Most coaches think they need a website, a bigger audience or months of content before they can sign a client. In this episode, I share exactly what I would do if I had to get my first five coaching clients all over again, using the lessons I’ve learned from building my own business and helping hundreds of qualified coaches do the same.

Timestamps

00:00 - What I’d Do Differently

03:00 - The 30-Person List

06:30 - Five Free Sessions

09:00 - Your First Paid Client

12:00 - The Social Media Myth

14:00 - One Honest Conversation

17:00 - Your First Five Clients Plan

Whether you’ve just qualified as a coach or you’ve been stuck trying to attract clients for longer than you’d hoped, this episode will give you a practical, step-by-step plan to help you stop overthinking and start building momentum.

Sometimes the simplest actions create the biggest breakthroughs. Your first clients don’t come from having everything perfect. They come from having the courage to start.

Take the CEO Scorecard to find out where your business needs the most attention right now.

Useful Links

Learn about The Business of Coaching programme

Signature Solution Course

Download the Free Digital version of Coaches' Planner (NEW edition 2026)

Free Essential AI Toolkit – 2 Must-Have Prompts for Coaches

How to secure more coaching clients' free training

Download the 12 ways to get clients now

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

Rate and Review the Podcast

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If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected]

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If I lost everything tomorrow, my audience, my email list, all of

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everything I've built so far, and I had

to get my first five coaching clients

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from scratch, what would I actually do?

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Honestly, the answer even surprised

me because it's not social media,

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it's not registering my business,

and it's not building a website.

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If we haven't met before, I'm Jo Lott, a

business coach who helps qualified coaches

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get clients with honesty, not hype.

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And today I am giving you the

most practical episode that

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I think I have ever recorded.

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The question, how do I get clients,

keeps most coaches up at 3:00 in the

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morning, and honestly, the answer

isn't always complicated because there

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is so much noise out there telling

you to do things that don't really

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matter for your stage of business yet.

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So let me start with something that

might feel a bit uncomfortable.

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Here's what I wouldn't do.

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I would not build a website right away.

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Your website is not going to get

you clients when no one knows

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you exist, and it takes a long

time to get found by Google.

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When I first started, I made this mistake,

obviously thinking the website was gonna

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be the magic cure to having a business.

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I also, though, wouldn't spend

three months choosing a niche,

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and I know I go on about niching

a lot and it really does matter.

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You don't need this perfectly

figured out before you start.

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You need to just start with some

sort of idea, and your niche will get

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clearer through real conversations.

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Clarity really does come from taking

action, not thinking about your

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niche again and again and again.

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Definitely don't create a course.

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I see coaches do this all the time.

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They hear about passive income, but

they haven't signed a single client.

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They have maybe no audience at all,

and they spend all of their time

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building a 12-module online program.

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For who?

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Like, we don't even know who your ideal

client is yet, and if it's a really

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vague course title, no one will buy it.

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I also wouldn't spend

money on ads at this stage.

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You are throwing money at a problem that

you haven't really understood yet until

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you really have the foundations in place.

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So if I had to start over as a coach,

and this is day one, what would I do?

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Day one, let's start on a niche

that I want to actually begin with.

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Really commit to that ideal client.

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Niching is really a love letter to your

ideal client, and if you don't want to

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commit to your ideal client, then why

should they commit to working with you?

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That is the danger of not

niching, that therefore you're not

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committed to your ideal client, and

therefore they don't commit to you.

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So there is actually a

danger in not niching.

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Okay, so day one, we're finding out

a niche that we want to begin with.

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Let's move to week one,

the 30-person list.

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So first week, I would then

create an offer so I have

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some idea of what I'm selling.

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That might sound like a big chore and

a big deal to create an offer, but it

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really doesn't need to take that long.

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It doesn't need to be absolutely perfect.

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You're just getting a rough idea.

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Then I would stop planning, day

two, and talk to real humans.

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Yep, that is really it.

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That is the strategy

that I would begin with.

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My very first paying coaching

client found me through a blog

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that I'd written on the Life Coach

Directory about imposter syndrome.

