#246: Why Your Coaching Business Disappears Every Summer

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Something happened to coaches in the summer.
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It starts really small.
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You skip a post on your social or maybe writing an email because nobody is online anyway.
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The inquiry slows down and you stop following up as hard.
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A discovery call that came through, but you never really follow up.
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And then it's July.
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You're taking it easy, telling yourself that you'll get serious again, maybe in September.
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So here's the part that a lot of coaches miss that quietness during the summer, it's not a break, it's actually slowly allowing your business to fade away.
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Because by the time fall comes around, the momentum has gone, and the warm leads that came during the spring has cooled down all the way, maybe to off, and now your audience have forgotten what you do, and now you're starting all over again because visibility doesn't pick up where you left it off, it resets.
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That's what this episode is about.
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Hey coach, welcome back to Make It Visible Podcast.
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I'm Michelle Quay, business and marketing coach for coaches.
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And if you're new here, I teach coaches how to build a coaching business and get their first and next paying clients.
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You became a coach because you are good at this.
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Really good.
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And the world needs what you have.
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But being a great coach and knowing how to build a coaching business, well, those are two complete different skill sets.
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That's what we fix here on this podcast.
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Every week I'm breaking down the what stops you from being visible in front of your audience, giving you simple marketing strategies that works, and showing you exactly how to show up so the right client feels like, well, you're already reading their mind.
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If you're ready to start building your coaching business that pays you back, grab a drink and let's get into it.
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So I see this every year.
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The history just repeats itself.
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Summer comes around, and a lot of coaches you might be packing your bags right now and getting away, going on family vacation, and now your business is only running on the effort that you put in.
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And if you're not showing up and if you're not there, chances are your business is probably on hold where it's on a slow months.
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And we're not just talking about months, we're talking about basically from June to all the way to August, where you're not really doing everything that you have done or created, started back in January.
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So your business runs into this phase where everything slows down, everything gets quiet, and then you realize everybody's on vacation.
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So why don't I just take some time off and then I'll come back to it in September?
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Now, the problem is by the time that you come back in September and you're trying to pick up your business again, your visibility, your marketing, and everything that you have done so far, maybe creating content you've been posting consistently for the last couple of months, suddenly you have to recreate that again.
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When you have to recreate something again, your mind is actually going in two places.
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First, before you actually do it, you have to sit yourself down and finally creating content, and let alone thinking about knowing what to create in the first place.
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So you're there staring at a blinking screen and you're trying to figure out wait, what was that I talked about?
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So you're going back to your notes, and this is what I know about all my coaches out there.
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You write a lot of ideas down in your journal, and then you go back to the journal, but nothing makes sense.
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So you're struggling to come up with things to talk about when you come back in September, and then it takes time to create and to warm up to your audience again.
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You continue to find yourself in this vicious cycle.
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So during the time of from June to September, you run into this period where everything's quiet, and then comes around the holidays, around October to December, that's the busy time during the holiday.
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You're looking at two seasons a year where you are basically dropping the ball because things are quiet.
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So it feels like you're constantly going back to start all over again.
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And part of it, it's also contributing to the fact that a lot of coaches are feeling the burned out because now creating content feels like a chore rather than something that you enjoy, something that you love to engage and get your audience participation, you love to keep them warm, you love to be there with them and creating conversation.
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So it becomes a vicious cycle.
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And most coaches, the way that they create content is this morning I had a conversation with someone else, and they were asking about that in 2026, is visibility still a problem?
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And if so, what is how do you navigate through that problem?
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And when I saw that question, I was like, wait, visibility was never a problem.
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It's not an issue.
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The problem is that now there's more coaches in your niche who's using AI.
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People are generating and dumping out AI-generated content.
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Just the other day, I was in a coach community and someone had posted a graphic, which is completely wrong.
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Knowing me, I went in there and I made a comment about how this graphic is inaccurate.
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And I was trying to get that person to update it because you don't want to send out wrong information, especially in a professional uh community where there are people lurking all around.
