In this YouTube video, Mary Schiller shares five common online‑business norms that she has deliberately abandoned and urges other coaches and online entrepreneurs to do the same. She begins by condemning the practice of offering free coaching sessions, arguing that it de‑values the profession and prevents coaches from learning how to work with paying clients. Next, she rejects the idea that a business must start with low‑priced "entry" offers or a value‑ladder, insisting that coaches can and should charge premium rates from day one if their service is valuable. The third rule challenges the belief that products must be created based on market research or what the creator thinks will sell; instead, she advocates building from authentic self‑expression, using Apple’s success as an example of creating desire rather than solving a pre‑identified problem. The fourth rule dismisses the notion that paid advertising is essential, noting that ads often attract poor‑fit leads, drain resources, and dilute personal connection. Finally, she argues that complex sales funnels are unnecessary; a simple, human‑focused way for prospects to find and connect with the coach is sufficient, and she calls for ending the language of "leads" in favor of treating people as individuals. Throughout, Mary’s tone is conversational, impassioned, and often critical of the status‑quo, while offering supportive encouragement to adopt a more authentic, client‑respectful business model.
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Hi, Mary here, and I am about to share 5 online business rules or norms that I have completely scrapped, said no to, uh-uh. And you might consider doing the same, especially if you have felt frustrated when trying to build an online business, an online coaching business. This video is going to be very interesting for you. This first online business rule is really one of the ones that I dislike the most. I mean, it's hard for me to contain myself when talking about it because I just feel very irritated by it. If you have ever come across me before or been around me at all, you probably know what it is. And this rule applies to coaches, specifically, but really it can be applied to a lot of different types of online business. And that is giving away your precious time for free. This is a no-no. It's a no-no. I see a lot of coaches doing this, especially when they are first starting their business. And I know, I'm pretty sure at least that I know why. And one reason is because, and this is coming from lots and lots of conversations I've had with coaches over the years, in many coach training programs, coaches are asked to coach people for free to get experience. Now, full disclaimer here, I never went through any coach training, even though I was and still am a successful coach. I didn't go through any training like that, but I have talked to many coaches who have, and I have heard that this type of setup where coach trainees coach people for free is just sort of accepted. It's the norm. You know what I say to that? No, I just say no, because coaching people for free is not giving you, in my opinion, the right kind of experience. If someone shows up to a session and hasn't made any sort of investment, then how are they going to be like a normal client in that situation? It's just not going to happen. And not only that, this is the part that really just, oh, it just breaks my heart into a million pieces. So many coaches who coach people for free, you know, I don't know how long you're required to do this in many coach training programs, but they end up never charging. They end up literally never charging people for the beautiful work that they do. And I don't understand that. If coaching is supposed to be a profession, which it is, by the way, I consider myself a professional. And then why would we ever assume it was okay to not charge people for our time? When we continually give our services away for free, It seems like then you're not allowed to charge, and it gets weird to ask people to pay you. This rule has to be jettisoned immediately. Another online business rule that really needs to go, and it's one that I didn't buy into even from day one, is that your first things that you offer have to be cheap. That somehow people have to go through the steps, like they have to buy something low cost from you, and then they have to work up some sort of a value ladder to the most expensive thing. That is absurd. It's absolutely absurd. When I first started coaching people as a professional, I charged actual money. I think the lowest priced offer I made right from the get-go was $1,500 or $1,600. Because, A, I wanted a successful business that would actually help me pay my bills. So I couldn't be charging, you know, $100 for a session or something. And second of all, I knew that what I was doing was valuable. What we do is valuable. So if you think that you have to walk people through some sort of progressive pricing thing, you don't. You can start charging what you want to charge right away. If you want to charge people $1,000 for 2 sessions, then do it. You know, there's no rules around pricing except that if you're going to have a business, you have to price things in a way that's going to allow that business to thrive so that you can keep doing what you love to do. Okay, this next one is so ingrained in us that it's almost funny to me that I have to say it out loud, but when I do, you're gonna say, yeah, Mary, I recognize that. It is creating something that you think people will buy. That's what you have to do in business. You have to create something that you think people will buy, otherwise they won't buy. Well, that is ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. You