coach's deepest values align with my own. But so many times these statements fail to land. Each one kinda sound like everyone else. Or they're filled with coachy jargon. Or they feel vague and abstract. Words like 'customer satisfaction',

How are you inviting your clients to play? I'm sitting in a theater anteroom on Sunday morning with a collection of clowns, improvisers, burlesque performers, emcees, and cabaret artists. A gloriously varied group. Gender presentation was a delightful free-for-all. The workshop, Connect with the Crowd, is being led by Aunt Nance, billed as the musical comedy cougar and sex-positive, fun-loving, eccentrically talented aunt you've always wanted -- though she's not in costume to

Psychotherapist Khristian is a hoot. Bold but down to earth. Full of joy and humor. Expressive.

Ariana Klitzinger How do *you* set yourself apart from other coaches and consultants? Ariana Klitzner's an independent business consultant working with digital health companies, foundations, and nonprofits - and a genuine badass. She specializes in driving specific operational or strategic projects for growing organizations who don't yet have the staffing to get ahead of the game. Ariana hits the ground running, and helps her clients do the same.Though she's served clients fo