Wendy McCallum (00:39)
Hello there, welcome back to The Coaching Edge. I'm your host, Wendy McCallum. I am talking today about how to know when you're ready to create a group coaching program and what to do if you are. So what some of the different options are for group coaching programs and where you should start if it's your first group coach program. ⁓ Before we get into that, I wanna talk about the humble yet mighty one-on-one coaching business model because I think this often gets...
sort of pushed to the side. People think, well, that's just where you start and everybody's gonna move into group coaching. Everybody needs to scale at some point. And the one-on-one coaching model is not sustainable or maybe like not as sexy as a model that involves fancy online courses or group coach programs. And I am here to say, no way. That is actually not correct.
I have seen some coaches, lots of coaches actually build very resonant, fulfilling, profitable, sustainable one-on-one coaching practices, coaching practices that keep them busy enough, that bring in enough money for them, and that allow them to maintain a real sense of purpose and to feel lit up every day when they sit down at their desk, but also to maintain balance in their life. And so I am not here to diss the one-on-one coaching practice. I think it's...
lovely and it works so well for so many people and it worked for years and years for me and it's still something that is part of my coaching business model because I love it so much and I actually was just reflecting on this with a coach I was talking to earlier this week. One of the things about committing to building a really solid one-on-one practice in the beginning that's really great as you mature as a coach is that you can always go back to that.
It provides you with a really great foundation and flexibility in your coaching business. so if you're, you you're having some changes are happening in your life, whatever those might be, and group coaching no longer works with your real life, which sometimes it doesn't. I mean, it doesn't work, for example, if you are looking to be taking a lot of time off. Group coaching often requires like a commitment to longer periods of time of being available. ⁓
It doesn't always work if you have a lot of commitments outside of like very specific business hours. You know, there are lots of reasons why group coaching might not work for you. And it is so nice to know that you can go back to one-on-one or you can just ramp up your one-on-one at any time. And that's something that's really served me very well. So I just want to say, if you're a coach and you're feeling like you need to start a group program because somebody told you that all coaches at some point need to scale or
that you can't grow with just one-on-one ⁓ or you won't be profitable with just one-on-one or you're going to burn out with one-on-one? No, no, no, no, no. None of that's true. If one-on-one is your wheelhouse and you love it like I love it, there's absolutely a way to build a business model that provides you with the profit, that is sustainable for you, that doesn't burn you out, that you love.
and you can keep doing that for the rest of your career and retire as a one-on-one coach and I would be so proud of you. So I wanted to say that right out of the gate. The premise here is not everybody needs to have a group program at some point, but if you do want to scale significantly ⁓ or if you have like really reached your max with one-on-one and you want to do more, then group is often the logical next step. So we're going to talk about that. Okay, so we're going to talk today about
how to know if you're actually ready and what kind of group offer makes sense when you are. Again, this is a very strategic decision. This is not a just like, okay, I'm just gonna do this because I should. I want this to be very deliberate and well thought out. I've seen too many coaches start group programs without a offer, ⁓ without a proven offer and without an audience to sell it to. And without the confidence, frankly, and the knowledge that they need to actually coach a group well.
and I don't want that for you. So how do you know if you're ready? Well, there are kind of three different signs that you might be ready to move to group coaching or to incorporate a group program in your offer suite. The first sign is that you are at capacity with your one-on-one practice. Now there are two different ways this can show up. You can be time full or you can be like at your full mental capacity. Those are two different things, although they sometimes go together.
Being time full is exactly what it sounds like. You've just reached your capacity in terms of your physical time. You are spending all of your time with clients, you're maxed out, you can't fit anybody new in, you can't take more clients, you're regularly either turning people away, referring them out, or putting them on a wait list. Okay, that's one sign that you might be ready for a group program. Secondly, you might be mentally at capacity. So maybe you still technically have some room in your schedule, but you can't imagine taking on any more one-on-one clients because you're really feeling drained from it. It's a lot.
for you and one-on-one coaching can be emotionally taxing. There are lots of skills that you can develop as a coach to protect yourself a little better and to build some resilience, but it is definitely a taxing, can be a very taxing thing to do. And group can frankly lower the intensity a little bit for some coaches, depends on the area that you're coaching in and a lot of different factors, but it can.
A group, you know, a good group can take a little of the pressure off of you to always be the main energy source for the group because you can kind of tap into the collective energy of the group. ⁓ And it allows for, you know, some shared learning and for some variety in terms of what's happening in the coaching hour. And so it can feel a little less intense for some people. ⁓ But I want to, this is a really important nuance here around this whole mental capacity thing.
If you are burnt out because you consistently over deliver and you don't have good structure in how you do things and you know, maybe you're like veering outside of scope a lot and you're coaching and getting into like therapy adjacent work and it's just really heavy all the time, that is not going to shift just because you started a group. Like you're not gonna suddenly not be burnt out because you're just gonna take that and it's gonna transfer into whatever group work you do. So have a think.
Am I feeling maxed out and at capacity mentally and emotionally because I actually just have like, I'm at my capacity for one-on-one clients and I can't manage any more than this? Or is it that the way you're managing those one-on-one clients is actually not serving you and that you're over delivering all of the time and doing a lot of work outside of the client sessions and it's just draining you.
