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Coaching Services Preview

Winter 2025

Hello!

Thanks for being a loyal subscriber to 💡 The Lightbulb!

It’s been such a joy to share my insights and original frameworks on solo consulting and service design with you daily.

Your consistent engagement with the material has been both gratifying and inspirational.

So, I thought it was only fitting to share my redesigned coaching options with you first.

In fact, it was a listening tour with many of you that informed this new slate.

Some quick context…

When I asked your peers what was standing in the way of exploring a coaching relationship, there were three distinct buckets:

  • “I don’t need a ‘from scratch’ intensive”

  • “I don’t have time for a ton of sessions”

  • “I’m too early to afford you”

Once those themes were illuminated, it became pretty clear what to do…

Introduce a redesigned slate of coaching arrangements that gives you the choice of:

  • Scope

  • Frequency

  • Investment

So here they are:

the First Mile, Wayfinder,
and Wingman programs!

[imagine a confetti pop here 🎉 ]

Each coaching option remains centered on designing and optimizing a sustainable business around your unique expertise and POV

…but allows for varying levels of support based on where you are in your journey.

Take a closer look at each of the new options below.

If any of these speak to you, book a no-commitment Coaching Exploration Call with me to discuss.

Exploration calls (and this page) are reserved exclusively for you as Lightbulb subscribers until I announce the new slate publicly on Nov. 18th.

💡

-Wes

First Mile

Vibe: Kickstart

Fee: $7,500 for 3-month program

Terms: Billed in 3 installments

Who is this for?

  • You recently left corporate and are motivated to pursue a more self-defined work life

  • You have a decade or more of corporate experience, but struggle to articulate your expertise

  • You have some ideas about your ideal client and service design, but mostly built on hunch

  • You are still unclear on some ‘soloist transition’ activities like LLC setup, tax support, and tech tools

What’s included?

  • A 3-month, 9-session collaborative program focused on expertise triangulation, service design and go-to-market strategy

  • Live 60-minute 1:1 kickoff session

  • Weekly 50-minute strategy sessions (3 per month)

  • Async voice/text coaching access via WhatsApp as secondary channel

  • Document review (proposals, assets, thought leadership, social posts)

  • Unlimited ‘Lightbulb sessions’ per month — 20-min live syncs bookable via private client portal

  • Discovery & development of your signature POV and accompanying ‘intellectual headshot’

  • An initial ‘signature service’, vetted through a listening tour and ready to take to market

The value:

  • Establish the critical elements of your new consulting practice, with a high-touch partner and program to navigate the transition into self-employment.

  • Define a high-impact niche, signature POV, and service, setting the foundation for a strong client pipeline in your first year

  • Gain clarity on your business goals and immediate steps toward them, leaving ambiguity and self-doubt behind

But first…

Why explore coaching at all?

I hear you.

I was rip-roaring through my first year as a consultant out on my own.

Swinging project-to-project, client-to-client, like a monkey tree-to-tree in a jungle.

Cash was coming in, the flexibility was flexing.

But I wasn’t actually building a business.

Yes, I was “consulting” but really, I was freelancing.

I was a nomadic contractor seeking gigs.

No plan for how the gigs would come to me.

No strategy for how to differentiate myself in the market.

No real great answer even to “what do you do?"

So those gigs that did come kept straying further and further from my true genius zone.

Then I attended a webinar on a random November Thursday, hosted by a coach who I would later hire.

She asked an attendee a simple question:

“What are some goals for your business?”

And while the question wasn’t directed at me, my stomach dropped.

I couldn’t answer the most basic question about my new path…

because no one had held up a mirror in front of me and made me take a stand.

So I realized right then…

…I could sit on this cash buffer I’d built up from a few warm-referral projects.

Feel really nice about how I could ‘pay’ myself for the next several months while I cross my fingers about some lingering proposals.

Or I could make an investment.

Of significant time and money.

To take this seriously. With the help of an expert.

Someone who would dive deep alongside me.

Challenge my assumptions.

Regulate the echo chamber of one.

Keep me moving.

And build an intentional business, deploying my unique expertise.

And that’s exactly what she helped me do.

As I’ve been building a business myself, you’ve watched me crystallize my learnings via The Lightbulb into broadly applicable tips and mental models for solo consultants.

Frameworks, tools, and processes on:

  • Is self-employment a good fit?

  • Defining an ideal client profile (ICP)

  • Identifying client pain points and urgency

  • Your expertise wingspan

  • Turning insights into IP

  • Deriving your signature POV

  • Crafting an ‘intellectual headshot’

  • Selecting a ‘helper persona’

  • Building an MVP client service

  • Conducting listening tours

  • Refining a signature service

  • Triangulating a confident service price

  • Accelerating sales conversations via IP

  • Investing in efficient client delivery

  • Reinvesting ‘time dividends’

  • …and more

I create this type of content because I know it would’ve helped me.

