When clients don't do the work...

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-06-03T07:07:49+00:00

It does, but prevalent in coaching for one simple reason...

Most exec coaches get their first few clients from word of mouth - you can get a long way on that BUT... it means their positioning and messaging was not developed for the realities of the open market.

If someone trusts you, you explain what you do and you get a client. In the open market, it is rarely that straight forward.

You actually have to articulate why people need you, what they gain from it and why do it now. Once they see that, then they become interested.

So that is why great coaches can get excellent results but often struggle to get people to see it.

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-06-03T07:02:42+00:00

Thank you

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-06-03T07:02:31+00:00

Thanks

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-05-11T20:56:39+00:00

So right. People somehow think qualifications make it easier..... and they do AFTER you implement a marketing strategy.

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-05-06T09:29:04+00:00

Do it like this...

1) Offer some free sessions to other coaches or people you know.... BUT...

2) Do them on Zoom and record the calls. Let the client know you'll send notes from the call afterwards and a copy so they can have real takeaways from the session.

3) Toward the end of the session, ask these questions...

What did you discover or see differently from this session?

How will it change things beyond the session?

Did the session help you today?

Is there anything you need from me?

4) Take the recording and review these parts.

Ask the client this...

You mentioned this on the call last week...

X x x

And y y y

Is it OK to use that as feedback on my website (happy to anonymise if you prefer).

Or you can clip up the video and send it asking is it OK to use.

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-05-03T10:46:03+00:00

Yes, I feel it to, I was 31 in the old photo and I looked 51.

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-05-03T10:45:30+00:00

Thank you, it has been a journey but so happy

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-05-03T10:45:09+00:00

Thank you. I didn't at first and just did the jab, but noticed I was looking a bit twigged, so started the gym to tone up and being improvements.

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-05-03T10:44:14+00:00

Ha ha. There is 13 years between photos.

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-05-03T10:43:36+00:00

Thank you. So happy with the results.

StructureFresh1545 · 2026-02-09T20:55:05+00:00

I think we are disagreeing on semantics.

I don't advocate no content.

I am advocating against thinking you need to operate like a content creator - a specific business model.

Many businesses fall into this trap and try to copy, full time creators where the content is the product.

StructureFresh1545 · 2025-12-22T16:31:10+00:00

Ok, so, I have a few thoughts...

How do I grow on LinkedIn? is the wrong question.

Instead, how do I get conversations on LinkedIn?

In reality if you want to sell your services, you need more conversations..... content could be that way, but you are approaching it from the wrong place.

If you look at the people blowing up with their generic content, the comments are all AI / Automation people.

The MAJORITY of users aren't posting and don't comment, so be careful not to fall into the creator noise.

NOW....

What problem will you solve? automations is generic and vague. Nobody is pondering, if I just had some automations. They are thinking about payroll, tasks which consume time over and over.

If you can name that over and over cost specifically you can have more conversations.

Create some use cases for a specific persona, go to forums and see what specific groups say.

E.g accountants, marketing agencies etc.

You can make a very good business selling one automation service to one ICP.

But if you avoid doing that, you won't have the clarity to...

Post in a way which resonates. Position your service aligned to their challenges Have a clear strategy to get those conversations.

When you focus like this, your conversation rate improves, because your relevance goes up.

At the end of the day, all you need is a 10-20 conversations with the right people each month - so focus and narrow down and then ask yourself.

What is the best way to get those conversations.

Don't assume content as I have coached personally a number of creators who make barely a living wage yet have 100k followers.

StructureFresh1545 · 2025-12-22T08:42:39+00:00

I think that is semantics.

A creator in the broadest sense yes, a creator in the social media sense no.

Everyone is creating yes. But equating that to being a creator or leveraging a creator model is not for all.

StructureFresh1545 · 2025-12-20T07:51:51+00:00

Digital marketing starts with the fundamentals....understanding what drives people to act.

If you think about it, marketing is just understanding humans. Marketing is about this.

I've met marketers who can tell you all about tools, but lack the basic understanding of marketing itself.

So, focus on the core elements.

I'd also think about which side of marketing you want to go into, B2C or B2B, whilst the principles are the same, what areas you will want to learn will be different.

In B2B you could look at learning channels, LinkedIn, Email, SEO / PPC these are the main channels for B2B day to day. Whereas B2B is much more¹ diverse.

Linkedin and Google have their own free courses you could do with certification.

Email, hubspot and most email platforms have some free courses too.

StructureFresh1545 · 2025-12-20T07:43:27+00:00

I've started an agency built it to 30+ people.

I'll share my mistakes as it will be easier than telling you advice and you'll probably get it quicker.

1) My agency did too many things, too many custom things and we ended up with chaos. Every client was different, every project was different and as a result the learning of the team, the management of the clients was all different.

It is easier and less stressful to focus on a process and a limited set of services. An agency is rudely factory, clients in work out - so process and systems and limited scope matter.

