Why Every Coach Should Blog (Lessons from 2,250 Posts and 15 Years)
In 2003, I jumped on the blogger train.
Everyone was starting one. So I did too. I called mine Ink Wall and hosted it on Blogspot.
Here's the thing nobody knew at the time. Ink Wall wasn't really a blog. It was a hiding place.
I needed somewhere to dump my depressing thoughts where nobody close to me would see them. So I wrote every post in Chinese so my coworkers couldn't read it. It was my sanctuary. A quiet place where I could be vulnerable without being seen.
I did not want people to know about me.
The irony I think about a lot now
Twenty years later, I run a coaching business where my entire job is to be seen.
Get on the podcast. Get on stage. Get in front of the audience. Get heard. Get hired.
And I love it. I'm passionate about it.
That's not a contradiction. That's what growth actually looks like. The thing you used to hide behind becomes the thing you eventually own.
Between 2003 and 2018, before I had a coaching business, I wrote over 2,250 blog posts. Each one was more than 1,000 Chinese characters. Each one averaged about 200 views per day.
Do the math. That's 150 articles a year and 30,000 views per post. Massive traffic. Compounding for over a decade.
And here's what I want you to hear. None of it would have happened if I'd been waiting for the perfect topic, the perfect angle, or the perfect time to start.
Why blogging is still one of the best moves for a coaching business
I know. Blogging feels old. Everyone wants to talk about Reels, podcasts, and the latest platform.
Here's what blogging does that those other platforms don't.
Your blog is searchable. Your Instagram post disappears in 48 hours. A blog post can bring you traffic for years.
Your blog builds your authority. Long-form writing tells potential clients you have depth. They scan a few posts and decide whether you're someone they trust.
Your blog is yours. Algorithms can change. Platforms can disappear. Your blog lives on a domain you own.
Your blog feeds everything else. One blog post becomes five social posts, an email, a podcast outline, and a conversation starter on a discovery call.
If you're a coach trying to be visible online, blogging is one of the highest-leverage things you can do. It's slow at first. It compounds for years.
"But what would I even write about?"
This is the #1 question I get from coaches who want to start a blog.
"What do you write about?" "What if I run out of topics?" "What if I have nothing to say?"
These concerns are legitimate. They're also not true.
There are unlimited topics you can write about. Unlimited views you can share. Unlimited angles on the work you already do every day.
The problem isn't a lack of topics.
The problem is that you're treating blogging like a homework assignment instead of a conversation.
2 things I learned in 15 years of blogging
These two changes will save you years of struggle.
1. Stop treating it like work
Blogging shouldn't feel like a task on your to-do list.
It's a place to free-write your ideas. To capture how you actually think about your work. To tell stories about your clients (with permission), your pets, your weekend, the conversation that made you change your mind, the book that wrecked you.
You can never go wrong sharing a personal story. A memory of someone you loved. A moment that changed your perspective. The stuff that makes you, you.
Some of my best-performing blog posts of all time started as vent journaling at midnight. They weren't strategic. They were honest. The strategy showed up because the writing was real.
2. Stop trying to look formal
Most new coach blogs sound like a corporate brochure mixed with a textbook.
Polished. Professional. Slightly stiff. Indistinguishable from every other coach's blog.
This is your blog. You get to decide how it looks. You get to decide how it sounds.
Bring your personality to everything you write. The way you talk to your closest friends about your work IS the voice your audience wants to read. They don't want word vomit from another expert guru. They want a real human.
Authenticity is a selling point. Especially in a coaching world that often sounds the same.
How to start (or restart) your blog this week
If you've been telling yourself you'll start blogging "someday," here's how to actually start.
Pick a frequency you can actually keep. Once a week is great. Twice a month is great. Once a month is great. The number is less important than the consistency.
Write the post you keep meaning to write. You know the one. The topic you keep mentioning on calls. The story you tell at every networking event. That's your first post.
Keep a running list of ideas. In a Notes app, a Notion doc, wherever. Every time a client asks a question, every time you have a strong opinion, every time you read something that sparks a thought, write it down. You'll never run out of topics again.
Find one accountability partner. Some of my favorite blogging memories are from challenges where a group of us committed to writing every day for 30 days. The accountability moves you from "I'll get to it" to "I'm doing this."
Hit publish before you feel ready. If you wait until the post is perfect, you will never publish anything. Ever. Done is the standard. Perfect is the trap.
Why I still believe in this
As I sit here typing this, my fingers flying across the keyboard, I'm flooded with memories from those Ink Wall days.
Staying up too late at night. Typing through everything that felt heavy to carry. Joining 30-day blogging challenges with strangers who became friends.
Those were good days.
They were also the days that built every skill I use now to run a coaching business. The voice. The willingness to be honest in writing. The discipline of showing up to the page even when I didn't feel like it.
If you like to write (even a little), your blog is waiting for you. It doesn't have to be impressive. It just has to be yours.
Drop me a comment below if you've ever blogged or you're thinking about starting. I'd love to hear about it.
Ready to use blogging (and your real voice) to grow your coaching business?
If you're a coach who knows blogging could change your business but you keep getting stuck, I'd love to help. We'll look at where you're holding back, what to write about first, and the simplest next step to make this part of how you grow.
