It looks like everyone successful got there from a stage: the TEDx talk, the PR, the crowd. But my biggest pitching win, top five in Boston in front of four venture capitalists, didn't happen on a stage at all. It happened in a boardroom.

In this episode on how to get coaching clients without chasing the stage:

→ What actually won that room, almost ten years ago

→ Why the stage only turns up the volume on whatever you bring to it: the grey version of you, or the technicolour one

→ What thought leadership really grows from

→ The one thing to write down next time you feel that pull, so you know whether it's coming from clarity or from needing to prove something

Get clear on what you do and who it's for at my free monthly live session, the Clarity Shift:

https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the-clarity-shift-page

Prefer to watch? This is Video 3 in my YouTube series, How To Get Coaching Clients (Without A Big Audience):

https://youtu.be/tpUT9TT_imE

CHAPTERS

0:00 The stage looks like the answer

0:21 Boston, almost ten years ago

1:07 What they were really responding to

1:34 It wasn't the stage that mattered

2:18 The stage turns up the volume

2:47 Thought leadership isn't something you chase

3:18 That pull is envy

4:04 Write this down next time you feel the pull

4:43 A clear message is only one part of it

I'm Selena Woodward, a spiritual business coach who helps women get clear on what they do so the right people understand it and buy. https://selenawoodward.com

This week's posts are scheduled, and you've got no idea whether any of them will bring you a client. Meanwhile, I went to a lunch where business talk was off the table and walked away with five follow-ups.

In this episode I share three simple steps for getting coaching clients without a big audience:

→ Step 1: the one line to say about what you do

→ Step 2: three places to find your first thirty names (I didn't think I knew thirty people I could talk to about my business. I had to make myself put my pen down at thirty-nine.)

→ Step 3: your Landing Notes, so you know whether your message landed, in them and in you

Posts keep you visible. Conversations are where people decide. By the end you'll have one line, one list and one conversation to have today.

Grab the free guide, 3 Steps to a Message That Lands. It has the formula, the list page and your Landing Notes:

https://offers.selenawoodward.com/message-that-lands-page

Prefer to watch? This is Video 2 in my YouTube series, How To Get Coaching Clients (Without A Big Audience):

https://youtu.be/Fwlr_BYUeSY

CHAPTERS

0:00 One lunch, five follow-ups

0:30 Step 1: your words (the one-line formula)

1:33 Step 2: a list of 30 names

2:21 Place 1: people who already know you

3:29 Place 2: the rooms where your people are

4:37 Place 3: the comment section

5:35 Step 3: your Landing Notes

7:35 Today: one line, one list, one conversation

I'm Selena Woodward, a spiritual business coach who helps women get clear on what they do so the right people understand it and buy. https://selenawoodward.com

Nobody's buying your offer? I spent $250 putting my videos in front of 100,000 people. New clients: not one.When nobody's buying your offer, the obvious fix is to reach more people. I tested that with paid YouTube promotion, a Google ad to my freebie and a LinkedIn funnel, and every number went up except the one that matters. This video is for women who've spent years being good at something and are now building a business of their own that isn't selling yet. You'll hear how I actually got my first clients, why more reach wasn't the answer, and what that means for how to get your first client without a big audience. Then you'll get one thing to do this week that shows you exactly where your "oh, lovely" is coming from.Join me at my free monthly live session, the Clarity Shift, and get clear on what you do and who it's for:https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the-clarity-shift-pageCHAPTERS:0:00 Nobody's buying your offer: 12 weeks, one signup0:47 More reach, more of the wrong people2:16 Where my clients actually came from3:58 The crumbs and the bread5:01 Your one thing this week: ask two people what you doI'm Selena Woodward, a spiritual business coach helping women get clear on what they do so the right people understand it and buy. https://selenawoodward.com

If you're trying to grow your business and it still feels like nothing's moving, you've probably told yourself you just need to do more, show up more, be more. And yet part of you is starting to wonder if you're actually cut out for this.If you're building a business on the side of the work that pays the bills, and it's still not the main event yet, this is the six month process I actually use to change that, with my own one-to-one clients.In this video:→ Why the block usually isn't a skills problem or a systems problem, it's cleared first, in Phase 1→ How to get so clear on who you help and why that you can finally say what you do without cringing→ The systems that hold it all together, once the first two are actually done→ Why I do not start with a website, and what that costs people who skip straight to oneThis is the fifth and final video in this series on why getting clients feels so hard when you're already doing "all the right things." Catch up on the series so far:Video 1: https://youtu.be/8-CVu2hgI_wVideo 2: https://youtu.be/scgSG2N86usVideo 3: https://youtu.be/_nHGWYj_vCgVideo 4: https://youtu.be/eYTUAS0uNvUThis is a six month, one-to-one container, and it's a real investment. It's for the women who've already decided they're doing this.If that's you, come and visit https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the-clarity-cauldron and apply to come and join.---CHAPTERS:0:00 Cringing at the bank balance1:48 Phase 1: clearing the block5:39 Phase 2: your story, finally clear9:07 Phase 3: building the systems10:52 The $8,000 website12:30 Ready to apply

