The Business Of Coaching

Hosted by Sarah Short

Business Marketing

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Episodes

156

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-GB

About the show

To be a coach, one must have clients. To have a coaching business, those clients must be ones who pay. This podcast is designed to support qualified coaches to build robust, financially viable coaching businesses.

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60 recent

October 29, 20267 min

When Something Quietly Uncomfortable Becomes Impossible to Ignore

In this thought-provoking solo episode, Sarah addresses an uncomfortable reality many qualified coaches face: doing everything that feels sensible, rational, and common-sense – posting regularly, refining websites, and attending networking events—while receiving zero client inquiries in return. She breaks down why the intuitive approach to client acquisition is the most expensive mistake in coaching, how "hope" acts as an emotional trap, and why extreme focus is the only reliable way to become commercially visible. The Intuitive Trap: Why Casting a Wide Net Fails Coaches naturally assume that keeping their message broad keeps their options open. In practice, this intuitive instinct works against you: The Common-Sense Fallacy: In everyday life, simple visibility works; in professional coaching, generic visibility dilutes your message until no one recognises what you do. The Burden of Translation: A broad message forces prospective clients to translate your abstract process into their personal reality. Because non-coaches do not understand what coaching solves, they will simply scroll past. The "News Test" of Relevance: Knowing someone is a coach does not explain why they matter right now, what specific problem they resolve, or why that outcome is worth paying a professional fee for. Hope vs. Commercial Focus Many coaches rely on hope without realising it because it feels softer and less risky than making sharp decisions: The Seduction of Hope: Hoping the right person stumbles across your profile allows you to stay busy with administrative tasks and safe social media posting without facing commercial accountability. The Demands of Focus: True focus requires answering hard questions: Who are you speaking to? What exact problem do they have? What language do they use to describe it? How does your coaching solve it? The Myth of "Missing Out": Coaches resist niching because it feels like closing doors. But as Sarah notes: if those broad opportunities actually existed, you would already have them. Specificity doesn't close doors; it is the first time you make a door visible at all. The Tighter the Focus, the Louder the Voice Becoming "louder" has nothing to do with performative posting, shouting, or oversharing personal details online: Clarity Cuts Through Noise: A laser-focused message is louder because it speaks directly to an audience's specific pain point without dilution. Doing the Work for Them: A focused message identifies the client's problem in terms they already recognise, so that by the time they reach a discovery call, they already understand why coaching is their solution. The Better Question: Stop asking if you need to be more visible; ask whether your visibility is focused enough for the right person to recognise you. "Getting specific feels as though we're closing doors, when commercially it's often the first time we make a door visible at all." — Sarah Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

October 22, 20266 min

Presence and Client Acquisition Are Not The Same Thing

In this incisive solo episode, Sarah exposes a core reason capable coaches remain starved of inquiries: confusing digital presence with genuine client acquisition . Posting consistently on social media and maintaining a polished website feels like marketing, but when it only announces your existence rather than creating client recognition, it leads to consistent silence and burnout. The "Presence" Trap: Activity Without Inquiries Many qualified coaches follow standard industry advice: build a professional website, schedule posts three times a week on optimal days, and share thoughtful, personal reflections. The predictable result: The Peer Echo Chamber: Posts receive likes, comments, and encouragement almost exclusively from fellow coaches and supportive friends, but zero client inquiries materialise. The False Conclusion: After 6 to 12 months of silence, the coach naturally assumes marketing does not work or that she simply is not cut out for self-employment. The Consistency Flaw: Consistency only matters when the message does the right strategic job. Consistent content that simply announces your existence produces consistent silence. Why Prospective Clients Stop Scrolling Potential clients are not searching for a coach by title. Most have never considered coaching because they do not view their private struggle as something a coaching conversation can resolve. The Problem with "Existence" Content: Generic posts about "achieving goals," "navigating transitions," or "living a fulfilled life" provide no concrete context for anyone to see themselves in. The Recognition Moment: Client acquisition only begins when a reader stops mid-scroll and experiences the sudden, startling feeling of being understood by a stranger: "She's talking about me." Monetisable Credibility vs. Intentional Systems: While a small minority of coaches enter the industry with vast executive networks capable of sustaining years of referrals, that path is not replicable for the vast majority. Real independence requires building client recognition from the ground up. Specificity Is the Mechanism of Visibility Coaches often resist niching because they view specificity as an "advanced" tactic to implement later, once basic visibility is established. In reality, specificity is what makes visibility useful in the first place. Target One Person & One Problem: Focus on one specific kind of person grappling with one specific challenge. Describe the Lived Reality: Write about that problem in such precise detail that prospective clients instantly know you understand the daily friction they experience. Crossing the Threshold: Moving away from broad self-descriptions to laser-focused client descriptions is where presence ends, and true client acquisition begins. "Consistent content that announces existence produces consistent silence... Specificity is what makes visibility worth having." — Sarah Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