want to know the best example? Of a company that I can think of that has created something that people buy even though it doesn't make sense, and that is basically every single Apple product ever made. People didn't need these Apple products like the iPod and all of those different things. The Shuffle— wasn't it called the Shuffle? I think I had one of those. And all these different iterations of the iPhone. People don't need that. They're not searching for a solution like that. That's not how Apple has made their billions of dollars. They had an idea for something, and they expressed that idea in what they created. You can do the same thing. You do not have to create something that you think people will buy. And you know what will happen? They won't buy it, because if your heart's not in it, people will feel it. They will absolutely feel if you are trying to sell them on something. Even if you create something that is the perfect solution to someone's problem and you're doing it from this place of, oh, I think people will buy this, it might work for a little while, but you're going to get so burned out you won't want to have anything to do with it after that. So my whole point of view, it's been this way since the beginning and it's still this way now. Is that when we are in business for ourselves, that is a mode of self-expression. So I'm going to create things that I want to create, and I'm going to express what I want to express. I'm going to put it out there. And if it doesn't, quote unquote, sell, well, I don't really care. I just move on to the next thing. Because you and I have a million ideas. And when we, again, are speaking from this place of excitement and exhilaration and just feeling really great about what we are expressing, guess what happens? People want to come towards us because that is fun energy to be in. All right, this online business norm or rule is something I tried last year as I'm recording this, and I absolutely hated it. But I tried it because for a brief period of time, I fell under the spell of someone who told me that this was the way. Advertising, that is the way to do things. And you know what I discovered? It's not, it's not the only way to do things. It's not even the best way to do things. Because first of all, I didn't like creating the ads. Yes, they quote unquote worked because I got people onto my email list. But most of the people who joined my email list through the ads were not the best fit. And when the only contact with me that they had from the start was an advertisement, they didn't really understand who I was. And that was my fault for, you know, putting ads out there that I thought would work and would bring new people into my community. And all it did was drain my time, drain my financial resources, and just kind of suck the life right out of my business. So if you're listening to someone who says you've got to start advertising or you'll never make it, don't listen to them. It's absolutely not true. And that is a rule that you can scrap. As I'm about to record this one, about the 5th rule that I think needs to be scrapped in online business, and I have definitely chucked this one out the door, I'm realizing I'm probably gonna have to do a follow-up video because there are a lot more than 5. But anyway, This one is one that I'm hoping you agree with me about because it drives me bananas, and that is that you need some sort of fancy funnel thing to have any sort of online business. You do not, you do not, you do not need a funnel, quote unquote. What you need is a way for people to find you and a way for them to connect with you, and that is it. I don't know about you, but I get really frustrated by things like a sales page where I add it to my cart and then I'm presented with like 4 more offers and it's like, oh, if you don't get this now, your life's gonna end or something like that. I mean, it's just ridiculous what these people say on these sales pages. You know, you've got 2 minutes to decide. Well, I don't want to take 2 minutes to decide. Can you not do that to me, please? You know, and then if you click no, it'll say something like, not just no thank you, I don't need this now. It'll say something like, no, I don't want my life to change for the better, or some stupid thing like that. Like, please, we don't need to do this. We don't need to do this. I also do not, do not like— I can speak, I really can. I also don't like— I told you, when I get upset about something, I really get hot. I don't like when I am in a really, really long email cycle where I know the person has probably spent a lot of money on someone writing this email sequence of 20,000 emails, but it all just feels very phony and fake and weird, and I don't like it. I'm not opposed to having like 3 or 4 where you deliver some sort of free gift to someone and then you follow up to make sure they got it, and then you tell them how they can take the next step. That's cool. That's fine. But oh my gosh, I feel like a number. And I'm going to add one little bonus rule here, which is, can we stop considering people as quote unquote leads? They are people, they are human beings, they are not leads, they are not numbers, they are humans, human beings. The sooner online business people get that they are dealing with actual human beings, the better this whole landscape will be. And that's my point here is that we can change this. We can take back the online space and make it something warm and inviting and personable. So those are 5 of my online business rules that I have broken, trashed, thrown out. I'd love to know which one stood out most for you. And please subscribe while you're here. Thanks so much. Bye for now.
