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The two things that create steady client flow

The two things that create steady client flow

by | Apr 28, 2026 | Client Creation, Connection, Conscious business, Relationship

The two things that create steady client flow

If you’ve known me for any length of time, you’ll know that the two main levers I talk about when it comes to getting clients are content and outreach.

I’ve written about and taught both extensively, and over the last few years I’ve run in-depth programs on each of these topics.

But something I realised recently is that I haven’t really spoken about the interplay between them.

And when I look at the advice out there more broadly, it often feels like it’s split into one camp or the other. On one side, content is everything. The advice is to show up consistently, build an audience, and clients will come. On the other, I hear that content is largely a waste of time and that what really matters is networking, outreach and conversations.

And I myself have been exposed to both sides of this.

Over a decade ago when I worked with my first business coach, he actively told me to stop writing content altogether and focus purely on outreach. And to be fair, to a large extent, it worked. I got clients.

But what I also noticed was that everything depended on me being actively in conversation all the time. The moment I stopped, things would slow down.

A few years later I started following a coach who talked a lot about the importance of creating content and I made a commitment to creating content consistently. It wasn’t until I started creating content consistently alongside regular outreach that my business really began to grow in a more stable way.

Because here’s what I’ve realised: both are required to have a consistent flow of new people coming into your world.

And that’s because content does something that outreach alone can’t.

It makes you more visible and allows people outside of your existing network to find you, to spend time with your thinking, to understand your perspective before they ever speak to you. It helps you to demonstrate expertise and builds familiarity and trust at a distance. Articles I wrote as long as 7 years ago are still sending traffic to my website and converting into clients.

And by the same token, outreach does something that content alone can’t.

It turns that awareness into relationship. It creates trust and space for real conversation and for someone to feel seen and supported in a way that simply isn’t possible through content alone.

When I look at my own client base, and the data I’ve tracked over the years, most people don’t come to me directly from a post or a piece of content.

They come through a person.

A colleague who recommends me. A former client who shares my work. Someone who mentions me in a space I’m not even in.

But when those people land in my world, they will typically head to my blog and/or subscribe to my newsletter and then it’s my content that does the heavy lifting. It helps them understand how I think, how I work, and whether what I offer is right for them.

Something that happens often is that I’ll get on a working together call with someone who has completed the application form on my 1:1 coaching page and they say that they heard about me from someone in my network. When we talk, they’ll say something like so-and-so told me about you and then I found your blog and binge read all of your articles or I joined your newsletter and have read every single one of your letters since. It’s not uncommon for people to tell me that they had already decided they wanted to work with me before even speaking to me. 

So you can see, it’s never been one or the other. It’s always been both.

And more than that, it’s how those two things feed each other.

Content gives you something to be known for and something to share your message. It creates touchpoints and entry points into your world. It’s a place to share your approach and point of view. For me it has also become a resource, a body of work. In effect, my intellectual property.

Outreach keeps you close to real people. It shapes what you say, who you say it to, and opens the door to the conversations where clients, collaborations and opportunities are actually created. Not sure what type of conversations you should be having, you can read about the 4 types of conversation I recommend here. 

Don’t know who to reach out to? Look at who’s paying attention to your content. Don’t know what to create content on? Look at what people are saying in your conversations.

When one of those drops away, you’re missing something important.

When both are present, but inconsistent, it can feel like you’re doing a lot and not getting very far.

And when both are working together, in a way you can actually sustain, that’s when things start to feel very different.

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, particularly in the context of what creates steadier, more predictable client flow over time. Not more effort, not more noise, but a way of connecting with people that has them trusting you enough to buy from you.

I’m curious which side you’ve found yourself leaning towards.

Have you been focusing more on content or more on connection? And what have you noticed as a result? Let me know in the comments. 

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.

 

The change that gave me my time back

The change that gave me my time back

by | Apr 21, 2026 | Big picture, Conscious business, Planning, Productivity, Sustainability

The change that gave me my time back

Last year I was exhausted in my business. For all my talk of ideal schedules and operating a life first business, I had reached a point where I felt seriously stretched.

My days consisted of bouncing from zoom call to zoom call, with very little time to actually work on my business, plan or rest. And even when there was space in my calendar, rather than use it to do strategic work or create content, I simply collapsed on the sofa with an episode of my favourite Netflix show.

Client delivery had spilled across my entire week and my previously protected call free Fridays had become a distant memory. As awful as it is to admit, I had started to feel a sense of dread before opening up my calendar each day.

It’s funny looking back because I didn’t really realise that I’d reached that point until I took on an additional assistant to help me with scheduling and inbox management. We both saw pretty quickly how difficult it was for her to find space in my calendar to schedule anything and how, despite a really great system for managing my inbox, it failed because I still didn’t have the time to deal with emails that had been flagged as a priority.