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She then connected with me on

LinkedIn and basically said,

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"I've just read your article.

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It's exactly what I'm feeling.

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Can we talk?"

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So one blog, one conversation, and

that was what it took to get my

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first ever paying coaching client.

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But before even worrying about blogging,

if I were to do it all over again, with

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hindsight, I would sit down and really

write that list of 30 people that I know.

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Not 30 potential clients, just 30 people.

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They could be your next-door neighbor,

they could be former colleagues, parents

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from the school gates, people from outside

of my coaching course, old friends,

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anyone who knows my name and would

actually be open to a message from me.

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I would send every one of them a message.

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Not a sales pitch, but just

a genuine human message.

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Maybe something like, "Hi

Sarah, I hope you are well.

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I wanted to let you know that

I recently qualified as a…"

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insert what type of coach you are, "And

I'm looking for a few people to work with.

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If you know anyone who is new in role

or struggling to delegate or needs to

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up their leadership skills, I would love

it if you would pass on my details."

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So that is an example, if I was

a leadership coach, as to what I

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would say to people that I know.

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You don't need to use fancy marketing

language like limited spots.

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Just tell people what you

are up to at this stage.

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Yes, there is more to marketing, and

we will do that eventually, but at the

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beginning, just realize you can't hide

behind your computer screen forever.

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Here's what may happen

from your 30 people list.

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Maybe 20 people actually reply.

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Maybe five say, "Actually, I might

be interested in this myself."

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Maybe three people say, "My friend was

just talking about wanting to work with

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a coach or struggling with X, Y, Z."

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And suddenly you have real conversations

with people who are already warm

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because they have already been warmed

up by you over the last 20-plus years.

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The 30-person list that gets

your first coaching clients,

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most people skip this step.

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They think, "I don't want to

bother people," or, "None of my

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friends will pay for coaching."

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But here's the thing, you

are not asking them to pay.

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You are asking them to think of

someone else that they know, and people

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really genuinely love to help you.

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They do, you just have to ask and

have that great relationship that I'm

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sure you have built up over the years.

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I know this works because I

see it regularly in my program.

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Laura, one of the coaches I work with,

got her first paying client directly

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from her market research calls, not

from Instagram, LinkedIn, a webinar.

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She did this process and had genuine

conversations with people, and it was

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so good that actually the person at

the end of that market research call

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said, "Actually, can I hire you?"

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So your first clients are

just one conversation away.

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Okay, let's move on to weeks two

and three, five taster sessions.

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So from those conversations, I would

offer five free taster sessions.

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I know some of you are saying,

"But Jo, I don't want to coach for

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free," and I really do believe we

shouldn't be coaching for free.

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But in those early days, just

give away those five free coaching

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sessions because what they will give

you is practice with your coaching

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with real humans, not with coaching

buddies who have been on your course.

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Testimonials, most importantly.

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Just ask at the end, "Was that helpful?

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Would you mind sharing

a quick testimonial?"

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Most people will say yes, or you

could even make it a condition

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of your five free sessions.

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This is one per person, by

the way, not giving one person

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five, unless you really want to.

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And now that you have that social

proof that isn't your mum saying

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you're brilliant, then you will

gain confidence because there is

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nothing, honestly nothing, that

builds your confidence faster than

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coaching a real person and watching

the real impact that you can have.

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That moment that they go quiet and

you can really see them processing

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everything, you get a shift and

they notice that maybe they're

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better than they thought they were.

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But here is the sneaky one.

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Some of those free sessions will often

turn into paying clients, not because

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you pitched them at the end, but

because they experienced how good you

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were and because they ask for more.

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Free coaching is a phase, not an identity.

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So here is the reframe for you.

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Free is that phase.

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It's not an identity.

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You are not a free coach.

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You are a coach who is strategically

using free sessions to build

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proof and build momentum.

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Set a number, five is plenty, and when

those five are done, you move to paid.

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No guilt, no stress, no debating it.

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That is the way it will be.

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Okay, so let's move on to

weeks three and four now.