And I give it away for free, because I know it can help you.

So why consider hiring me, or any coach?

Because by working closely together 1:1, I can help accelerate the application of my simple, yet powerful concepts to your unique expertise business.

And help you deploy yourself and your expertise most efficiently.

Which is why we go solo after all.

And now, on to the new services :)

I hope one of them speaks to you.

Wayfinder

Vibe: Trail guide

Fee: $3,000, monthly retainer

Terms: One-quarter minimum, billed monthly

Who is this for?

  • You’re actively designing (or redesigning) your services and client mix to deploy your expertise most efficiently

  • You seek regular guidance and accountability as a means to steady strategic progress

  • You understand the value of a signature POV and want to develop your IP as an asset steadily over time

  • You thrive in live, collaborative back-and-forth, supplemented by async interactions as needed

What’s included?

  • Live 60-minute 1:1 kickoff session

  • Weekly 50-minute strategy sessions (4 per month)

    • Each session is customized to your unique goals, or most pressing issues

  • Async voice/text coaching and Q&A via WhatsApp as a secondary channel

  • Document review (proposals, assets, thought leadership, social posts)

  • Up to 3 ‘Lightbulb sessions’ per month — 20-min live syncs bookable between regularly scheduled sessions via private client portal

    • Great for urgent items, ‘a-ha’ moments, or debriefing a client interaction

  • Discovery & development of your signature POV and accompanying ‘intellectual headshot’

The value:

  • An invested thought partner to prevent the pitfalls of a one-person echo chamber

  • Clarity in your unique POV and a service portfolio that will attract high-quality leads

  • Deep confidence in each strategic move as your decisions are vetted by a trusted expert

Wingman

Vibe: ‘Lifeline’ coaching

Fee: $1,000, monthly retainer

Terms: Quarterly minimum waived for first enrollees

Who is this for?

  • Your business is up and running, and you’re now focused on optimization and growth

  • You value an on-call thought partner on critical strategic decisions — someone objective and invested in the success of your business (i.e., not a friend or peer)

  • You despise recurring meetings but appreciate an occasional live sync as needed

What’s included:

  • One live 60-minute 1:1 kickoff session

  • Async voice/text coaching and Q&A access via WhatsApp as the main coaching channel

  • Document review (proposals, assets, thought leadership, social posts, etc.)

  • Up to 3 ‘Lightbulb sessions’ per month — 20-min live syncs bookable via private client portal

The value:

  • A ‘co-pilot’ to accelerate decisive actions, saving weeks or months of wheel-spinning and splintered focus

  • Timely strategic advice on pricing proposals and engagement structure that can add thousands in booked revenue

  • Relief from the isolation and pressure of a soloist’s journey

About
‘Lightbulb Sessions’

Lightbulb Sessions are a new, signature feature of my coaching programs, giving clients an additional opportunity to sync live 1:1 with me on any pressing topic between our scheduled calls, such as:

  • Weighing a time-sensitive proposal or client matter

  • Debriefing a recent client interaction or sales conversation

  • Processing an ‘a-ha!’ moment or strategic revelation

  • Preparing for a difficult meeting or call

All active clients can access a private Calendly to book Lightbulb Sessions within two rolling business days at no additional cost.

So what’s next?

If any of these options have piqued your interest, book a no-commitment Coaching Exploration Call with me.

We’ll take 30 minutes to discuss:

  • Your solo consulting journey to date and your goals

  • The top challenges you're facing

  • The style of support you're looking for

If we feel there's a mutual fit to work together, I'll share:

  • The option(s) best suited for your need

  • Logistics and next steps should you wish to proceed

  • Answer any questions you have

It may be helpful to know that I'm not a hard-seller. I don’t believe in it, actually.

You'll be welcome to enroll in coaching and reserve a coaching slot on this Exploratory call, but I will not pressure you to.

Promise.

Nervous to book a call?

Here’s some proof I don’t bite:

Reminder!

This is a sneak peek with exclusive access just for subscribers to The Lightbulb.

I am committed to maintaining a very low cap of total clients across all three programs in order to preserve a high quality of service.

Prompt enrollment means first grab at my limited capacity without a waiting period.

I will be announcing these new services publicly on November 18th…

So if you’re at all interested, go ahead and book a Coaching Exploration Call now.

I’ll look forward to speaking with you. :)

For one-off questions, feel free to email me at wes@weswheless.com.