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So I went in there and then I made a comment about how this graphic was providing wrong information, and you can totally tell it was AI-generated content.
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So then I was having a long debate with this person who clearly using AI to reply to every single comment.
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The AI is very polite.
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So if you ever try and pop your prompt into AI and say, Well, I like to respond to this person, AI is going to generate a very polite version of that comment.
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And what this guy did was every single comment I made about how inaccurate this infographic was, he generated an AI to validate my comment.
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It was downright annoying and frustrating.
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And so going back to the post that I saw earlier morning, is visibility still an issue for coaches in 2026?
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And what has been your experience?
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And I'm reading it off right now because it was just so fresh before I record this podcast.
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Then I basically said it's never been an issue, just more and more bad content.
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And I said bad content because it is bad content.
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If you look around, there's so many bad content nowadays, and they're AI generated.
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You can tell by the structure, by the way that it sounds, it's just not natural.
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And I made an additional comment and I said it's annoying and downright frustrating because it makes those of us who's making good content paying the price for those who are just straight up lazy.
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And I don't really have any better word than besides the word lazy, because if you are someone who wants to be seen and positioned as the expert, you cannot rely on just AI generating your content word for word.
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And that's what I notice that a lot of coaches are doing.
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Content creation has always been, it takes a lot of time and effort to plan.
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So, for example, when I record this podcast or when I write a blog, I have a lot of pre-work.
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What you're seeing is the production, but there's behind the scene research, things that I look for.
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What topic do I talk about, and what angle do I go about creating it?
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And how do I want to present this podcast episode or video?
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There's a lot of before thoughts that put into creating a video, which is why I don't like creating a lot of videos or podcasts on a daily basis, and there are people dumping out video like crazy.
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But I don't want to do that because I feel like there's a lot of thoughts that you need to put into in the topic that you want to talk about.
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And when you look around, there's a lot of content that just created badly.
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And if you want to be positioned as the expert, you cannot rely on just the AI telling you what to create.
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You have to put in your thoughts, you have to put in your personal opinion, perspective, because that's what position you as the expert.
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Now, going back to what I was talking about during the summertime.
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So during the summertime, the easy way to do is you pop into AI and tell AI to generate a whole week of content and you schedule them ahead of time.
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So a lot of coaches are doing that, and that would allow them to get off the grid or get off the social media basically altogether.
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But to me, that's a very lazy way of creating your content.
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Because now, not only you didn't put a lot of thoughts in creating your content, it's not time relevant, it's not place relevant, it's not person-relevant.
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And when you don't have those relevancies, then why am I consuming your content?
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So it explained why people are not commenting on it, your viewership drop.
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Maybe during the hot season from January to June, you had a lot of conversation that was going on your social, and suddenly you see that dip from June to August.
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So my whole argument is that during the summertime, you don't want to do that.
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Yes, you do want to enjoy your life and you do want to take your vacation and go somewhere.
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But what I would encourage you to do is get more thoughts in the stuff that you're putting out, especially if you're thinking about how you want to perceive by your ideal client as the expert in that niche.
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How do you be seen as the expert in that niche?
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One, you deliver value.
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How do you deliver value?
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And this is this is not new.
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What I'm telling you is not new information, but do people do it?
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No.
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Which is why we're on this topic right now, because as summer comes around, you want to continue that pattern of creating good content going out.
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So, how do I usually do this?
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My process of doing this is typically I would sit down and think about okay, so I am going to be away.
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So I'm gonna give you a real scenario here.
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I'm going to be off the grid for two weeks in August, where I'm gonna be on a cruise.
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Yeah, it's comment down below, cruise or hit reply and let me know where is your favorite, what's your favorite destination or cruise line that you would recommend?
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I would love to know.
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In August, I would be off the grid for two weeks off the grid from social because I would be at sea.
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And the Wi-Fi can be sporadic.
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Sometimes there's area where I don't have any reception.