Before that point, I had assumed it was just me, that I was somehow not working hard enough, but hearing from someone else that yes, your schedule and inbox are packed, was deeply validating and made me realise that it was time for a serious change.

That change was super simple.

I switched from yearlong group programs with weekly live calls to yearlong group programs with twice monthly calls.

That simple shift has changed everything for me.

I’ve been able to recommit to my call-free Content Mondays and my call-free CEO Fridays.

I was able to get back to scheduling all of my client delivery work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and, with live program calls only twice a month, I now have large chunks of focused work space in my calendar on my group program free weeks.

With my new business model well underway I have to tell you, I can’t believe I didn’t make this change sooner. Now when I look at my calendar, I typically have a slightly heavier program and delivery week followed by a lighter delivery week. On those lighter weeks, I have large chunks of uninterrupted focused work time.

This is allowing me to work on Thinkific courses. It’s also allowed me to maintain my weekly newsletter rhythm and enjoy it in the process. And it’s created space to do things like arrange a catch up with a good friend or go for a longer walk in nature on work days, because there is plenty of space in my calendar to do what needs to be done in my business.

And interestingly, with all of this space came a new challenge.

For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t constrained by a packed calendar or back to back calls.

I actually had time to work on the business instead of in it. And what I noticed quite quickly is that having time and using it wisely are two very different things.

There have been days where I’ve sat down to work and felt overwhelmed by the options of what to focus on, and other days where I’ve had the space to go really deep into a piece of work and get more done than I would have previously thought possible.

What having more space has forced me to do is get really intentional about how I work and what I focus on.

Without the structure of a full calendar telling me what to do next, I’ve had to make those decisions much more consciously. And that’s when I started to see something more clearly.

It’s not just about creating space. It’s about knowing how to use that space in a way that actually grows the business.

What’s one small tweak you could make to your weekly schedule that might have a big impact?

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.

 

The roadblocks to consistency

The roadblocks to consistency

by | Apr 14, 2026 | Business foundations, Business Growth, Client Creation

The roadblocks to consistency

I want to talk about consistency.

It’s easy to argue the point that consistent revenue and clients come from consistent business growth effort and from continuing to show up, share your work and stay in relationship with the people you serve but in truth, we’re often thinking about consistency all wrong.

How many times have you thought to yourself that if you could just show up more consistently in your business, sharing your ideas, writing, reaching out and connecting with people, things would start to move more easily but then reality lets you down? Same. I used to beat myself up often for not being more consistent, more disciplined, more productive. I would create an annual business plan that on paper seemed flawless but then when it came to execution, I repeatedly found I just couldn’t deliver on what was required of me to achieve the goals I had set for myself.

Something always happens that I haven’t planned for. Getting sick or my menstrual cycle or perimenopause symptoms kicking my butt. My kids getting sick and being off school. Needing to travel to be there for a loved one who is having surgery which has happened twice in the last two years. Sometimes it’s the inevitable heartbreak and despair over world events or extreme weather cutting the internet for whole days and closing down school.

And sometimes, I am just tired or low energy and simply don’t have it in me to follow the plan. I need to take more breaks, sleep in instead of getting up early to exercise, meditate and plan my day.

The difference between how I now handle these situations and how I used to handle them is night and day. Before I would allow these setbacks to completely derail me and when there wasn’t an obvious cause of my inaction, I would take it as evidence of my failings. I would feel bad about myself and sink into a rut, taking even longer to get back on track.

These days, I not only accept that life interruptions and lows happen but I expect them. I make my plans in light of their inevitability and I pay attention to what tends to interrupt my rhythm of showing up in my work.

I have even created a whole framework around them.

That framework is something we use inside The Clearing during our monthly Focus + Priorities reflection, especially when we notice that something we intended to move forward, share or follow through on simply didn’t happen. I also wanted to share it lightly with you here in case it’s useful.

Usually when we plan to do something and it doesn’t get done, there is a specific reason that goes beyond laziness or lack of motivation. I refer to these reasons as roadblocks and I’ve identified seven of them.

#1 Capacity and health
This relates to illness, chronic health conditions, burnout and energy levels. 

#2 Time + Competing Priorities
This happens when we have too many demands on our time, when we have set unrealistic timelines or when other responsibilities take over.

#3 Mindset + Inner Dialogue
This looks like perfectionism, self-doubt, fear of being judged or a feeling of inner resistance.

#4 Clarity Gaps
This is where the next step is unclear. Perhaps the task is too big or vague or we are missing information or support.

#5 Emotional landscape
This might look like overwhelm, anxiety or tenderness resulting in low motivation.

#6 Environment + Systems
This could relate to your workspace or a lack of reminders, structure or systems that support the work.

#7 Alignment
This comes up when we perhaps planned the task out of a “should” or when we realise on reflection that it isn’t actually a true priority.