October 15, 20268 min

I've Found My Voice

In this solo episode, Sarah explores what actually happens when coaches say, "I found my voice." It isn't about altering your vocal tone or manufacturing a slick elevator pitch—it is the pivotal breakthrough when you stop describing the coaching process in internal industry jargon and begin speaking the plain, outcome-focused language of your prospective clients. The Translation Trap: Why "Coach Speak" Fails When coaches qualify, they learn to articulate the inner mechanics of coaching with eloquence: The Glazed-Eye Effect: Describing "holding space," "asking powerful questions," or "creating safe containers" sounds professional to fellow coaches, but causes prospective clients' eyes to glaze over. The Cognitive Burden: Outside the executive boardrooms of major corporations, the general public does not understand what professional coaching solves. Explaining the process forces the listener to do the mental translation work—a barrier they will simply abandon. The Price of Ambiguity: When your message remains vague, you stay an ambiguous service provider offering an undefined conversation, directly fueling the industry's 82% attrition rate. The Catch: You Cannot Fake Client Speak Moving to plain language requires genuine, deep understanding: Understanding Their Reality: True "client speak" cannot be faked or pasted together from generic templates; it stems from understanding what keeps your clients awake at night and what success looks like in their specific environment. The Non-Negotiable Niche: Believing you are an exception who doesn't need to choose a niche is the most expensive mistake in coaching. Sustainable practices are built at the intersection of a specific problem (the What) and an industry, profession, or sector you know intimately (the Who). "We don't mean we sound different; we mean we finally sound like ourselves: clear, specific, and very useful to someone who doesn't know what our kind of coaching is." — Sarah Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

October 8, 202628 min

Success Leaves Clues with Victoria Tomlinson

In this episode, Sarah sits down with author, board chair, and entrepreneur Victoria Tomlinson to explore what it means to redesign life, purpose, and work beyond full-time employment. From navigating late-career identity loss to understanding why opportunities don't just "tap you on the shoulder," Victoria shares practical insights from her decades in leadership, PR, and her book, Expiry Date Never . About the Guest: Victoria Tomlinson Victoria Tomlinson has built an eclectic career spanning over 35 years. After starting as the first female graduate trainee at what is now GE Aviation, selling banknotes internationally for De La Rue, and serving on the leadership team at EY, she launched her own PR consultancy in the North of England. She is the Founder and CEO of Next-Up , helping experienced professionals and organisations redesign unretirement and pre-retirement transitions. An early adopter of LinkedIn and a seasoned board chair, Victoria realised that senior professionals stepping away from full-time careers often struggle deeply with identity, direction, and relevance. Today, at nearly 71, she is an active advocate for experienced generations and co-authored Expiry Date Never alongside AI expert Louise to guide individuals, employers, and organisations through this life stage. Get Victoria's book: Grab your copy of Expiry Date Never: Age is Your Superpower on Amazon . Connect with Next-Up: Learn more about Victoria's work and corporate workshops at next-up.com . About the Episode Sarah and Victoria discuss the realities of career transitions, the dangers of assuming work will simply come to you, and the critical shift required to build opportunities. Key highlights include: The Bereavement of Leaving Work: Leaving full-time executive life can feel like grief. Victoria shares how high achievers often drop to the bottom of the emotional change curve, experiencing depression and loss of purpose when the corporate title disappears overnight. The "Tapped on the Shoulder" Myth: Senior professionals often believe that after leaving corporate roles or qualifying as coaches, their old firms or contacts will automatically hand them work. In reality, corporate procurement and HR already have rosters filled, making proactive entrepreneurial initiative essential. Having 100+ Coffees: Victoria highlights the value of exploratory curiosity—having dozens of conversations with broad networks (former classmates, sports clubs, extended communities) to understand new markets and spark serendipitous opportunities. Network Activation vs. Intentional Niche: Sarah and Victoria contrast using an established "black book" with building a coaching practice from scratch. While former senior executives can reactivate old networks for exploratory conversations, sustainable coaching practices require a clear, memorable niche rather than hoping general conversations turn into paid engagements. Stop Talking About Yourself: Promoting yourself isn't about bragging; it’s about solving problems and being genuinely curious about the other person. True marketing means understanding your target audience's problems and serving them with generosity and insight. "Nobody cares about us. They care about what we can do for them. And if we can remember that, we can succeed. " — Sarah Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Upgrade to the VIP option for three 60-minute group mentoring sessions with Sarah Short. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

