The Business Of Coaching

Sarah Short
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

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.

  1. 3d ago

    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/

  2. Sep 24

    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/

  3. Sep 17

    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/

  4. Sep 10

    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/

  5. Sep 3

    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/

  6. Aug 27

    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/

  7. Aug 20

    Success Leaves Clues with Peta Simey

    In this episode, she and Sarah talk about why her original brand story - built around the baobab tree - wasn't actually doing the job, why "tooting your own horn" feels so uncomfortable for coaches, and what it really takes for marketing to feel authentic instead of icky. Peta Simey spent nearly two decades running national behaviour-change campaigns for the UK government before becoming a coach for senior women in marketing. About Peta Simey Peta is the founder of Adansonia Coaching, helping senior women in marketing move from overwhelmed and reactive to confident and clear. She spent most of her career in UK government marketing and communications before training as a coach. Key Highlights: From campaigns to coaching: Peta's route from government marketing into internal and then independent coaching, and the moment she realised she cared more about people than campaigns.The 3 am pen-and-paper trick: a simple habit for offloading overwhelm before it spirals.Rethinking her brand story: why the baobab story behind "Adansonia Coaching" was great flavour but wasn't naming the actual problem she solves — and what changed once it did."Nobody thanks a coach for holding space": why client-facing language needs to sound nothing like coach-to-coach language.Marketing with integrity: Peta's take on why good marketing isn't about self-promotion — it's about naming a problem people already recognise in themselves.The best sign it's working: a client message that says "you're talking about me" — before they've ever paid you a cent. 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/

  8. Aug 13

    How To Have A Positive Impact On The World

    In this solo episode, Sarah explores why coaches enter the profession in the first place: to have a positive impact on the world. She challenges the common belief that impact only happens inside confidential 1-to-1 coaching sessions, demonstrating how ethical, empathetic marketing acts as a service that helps people long before they ever become clients. The Unseen Impact: Lifting Misplaced Shame The challenges that coaching resolves - career stagnation, health choices, executive dread, or struggling to sign clients -often carry heavy, secret feelings of shame. Because these struggles are rarely spoken about openly, individuals internalise them as personal, isolated failures: The Stagnant Employee: Thinks, "I'm working hard, but people are being promoted over me—there must be something wrong with me," unaware that they simply lack visibility and influence. The High-Achiever: Thinks, "I worked so hard to reach the top, but the thought of doing this for 20 more years fills me with horror—I am ungrateful and foolish," unaware of how common executive crossroads are. The Struggling Coach: Thinks, "Everyone else is succeeding while I can't find clients—I'm just a bad coach," unaware that client acquisition is a separate, learnable skill set. When ethical marketing speaks directly to a specific audience with empathy and understanding, it calls out this shame. It lets prospective clients know that their feelings are completely normal and that they are not alone. Marketing as a Service, Not Manipulation Many coaches resist marketing because they view it as manipulative or sleazy, often after losing money to generic marketing "gurus". However, when done well, good marketing becomes an extension of your coaching mission: Creates Connection: Allows people to feel seen and heard, lifting unnecessary emotional weight. Provides Clarity & Hope: Helps people recognise that there is a structured way out of their situation. Expands Your Reach: Touches thousands of lives, including those who may never have the budget or opportunity to hire you directly. Ready to Learn How Ethical Marketing Works? If you are curious about how to build a visible practice that serves people with knowledge and empathy, join Sarah's next free Nail Your Niche Challenge. Next Challenge Date: Starts September 7th. How to Register: Visit thecoachingrevolution.com/nailyourniche to secure your spot. 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/

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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Sarah Short
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    152
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sarah Short
  • Show Website
    The Business Of Coaching

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