If you’re a freelancer or solo practitioner, you likely need to wear many different hats to keep your business going. It can be tiring and confusing at times. An understandable trend in the age of algorithmic social media is people donning the social media marketing hat more and more, sometimes at the expense of their core craft.

In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I chat with my friend, Adam Kawalec. He explains what he means when he says he’s a coach, not a marketer or social media influencer. He describes how he’s intentionally built his business through word-of-mouth referrals and relationship marketing.

In our conversation, Adam demonstrated what happens when we shift our focus from persuasion, traffic, and engagement to depth, connection, and potency. The invitation to find more meaningful, gentle, and person-centred ways of building a sustainable business left me feeling hopeful and enriched.

This goes against the growing trend where the drive for social media influence trumps professional training and development. This is why I wanted to speak with Adam about the ethicality of coaching and how to remain focused as a coach not a marketer.

It’s a companion to the episode with Megan Malone when we considered the cost of reputation damage to coaching as a trained skillset due to a series of documentaries and exposés highlighting nefarious, manipulative, and abusive practices performed by people calling themselves coaches. It often happens when the focus on developing skills as a coach is gradually eroded and replaced by marketing and sales.

During our discussion, Adam mentioned the Ethics For Coaching project. It’s a crucial initiative to educate consumers and support coaches in practising their craft with integrity, safety, inclusivity, and professionalism. This project’s four pillars serve as a guide, highlighting red flags to watch out for and expectations you can have with a safe and competent coach.

Much of it speaks to the question of whether someone is a competent coach or simply a persuasive marketer. I also spoke with Margarit Davtian, a board member of EFC and a consumer rights expert, who sheds light on the project’s mission and her role in it.

• Why marketing doesn’t have to feel like marketing when you approach it in the right way
  
• Ways coaching differs depending on the setting (and the stakeholders)
  
• The difference between traffic marketing vs relationship marketing
  
• Ethical responsibilities when marketing and practising as a coach
  
• The importance of slowing down if you want to speed things up
  
• What it means to be truly remarkable, and how to be so good they can’t ignore you
  
• Finding the sweet spot in your daily rhythm to commit to growing without burning out
  

Website: https://adamkawalec.com/

Inside The Comfort Zone Podcast