October 1, 20269 min

A Knowers Mind or a Learners Mind

In this solo episode, Sarah unpacks a striking paradox within the coaching industry: while coaches are expertly trained to enter coaching conversations with curious, non-judgmental "learner's minds," they routinely revert to rigid "knower's minds" when it comes to business development and finding paying clients. The Knower's Mind Trap & Improvisation Curiosity Ends at Delivery: Coaches excel at staying curious and holding space with clients, yet assume client acquisition requires no formal training and can simply be improvised. The Limits of Past Success: Capable professionals are accustomed to winging everyday workplace challenges, but improvisation only works within familiar territory; client acquisition sits outside most coaches' career knowledge. The Danger of Flawed Conclusions: When improvised outreach fails, a knower's mind doesn't recognise a skills gap; it wrongly concludes that "marketing doesn't work". Why "Common Sense" Marketing Fails Vague, Unimplementable Advice: Industry spaces frequently offer platitudes like "be authentic" or "make good connections" that lack any actionable structure, audience definition, or strategy. Leading with Coaching Jargon: Introducing your work through process-focused jargon—such as "limiting beliefs" or "gaining clarity"—sounds like an everyday conversation a prospect thinks they can have with a friend for free. Selling the Process Over Outcomes: Clients do not pay professional rates for abstract methodology; they pay when you clearly articulate what is in it for them. Shifting to a Learner's Mind: Intention & Focus Asking the Right Question: Rather than assuming the market is broken, a learner's mind asks, "Who is this working for, and what do they know that I don't?" The Intentional Foundation: Sustainable coaches target the intersection of a Who (a specific group whose daily lives they understand) and a What (a problem that audience is actively struggling with). Information vs. Knowledge: Piling up free webinars and PDF guides is just accumulating information; true knowledge is understanding which principles apply to your business and executing them systematically. Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Upgrade to the VIP option for three 60-minute group mentoring sessions with Sarah Short. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

September 24, 202612 min

Why coaches avoid the niche that would work best

In this candid episode, Sarah explores a sensitive, often emotionally charged obstacle in professional coaching: why coaches actively run away from the specific niche where they hold maximum, ready-made credibility. She tackles the pushback surrounding career history, addresses the trauma of toxic workplaces, and explains why separating coaching delivery from commercial marketing is the key to building a sustainable practice. Where Maximum Credibility Already Lives A commercially viable niche sits squarely at the intersection of a What (the challenge or topic) and a Who (a specific industry, profession, or sector down to the job title). Broad labels like "professionals," "leaders," or "women" are too vague to generate client inquiries. Your own career history is almost always the strongest place to establish your "Who": Nuance and Context: You know the day-to-day rhythm of their year, the industry-specific pressures, and how workplace stress lands at home. The "News Test": When industry news breaks, an outsider only sees a vague headline; someone with your background instantly understands the direct, nuanced impact on the people working in that vertical. The Fear of "Going Back" to What Made You Unwell The strongest resistance to using career history comes from coaches who left their previous sector due to burnout, toxic cultures, or serious health issues. When advised to look at their past profession, they often panic, assuming they are being told to re-enter the environment that caused them harm. Sarah directly addresses this fear: You Are Not Clocking Back In: Choosing a sector as your "Who" has nothing to do with returning to an unhealthy workplace or reporting to an old boss. Becoming the Coach You Needed: It is about taking valuable, hard-won knowledge out of that experience and using it to support the humans still inside it. Many coaches thrive by becoming the lifeline they wish had existed before their own breaking point. Delivery vs. Marketing: "I Can Coach Anyone" A common justification for avoiding a specific niche is: "I'm a trained coach; I can coach anyone." Sarah validates the coaching skill while highlighting the marketing flaw: The Delivery Side: If a charity CEO or corporate executive sits down in front of you, your coaching competencies allow you to facilitate a powerful, transformative conversation. The Marketing Side: You cannot market effectively to people whose calendar rhythms, pinch points, and industry vocabulary you do not understand. Competing against a coach who has lived experience in that specific sector will leave you completely invisible. The Mechanical Reality of LinkedIn Client acquisition isn't just philosophical—it's mechanical: Search by Title, Not Symptom: On LinkedIn, you search for prospective clients by job title and sector. You cannot search for "overwhelmed," "anxious," or "pre-diabetic". The Overwhelm Trap: Searching "overwhelm" on LinkedIn returns hundreds of coaches saying the exact same thing. Marketing to an emotional symptom without a concrete professional context creates noise, not clients. "Effective marketing is comfortable, and it's ethical, and it always starts with knowing who you're talking to. The best place to look for those people is by looking at whose lives you already understand." — Sarah Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Upgrade to the VIP option for three 60-minute group mentoring sessions with Sarah Short. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

