I made a mistake the repelled my ideal clients for months... (and I want you to avoid this one)
You’ve built the website, created your offers, and started posting about it online. But you’re still not getting clients consistently.
You’ve put in the work. You’ve poured your heart into it.
So why is it crickets every time you share about your offer?
I know how maddening this can be, because this is exactly what I struggled with back in 2021 when I was first starting the business.
It felt like I was working so hard and still barely making enough money to get by every month.
And so in this post, I want to tell you about the mistake I made that cost me $$$ and how to avoid it for yourself.
It’s one of those tough love posts.
What I wish someone had said to me earlier on in my business, and what I am so thankful my business coach pointed out during our first session.
Let's lay it all out on the table
I hired my first business coach late summer of 2021. It was my hail mary move.
My “if this doesn’t work, I'm going to have to get a job" move.
I had already tried 2 group coaching programs and countless online courses, but something still wasn’t clicking.
I had a few clients and was making $2-$3k per month, but I had a much bigger vision for my life and business.
I knew I was capable of so much more. Both income and impact wise. But I felt stuck.
I’d done market research.
I’d created a program The Career Fulfillment Formula which was getting results for the clients who went through it.
But it wasn’t selling very often. I might get one client every two months, despite all of my marketing efforts.
I knew I needed a second set of eyes on my business. To help me figure out what I was missing.
During our very first session... I laid it all out on the table. She looked through my market research notes, scrolled through my IG content and within minutes had a verdict ready.
It took her minutes to spot the gaping hole in my business
She casually pointed out:
“Your market research says they want career happiness… but all your content is talking about career change.”
Immediately, I felt defensive.
I wanted to be a good student, so I needed to explain myself.
I told her that yes I was aware of the market research and that’s exactly what informed my content and offer.
Because in order to achieve career happiness, they will need to change careers.
But she was not impressed with my explanation.
Shaking her head, she laid it all out for me.
"Right now the only thing they know for sure is that they are miserable everyday they go into work.
They desperately want that pain to go away.
They want to wake up and look forward to their day, instead of simmering in dread. They want to enjoy their work. To feel fulfilled.
That is all they know.
They aren’t sure if changing their career is the solution. And frankly…. changing careers is the LAST thing they want to do.
Because they have invested so much time and energy in their career- that giving it up, feels like a failure, a last resort.
They would not invest $2k in a coaching program to “change careers” until they have tried every other alternative.
So unless you change your messaging, they will not hire you until they have exhausted all other options."
and that's when it clicked
Oh. My. Goodness.
Finally it clicked.
All the sales conversations I had where clients told me “I’ll have to think about it”. All the messages of “I’m not ready for that yet”. All the ghosting.
It all made so much sense.
They were saying: “I want to feel happy in my job. I want to enjoy my work again. I don’t know if I should stay or leave.”
I was saying “Let’s burn it down, reinvent everything, and start a new chapter.”
They weren’t ready to leave their careers — they were still trying to figure out if they had to. And because of that, my offer didn’t feel aligned or safe. It felt like a leap they weren’t ready to take.
That disconnect — even though it may seem subtle to you — made all the difference.
I wasn’t speaking their language.
I wasn’t meeting them in their actual problem. And if people don’t feel seen, they won’t buy — no matter how valuable your offer is.
To put it in perspective, this is essentially what I was doing to my people.
Customer says: I want to stop breaking out all the time.
Business says: Here’s a minimally invasive laser procedure that will resurface your entire face.
👀 Customer’s thinking: “I was just going to switch face washes.”
Customer says: I want to stop feeling overwhelmed by all the clutter in my house
Business says: Let’s design a custom closet storage system for $15k.
👀 Customer’s thinking: “I was just thinking of donating some stuff to Goodwill…”
I was marketing 10 steps ahead, and because of that they didn’t see my offer as the solution.
It’s this kind of messaging gap that is the most tragic, because it repels clients who would actually be perfect for your offer.
So this is what we want to fix for you.
The Reason People Aren't Buying Your Offer (YET)
People are not buying your offer because you are not selling a result they want.
Or, to bring in the nuance, you’re not selling a result they recognize as something they want.
Meaning- they may in fact want it, but because the way you are communicating it, they don’t realize they want it.
Let’s break this down into the 4 most common messaging mistakes that quietly repel your dream clients.
#1 You're not selling a result at all
If people aren’t buying- there’s a good chance it’s because you’re not actually selling a result at all. You’re selling a container. A format. A process. A method.
You’re saying things like:
“Join my group program.”
“Book a breathwork session.”
“Come to my retreat.”
“Work with me 1:1.”
But no one is waking up at 3AM thinking, “God, I just really need a 6-week group coaching program.”
They’re lying awake thinking:
- “I hate how I feel in my body.”
- “I’m so burnt out I can’t even think straight.”
- “Why do I always mess this up in relationships?”
- “I need to stop yelling at my kids.”
- “I’m scared I’ll never make money doing what I love.”
That’s the real problem they’re trying to solve.
Not “find a good coaching container.”
So if all your content, sales pages, and offers are centered around what it is… instead of what it solves… you’ve lost them before you even start.
Stop selling liquid in a bottle
There’s a marketing formula I accidentally learned while reading a book on how to stop drinking alcohol (it happens).
She said “the most effective marketers know that people buy the product’s product’s products.”
And if that sounds like a bunch of jibber jabber, stay with me. It makes the most sense with the analogy she used in the book.
Think about a bottle of perfume.
Product (aka the exact tangible thing the customer receives) = liquid in a bottle
Product’s Product (aka what result does the “liquid in a bottle” produce) = smell nice
Product’s Product’s Product (aka what result does “smelling nice” produce) = attracting romantic interests
When companies market perfume (as you may have noticed), they are not trying to sell you liquid in a bottle.
