Social Media doesn’t want what you are selling. Substack does.
I moved my marketing hub to Substack, and here is why.
I am going to boldly declare that social media is not going to grow your coaching business. Not anymore.
We’ve been told by every marketing guru, every online course, every “$10K in 10 days” workshop that consistency on Instagram or LinkedIn or Tik Tok is the path. Post more. Be more visible. Optimize your hooks. Dance, be funny, follow the trends.
This makes me ill. Why? Because I know that so many of us have fallen prey to these sensational headlines, spent the time and money on these false promises.
The worst is that this has all been a distraction over the last decade for coaches and other transformational entrepreneurs.
The Algorithm Doesn’t Want Your Depth
Social media platforms worked for some coaches over the last decade. You could show up with depth, share real expertise, build an audience that trusted you, and convert that trust into clients.
It simply does not work that way anymore. Because the public has spoken and the algorithms are here to serve the general public.
Here’s what the algorithm is serving right now:
Funny. Content that makes people laugh and share without thinking.
Outrage. Polarizing posts that ignite the comment sections and keep people doom-scrolling.
Crazy. Shocking, unbelievable, can’t-look-away spectacles.
Products. Commerce. Brand deals. Affiliate links. Stuff to buy.
Why? Because that is what the public wants. And what the public wants, the algorithm will serve. That is quite literally its job.
And none of that is our stuff.
To Win on Social, You’d Have to Become Someone You’re Not
Social media requires you to be an actor. A comedian. A model. An outraged pontificator. An uninhibited reality TV star willing to let strangers into every corner of your life.
But that is not us.
We come from boardrooms. Courtrooms. Classrooms. Operating rooms.
We built our expertise over decades in rooms that valued precision, credibility, and earned authority. We want professionalism. We want depth. We want the exchange of real value and we want it to be reciprocated by the people we work with.
That is not the deal social media is offering anymore.
Even if you crack it, it won’t convert. Say you manage to create a funny reel. It goes viral. A hundred thousand people watch it. Likes. Comments. Shares. The works.
Those people are not going to pivot from laughing at your content to booking a high-ticket coaching engagement.
The emotional journey from that’s hilarious to I trust you to help me transform my career/life/business is not a journey that happens in a single entertaining reel.
It makes no logical sense as a conversion path. Yet it is what is pushed in podcasts, ads and courses.
Here are a couple of headlines from podcasts in the last few weeks:
Coaching is not an impulse purchase. It requires trust. It requires time. It requires the kind of relationship that simply cannot be built in 30-second clips.
To Be Fair: Social Media Works — Just Not for What We Sell
I am not anti-social media for all businesses. It is genuinely great for specific business models:
Product brand deals and affiliate marketing — low friction, impulse-friendly
Selling physical or digital products — commerce is the algorithm’s love language
Low-ticket, high-volume offers — non-transformational, easy-yes purchases
Books and events — awareness plays with mass appeal
If your business is any of those things, social media could work for you.
But if you are selling transformation?
If you are selling a coaching relationship that requires someone to trust you with their career, their business, their life?
You are trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and wondering why it’s not working.
It Is Time to Let Go of This Narrative
The belief that you need to crack social media to grow your coaching business is not just a mistake. It is actively harmful.
It pulls you away from the real work you were born to do. It eats hours you could spend thinking, writing, developing your frameworks, and actually serving clients. It makes you feel like you’re failing, but this is a huge lie.
Social Media can’t be the singular marketing strategy in your business.
The coaching industry is also undergoing its own massive reinvention right now (I will save that conversation for another day). But in the middle of that reinvention, doubling down on a marketing channel that was never built for depth, transformation, or trust is a recipe for going out of business.
So. Where do you go?
Substack. Full Stop.
I have moved my entire marketing engine to Substack.
Most people still don’t understand the power of Substack.
It is not a social media platform.
It is not a newsletter platform.
It is not a blogging platform.
Substack is a multi-media self-publication platform that allows for genuine connection, collaboration, and community at a deep thought leader level.
It is the room where thinkers go. Where readers go. Where writers, speakers, and serious professionals go when they want to actually engage with ideas instead of scroll past them.
Social media is short-form entertainment, sensationalism, and consumerism.
Substack is the Thought Leadership Room.
On Substack, depth is the product. And depth is exactly what you have to offer.
But it doesn’t end at marketing…
Substack has a paid tier option. This means you can offer a subscription, a trust-building, low-risk, high-value entry point into your world and generate real revenue.
The paid tier becomes the bridge. Free subscribers fall in love with your thinking. They upgrade to paid to get more. From that deep, warm, trusting relationship, they become coaching clients. It is the most simple conversion funnel I have ever used, and it maps perfectly to how coaching relationships actually begin.
Year to date, my paid tier has generated over $35,000, 366 incredible souls.
I would love to show you how you can do this too.
Come Learn About Substack
If you are a coach who has had it with social media, come learn about Substack.
I have a new podcast called Substack by Design where I walk through the platform, the strategy, and the mindset shift required to make it work for coaches specifically.
I also teach a simple, practical how-to-get-started in my Substack Soapbox membership, for coaches who want a guided, low-overwhelm on-ramp. I am teaching an overview tomorrow on how to make Substack your marketing hub.
Learn more here:
I have felt this way for OVER 10 years on social media! It is like the OPPOSITE of me! And to your point I have always felt like I have to morph into sorting I am not on social media and my #1 core value is integrity which is why it doesn’t work long term. We can pretend to be something else for a little while, but only a little while. Substack ticks all the boxes for my personality, background, gifts, skills, etc.
I'm not a coach, but I have had it with social media. It's fun, at times, but in my experience, more "time suck," less VALUE. I do enjoy some of the true social aspect of it...SOME of it...but in my business, I want to form deeper connections, have better conversations. I love this line in your post, "On Substack, depth is the product. And depth is exactly what you have to offer." And like you said, it's what people are looking for here!