Strategy, Tactics and Why I’m not a Coach

Sandy Martini on deck

Last Sunday I logged into my Gmail account to see they’d changed the inbox.  Shortly after, I posted a note on my blog about the change and how it affects entrepreneurs who use email marketing in their business.

What surprised me however were the messages I received from a couple of colleagues telling me I’m “hurting my reputation” by putting out this type of information, especially when combined with the low-investment “how to maximize and optimize” content in the Online Studies classes.

Their thoughts, well-meaning, but wrong in my opinion, is that to be considered a top business and marketing strategist, one should stick to strategy and not actual “how-to” tactics priced “like Walmart”.

The problem is that that’s not me.  I’m both.  I love both, I excel at both and, truthfully, I was never a “what and why” without the “how” type of gal!  It’s just not *me*. I love to tinker, test and teach.

And, with many businesses slowing down in the summer, it makes sense (to me) to lower the price points and make it easy to make real differences in your business.

Why would I not share tactical information when it is so critical to implementing the strategy and, in this case, there is both strategic and tactical information necessary in knowing how to handle Gmail’s changes.

And the last time I ran the Online Studies trainings:

  • one client, after attending a $27 training, discovered her well-intentioned virtual assistant didn’t know the shopping cart as well as both the VA and client thought and her newsletter was only going out to a fraction of her list,
  • another client, after attending a $37 training, discovered how easy a certain task was that her vendor was charging her almost $500/month to manage and
  • a third client who was about to get rid of a service joined a $27 training and learned how to maximize it and made 4 times her regular number of sales on her next product launch.

This is where I differ from many “coaches” and why I stopped calling myself a coach.  I consider the “how-to tactics” critical to success — not that we need to know how everything works (that’s what a good team is for, although I do believe you should know how to get certain things done), but we do need to know that things are working correctly and we’re not being gouged financially (well-meaning or not).

I’m a consultant, advisor, teacher and mentor, but not a coach.

First, I’m too opinionated.  If I know of an easier way to do it, I consider it my job to tell you.

If I see you making a mistake, I’m going to tell you rather than let you learn the lesson on your own, even if you don’t want to hear it.

The ultimate decision is, of course, always yours.  But I consider it my responsibility to save you time, energy, frustration and money whenever possible.

Why am I sharing this?

Because, during several consults over the past few months, I’ve heard a recurring theme:

The biz owner started telling me about some rough experiences she’s had with coaches.

  • Coaches who promised and, in their words, “didn’t deliver”.
  • Coaches who offered the world up front, then vanished when it came time to perform.

Does this mean all coaches are bad? 

Absolutely not!  Many coaches are fabulous and absolutely wonderful at what they do.

With coaching, whether someone received what was promised is often subjective.  One side thinks so, the other maybe not as much.


As a consultant, teacher, mentor. . .the deliverables are often much more tangible.

Do you agree?  Disagree?  Both?