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So during those two weeks, I'm going to think about and look at it on my calendar how I'm going to do this.
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So I will look at the time relevancy.
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So it's going to be August.
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A lot of people are going to be on vacation.
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So I want to create topics that focus on what do coaches do during the vacation time.
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So maybe it's something around this topic, what I'm recording now.
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And I want to look at the place relevancy.
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If I'm going to be in Alaska, uh, there may be some days where I want to pop open onto a video or be on camera and do a recording.
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So I want to be able to talk about that my experience during those periods of time.
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So maybe there's one to two slot where I would leave it open so that you get to sneak pee or behind the scene of what I'm doing during that two-week period of time, or I would do a content creation during those during those vacation times.
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I would just turn on my video and maybe shoot a little video with you.
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So I would think about and plan it ahead.
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Um, what do I want to talk about?
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Am I offering something in August?
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So I am not, I actually happen not offering anything in August.
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It'll be my vacation time.
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I am planning to do the minimum amount of work.
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So in August, I plan to be taking it lighter.
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So I'm not offering anything, but I still want to prep everybody so that when I come back in September, when I have program open up, which my cohort is going to open up in September again.
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And I wanted to make sure that I'm prepping myself onto that September uh cohort that I will be talking about more and more.
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So looking ahead, I have my calendar open, and that's how I think about what do I want to talk about, when do I want to talk about, and what do I want to offer that need everybody's attention or need me to be there and making sure that I have all the pieces in place.
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So that's typically my process of how I plant content.
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Content that sells has three things.
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Okay, you might want to write this down.
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Content that sells has three things.
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One, it needs to name the problem the right person actually has.
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And this is another reflection I was doing before the podcast this morning is that a lot of coaches struggle to name that problem or they're avoiding to name the problem because as coaches, we all know that the ultimate solution, the ultimate answer to all the problem that's out there in the world is to knowing yourself.
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Can you do me a favor if you're watching this on YouTube, please give me a comment down below and say, yeah, because the ultimate solution to all the problems that we have is knowing yourself.
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Because from my journey, from everyone else's that all the coaches that I work with, knowing their journey, it all came down to knowing yourself.
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And I hear this all the time as I'm working with clients, helping them finding their niche.
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Now, the problem is, and this is the problem why I'm talking about this.
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The problem is the vast majority of the people that you encounter on a day-to-day basis, they have a very specific problem that they have in mind.
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Everybody has problems, but there's something that is so prominent that they're willing to pay the price to get it resolved.
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And you need to be able to either name that problem specifically, or knowing how to articulate that problem so that person feels seen and heard.
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And that's where a lot of coaches struggle is to name that problem.
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And I totally get it.
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The coaches came from a solution mind, so having to name that problem it feels so icky.
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This is the exact word that my client had been using.
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It feels icky, it feels manipulative because then you're talking and you're poking that person's pain, and it just doesn't feel right.
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And that's a misconception, that's a belief that we need to work through because you're not just poking someone about the problem, you're actually providing, and this is why coaches are so in this very special and unique population, because you're not just talking about the problem like a lot of marketers are talking about.
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You actually have the ultimate solution that you can resolve that problem, which is incorrect if you are thinking that marketing is all manipulative.
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It's how you articulate, how you describe people's problems and how you help them to solve.
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But content needs to do these three things.
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It needs to name the problem the right person had, and it needs to show that this problem is solvable.
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And when you do that, it doesn't become, it's not poking someone until they blee anymore.
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It's not poking the bear, it's about offering that person the awareness that, hey, I get what your problem is, and I know it's very uncomfortable, but there is a solution, there is a way out, there is the light at the end of the tunnel, and that is what you're talking about.
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That's what you're articulating.
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And so a lot of coaches feel like I'm just talking about the problem.
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No, you're talking about the solution to that problem, but you can't talk about the solution without talking about the problem.
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That's where a lot of coaches feel like, oh, marketing is manipulative, it feels like a salesperson.
