From Stuck to Creating a Sustainable Coaching Practice!

You’ve trained for many hours. You’ve studied the skills, you've earned your certifications, and you love coaching. Assisting people grow lights you up. And still many coaches quietly admit that finding clients feels harder than the actual coaching.

You may resonate with this: posting on social media, attending networking events, and maybe you've even built a website, and yet, the inquiries don’t come. You may feel deflated, lost and it seems like you are blending into the online ‘noise'.

The good news is: with a few small shifts in focus and messaging, you can unlock opportunities and start building the sustainable business you imagined when you first trained.

Why So Many Coaches Get Stuck

Most coaches start with a wide net: “I can help anyone who wants to improve their life or career.” It feels logical! As a trained coach, you don’t give advice, you offer open spaces for thinking, reflection, and taking action. 

However, in practice, this broad approach makes it pretty difficult for the right clients to see themselves in your work. 

Sarah Short from The Coaching Revolution shares the following: “Coaches can sustain trying everything they can think of to find clients, and they reach the two-year mark, they lose the motivation, the energy, the impetus, they run out of money, they run out of the will to live asking, 'Why isn't this working?' And at that point, they often decide that the coaching profession is saturated, and that this is not for them, and they leave.”

When your message is for everyone, it potentially resonates with no one. Potential clients may admire your posts, but they don’t see themselves in your stories. They don’t feel the urgency to reach out.

The Power of Narrowing Your Focus

Imagine a stressed-out mid-level manager searching for help. She’s not typing 'life coach' into Google. She’s searching for things like:

• How to stop burnout at work.
• How to build confidence in meetings.
• How to balance work and parenting without losing my mind.

When you narrow your focus to a specific group of people and their specific problems, you instantly become more relevant. 

Instead of being 'a coach', you become - for example - 'the coach who supports managers overcome burnout', or 'the coach who supports new parents rediscover balance'.

Potential clients feel like you’re speaking directly to them, because you are!

Speaking Your Clients’ Language

Another common trap: coaches describe their work in coaching jargon: “I help you uncover limiting beliefs”. Or, “I empower you to step into your highest potential.”

While true, those words rarely match how clients describe their struggles. Instead, listen closely to the phrases they actually use. They potentially say things like:

• “I feel stuck.”
• “I’m exhausted all the time.”
• “I don’t know how to move forward.”

When your messaging mirrors the way your clients talk about their problems, a switch flips. They feel seen, understood, and ready to take the next step with you.

Shifting from Uncertainty to Clarity

At Empower World, we believe finding clients isn’t about chasing; it’s about alignment. When you shift from “I can help anyone” to “I help this type of person with this type of challenge” and start speaking in their language:

• Your content becomes sharper.
• Your conversations feel easier.
• Your offers feel irresistible to the right people.

Most importantly, you move from uncertainty, constantly wondering where your next client will come from, to clarity and confidence in your business.

Your Next Step

If you’ve been 'stuck' or on that 'hamster wheel' of promoting your services, remember you don’t need a new certification, a bigger ad budget, or a flashy funnel. You need focus, clarity, and language that connects.

That’s when coaching stops being a passion project and starts becoming a sustainable business.

Creating the impact you dreamed of making when you first trained as a coach starts with making it easy for the right clients to find you by speaking their language and supporting them to identify you understand their challenges and desires. 

Making those small changes can lead to a whole new world of possibilities and doing what you love!

Be empowered

www.empower-world.com

To listen to the Podcast 'The Step Most Coaches Miss: Why It Matters for Your Coaching Practice Success' with Marie Quigly and Sarah Short, click here.

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Upcoming Empower World Events and Programmes

Join Empower World’s September Networking Session "Bridging Worlds: Coaching and Communication to Enhance Your Leadership" on 10 September, 6 pm Qatar time. From this session, you'll walk away with practical processes to connect, collaborate, and communicate more powerfully. Reserve your spot today and be part of a community that inspires transformation! Click here to reserve your spot.

Empower World's world-class ICF Approved Professional Coach Training and Leadership Programme's next intake starts on 03 Oct 2025 in Doha, Qatar. You can find out more about how you can make a powerful and joyful difference in your world and the world of others here.

Coaching Skills Mentoring Programme with an MCC mentor for ICF credentialing purposes, starting 19 September 2025. Find out more about how you can step into masterful coaching here.

The Reignite Coaching Community supports coaches to rebuild confidence, reconnect with their purpose, and return to coaching with clarity and momentum. Through practical resources, peer coaching, expert-led sessions, and a vibrant community, you gain the experience and growth, together with encouragement and feedback to enhance your skills, pursue credentials, and create a thriving, sustainable practice - no matter where you are on your coaching journey, from beginner to highly experienced. Find out more here.

You can also follow us on:

Website: https://www.empower-world.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empowerpeopletraining

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empower_world/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@empower-world1695

You can listen to The Empower World Coaching and Leadership Podcast on the following platforms.

YouTube: https://bit.ly/yt-ew-podcast

Spotify: https://bit.ly/ew-podcast-spotify

iTunes: http://bit.ly/EW-Podcast-iTune