I’ve found that something quite profound happens when I’ve used this framework for myself and with clients as a lens to look at stalled tasks. More often than not, it becomes immediately clear that the issue does not represent a lack of commitment. It is that a very real and tangible roadblock was present, something that interrupted the rhythm of showing up or moving the work forward. And once we can see that clearly, there is almost always something that can be done to get back on track.

When I do this, sometimes it’s a really simple fix. For example, I failed to carve out time for the task and then my schedule got booked up with calls. The fix? Block out time to work on the task, perhaps the time to write, reach out to someone or share something I have been meaning to publish.

And sometimes it’s trickier. If for example I’m dealing with a hormone issues like fatigue, the fix isn’t always so obvious. But acknowledging what’s going on brings about more self empathy and compassion which in turn helps me to think of small things I can do to feel better, such as getting more sleep or reducing my expectations slightly so that I can still make small progress.

That is very different from simply feeling defeated because tasks went unfinished and not really being sure why.

When we look at unfinished tasks or a lack of obvious progress through the lens of possible roadblocks it allows us to get proactive about support rather than simply applying more pressure on ourselves to just get things done.

Examples of this include:

  • Reducing the number of priorities you’re setting yourself.
  • Breaking tasks into even smaller steps.
  • Creating better structures or systems in place to support your work.
  • Getting support or accountability.
  • Allowing rest or emotional space so recovery time is shorter.
  • Letting go of something that isn’t aligned and freeing up mental space.

I find that this practice helps us to notice patterns with curiosity and compassion rather than judging ourselves or forcing momentum. And when we understand what tends to interrupt our rhythm, it becomes much easier to return to the work and begin showing up again.

And now a question for you. If you think about something in your business that hasn’t moved forward recently, which of these roadblocks might have been present?

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.

 

Why I don’t teach marketing (and what I teach instead)

Why I don’t teach marketing (and what I teach instead)

by | Apr 7, 2026 | Connection, Ethical Marketing

Why I don’t teach marketing (and what I teach instead)

This might sound strange coming from a business coach but I don’t actually teach marketing. 

In a recent blog post I shared the idea that revenue follows connection. I’m curious what your mind did with that sentence when you read it.

Did you immediately think of marketing? Did you feel as though you need to get better at posting on social media or letting people know about your offers?

Did you even notice that I didn’t say revenue follows marketing?

In my sustainable growth framework, there are four foundations that I believe need to be in place and relatively stable for a business to grow in a sustainable way: visibility + connection, an authentic message, aligned offers and supportive structures.

In my world visibility and connection means something quite different to what most people mean when they talk about marketing.

Marketing, as we’re most often exposed to it in the online world, can feel extractive, manipulative and misleading at worst. Even at best, it’s often focused primarily on “getting the sale”.

You only have to look at the language used in mainstream marketing to understand why it’s at odds with conscious business. Language like funnels, tripwires, lead magnets, lead acquisition, pain points, capture, squeeze, convert. Pretty dehumanising stuff!

Visibility and connection, on the other hand, speaks of something entirely different. It speaks of:

Cultivating conversations.
Building relationships.
Making invitations.
Being of service.

Something I see often when working with thoughtful business owners is that they don’t actually struggle with visibility itself. What they struggle with is their relationship with marketing.

They’ve absorbed the idea that marketing is pushy, self-promotional or manipulative, so they avoid it for as long as possible. And the result is that good people doing important work in the world often end up earning less simply because they don’t want to participate in that kind of marketing.

One of the most powerful reframes I ever made was this.

Instead of asking:
How do I market my work?

I started asking:
How do I connect with people and serve them deeply before they’ve even spent a penny with me?

That shift changed everything.

To quote Brené Brown: 
“Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued.”

It is this way of connecting with the people we want to serve with our work that I teach. 

When we start thinking about visibility in that way, it can completely change how it feels to show up.

Connection isn’t something you switch on when you have an offer to sell.

It’s the ongoing practice of being present in your work and in your relationships. It can look like:

Sharing your ideas and point of view on the problem you help people solve.
Reaching out to people you genuinely want to stay in touch with.
Starting conversations with people you’re genuinely inspired or intrigued by.
Trying to be genuinely helpful without making a sale the end goal.

When I sit down to write a newsletter or share something publicly, my intention isn’t to promote myself. It’s to be useful. To share something that might help someone think differently about their business or their work.

When I do have something to offer, I’ll say so clearly. In that way I keep content and sales copy separate. Content is where I serve and share ideas. Sales copy is where I make an invitation. Mixing the two can start to feel manipulative, and that’s not how I want to work.

It’s my intention to be useful that allows me to truly connect.

Over time those small acts of connection begin to compound.

People get to know you.
They begin to trust you.
They recognise themselves in your work.

And when the moment comes that they need the kind of support you offer, you’re already someone they feel connected to.

This is why I say revenue follows connection. Not instantly. But reliably and over time.

So I’m curious. When you think about connection in this way, what might a practice of visibility and connection look like for you?

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.