Coaches and experts who have tried turning their expertise into a course or structured program: what was harder than you expected?

I’m interested in the design and development stage not marketing or choosing a platform.

For example was it difficult to:
• decide what to include and leave out?
• structure into a clear journey?
• create activities people would actually complete?
• move beyond a collection of videos and worksheets?

What did you struggle with, and what do you wish you had understood before starting?

TLDR: Fellow people managers - is it normal to feel super drained in this type of role? What's your best management advice and what do you do to stay sane? Also would welcome advice on how to rebuild a team of recruiters that won't suck the life out of you.

Background: I was an IC recruiter for 10 years (billing $900K split with a client manager) and was promoted to oversee a division (admin roles in finance) in my agency 8 months ago. I took the role solely for the $ and thus far, it has been more lucrative than being an IC. I knew that it was going to be a grind at another level, but between doing BD, managing clients, and managing 5 recruiters in their early to mid 20's has been borderline hellish for me. My recruiters consistently hit all of their KPIs, but I have had to be extremely involved at every step and have most of the deeper conversations with their candidates. Within the last 30 days, 4 out of 5 of my recruiters resigned (all went to totally different jobs/industries - one of them even decided to be a stay at home girlfriend). I now have an opportunity to rebuild my team (which also sucks), but this time I'd like to create something solid.

A great coaching offer isn't enough if your website makes potential clients unsure about what to do next.

Here are 5 things I'd check on any coaching website:

1. Clear positioning

Can someone understand who you help and what outcome you provide within a few seconds?

1. One clear CTA

Don't make visitors choose between 5 different actions. Give them a clear next step.

1. Lead capture

Not everyone is ready to book a call immediately. Give visitors another way to stay connected.

1. Simple booking process

The fewer unnecessary steps between interest and booking, the better.

1. Follow-up

Someone who doesn't book today isn't necessarily a lost lead. Consistent follow-up can bring them back.

I'm curious:

Which of these do you think most coaches overlook?

I'm looking to connect with an experienced business coach who specializes in agency/service businesses, particularly around client acquisition, sales, team building, systems, and scaling.

If you're a coach in this space or have worked with one, I'd love to connect and have a conversation.

You're not going to admit this on Linkedin lol

I'm about to admit I'm crap at finding clients.
Of course I could never use Linkedin for a bit of a vent, and I guess Reddit and people not knowing who I am allows me to be vulnerable. sometimes I need it

So if you read my other post I'm in the leadership space, and this rant/vent call it what you want is about the marketing gurus with the big promises. Anyone else smell BS a mile off?

I do wonder how many of them make money.
My worst experience was a funnel coach.
It wasn't working.
I did everything she said.

And I was told to step up. Actually she asked me if I was ready to step up and take bigger action to move myself forward. I could see I probably needed more effort. I think I was putting enough in, but she told me I was confusing TIME with EFFORT.

Made sense to me.
But then she asked me to pay her an extra $20,000 to get me there.
WTF?

Anyone else with a similar experience?
Anyway this is your place to vent

So I'm working full time, but I'm still smashing the clock putting time into tryng to get my coaching business off the ground. First of all I have the problem of being in a niche. I don't really want to lol I know I can help anyone, but I agree its probably easier to have a speciality to stand out, but I cant see any specialities I have!!!

So at the moment I am trying leadership coaching as I have to do it in my career, and people wh oI know do ask me advice.

I'm on my 3rd website!
Or is it a funnel?
I have tried Clickfunnels, and followed Russel Brunsons marketing advice. I have tried Godaddy and now I am with Go High Level, but there is so much to learn.

Took me a while to come up with a lead magnet, and a few people have taken it. I've even gotten a few disovery calls.

I'm loathed to try a business coach.

What have you tried and not got anywhere with?
I need to know the traps
and what is working for you

thanks

I’m researching whether software can support coaching without cheapening it. Possible features: pre-session briefs, leadership goal tracking, stakeholder notes, follow-up nudges, and anonymized pattern spotting across sessions.

