How to Price Your Online Coaching Programs

There are no rules when it comes to pricing your online coaching business. While this means that you have the flexibility to choose a price you want, it also makes it very hard to come up with an answer for the best way to package and price your online coaching program.

In today's article, we will walk you through our process to define how much you should charge for online coaching programs and sessions.

Online Coaching Services and How to Price Them

Before we get into our tips to come up with the perfect price for your online coaching business, it is important to differentiate all the different services you can offer with coaching, and how to price them.

Learn more: 6 Coaching Products and Services You Can Offer With Your Online Coaching Business

1-on-1 Coaching

In one-on-one coaching, the coach is helping one client at a time. As the coach, you are offering your time and expertise in exchange for money, and you are focusing on your client's unique and specific needs.

This is generally the most exclusive coaching service you can offer, as you are reserving your time to a single customer.

Prices for a single session of 1-on-1 coaching can vary, but generally are over $100, sometimes up to $1000.

This type of coaching service is also the most flexible in terms of how coaches charge for it: you could decide to charge your clients per hour, create packages or offer a monthly subscription.

Even newer online coaches will charge a relatively high rate for an hour or two of their time, not only because of the value delivered, but also because 1-on-1 coaching has time and energy investment from the coach that doesn't directly translate to billable hours.

For example, as a coach, even though the coaching session with your client might be only an hour of time, you'll likely still invest a great deal of mental energy thinking about how you might help your client before and after that session, and you can only keep so many clients needs top of mind at once to be able to serve them at the highest level.

Group Coaching

In group coaching, instead of focusing on one client at a time, you are coaching a group of people. For this reason, group coaching tends to be slightly cheaper compared to one-on-one coaching sessions.

Depending on how many people you coach in a group, your pricing can change. More crowded coaching programs are generally cheaper, as the members get less individual assistance.

If you offer both 1-on-1 and group coaching services, this pricing theory can give you a better idea: some coaches like to charge their group coaching members 30% of what they would pay in 1-on-1 coaching. For instance, if you charge $500 for a one-on-one coaching session, then each member of your group coaching program would pay $150.

Group coaching is also a very flexible service in terms of pricing, as you can choose to have your members pay on a single session basis, and offer packages or subscriptions.

Mastermind

A mastermind is a group of people (generally about 10 members) who share the same values, come from similar backgrounds or have the same goal in mind. The purpose of the mastermind is to provide peer support, brainstorm ideas and offer a safe space for communication.

The price of your mastermind depends on how many members there are in the group, the value of your meetings and the frequency of sessions.

More exclusive mastermind groups sometimes charge around $15,000 to $30,000 a year, or more. However, in larger groups members can pay a lower monthly fee of less than $100.

Masterminds are more of a long-term, ongoing commitment for both you and your members, which is why generally mastermind prices are charged on a monthly or annual basis.

As an organizer of a mastermind, the value you provide is not necessarily relying on your expertise and guidance as a coach, but more so in the facilitating of providing a place for a group of individuals working towards the same goal to learn from each other.

Online Coaching Pricing Structures

Now that you understand the difference between each online coaching service and their pricing strategies, let's see what are the most common pricing structures among online coaches.

#1: Hourly Price

A very common way of pricing your online coaching business is to charge a set amount by the hour.

There are pros and cons to this approach. Charging by the hour can be a great option if:

• Your topic doesn't require many sessions: if what you are training your clients on can be achieved in one or a few coaching sessions, then charging by the hour can be an easy and lucrative choice.
• Online coaching is not your primary business: maybe you are selling other digital products, such as online courses, and you also wish to offer some more in-depth teaching to a selected group of students. In cases like this one, it makes sense to charge by the hour as you are not going to offer continuous coaching sessions.

Another benefit of charging by the hour is that you are exchanging your time for money.

However, this pricing strategy may not be the best in the long run, especially if you plan on offering multiple coaching sessions or if your topic requires extensive training.

It might be easier to attract coaching clients with hourly pricing, but it can be harder to retain them. And if you do not manage to retain your clients, then you will fail to guide them towards their desired outcome.

As a coach, the real value of your business lies in the result that you’re able to help your clients get, not the time you spend with them. So, in the end, this pricing strategy might not only hurt you but your clients as well.

#2: Subscription (Retainer)

Another popular pricing strategy among online coaches is to charge a set amount each month.

With this pricing structure, you offer a specific service (agreed beforehand) in exchange for a monthly fee. You could say that you offer a certain number of calls per month, and add any other services you want.

As for the hourly rate, charging a retainer has its pros and cons. Let's see when it is the best time for this pricing strategy:

• Your topic involves continuous learning: Ideally, when charging a monthly fee you want your clients to stay with you forever. This is why this pricing is a great match for ongoing training that your clients need over a long period of time. Personal fitness training is an example of this.
• Your clients have an end goal that will take a longer time to reach: Charging a retainer does not work well with coaching services where clients want to achieve a specific result in the fastest way possible. If your coaching subject often requires working with clients for many months in a row in order to help them progress, then a monthly subscription can be the way to go! Life coaching, mindfulness programs, personal training, business coaching, (and more) are examples of this.

If your business does not apply to the points above, or if you are trying to help your clients achieve a result in a shorter time, then we do not recommend choosing this pricing option.

#3: Coaching Program Packages

Both hourly fees and monthly retainer are not a good idea if you are coaching people towards achieving a specific result or goal.

So what can you do?

The best option for both you and your clients is to offer a package of coaching sessions.

You can structure these packages as you want. For example, you could offer a 3-month program that includes 20 calls.

The length and session numbers of your packages should be tailored to what you are trying to achieve for your clients. This way, you are not charging your clients based on your time, you are charging them based on the results, their life transformation.

If you put it like that, you automatically create a much more enticing offer. They are not paying to simply have some time with you, they are paying to achieve a transformation.

This is a win-win for both you and your clients. The benefit for you lies in the fact that you are creating a favorable offer tailored to your time and monetary needs. While your clients benefit from this because they are more likely to achieve their desired outcome.