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So you have done some free sessions,

you've got some testimonials, you've had

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some real breakthroughs with real people.

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You now know your coaching works.

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Now it's time to charge.

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I personally wouldn't

start at my full rate.

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I would start at a rate that I feel

excited to receive for my coaching, but

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confident enough that I can actually say

out loud, because then it removes all of

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the pressure for both you and for them.

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You can say, "I'm offering my

first three paid clients a reduced

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rate while I build my practice.

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This rate won't last.

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It's specifically for the first

few people who work with me."

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That's not desperate.

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That's actually smart pricing.

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And I will tell you exactly what I

charged my very first coaching client.

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So I had set my rate at six sessions for

£600, and she negotiated me down to £550

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for the six sessions, which was gutting,

but also so very exciting that she was

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serious enough to make me a counteroffer.

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So I obviously said yes, because 550

from my first ever paying client,

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it felt like winning the lottery.

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It was, like, the best moment when my

husband came home, and I could say, "I

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finally got my first paying client."

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So here is the thing that

blows my mind about that story.

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That same client, five years on, has just

joined my Business of Coaching program.

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She originally came to me to

work on her imposter syndrome.

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She was working in HR at the time and

had absolutely no plans to become a

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coach or to leave her employment, but she

worked through that imposter syndrome,

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left that job, went to another job, and

now has eventually trained as a coach.

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And five years later, she has come back

to me to build her coaching business.

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So it's such a joy that I now get to

continue that relationship with my

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first-ever paying coaching client.

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And the interesting thing is she's

really surprised when I then told

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her very recently that she was my

first-ever paying coaching client,

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because she said, "You were amazing."

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And obviously the whole time I

was feeling imposter syndrome,

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like who am I to be your coach?

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Because she's amazing.

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So she overcame her imposter

syndrome, and so did I.

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So your first clients really matter.

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They will be your champions for

the rest of your business life.

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She also sent lots of other

clients my way as well, so it

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really is a full circle moment.

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So don't feel like you have to

go in with charge your worth,

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charge all this big pricing.

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If you are needing your first client,

yes, for sure, charge something, but

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don't feel like whatever price you set now

needs to be the price that you end up at.

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Okay, so you now may be thinking,

hang on, what about social media?

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What about creating content?

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So here is my honest take.

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Yes, social media matters, but not as

much as you think in the first month.

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We can often think that we'll put out that

post and everyone will come queuing at the

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door, but I'm here to say that most of the

time, sadly, nothing happens when you put

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out your first LinkedIn or Instagram post.

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You need to usually do that a

lot of times for a lot of months

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for it to really, really work.

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Social media is what I

call shallow marketing.

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People see your name, they get

familiar with seeing your name in their

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feed, and they look for a long time

usually before they are ready to buy.

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And if you only post on social media

and don't have real conversations,

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you will often be posting into a

void for months And I can say that

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because this is a mistake that I made.

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So I didn't create a list.

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I didn't initially tell all of

the people that I knew what I did,

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because I didn't want anything to do

with all of the people that I knew.

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I wanted to kind of secretly have

this anonymous business on LinkedIn.

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Nobody I knew was on LinkedIn,

so it was brilliant for me.

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I had 50 connections, that was

all when I started on LinkedIn.

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I now have 20,000 connections

on LinkedIn, which is insane.

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So I posted into this void hoping

that my friends and family wouldn't

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see, five days a week for six

months, and got zero clients from it.

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And I was really frustrated, wondering

if it was all a waste of time.

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But then, finally, six months in, like

buses, three people came along at once in

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that same week, all saying some sort of

version of, "I've been reading your posts

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for ages, and I think I need your help."

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So it took six months of consistency

before that turned into an actual

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conversation, which turned into a client.

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So yes, social media works, but you need

to know that usually it is a slow burn,

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and you often need to be having direct

conversations in the meantime while you

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build up your trust on social media.

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Okay, so now let's talk about my

fifth ever coaching client, because

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this one changed everything for me.

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This was finally the point

where I did my list and actually

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got in touch with real people.