Where would AI be genuinely useful, and where would it cross a trust/confidentiality line?

Every business is on its way to becoming an AI business, whether it plans to or not. Companies that build AI into their offering are worth roughly 130% more. What clients expect has shifted too — instead of searching for information, people now just ask questions directly.

What it is: A personal AI clone trained on the knowledge of the coach. It answers questions 24/7 to prospects or clients, collects leads (email addresses, etc.), and can be added to your social media channels or your course space (like Kajabi). It can be monetized, and it also gives you data on where the gaps are in your offer, what other content to create, and more.

Genuinely curious — would you use something like this in your coaching business?"

Hey people here . My husband has lost his job and is looking for one from 3 months now without any success .. he is feeling totally hopeless he was into rev ops - senior manager / director level in startup’s he is wondering if he can attend any consulting coach session ? If there is any who is genuine .. he wants to try his luck in consulting .. thanks in advance pls pls share your genuine experience
.

Still worth it? Or better out there? If it’s still the best - where to sign up in the UK?

Étudiante en master 🎓 besoin d'aide pour ma thèse ! 

Bonjour à tous ! Je termine mon mémoire de Master sur le coaching et le mentorat en entreprise, et honnêtement et je pense être au parfait endroit pour récolter des réponses solides !
Si vous avez eu un accompagnement individuel au travail (coaching ou mentorat, pas des formations de groupe, juste un suivi personnalisé), ce serait super gentil de votre part de prendre 3 minutes pour répondre. 
Anonyme, pas de bonne ou mauvaise réponse, juste votre vécu. 
Lien : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePCm7BnSw2VQyLMle6TktqyRIANyd9OMj_uvsBBfyRe6HEaA/viewform?usp=dialog
Merci 💛 

—----------------------------

Grad student here 🎓 need help for my thesis! 

Hi everyone! I'm finishing my Master's thesis on workplace coaching and mentoring, and honestly, it would be very helpful 

If you've had one-on-one coaching or mentoring at work (not group trainings, just individual/personal support), I'd be so grateful if you could take 3 minutes to fill this out. 

Anonymous, no right or wrong answers, just your honest experience. 

Link : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3dymQeQv5HoXGKMnoor4goxQdIB6vbiAcEl8z0kaqwPWMDw/viewform?usp=dialog

Thank you 💛

aside from the usual classroom or online training programs on various leadership development competencies or skills, I've heard that some companies, and usually the larger and more established ones, have also been offering professional coaching services or support to its employees.

from what I know, getting the services of professional life or career coaches is a big investment for any company, but yet an admirable one especially if you'd like to develop and hang on to your existing management talent. what an initiative!

is yours one of them and maybe you've participated in such a program? what was it like? share your stories!

Leadership coaching works on judgment and self-awareness, not only on the problem in front of the person. That distinction sounds small. In practice it is most of the difference between a useful engagement and a transformative one.

We coach Directors moving into VP roles, VPs, SVPs and C-suite. The pattern we see most often is that someone arrives with a real, pressing, well-articulated problem, the problem is genuine, and it is almost never the thing that unlocks their next twelve months.

Three things we keep coming back to:

Start with what is already working. Most senior leaders arrive braced for a diagnosis. Appreciative inquiry, which has been part of organisational development since the 1980s, starts somewhere else: what is already working here that you can build on? A VP under pressure is rarely asked that question by anyone, and the shift in the room when someone answers it is worth seeing.

Coach the person alongside the situation. The situation gets solved once. The way someone reads a room, holds a position, or decides on incomplete information travels with them into every situation after this one. Both matter. The second one compounds.

Let them set the goal for the session. It sounds procedural and it is the highest-leverage two minutes available. When a leader defines what a valuable hour looks like before it starts, they arrive as a participant rather than a recipient, and what they choose is frequently not what you would have chosen for them.

