Coaches are programmed to offer free discovery calls. I decided to do the opposite. I charged $25 for a sales conversation and ended up making more money, not less.
For most of my 16 years as a coach I followed the industry script: offer free discovery calls, serve generously, and trust that the right people will eventually hire me.
Sometimes, they did. Often, they didn’t.
The conversations themselves were meaningful and enjoyable, but months or even years could pass before someone became a client. Then, in the last year, I started offering free coaching calls to my email list and no one was biting.
I realized the problem wasn’t my coaching; it was the context.
So I decided to run an audacious experiment:
What if I charged people for the sales conversation itself?
The Experiment
In coaching, what’s called an “enrollment conversation” is an experience of real value. It’s when someone clarifies what they want, why it matters, and whether working together makes sense.
Ironically, because that incredibly valuable conversation involves selling, no one charges for it. I decided to make that conversation the product.
I knew my offer would have to be intriguing, provocative and believable. I was pretty sure I could pull it off, but there was only one way to know for sure.
So in October 2025, I offered $25 “DragonHeart Portal Sessions” to my email list of 650 subscribers. The premise was direct: pay me $25 for a powerful clarity conversation, and yes, I might pitch you if it felt aligned.
I didn’t build a landing page. Instead, I set up this paid booking link in Acuity with a short description and capped the experiment at 10 sessions or October 31st, whichever came first.
Then, I sent this email to my list:
Email subject: Give the middle finger to doing it by the book
Steph DragonHeart is stirring.
I’m tired of accepting industry norms as the rule, and bending myself to fit into them. It’s time to bust out and challenge the status quo.
Preferably in a way that takes me to the edge and invites me to leeeeeeap.
Conventional business wisdom says coaches should offer free discovery calls and enrollment conversations to create clients. (I’ve done and enjoyed this myself for years.)
But I want to point out the real value of these conversations. They aren’t throw-away freebies.
Here’s how it looks to me:
What if a sales conversation was the transformation? Not just the prelude.
In every enrollment conversation, something magical happens.
When I ask someone what they want from their life or business, and invite them to dream really BIG, it’s like watching a portal open.
Suddenly, we’re not talking about goals. You’re placing an order with the universe. We’re playing the game of creation. Possibility. Desire.
Then comes the question that takes us even deeper:
Why? Why do you want this?
Because when we’re asking for money, clients, travel – what we really want is what we think it will make us feel.
Peace. Safety. Joy. Love. Aliveness.
When you find that feeling now, before anything changes, your entire being realigns. You have what you want. As a result, the forms you’d like to see in the external world come faster, easier and more naturally.
That’s the power of these conversations.
So I’m giving a 🖕 to Coaching By the Book by inviting 10 people into a playful experiment: The DragonHeart Portal Conversations
💸 Pay me $25 to pitch you.
Of course, this isn’t a “pitch” in the usual sense. It’s a potent mirror for what’s possible for you.
You’ll leave with clarity, fresh energy, and a next step that’s aligned with who you really are.
And yes, I may tell you about ways we could work/play together, but only if it feels like a genuine next step for both of us.
This is an experiment in value, bold truth, and creation itself for people who want a life that’s unapologetically them.
If that’s you, book one of 10 spots available here.
Let’s turn the rules of business and transformation inside out, baby.
Yours in love and play,
Steph 🐲❤️🔥
P.S. Can a pitch be a portal to possibilities? Oh, hell yeah. Find out for yourself.
I launched a modest promotion through the month of October exclusively through email:
- 4 emails to 650 weekly subscribers (newsletter-style with highlights of events, blog posts and podcast episodes)
- 18 emails to 75 daily email subscribers (story-driven with an offer at the end)
- 12 personal email invitations to past clients and prospects with the subject, “Are you still looking for a coach?”
No social media. No ads. No funnel.