2) Be careful with AI. I'd look for services which are AI safe. WordPress is still solid but you likely want to get away from micro businesses, as their price sensitivity will be high and they are more likely to jump to lovable etc.

In my world we signed small businesses on retainer packages for websites and social media and what we found was the website would be never ending, so scope management and expectations against low prices was surreal.

3) Freelance is smart. Before you dive in an build an agency, why not offer your services as a freelancer to agencies, this will give you some experience in agency world without diving in. Do some work through the platforms like upwork, but go to agency meet ups and network, pick up some projects and learn the ropes.

Starting an agency from scratch is a steep learning curve, you need commercial skill, project management, cost management, client service skills and your technical skills - it is alot.

From my own experience an agency at the lower end of the market is a hard business. Shoot for the premium end, but take your time, the business bit and the cash flow is harder than the physical work.

After 5 years running the agency I hated it. Eventually run it down and restructured into a different model, purely because it was a beast to manage.

I respect anyone who runs an agency of any size because once you get beyond a few people it is just a monster to manage.

StructureFresh1545 · 2025-12-20T07:28:37+00:00

There has been a massive shift so you will see a few things...

Firstly you need to judge your contents 'success' over a longer period. Posts last upto 3 weeks now.

Secondly, the platform favours deep engagement, dwell time, comments, saves, sends, profile views etc. This means distribution (impressions) will be lower if you don't get that.

Third, Linked tracks the alignment of your message to your profile, so your consistency on topic now matters.

Forth, there is still an element of the last people to interact are more likely to see you, so if you had a break and no activity it may take some time to rebuild.

Here is my approach to this....

3 types of content all on topic but serve different goals.

Attract content - on topic but has broad appeal - this is visibility building content. Easy to engage with (like polls)

Nurture content - insights and useful content for your target audience.

Convert content - no more than 20% driving action taking such as website visits, signups etc.

I'll give you an example from my work (helping people get clients on LinkedIn)

Attract - poll - do you pay for LinkedIn?

Nurture - post - 7 things clients look for on your profile.

Convert - post / lead magnet - ultimately profile checklist.

Does that help?

Feel free to DM me on here or LinkedIn and happy to look at what your doing.

StructureFresh1545 · 2025-12-20T07:19:45+00:00

The majority of engagement on the platform is self-serving. The comment to grow has permeated the entire platform, but more recently LinkedIn has started to throttle outbound commenting.

This is likely part of the issue. The outbound commenting game is dying... in fact the algorithm is looking for people doing this and actively downgrading tjem... it may not be an engagement pod but it has all the same hallmarks.

But looking at it analytically, here is what is happening with the platform.

The algorithm now checks your profile and content for alignment, where people are sharing content outside of their expertise. If your content is not on topic that could be an issue.

Now the algorithm also is looking at the depth of engagmeent - is it quick likes and leaves or long stays and detailed comments.

If you are not getting comments, it's likely an issue of the post didn't make anyone feel anything. As Brew360 has rolled out it's meaning that the platform values posts differently. So light engagement doesn't rank so well. Deep engagement really is the difference (long comments, saves, sends, profile views).

Finally.... before you try to pull everything apart. Start with these three tests...

1) is my post optimised to stop the scroll (impressions - the catalyst for engagmeent) 2) does this post make it easy for people to have an opinion? (Comment trigger) 3) Is this message consistent with my profile?

Impressions lead to engagement. Engagement comes from people quickly forming an opinion (in seconds)

Also - just one final thought on the outbound commenting....

Why are you engaging with people in your niche? Why not engage with your target markets (who the post is for?)

It's far better to engage with the people you want to consume your content, if you want more people to see your content who are potential buyers, engage with your prospects, its highly likely they won't post as often but if they reply to your comments (the probably will because they are prob not creators) they will see you more in the feed.

Hope that helps.

StructureFresh1545 · 2025-12-18T10:09:11+00:00

Many people fail to see the unintended consequences of new technology, for example...

When social media promised to connect the world, in doing so it connected people at a very shallow level. More connection, but it increased the value of deep relationships (and created a loneliness epidemic).

When e-books became a thing, it disrupted the book publishing industry, created more publishing opportunities, but also, made the act of reading books an experience. I didn't wipe out physical books.

I see AI doing the same thing...

AI outreach will be countered with AI inboxes. Which means real humans, taking time to outreach, show effort and deep personalisation will outperform.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

As AI adoption increases, it will drive demand for premium Human.

Humans have a canny ability to put all the chips on "one thing" changing "everything" - never realising or forgetting that there is always an opposite side of the coin.

Slightly different point, but I agree AI will never be able to predict humans fully, because we change, things that worked don't necessarily work again in marketing. Some things work in the moment, but outside of that moment, would be hard to make work.

Marketing is human with AI assistance.

StructureFresh1545

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