Last updated: October 2026
To create a coaching program, start with 1:1 coaching, commit each client to a minimum of six months, meet every week on Zoom for 30, 45 or 60 minutes, and charge one monthly price. You don’t need a week-by-week curriculum. A short pre-call form lets each client’s real life set the agenda while you coach toward one end goal.
I’ve trained more than 4,000 coaches, and this is the exact program structure I teach them. It’s a lot simpler than most people make it.
Key takeaways
- Start with 1:1 coaching. Group programs and courses come later, after you’re full.
- Sell a minimum of six months. You can’t change decades of patterns in three or four calls.
- Meet weekly on Zoom for 30, 45 or 60 minutes. Pick one length and keep it.
- Skip the fixed curriculum. A weekly pre-call form and 1 to 3 assignments per call do the job.
- Keep a running document of the problems you hear over and over. That becomes your group program or course later.
What is a coaching program?
A coaching program is the container you sell: who you work with, for how long, how often you meet, how you support them between calls and what it costs. It’s not a stack of videos or a 12-module curriculum. For a 1:1 coach, the program is mostly a commitment and a rhythm that keeps a client moving toward one big result.
Here’s the whole thing on one page:
| Program element | What I recommend |
|---|---|
| Format | 1:1 coaching |
| Length | Minimum of 6 months |
| Call frequency | Once a week, same day and time |
| Call length | 30, 45 or 60 minutes (you decide) |
| Where | Zoom, cameras on |
| Agenda | Weekly pre-call form, not a fixed curriculum |
| Between calls | 1 to 3 assignments from each call |
| Price | One flat monthly price for the six months |
If that looks too simple, good. Most coaches hold themselves back for months because they think they need to build some massive program before they’re allowed to sell it.
Should your first coaching program be 1:1, group or a course?
Your first coaching program should be 1:1. Group coaching and courses aren’t bad, but they’re the hardest places to start. My rule of thumb: if you’re making less than $250,000 to $300,000 a year, 1:1 coaching is where I’d put 100% of your focus.
| Format | Upside | Why it’s a hard place to start |
|---|---|---|
| Group coaching | Leverage, lower price per person | You need a lot of people to make a real income. At $99 a month you’d need 100 members, and if you don’t have a big following, where do they come from? From what I’ve seen, people also stay in group programs only about 3 to 4 months on average, so you’re always refilling it. |
| Courses | “Make it once, sell it forever” | Set it and forget it is a myth. To sell courses you have to become a master of marketing first. |
| 1:1 coaching | Biggest impact, highest price, least setup | You trade time for money, which is fine until you’re full. |
I’ve seen this play out. We had a coach join us who had spent six months in a program that taught her how to build and sell an online course. She built the whole thing. In those six months she signed zero clients. When she switched to 1:1, she started signing clients.
Here’s why 1:1 wins at the start:
- It’s the biggest impact you’ll ever have on someone. You became a coach to change lives. Weekly 1:1 attention does that better than anything else.
- You can charge more. The client gets your time every single week. And when people pay more, both of you show up better. Everybody has downloaded a $7 PDF and never opened it. Pay $7,000 for something and you print it out and highlight it.
- It shows you what your group program should be. When you’re on 10 hours of calls a week, you hear the same problems again and again. That’s the research for every group program or course you’ll ever build.
If you’re still deciding who those 1:1 clients are, start with how to find your coaching niche. Your perfect client is usually you, 3 to 5 years ago.
How long should a coaching program be?
A coaching program should last a minimum of six months. I’ve tried everything you can think of: one-off calls, batches of calls, month to month. The best start to a coaching relationship is a six-month commitment.
Think about it this way. One client gets four calls over one month. Another gets 24 calls over six months. Who are you going to make a bigger impact on? The six-month client, every time. You get more shots at the basket.
Here’s how I explain it to a client on an enrollment call:
“I think I’m a really good coach, but I’m not going to change your life in three or four calls. I wish I could. You’re 37 years old. You have 37 years of patterns we need to work through. That’s why I work with all my clients for a minimum of six months. Does that make sense?”
Almost everyone says yes. It’s honest, and they know it’s true about themselves.
How many sessions and how long should each call be?
Plan one call a week for six months, which comes out to about 24 sessions. Each call is 30, 45 or 60 minutes. All three work, so pick the one that fits you and your clients, and keep it the same every week.
A few details that make this run smoothly:
- Same slot every week. “Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.” builds a habit for both of you.
- Use Zoom, not the phone. You want to see their face and their body language, and you want to know they’re sitting down and present with you, not driving or folding laundry.
- Price it monthly, not per call. Some months have five weeks. I don’t charge extra for the fifth call. It’s one monthly price.
- Record and transcribe. Zoom transcripts become one of your best tools (more on that below).
So a finished program might read: “Six months of 1:1 coaching, one 45-minute Zoom call every week.”
A Gift for Action-Takers
You’ve read this far, which means you’re serious about building something real. So here’s your next step: Book a 1:1 Free Strategy Call with one of my top business coaches.
Do you need a curriculum for a 1:1 coaching program?