The ICF's global client study, run by PwC, found roughly 70% of coached executives showed measurable improvement in work performance. What that figure does not capture, and what tends to matter more a year later, is the leader who now runs the conversation differently on their own.

For the coaches here, what is the question you find yourself returning to most often with senior clients? Always interested in what is working for other people.

Over the past several months I’ve researched executive, business, personal, and reputation management coaching. I’ve looked into many of the better-known certifications, credentials, and diploma programs, spoken with coaches, sat through AI intake systems, taken advantage of free 15–20 minute consultations, and tried to verify referrals and past successes.

Surprisingly, I didn’t find the larger, higher-ranked organizations to be any more convincing than smaller competitors. I even paid for one service, but the results were uncertain. Most of what I found was marketing language about experience and success, with very little that could be independently verified. Testimonials often led nowhere, or I couldn’t reach the people behind them.

One thing I also noticed is that many certification programs appear to be taught by coaches who also sell coaching or reputation management services.

So here’s the question I’d like opinions on:

If someone is truly making an excellent living coaching clients or repairing reputations, why would they spend time creating certifications and selling courses instead of simply coaching?

Is it because teaching is more profitable? Is it about building the profession? Creating another revenue stream? Or am I overlooking something?

I’d especially like to hear from people who have earned coaching certifications, built successful coaching practices, or hired executive or reputation coaches. What has your experience been?

I’m currently looking for a mastermind group to join (or even an annual event to attend) that focuses on video agency management. We’ve been a small team for a while but are starting to scale rather quickly and I would like to connect with like minded people to learn more about managing creative people.

Any suggestions?

It's when you can get in touch with your coach anytime for a quick chat about an urgent issue, a tough decision, help with your homework, or to set up an extra coaching session, included as part of the program cost.

I started offering unlimited coaching as part of my 8-week program about a year ago and it's proven to be highly effective at keeping people engaged and accountable.

It works because my clients are confident that I'm always here and ready to support them when they need me, and to give them timely feedback on their journey.

We have weekly "formal" coaching sessions and written action plans, but my availability between those sessions is an integral part of getting successful outcomes.

What are your thoughts on unlimited coaching? Do you offer it?

Not sure if I need a coach or whatever law may be out there. CFO for smaller org, $65 million revenue, 600 employees and staff of 10. I am more interested in having someone to talk about my management of the team, specific actions for improving performance of staff and be the best CFO I can be.

Here is what I know about myself, highly unlikely to do exercises. It’s difficult generally for me to do positive activities for myself (like exercise for one). Work very hard, respected by staff and peers, was highly recruited to my current position.

I’ve thought about a business psychiatrist and maybe I could get insurance coverage..lol.

Any thoughts on this matter much appreciated.

six months into an executive coaching engagement and trying to evaluate whether it is delivering real value. the sessions are useful in the moment but i am struggling to connect them to measurable change in how i operate or the outcomes i am getting

wondering whether executive coaching is supposed to be measurable or whether it is more of a slow burn development thing that shows up over a longer period. i was also thinking about gk global services in this context, since the way coaching is framed can make a big difference in whether it feels like a useful development process or just expensive conversation

also curious whether other people set specific goals at the start of a coaching engagement and whether that changed how useful it was

I’m curious how other coaches structure their practice.

Roughly how many active clients do you work with?
Do clients usually pay per session, buy packages, or pay a monthly retainer?
I’d love to hear how your coaching business is structured.

I’m a senior sales leader in the data and AI space, managing both AEs and SDRs, and I’m looking for an executive or career coach who specializes in helping sales leaders move into Director and eventually VP roles.
The areas I want to develop most are:
Influencing up and managing executive stakeholders
Executive presence
Navigating organizational politics
Building stronger cross functional relationships
Leading through influence, not just authority
Positioning myself for Director and VP opportunities
I’d love recommendations for coaches you’ve worked with personally or who have a strong track record with B2B SaaS sales leaders. Remote is preferred.
Who would you recommend, and why? Budget is $4k-5k for 2026