How's the business going?

An honest reflection

G’day.

So I’ve been trying to start this coaching thing, and it means I’ve gone hell-for-leather on marketing. That means battling some powerful allergies to social media, and general cringing at putting myself out there and promoting myself.

The vast majority of my clients come from Substack or pre-existing professional networks. And I love my clients. The business and client list is growing, and I adore it.

But I figured it’s worthwhile giving you a decent glance under the hood. We’re about three-ish months in. The client list is growing and now consists of a dozen or so regular clients.

Earlier this month, I launched an ebook, free for a limited time. Many of you have now read it, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I genuinely love being able to pass it to people as a way to introduce myself and the work I offer. I’m now building a platform to sell it (cheaply) and spin it out from just a PDF file into an audiobook and other file formats (I’ll let you know about that next week).

I’ll repeat this trick for the next two months. In July, there’s another book coming - this one about productivity. The final one, in August, is about belonging. These books serve a dual purpose. On the business side, they’re marketing. On the mission side, they spread information on creative wellbeing freely and widely as possible.

Last week, I launched The Creative Clarity Sprint. This is a three-session bundle, but it’s different to the ‘regular’ sessions. These are designed to be an intensive (think mini-creative development) on a project or business. I work with you to research pathways, build networks, or even dramaturge or edit an idea. You leave the three sessions with a super comprehensive document detailing next steps and a lot of momentum.

So far, no takers. But part of that I think is the clarity of the message around what that product is, and how it differs from regular sessions. I haven’t quite found the proper marketing speak for that product yet. But I’m okay with that taking a little bit of time.

I knew aggressive social media marketing was going to be needed in the early stages, and I didn’t want to piss off the thousand or so followers that I’ve organically built up over years on my Insta profile @daveburtonwriter - so I made a new one. @davidburton.coach is brand new. I’m about a fortnight into experiments in Reels, posts and more. I remain skeptical if the work will pay off….but I’ve got to give it a go. And if nothing else, it’s a platform where I can post more help to reach as many people as possible.

Parallel to my journey…my wife. She had a guest post here last week and has since launched her online course. If you’re an actor, you should check it out.

To answer our most frequently asked question - yes, we’re figuring out how to combine our businesses. Sorting out timelines, marketing and sustainability while doing all of this is a mix of strategy and improvisation. But, yes, watch this space, we’re thinking about how we make all of this sustainable.

I also want to say - I’m aware the last two weeks of Monday posts have been from other people. Don’t worry, it’s not the norm. I wanted to give Emily and Harry a platform these last two weeks, and I’m so glad I was able to. And while Tuesday posts will continue to be reflections on the coaching business, Monday posts will remain as varied and unpredictable as ever, often focusing on theatre and other adventures.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your feedback or questions about the business, Substack, or anything else. For Emily and I, we want to try and make the industry kinder, and for ourselves we’re trying to build career portfolios that are sustainable and generative.

With much love,

Dave