Many new coaches believe they have a content problem.
They do not know what to post.
They are unsure what topics will attract clients.
They sit in front of a blank document trying to sound insightful, credible, and different from every other coach online.
But the real problem may not be content.
It may be distance.
You are trying to create a message for people you have not gotten close enough to understand.
“The Market” Is Too Abstract
It is difficult to write a meaningful message to “the market.”
The market does not have a face.
It does not have a difficult conversation scheduled for tomorrow morning.
It did not just leave a medical appointment, receive unexpected feedback, question its career direction, or lie awake wondering whether something needs to change.
People experience those moments.
That is why the first part of Coaching Business Launchpad is not focused on posting more frequently or mastering every social media platform. It begins by helping you choose a coaching niche without feeling boxed in, so you have a real person and a meaningful experience to learn from.
It is focused on developing a relationship with the people you hope to serve.
When you have met them, listened to them, and understood what they are experiencing, you are no longer speaking to a market.
You are speaking to people you know.
And content becomes more like a personal message.
Start With Conversations, Not a Pitch
At the end of our first Launchpad session, participants were assigned two short conversations with people who resembled their developing client archetypes.
The purpose was not to sell coaching.
It was to listen for:
- Real language
- Emotional texture
- Repeated patterns
- Important moments and transitions
- Problems that may not be obvious from the outside
The free New Coach Marketing Plan includes prompts to help you clarify your audience, capture what you hear in these conversations, and turn those insights into stronger messaging.
A learning conversation is different from a sales conversation.
You are not trying to convince the person that they need to change. You are trying to understand how they already experience the situation.
Those conversations also begin turning a broad niche into a living client archetype grounded in real context, language, motivations, and trust cues. Instead of inventing an ideal client from your assumptions, you begin building your understanding from evidence.
You might ask:
What has been happening recently that caused you to pay more attention to this?
What is most frustrating about the situation?
How is it affecting your day-to-day life?
What have you already tried?
What would feel meaningfully different if this improved?
What do you wish other people understood about the experience?
Then listen.
Do not rush to prove that your coaching can help. Do not translate everything they say into your favorite framework. Let their experience shape your understanding.
Find the Moment That Makes Someone Pay Attention
People go about their lives until something gives them a reason to pick their head up and say:
Maybe I need to do something about this.
That moment matters.
Someone may have been dissatisfied with work for several years, but a leadership change finally makes the situation feel urgent.
Someone may have ignored their stress until it begins affecting their sleep, relationships, or ability to be present with their family.
Someone may have thought about starting a business for months, but a change in employment makes the decision feel immediate.
Generic content speaks broadly about the topic.
Effective content meets people inside the moment when the topic becomes meaningful.
Instead of writing “Five Tips for Better Work-Life Balance,” you might speak to the person who has realized that they no longer have enough energy left for the people they care about after the workday ends.
Instead of writing “Why Finding Your Purpose Matters,” you might speak to the professional who has achieved what they were supposed to want and is now wondering why it no longer feels fulfilling.
The more clearly you understand the moment, the less generic your content becomes.
Your Story May Be Part of the Connection
One of the most powerful moments in our first session occurred when a participant moved away from describing a general coaching interest and began sharing why the work mattered personally.
Her tone changed.
Her energy changed.
The other participants could feel the difference.
It was no longer a description of a possible business. It was an authentic story about something she had witnessed and cared deeply about.
That does not mean every post needs to reveal your most personal experiences.
It does mean that people can often sense when your message is connected to something real.
Your credibility is not only contained in your credentials. It may also come from lived experience, proximity to the problem, years spent serving a community, or the reason you became interested in the work.
The goal is not to manufacture vulnerability.
It is to recognize the experiences that already give your work meaning.
Content Gets Easier When Someone Is in the Room
The next time you struggle to create content, stop staring at the empty page.
Picture one real person.
Remember the language they used.
Return to the moment when their energy changed.
Answer the question they were trying to ask, even if they never phrased it perfectly.
Write the message you would send directly to them.
That is a much stronger starting point than asking what an algorithm wants from you this week.
You probably do not need another list of content ideas.
You may need two better conversations.
You can see the complete nine-week Coaching Business Launchpad process to learn how those conversations develop into clearer positioning, messaging, visibility, and a sustainable pipeline rhythm.
The next Coaching Business Launchpad cohort begins September 15, 2026. Explore our website to learn more about the program or submit your application today.
About John Marshall
John Marshall, MS, PCC, NBC-HWC, is a coach trainer, mentor coach, entrepreneur, and founder of Coaching Business Launchpad. He helps newly certified and early-stage coaches turn their training into clearer messaging, real client conversations, and a sustainable path to building their business.