How to build an audience for an online coaching business

Building an audience needs two things: material that is useful to a specific person, and a way for that person to find it. The video embedded below is an interview with the interview guest, a writer who built his audience on X, formerly Twitter. This article sets out the lessons from that interview for coaches starting from a small following.

Post what is useful, not what sounds good

Many new accounts post generic motivation. Short inspirational lines and quotes could come from any account on the internet. They earn a few likes and teach nothing.

In the interview, the interview guest describes months of daily posting that produced slow growth. A peer grew much faster over the same period. Instead of assuming the peer had an unfair advantage, the interview guest called him and asked what he was doing differently.

The answer was simple. The peer had also posted self-improvement content and had also stalled. He stopped, studied copywriting, then came back and taught what he had learned in public. Growth followed.

the interview guest had been posting for likes and validation. The peer was teaching a concrete skill. the interview guest rebranded as a writing and copywriting account, taught what he was learning as he learned it, and his growth accelerated.

The shift is from seeking approval to answering questions that matter to the people you want to reach.

The water bottle test for choosing a topic

the interview guest uses a simple analogy for niche selection. How much would you pay for a bottle of water if you were not thirsty? Nothing. A little thirsty? A pound or two. Stranded in a desert with no help in sight? Whatever was asked.

The larger the problem you solve, the more valuable your content becomes and the faster the right people find it.

He gives the example of a physiotherapist with no social media experience who started posting phone-filmed videos about fixing back pain. No production budget and no marketing background, just clear answers to a problem that many people live with every day. The account grew quickly.

The lesson is not about physiotherapy or short video. It is about finding a problem people want solved and becoming the clearest, most reliable voice on it.

Content and distribution are separate jobs

Audience growth has two components.

1. Content: what you say, how you say it and whether it solves a real problem for a real person.
2. Distribution: how many suitable people see it.

A well-written post that nobody sees has no effect. If your content is useful but growth is flat, look at distribution before rewriting the content again.

Commenting on larger accounts

On X, one of the most effective free distribution methods is commenting on accounts that already reach the audience you want.

the interview guest describes a period when his growth stalled while he commented a handful of times a day. A friend mentioned commenting many times more often. the interview guest raised his own daily minimum several-fold, targeted accounts his audience already followed, and growth resumed.

Volume alone is not enough. Comment quality matters.

• Comments that get ignored paraphrase the original post or say 'great point, totally agree'. They annoy the account owner and give nobody a reason to click your profile.
• Comments that work add something. A follow-up question that goes deeper, a relevant example, a joke that lands, or anything that shows you read and thought about the post.

Two things happen when you comment thoughtfully and consistently on larger accounts. Some readers click through and follow you. Over time you also build relationships with accounts that have reach, which leads to reposts and collaborations.

Why the interview guest recommends starting on X

For a coach starting from zero, the interview guest's recommendation is X. His reasons:

• It forces clarity. The character limit trains you to cut filler and state one idea plainly. That skill transfers to every other format.
• It feeds other platforms. Every piece of content he posts on Instagram and LinkedIn starts as an X post.
• No camera required. Fear of video stops many coaches. Text lets you build an audience, find your voice and make first sales before recording anything.
• Community quality. In the right corners of the platform, conversations and connections are stronger than elsewhere.

Judge organic reach by relevant engagement and business outcomes, not by an imagined advertising value.

How to work out what to talk about

For coaches stuck on niche selection, the interview guest suggests three steps.

1. Look at your YouTube recommendations. The algorithm has tracked what you find interesting for years.
2. Spend thirty to sixty minutes writing down every interest, experience and problem you have overcome. Do not filter.
3. Ask people who know your work which of your explanations they find useful. Treat that as input, then test it with the audience you want.

the interview guest's view is that content can be broader than most people expect, with personality and delivery doing the differentiating. The offer is where narrowing down matters.

What the audience is for

Follower count is not the goal. What the audience represents is.

When someone follows you for months before they are ready to hire a coach, they already know your thinking. A sales conversation with them is not a stranger pitching a service. It is a continuation of what they have been reading. Conversion is easier and the conversation feels different.

Cold prospects need more context about you and the offer than existing followers do. Build the ability to explain and sell a useful service alongside the audience. A growing audience does not replace a working business model.

Audience building takes time. The people seeing results today started years ago. The people who start now will see the results later. The only variable you control is whether you start.

Related guide: How organic content supports an online coaching sales process.