You don’t need a curriculum for a 1:1 coaching program. My curriculum depends on the client. There’s no “week one we cover this, week two we cover that.” This is the part that frees up most new coaches, because “what would I even talk about for six months?” is what stops them from selling a six-month program.
Instead, I use what I call a pre-call form. Before every weekly call, the client fills out four to six short questions. Three of the most important ones:
- What were your assignments last week?
- What challenges did you have last week?
- What do you want to talk about this week?
That makes every call a choose-your-own-journey, inside a clear end goal you set together at the start. People’s lives change a lot in seven days, and a fixed curriculum can’t keep up with that.
Here’s what that looks like. Say a client hires you to help her build a sales team for her growing business, and for weeks that’s all you work on. Then one week she hops on and says, “I think I want to get a divorce.” If your program said, “Okay, this week is module seven, building your sales division,” you’d completely miss what’s actually going on in her life. That’s why 1:1 coaching follows the client, not a slide deck.
What happens between coaching calls?
Between calls, the client works on 1 to 3 assignments you agreed on at the end of the last call. Don’t give them ten things. You want them to take one good step in the right direction each week, and you want them to actually finish it.
Why you agree on them together instead of handing them out: when the idea comes from the client, they follow through more and they remember it better. Ask questions like “What else?”, “Tell me more about that,” or “You just said you feel trapped. What do you mean by that?” and let them land on the next step.
The assignments then show up on next week’s pre-call form, so accountability is built in. Honestly, accountability may be the number one thing you give your clients.
How should you use AI in a coaching program?
Use AI to coach you, not to coach your clients. Tools like ChatGPT tend to agree with people too much, and a coach’s job is to get someone out of where they are, not to tell them they’re right.
Where AI does help is with your call transcripts. Take a client’s Zoom transcript and ask it: “Here’s what my client is dealing with. What patterns are you noticing? What might I have missed that could help me on our next call?” It’s good at spotting patterns, and sometimes it notices things you didn’t. Think of it as a brainstorming partner that makes you a better coach.
How do you price a coaching program?
Price your coaching program as one monthly amount across the six months, and give the client two ways to pay. For example: $6,000 for six months is $1,000 a month, or they can pay in full upfront for a small discount, like $5,500.
Wherever you start, raise your price after each new client, and don’t drop it after a slow stretch. When your price feels too high, you’re usually thinking with your own wallet and underestimating what your knowledge is worth.
I go much deeper on this in how much coaches charge, including how to say your price out loud without flinching.
How does a 1:1 program turn into a group program or course later?
Keep a running Google Doc of the problems you hear over and over from your 1:1 clients, along with the ways you help people get through them. Once you’re fully booked with 1:1 clients, that document is the outline of your group program or course.
We all think we’re these unique snowflakes, and we are, but there are really only a handful of core problems that people bring to a coach. And no matter what kind of coach you are, you’re also a mindset coach. Relationship coach, fitness coach, business coach: a lot of the work is mindset. After a year of 1:1 calls, you’ll know exactly which problems your group program needs to solve, because your clients told you.
That’s the order: 1:1 until you’re full, then group, then courses if you want them. Not the other way around.
Your next step
Take five minutes and write your program down right now. Who it’s for, six months, weekly, 30, 45 or 60 minutes, on Zoom, your monthly price. Then write your pre-call form questions. That’s a real coaching program, and it’s ready to sell today.
Next, you need people to sell it to and a way to have the conversation. Start with how to get coaching clients, then use this coaching discovery call script when someone says yes to a call. If you’re still putting the foundation together, the full roadmap is in how to start a coaching business.
If you want someone to look at your program and your pricing with you, that’s exactly what my advisors do on a free strategy call. An outside perspective shows you what you can’t see from inside your own business.
A Gift for Action-Takers
You’ve read this far, which means you’re serious about building something real. So here’s your next step: book a free 1:1 strategy session with one of my top business coaches.
Together, we’ll design your roadmap to start or grow your coaching business, defining your offers, pricing, content plan, and client acquisition strategy, so you stop guessing and start growing.
If you’re ready to stop waiting for the “perfect time” and finally take action on your dream, this session is your moment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a coaching program be?
A 1:1 coaching program should run for a minimum of six months. That gives you about 24 weekly calls, which is enough time to change patterns a client has been running for decades. Three or four calls rarely change anyone’s life.
How many sessions should a coaching package have?
Plan on one call a week for six months, which is about 24 sessions. Charge a flat monthly price, so a month with five calls costs the client the same as a month with four.
How long should a coaching session be?
Pick 30, 45 or 60 minutes and stick with it. All three work. Hold the calls on Zoom so you can see the client’s face and body language and know they’re actually present.
Do I need a curriculum for my coaching program?
Not for 1:1 coaching. The client’s life sets the agenda. Use a weekly pre-call form that asks what their assignments were, what challenges came up and what they want to talk about, then coach toward the end goal you agreed on at the start.
Should I start with group coaching or 1:1 coaching?
Start with 1:1 coaching. Group coaching needs a lot of people to make a decent income, and most new coaches don’t have that audience yet. 1:1 has the biggest impact, lets you charge more, and teaches you the patterns your group program will be built on later.