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No, that's because you had it all wrong, and we need to change that belief.
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We need to work on that.
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So you show that there's proof to their problem, and then you want to invite them in.
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You just show them the solution, but you don't send them off to okay, go try it out.
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Now that you know the solution, just go and try it out.
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Because what's gonna happen is you send them off with that one solution that you provided, and they think that they have it.
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They think they have the ultimate answer, which they don't.
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It's going to continue to show up as a pattern for them.
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And until you start working with them consistently to help them to build that sustainable solution, they're going to come back and say, Well, your solution didn't work.
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So your ultimate step, the last three, how content is going to sell, is you gotta invite them in your world so that you can continue to work with them on the habit, on the condition, the belief, the limiting belief, the assumption, all those things that they have taught you in coach training.
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That's how you create content that sells.
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So when your content does that, you're no longer chasing client because they'll just come naturally.
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They're already sold.
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But if you don't do that, or if your content hasn't been able to do that, then what's gonna happen is they're they think that, oh, this piece of the podcast or this video was great, but it would be helpful.
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Or maybe they come across a post that you put out, they notice that, oh, it's very helpful, I love it, and they hit a like and then they disappear because you're not inviting them to a sustainable solution.
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So I built this entire coaching business when I was still working a full-time job, and I built it using this exact system during lunch break, during weekends, and during the hours right before I go to bed when I'm supposed to be sleeping.
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And I actually had a coach who reach out to me and they say, Michelle, do you ever sleep?
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I do, but what I'm getting at is when you learn this, how to create your content that sells for you, you end up not having to be there 24-7.
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And when you create good content, people want your solution, people want to be in your world, and people want to learn from you, people want your coaching, and you no longer have to feel like I'm constantly pumping out content because there's a way that you can make content work for you harder than you need to be.
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So here's what I would invite you to do for your summer instead.
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You can spend the next eight weeks quietly fading out or go quiet because nothing is happening, and telling yourself that maybe September comes around, I'll just pick it up again.
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Or you can just stay visible, keep your momentum, and walking to September and walking to fall, already ready to get clients.
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Actually, I am running a free live training on Thursday, June 18th, and it is called Clients on Repeat.
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I'm going to walk you through why coaches go quiet and burned out, how to stay visible without being glued to your phone, and how to create content that sells for you.
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No ads involved, you're not gonna experience burned out if you really follow the way that I'm teaching you.
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You'll actually find content creation to be a little more enjoyable because that's what you've been doing all along.
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And once I show you this strategy, it's like, well, why didn't I think of that before?
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It's free, it's live, and I am not planning to send out replay.
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So only those who register will have the access to the recording.
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So if you want to come, if you want to join, there's a link in the show note.
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Go ahead and grab your seat and do not spend this summer growing your coaching business alone because it's just very lonely.
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Building your coaching business is a very lonely journey when you are there by yourself.
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Maybe you're working with AI, but AI doesn't talk back on you, AI doesn't point out the blind spot, and plus AI is always validating you, always saying that's a great idea.
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I don't know about you, but my AI keep validating me.
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So remember, you don't have to do this alone, and that would be it for this week.
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I would love for you to uh hit reply to my email or comment down below the video if you're watching this on YouTube.
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Let me know what has been your experience during the summertime when it comes to growing your coaching business.
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I'm curious, is there an end the coaching industry that is hot during the summertime?
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Comment down below or hit reply, let me know.
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Until then, I will see you in the next episode.
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Thank you for listening to Make It Visible Podcast.
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If you love this episode and want deeper support for your coaching business, head over to elevate lifecoaching.org and see how we can partner together to turn your passion into a profitable business.
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I help female coaches launch and scale their coaching business faster than ever without wasting time and money, filling the gaps in your marketing strategies, creating a simple and easy to follow system so you can accelerate on the path of coaching business that you love to wake up to.
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Head over to elevate lifecoaching.org and grab a free strategy out of it today.