The Results
The first session sold before the public announcement, through a personal email to a former client. By the end of the month, I’d sold 11 sessions (one snuck in before I took down the page) for a total of $525. That’s $275 from the sessions themselves and another $250 from a follow up coaching session.
Even better, four participants expressed interest in ongoing coaching. Two led to long-term proposals: one for $11,100 and another for $3,000, both still pending at the time of writing.
From a list of 650 people, a $25 experiment generated $525 in immediate revenue and $14,000 in potential follow-on work.
Not bad for a crazy idea.
What I Didn’t Expect
This experiment produced higher-quality conversations, faster action, and more serious prospects than my free discovery calls.
The first surprise was speed. I didn’t expect fast action from a small list and a casual promotion, but people bought within days.
The second surprise was why people bought. Most people were drawn by the promise of clarity (obvious) but others just wanted to support the experiment. Some did it to satisfy their curiosity. A few wanted to “pick my brain” and preferred to pay for it rather than ask for free time.
Not every session turned into a sales opportunity, but every one created value.
One of these tiny sales even reopened a relationship with a prospect I hadn’t spoken with for over two years. We’re now planning to work together in early 2026.
Why I Think It Worked
#1 - It aligns with how I actually want to work.
When I was half-heartedly inviting people to free conversations, people could feel it. By contrast, this experiment felt alive. My writing was edgy. The invitation was clear, and that energy came across.
When you’re actually excited about what you’re up to, everything becomes more attractive.
#2 - It filtered for seriousness.
Charging $25 filtered out the tourists. The people who paid showed up were willing and already invested in taking action.
Payment didn’t just create revenue. It created a better experience for both of us.
#3 - It replaced a vague offer with a specific one.
The appeal of the free discovery call is inviting people to try before they buy. The promise being that if you wow them with the experience, they’ll want more.
But a free discovery call without any specifically named benefits is vague and unappealing. Why would they bother, even if it’s free?
Instead, this was a clarity session with a defined benefit, and naming the value made it tangible.
This is marketing 101, but it’s astonishing how often service providers (myself included) forget it.
#4 - It gave already-interested people a reason to act.
All but one of the people who bought had connected with me in the past. They were past clients, colleagues or prospects.
The energy of a new offer with an affordable price tag gave them a low-friction way to re-engage.
#5 - It was an honest, transparent invitation.
I told people upfront, “I might pitch you,” instead of hiding behind the euphemism of a discovery call.
That honesty made everything easier. It allowed us to cleanly explore possible alignment. Making an offer felt easy and natural when it was appropriate, and the conversation was still valuable in cases where it wasn’t.
#6 - I monetized what was already happening.
These conversations weren’t new. I’ve been catalyzing clarity and direction in my coaching for years.
I simply named it, priced it, and boldly proclaimed the value that had always been there.
Sometimes “new” revenue is hiding in plain sight.
Will it work for you?
This is not a universal strategy.
It works best with a warm audience, some existing trust, and people who already believe your point of view has value.
If your market is conservative, unfamiliar with you, or overly price-sensitive, you might not get a favorable response.
However, here’s how you might adapt this to suit your business.
#1 - If something in your business feels off, question your defaults.
Do you actually want to do this thing? Or is there something else you’d love to try?
Answer and acknowledge this before talking yourself out of it. There’s gold in questioning assumptions!
#2 - Brainstorm how you could get paid for what you’re doing now for free.
Where are you already creating transformation without charging for it?
That’s often where your easiest monetization lives.
#3 - Run an experiment within a set container.
You don’t need to reinvent your entire business or offer suite overnight. Consider running an experiment for a fixed period of time or number of sessions. See what happens and modify.
Doing Business Your Way
I’ve come away from my experiment with a renewed sense of the value in my coaching and giving myself permission to do business that way I really want.
I encourage you to question your industry norms.
Not every rule is wrong, but the ones you follow without enjoyment are usually worth reexamining.
Learn more about Steph on her website and subscribe to her newsletter, Wildspire.