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So I plucked up the courage to

contact someone in the learning and

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development team at my previous employer.

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I didn't pitch her at all.

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I didn't have any idea what I was

doing, and I literally told her that.

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I said, "I'm just starting my business.

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I have no idea how coaches get into

organizations, but I would love to

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understand what you actually buy in."

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That was all I said.

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She took two weeks to reply,

which was excruciating, while I

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convinced myself that everybody

was laughing at me in the office.

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But eventually, she had a call with me,

and I was so enthusiastic about the work

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I was doing and about coaching and all

of the changes that I was seeing with

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the clients that I was having, like

practice clients at the time mostly.

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But she got excited, too.

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I do think your emotions are contagious.

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And she told me that she had just

secured a large amount of government

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funding to support some engineers who

were being made redundant And within

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weeks, I was completely in there.

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I had over 100 coaching sessions.

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I held probably 10 plus, maybe 20 group

workshops with everything from CV to

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interview confidence, what do I actually

want in my life, such varied topics.

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And in all honesty, I felt

completely unqualified for this.

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I had trained as an executive coach.

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I did the ILM Level 7 in Executive

Coaching, and this was all career

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coaching, so it was totally different.

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I didn't know anything about LinkedIn

other than me practicing on there a

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little bit to get jobs or anything.

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Like, I had never done that type of work.

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So I was totally thinking, "Oh

my goodness, can I do this?"

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Especially when I always had a limiting

belief that I couldn't do training and

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group work, 'cause I always used to

think that I was too shy to lead a group.

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By this point, I was like, "Yes, I will

grab the opportunity, and then I will

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learn how to fulfill that opportunity."

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So I just learned on the job, and

it turned out to be one of the most

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amazing experiences of my business.

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The different people that I got

to work with taught me so much

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about resilience and starting over.

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I got paid to learn all of that

while having a huge impact on

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people So when I tell you to think

beyond one-to-one coaching, that

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came from one honest conversation

with one person in my network.

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That was all.

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So you don't always need a big strategy

to move to selling to organizations.

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You often just need to reap the

rewards and build relationships

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with people that you know already.

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So there you go.

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There is your first five clients

without all of the stress.

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You don't need a website, you don't

need ads, you don't need six months

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of content planned in advance.

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So as a recap, day one, niche or

get a general direction of travel.

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Week one, you're gonna create a quick

offer, then create your 30-person

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list, send some genuine messages.

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Weeks two and three, offer five

free taster sessions and gain some

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testimonials, and the remaining of week

three and four, set your first program

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rate and just start charging something.

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Throughout, you can build your presence

on social media, but just don't put

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the pressure on yourself thinking that

that has to get a quick result in your

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first month of business because whilst,

yes, it does happen, and you may have

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heard the case study I've just published

from Andy, who did get a client from

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his first ever LinkedIn post, but that

is exceptional rather than the norm.

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So just know that, and

don't be hard on yourself.

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So your homework this week is

to write that list of 30 people.

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Just list them out.

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Don't think, "They're no use to me.

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They're not my ideal client."

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You don't even have to

message them right now.

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Just write their names down because

once they are on paper, you will

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start to slowly, slowly gain the

courage to reach out, I promise.

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This is for your first five

paying coaching clients.

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Yes, it's messy.

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Yes, you haven't got a real

business strategy in place, and

297

you will eventually want that.

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Some people are happy

to go the messy route.

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Some people do like to do it step

by step with solid instructions,

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and I completely get that as a real

person who loves following the steps.

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So do go out there if you can,

take these steps, but if not,

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please do take the CEO scorecard.

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This will help you figure out

which area of your business needs

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the most attention right now.

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You will leave with a personal result

knowing which stage of business you

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are at and what to focus on first.

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You will find the link in the

show notes and description below.

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If you know a coach who wants more clients

and needs to hear this, I would love

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you to share this episode with them.

310

This episode may get them unstuck.

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So I will see you again soon, and like

I always say, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself, and be the wise gardener

who keeps on watering the seeds.