Kirstie came to me wanting a new website. That's not what changed her business.Underneath the website request was something she'd been carrying quietly for years: four identities she'd never learned to hold as one person. Nurse. Midwife. Doula. Shamanic womb healer. The first three, she could say without blinking. The fourth took her longer.It took five sessions, not five years, to change that. Not a new website. Not a new funnel. One sentence she finally gave herself permission to say.In this video:→ Why "I need a better website" is so often a symptom, not the actual problem→ The exact question that surfaced what Kirstie had been avoiding saying out loud→ What actually changed in five sessions, and what didn't need to→ Why the fix came before the website, not after itThis is Video 4 in a five-part series on why getting clients feels so hard when you're already doing "all the right things." Catch up on the series so far:Video 1: https://youtu.be/8-CVu2hgI_wVideo 2: https://youtu.be/scgSG2N86usVideo 3: https://youtu.be/_nHGWYj_vCgTell me in the comments: what's the thing you think you need before you're ready? A better website, a certification, the right niche? I read every one.I run the Clarity Shift every month, join here: https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the-clarity-shift-pageNext video: the process I actually use to find what's underneath the symptom, every time, with every client. https://youtu.be/xUn_NbIRc54---CHAPTERS:0:00 Nurse. Midwife. Doula.0:53 The website request2:14 The question underneath5:17 Five sessions, not five years7:06 It's first now8:19 Not by hiding the rest

You've been trying to get clients for a year, and every hour you spent on your website counted as work. It had a product at the end. That's how you've been keeping score.The truth is, the time was never missing. It went somewhere — and once you can see where, you get to choose differently.In this video:→ Why the hours you thought you didn't have were there all along→ The real reason "competence" can quietly become a hiding place→ Where the old identity from your last career is still running your new business→ One small thing to do this week to catch it in the actThis is Video 3 in a five-part series on why getting clients feels so hard when you're doing "all the right things." If you haven't watched Video 2 yet, start here: • The Five Minute Check Before You Take That... Watching this and thinking "that's me, but with [your version of the website]" — tell me in the comments what your website is. The thing you're really good at that keeps getting the hours instead of the clients. I read every one.Want to work through this live, with support, once a month, for free? I run The Clarity Shift every month — join here: https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the...Next video: the story of a woman who came to me certain she needed a new website — and what we found instead. Coming Soon!---CHAPTERS:0:00 It counted as work1:14 Where the hours went4:05 The hiding place7:42 Safe, again10:01 Catch it once11:54 The other side

Your body already answered that contract. You've been calling it tired.How to listen to your body before you say yes to work you don't want: your nervous system sends a signal, never a verdict. When work lands that you could do in your sleep but that sits nowhere near the business you're building, cortisol goes up and says pay attention. Most of us hear "but it's money", push through, and file the heaviness under tired. This is a five-minute check you run twice, once on that contract and once on the work you actually want, so the gut feeling you keep overriding gets heard before you reply. You leave with four words, and tired isn't one of them. Bring the real email to mind, and your nervous system will show you a pattern you've been living inside.▶ Free PDF to write your four words on: https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the-five-minute-check-before-you-say-yes-page▶ Run this live with me, free, every month: https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the-clarity-shift-pageWATCH NEXTThe Contract That Cost You Six Months (start here): https://youtu.be/8-CVu2hgI_wThe Website You've Rebuilt Three Times: [V3 link when live]0:00 The contract in your inbox0:57 What your body is actually telling you3:18 Grab a pen (free PDF below)3:49 The check begins: baseline5:28 Picture one: the contract8:24 Picture two: the work you want11:15 Your four words11:46 What they mean12:46 Get steady, then decide14:21 Where "safe" is hidingSelena Woodward is a business coach and NLP practitioner in South Australia who walked away from her own six-figure business when her body told her to. She helps women build the business that's actually theirs, from the inside out. selenawoodward.comHow this works, if you want the mechanism: https://selenawoodward.com/transform-your-business-with-expert-nlp-coaching-sessions/

You keep taking work you don't want because it pays the bills. Here's what the last contract actually spent.Taking work you don't want feels like the responsible move, because it pays the bills and it funds the business you're building on the side. And it does. But when you price that contract, you probably answer in hours, and hours are the wrong unit. What it really spends is the months your own business could have been moving, and the attention you needed to bring to them. The money arrives with a date and a notification. The months leave without a sound, which is the only reason the deal still looks good.The next video hands you a five-minute check you can run on the last job you accepted:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRmUs0Jma0i00:00 The deal you made0:41 What the work actually pays you1:52 Column one, the money and the runway3:02 Hours are the wrong unit3:39 What divided attention really costs4:28 Five restarts in four months5:38 Why the cost stays invisible6:02 Money arrives loudly, months leave in silence7:23 The question that arrives months too late7:59 The one thing to ask before the next yes9:03 Your old work is the investor in your new one10:29 The money can stay, the terms are yoursI'm Selena Woodward, a business coach who works with women who spent years becoming genuinely good at something and are now building something of their own alongside it. If you'd rather work this out in a room than on your own, The Clarity Shift is where that happens: https://offers.selenawoodward.com/the-clarity-shift-page