“Come buy 8oz of clear liquid in a pink bottle” - says no one.
They are selling you sex appeal.
Now to make this more relevant to the coaching world. Let’s say you offer breathwork sessions:
Product = breathwork
Product’s Product = nervous system regulation
Product’s Product’s Product = finally stop emotional eating- and use food to nourish your body- not regulate your emotions.
Sell that.
Sell the specific thing they’re actually craving, not the tool you use to get them there.
When you lead with the outcome, people lean in.
When you lead with the container, people tune out.
So go check your sales page. Your Instagram bio. Your last 3 posts. Are you selling what it is? Or are you selling what it does?
That small shift could unlock everything.
#2 You're selling 100 results at once
The world of personal transformation is complex. When you start working on one area of your life, there are unexpected ripple effects that go out and change so many other areas as well.
I joke that my coaching should come with a black box warning, because so many of my clients end marriages, leave relationships, or move to a new country.
We are working on career, but were not just working on career (if you know what I mean).
We are working on their worthiness.
We are healing their nervous system.
We are teaching them to trust themselves.
It’s a lot.
You may feel the same. Your program may provide 100 different results.
It helps people feel more confident, clear, grounded, energized, aligned, abundant, magnetic, regulated, fulfilled, connected, focused.
But we don’t need to talk about all the different results when selling the program.
Because when you try to sell everything, people hear nothing.
Why?
Complexity confuses, while simplicity sells.
Confused people don’t buy. More is NOT more.
We need to simplify.
How to simplify?
You choose one primary result.
The clearest, stickiest, most aligned outcome.
The one that solves the most immediate pain your person is actively thinking about.
You sell the tip of the iceberg — not the whole ocean.
Because once they’re inside your world, yes, they’ll experience the deeper shifts.
They’ll build confidence. Learn boundaries. Heal their nervous system. Find their power. Align with their purpose. All of it.
But to get them in the door?
You need one headline result that is super clear and simple.
#3 You're selling marshmellow fluff
Maybe you are focused on one thing — yay! But the “thing” is so vague or abstract, your audience doesn’t really know what it means… or what it gets them.
Truthfully, you don’t know what it means either.
You’re saying things like
“Step into your power”
“Find your center”
“Reclaim your feminine”
“Feel more empowered”
“Own your life.”
But… what does any of that actually mean?
What are they doing differently at the end of your offer?
Most people don’t pay $3k+ for vibes. They pay for solutions.
They need to be able to connect your offer to a real-world shift they can see, feel, measure, or experience.
How to know if you are selling marshmellow fluff?
Here is the litmus test you can use:
Is the result defensible in a court of law?
This is actually a brilliant way to think about it (if I do say so myself).
By “defensible in a court of law “I mean ⤵️
Could a friend or stranger observe the result and definitively say, “Yes, that happened”?
For example:
❌ “She became magnetic.”
✅ “She had 5 new leads reach out to her this week without cold pitching.”
❌ “She created more balance.”
✅ “She cleared her calendar and took two full weekends off.”
❌ “She stepped into her power.”
✅ “She finally posted her first video and pitched herself for a podcast.”
❌ “She owned her worth.”
✅ “She raised her prices and signed 3 new clients.”
You see the difference right?
Marshmellow fluff may sound cute, but people don’t pay the big bucks for it.
When it comes to selling your offer, you need to name the result in a way that feels real, specific, and desirable to your audience.
Make the invisible, visible. And you’ll make sales a whole lot easier.
#4 You're selling what you think they want- not what they actually want.
This one is sneaky — because it usually happens when you’ve done “some” market research… but not deeply enough.
Here’s the trap:
You listen to your people share their struggles.
You (with your expertise) connect the dots and decide what they really need.
Then you market that.
And suddenly, your messaging is out of sync.
This was my problem.
My people were saying
“I just want to feel happier in my career”
And I said.
“Cool cool cool. Since your career sucks, the best way to feel happy is to change careers entirely- so let’s go get you a shiny new career."
I was jumping 10 steps ahead to the solution I knew would help them. But to them, it felt like a mismatch.
Too big. Too scary. Too soon.
It’s not that they don’t want the transformation.
It’s that they don’t recognize your solution as the path to it — yet.
Which brings us back to my story.
Once I discovered my messaging error, I went back to the market research.
Reading over it with fresh eyes, I realized the most immediate and obvious pain point is burnout.
They are fried from 18+ months working in the frontlines of covid 19.
No wonder they can’t wrap their head around career change. They are stuck in survival mode.
So I started there. I met them where they were.
In burnout.
I did a 3 day free training called Bye Burnout, and signed 5 clients within one week. It ended up being a $10,000 launch that propelled me into a 6 figure year the following year.
Now it's your turn
So… what does this mean for you?
It’s such good news. You don’t have to throw away your offer.
You don’t have to lower your price point.
You don’t have to keep doing more visibility stunts.
Just take an afternoon and get honest about your messaging.
Are you clearly selling one result?
Is that result something your people actually want — not something you think they need?
Is it specific, and tangible? (aka defensible in a court of law?)
When you clean up the way you talk about your offer, the right people finally see what you’re offering — and say “I need this!"
Which is exactly what we want right?
XO, Coach Chels
If you want to package your expertise into a $3k coaching offer and enroll your first 3 clients in 12 weeks, you’ll want to jump into Create Your Six Figure Offer.
If you want the roadmap of how I went from confused clinician → paid coach, grab the Playbook. This is where I break down the 5 steps that helped me land my first clients without a niche, an offer, or any followers
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