September 17, 202634 min

Success Leaves Clues with Caroline Tapken

In this episode, Sarah sits down with coach and travel marketing veteran Caroline Tapken to discuss her 35-year expat journey, the reality of building a coaching business later in life, and what happened when a single media appearance unexpectedly sent her viral across Europe. About the Guest: Caroline Tapken Caroline spent over 35 years as an expat working in luxury hospitality sales, marketing, and PR across London, the Caribbean, Thailand, Qatar, and Dubai, where she ran her own PR agency for nearly a decade. After life transitions brought her back to the UK, the travel standstill in 2020 prompted her to certify as a professional coach. Today, she combines her decades of industry background with coaching to help expats in hospitality and travel design purposeful, active retirements. About the Episode Sarah and Caroline explore the long, unglamorous groundwork behind so-called "overnight success" and how consistent visibility opens doors you can never predict. Key highlights include: The "Cold DM" Trap: Caroline reflects on early client acquisition mistakes, including an expensive course that taught cold messaging on LinkedIn—a numbers game that damages confidence and alienates professional networks. A Distinct Niche for Expats: Why retirement planning for career expats in hospitality is far more complex than simple financials. From losing employer visas to leaving behind round-the-clock hotel engineering teams, Caroline helps couples communicate and align on what they want life to look like before the transition occurs. The "Go-Go" Years: Caroline breaks down the window between age 60 and the mid-70s—the prime, active period when people should front-load their bucket-list adventures rather than waiting in fear of spending their nest egg. The Viral Avalanche: How a trip to Antarctica led to a national UK newspaper feature in The Mail on Sunday —complete with a clickbait headline about "spending the kids' inheritance"—which was quickly picked up by major Italian publications like La Stampa , amassing thousands of comments and driving a 7,000% spike in website traffic. The Truth About Going Viral: Why viral moments are fleeting gifts that only work if you have already put in the spadework to capture attention, build an audience, and maintain consistent marketing long after the headline fades. Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

September 10, 202612 min

Who Are You Becoming

In this thought-provoking solo episode, Sarah examines an identity trap common across the coaching profession: the belief that coaching is a "pure" vocation that should not be sullied by commercial thoughts, marketing, or money. Sarah challenges listeners to reconsider their professional identity and explains why embracing the role of a business owner is what actually makes transformative coaching possible. The Problem with the "Pure Coach" Identity Many coaches view coaching as an identity rather than a learned skill or professional service. This creates an artificial divide where client acquisition feels uncomfortable, beneath them, or like a compromise of their integrity: The "Pure" Trap: Believing that marketing contaminates the purity of holding space, facilitating breakthroughs, and changing lives. The Practical Reality: Coaching is a tool, not the totality of running a business. You cannot facilitate transformation for clients you don't have, and you cannot hold space for people who never book a call. The Qualification Fallacy: Coach training organisations teach people how to coach, not how to run a commercial enterprise. Expecting a certification to automatically function as a business leads to resentment, passive directories, and reliance on underpaid associate work. Embracing the Identity of a Business Owner Who Coaches Building a sustainable practice does not mean abandoning your coaching skills—it means expanding your identity to include business ownership: Equal Pillars: Coach and business owner are complementary, equally important identities. Time Allocation: Sustainable coaches understand that 20% to 50% of available time must be devoted to client acquisition activities. Marketing as an Extension of Coaching: Ethical client acquisition is not a distraction from the work; it is an extension of your service that educates, supports, and impacts people long before they ever pay you. Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the FREE Circle group at: ⁠ ⁠⁠https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

