$960 a Year, Fifty People, No More
September 2018 — rebuilding the coaching idea after a quiet summer
In June I'd tried coaching small: five people, 30 days, pay what you think it's worth (live QOEP6699). Over the summer I did one-on-one coaching, and I have to be honest, I didn't do great at it (live TYFB1957).
The first hour or two with somebody, we'd cover everything they needed for the first month. Then I'd ask how it was going and get nothing. Ask again, nothing. Ask a third time, and then I'd hear they'd been struggling with depression, or life had just gotten in the way (live TYFB1957).
And I found this weird extra layer. If you know you've got a coach, and you know you're getting messages you're not answering, and you're ducking them because you're off your diet, then the coach becomes one more thing you feel bad about. They asked for my help and now they were avoiding me. That's the opposite of what I wanted (live TYFB1957).
The napkin math
On September 17th I came home from work, didn't bother putting a shirt on, and did a live to answer the messages about what I was doing with coaching. Some people said "I thought you were doing this for free," some said it was about time I got paid (live GKYD4230).
So here's how I priced it, and I mean literally. I searched what counts as middle class in 2018, and the lower-middle range started around $48,000. Then I asked how many people I could really keep track of. Not a hundred. But fifty is about two classes of students; I could know fifty people pretty well. $48,000 divided by 50 is $960. Divided by 12 that's $80 a month, which was what my gym charged for Muay Thai, MMA and boxing. Okay, that seemed reasonable (live GKYD4230).
Then I thought about chasing people month to month. Somebody pays month one and two, not month three, I let it slide, then it's month five. I didn't want to be a bill collector. So it would be the full year up front, and that was also the point: I was looking for people willing to stay on plan for a year (live GKYD4230).
The cap was real. If I hit 50, I was closed. If 75 people wanted in, too bad. I didn't want to make more than $48,000 off it, and I didn't want to water down what those 50 got (live GKYD4230).
Why January 6
Why not January 1st? First, I hate the New Year's resolution rebound, where people drink on New Year's Eve, fall off the horse and then try to climb back on in some violent, unhealthy way. Second, my birthday is January 4th. Starting fifty people in the middle of my birthday sounded awful, and if I drank on my birthday, the 5th didn't sound great either. So the 6th. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good (live GKYD4230).
Ten places for people short on money
I asked for ten of the fifty to pay 50% more, $480 extra for the exact same thing, and I said every bit of that would go as discounts to ten people in a cash-strapped spot. If I found three, I'd do three. I couldn't audit anybody's taxes and I didn't want a pity contest, so I'd have to make a judgment call. I also said that if someone is on food stamps or facing health problems and messages me for help, I'm not going to tell them to send me twenty bucks. I'm not that guy (live GKYD4230).
Everything else stayed free
I said it plainly on that live: the group, the live broadcasts, the YouTube channel and the page would all stay free. No secret videos behind a paywall, no treasure chest at the end of the rainbow. If anything, getting paid by fifty people would let me spend more time making free videos and troubleshooting pages, because I'd rather point even a paying client at a good video at 3 a.m. than have them wait for me (live GKYD4230).
What coaching would add was the stuff I didn't want to bring into Keto Basic: fitness goals, supplements for specific needs, life-coaching things. Keto Basic is about keeping complexity and obligation low so people actually stick with it. And honestly my best tool from business consulting isn't an idea. I ask you what you should be doing, you tell me, and a week later I ask how it went. If your excuses are the ones you predicted, we talk about why you wanted the change in the first place (live GKYD4230).
Both directions
Then the tough-love part. The week before, I had given the group homework: do your string measurements, name your trouble areas, plan your meal prep, pick a meal that gets you back on plan, one or two mantras, three songs. I said I was going to put my effort into the people who did it. I was tired of people saying "that's a good idea," not doing it, and coming back two months later asking for help. If you couldn't find a piece of yarn to do the string test, I didn't have time for your problems, because you didn't have time for yourself (live GKYD4230).
That's the lesson I'd keep: accountability has to run both ways. I called it bi-directional accountability: you do what I ask you to do, and I make sure to answer your questions and take care of you (live GKYD4230).
What I'd tell you now
There's no offer here; this is just how I worked it out in 2018. The idea underneath it still holds: a free system only works if you do the boring parts, and a check-in from someone who'll actually ask is worth more than another plan. You don't need to pay anybody for that. Pick a friend, set a weekly question, and measure with something better than the scale (non-scale victories, habits that keep the weight off, why most diets fail).
Watch the originals: the September 8 live and the September 17 live.
Earlier: Two Mantras and Three Songs · Later: The Garbage Plate