September 3, 202612 min

The Friction between You and Your Clients

Sarah opens this episode with a personal story about trying to get travel vaccinations and paperwork for her small dog, Beau. Her usual vet was low-friction: one simple telephone call, registration complete, appointment booked. The alternative vet was a friction nightmare: multiple transfers, repeating her story, being instructed to email for a registration form, returning the form, waiting for acknowledgement, and only then being allowed to call back to book. This contrast illustrates a silent killer in coaching businesses: unnecessary friction . Where Coaches Accidentally Create Friction: Coaches rarely set out to make things difficult; they mistake complexity for professionalism or thoroughness. Every extra hurdle gives a hesitant prospective client another reason to abandon the journey: Overcomplicated Booking: Requiring people to DM first, exchange multiple scheduling messages, answer long pre-call questionnaires, or complete arduous intake forms just to book a discovery call. Intimidating Contracts: Presenting multi-page, legalistic agreements before a client even gets started—frightening away people who have already said yes. The "Choice" Paradox: Ending presentations or webinars with four different ways to get in touch, confusing the audience instead of giving one clear next step. The LinkedIn About Trap: Putting a static email address or non-clickable website URL in your mobile LinkedIn "About" section, forcing users to manually copy and paste rather than simply inviting a direct message. The Golden Rule: Minimum Necessary Process Potential clients are often already uncertain, feeling vulnerable about asking for help, and unclear on how coaching works. Making them jump through administrative hoops feels like a barrier, not support. One Click Is Ideal: Two clicks is second best; every added step reduces the likelihood of completion. Audit Every Step: Look at your pipeline from first point of contact to booked call. Ask yourself: Is this step absolutely necessary, or is it friction? Who does it benefit? If it only benefits your administrative convenience, remove it. "Every additional step is a place where someone can drop off... Remove the friction, make it easier for people to work with you, and watch how many more people actually do." — Sarah Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Upgrade to the VIP option for three 60-minute group mentoring sessions with Sarah Short. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/

August 27, 202611 min

AI Can’t Do Our Marketing For Us

In this solo episode, Sarah tackles a modern trap catching many qualified coaches: the belief that generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude can define your target audience, identify your ideal client, and solve your client acquisition challenges. Sarah explains why outsourcing strategic thinking to a machine leads to generic positioning, how to bridge the fundamental knowledge gap in marketing, and the exact role AI should play in building a coaching business. The Illusion of the AI "Jackpot": Prompting AI to generate an ideal client or target audience often produces results that look comprehensive - complete with names, demographics, and high-level challenges. However, these outputs fail commercially for crucial reasons: Surface-Level Generalities: AI defaults to broad buckets (e.g. "senior professionals" or "entrepreneurs struggling with work-life balance") that sound plausible but lack the granularity required to locate and convert clients. Missing Strategic Nuance: AI cannot tell you where these individuals gather, what specific language they use to describe their problems, or what underlying shame stops them from reaching out. The Coaching Misconception: Generative models do not understand that the broader public misunderstands professional coaching. Consequently, AI-generated marketing materials rely on flawed assumptions that fail to resonate with real buyers. You Cannot Coach Across a Knowledge Gap: Many intelligent, capable coaches assume marketing is intuitive or common sense, only to find themselves operating in unconscious incompetence. The Strategy Vacuum: Coaching relies on drawing solutions out of a person, but you cannot coach a marketing strategy out of a mind that lacks foundational client acquisition knowledge. Action Without Direction: Without proper business training, coaches take high-effort, low-impact actions - like designing brochures explaining the abstract "power of coaching" - that produce zero inquiries because they address the process rather than the client's specific problem. The Proper Role of AI: A Tool, Not a Strategy: AI cannot do the strategic thinking for you, but it becomes immensely valuable once the core thinking is complete: Human First: You must first define your specific niche, identify the precise problem you resolve, and craft a message that builds know, like, and trust. Machine Second: Once that foundation exists, AI excels at the heavy lifting of content production - generating variations, brainstorming headlines, and drafting posts aligned with your validated message. Join the Next Free "Nail Your Niche" Challenge: Experience live, robust conversations about positioning and commercial viability. Upgrade to the VIP option for three 60-minute group mentoring sessions with Sarah Short. Register now: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche Have you enjoyed this episode? Find out more and take the FREE quiz at: https://thecoachingrevolutionquiz.com/ Join the FREE Circle group at: https://the-coaching-revolution.circle.so/