Again, go back to the episode that I did a couple episodes ago on why over delivering is not actually creating value for your clients or for you as a coach. And I think that would be a great episode for you if you're thinking, yes, that is me. I think I do do that. So if you're burnt out because you're over delivering, starting a group isn't going to solve that problem. But if you're burnt out because you are legit at capacity, time wise or at capacity in terms of your mental capacity, then a group group offer might be.
something to start thinking about. Another sign that you might be ready for group is that you have been coaching one-on-one pretty much full-time for at least a year. I often say two years. I think that would be better for people to coach one-on-one full-time for a couple of years before they start thinking about creating a group offer. But sometimes after a year you're ready for it. Here's why that's important. After 12 to 24 months of one-on-one work, like a busy-ish one-on-one practice,
You are going to be very clear on the recurring challenges that your avatar client faces, the themes that come up in coaching, the common mindset traps, limiting beliefs that come up for people, what tools and coaching approaches work really well for this group of clients and even like the order, the order of the breakthroughs, like how things tend to open up and how your clients tend to
move into action. ⁓ And once you have a handle on that, now you have some data. Now you have some evidence. And you can use that to build a really resonant, effective program. But without that, without that experience one-on-one, without that knowledge and data, you're not going to build a very strong program. You're going to be building a program that is largely just imagination-based as opposed to evidence-based. And those are never the best programs, ⁓ I promise you.
Okay, so that's the second sign. ⁓ The third sign that you might be ready to host or start a group program is that you have a really solid alumni bank. What I mean by that is list of clients that you've worked with one-on-one who are really interested in continuing to work with you, so continuing to have access to you. Now again, this is probably gonna require at least a year or two
of pretty busy one-on-one work in order for you to develop that list. This is how you can create something that I call a back-end membership. So this is a group that you create that is made up of people who you've already worked with. And these are the people who already love, know, and trust you, right? They don't just like no trust you, they love no trust you. They have gotten results with you, they don't wanna lose access, and they are sold on you. They know your value and they're ready to buy whatever the next thing is.
They want continued accountability and a lot of the time they're ready for community now that maybe they weren't ready for when they first started working with you in this area of challenge. So this is where you can create a really great group program and fill it very easily with these people who you've already worked with. I call them back-end memberships, but sometimes they're referred to as alumni groups or circles or masterminds sometimes fall into this category.
And it's a model that works really well because you already have the audience for it. Like, you know you can fill it and you can canvas interest with your group before you do it. And you already kind of hold the room. They trust you. They, again, they have bought into your value. ⁓ This is something that I have done a couple of times. I did it with a group when I first started coaching in and around alcohol. So I'd been coaching around burnout, professional women's burnout for a long time. And I added alcohol after I got my last coaching certification.
to the offering and I worked for a year, I was very, very busy with ⁓ working with successful women who were overwhelmed, dealing with a lot of stress and using alcohol as a way to cope and drinking in a way that didn't feel good to them. I worked with these women over the course of the year and with each of those women, when I started working with them one-on-one, I said, look, I think down the line, there's gonna be an opportunity for you to join a group. I'm looking to create like a curated group of people who are really good personality fit and who have already worked with me one-on-one.
And ⁓ if at the end of our time together that group exists and I think you would be a good fit for it, I'm going to invite you in. And so I set the stage for this. And then after about a year of working with these women, I did have enough women ⁓ that I felt would be a great fit for this group that I was able to start a group. And it was, I think we started with probably about 10 members and ⁓ I had them commit to, I think six months.
It might have been three months, but it was probably six months of group and then allowed them to go to month to month after that. And I would occasionally bring new members into the group who I was wrapping up with one-on-one. And that was a really great vehicle and worked for a few years for me. ⁓ That's a backend membership. And that makes really great sense if you have been working one-on-one for a long time and you have a good alumni list. So those are the three main signs that you might be ready to start thinking about.
a group program. One, your capacity time wise or mental capacity is maxed out. ⁓ Two, you have been coaching one on one for at least a year, maybe two years, and you really have gotten a handle on what a good group program might look like. And three, you have an alumni bank. So you have been working long enough with one on one clients that you have a really good list of people that you could sell like a backend membership to. So can be all of those things or some of those things.
but you need to have at least one of those things in order to be even thinking about creating a group program. So again, the messaging here is you're not creating a group program just because that's what everybody does. You're creating it because it makes sense for you and there are signs that you are ready. Okay, if the signs are there that you might be ready for a group program, the next question becomes what does that look like? What do I do? Well, there's no single one right way to create a group program. There are so many different options out there.
I want you to think of this as a spectrum, going from like the very simplest structure and vehicle for group coaching to the most complicated. And I'm gonna go through, think it's like four different types of group coaching models. The very first one is the one that I recommend if you're just starting. This is the simplest way to do it. Absolutely the simplest. And that is to have live group coaching calls only. So you sell people a package of group coach calls.
And you say the coach calls are going to happen every Friday at noon Eastern for one hour in this Zoom room. There'll be eight people max on the call. And you could maybe have an area of focus. You probably will. these are all women who are, for example, examining their relationship with alcohol or struggling with burnout and looking for tools to ⁓ take care of themselves better or ⁓ really struggling with a big transition in their career. So you might pick some general focus. ⁓
But what there isn't gonna be is a really complicated online course or any programming that goes with this. Really what people are paying for is access to you and to coaching in that group session. And when they show up, it probably looks more like hot seat coaching where you ask who's got something that they want some coaching on and then you go around the room and you do coaching, which of course the...
the coaching benefits, the coachee, but also the other people who are listening to the coaching are always gonna learn from that and can support each other in that setting. This is really quick to launch. It doesn't require any expensive tech. All you really need is a Zoom room and it's really just pure coaching. This is just you showing up and doing coaching. And this is really great for the first time, for an experiment to see how it goes. It's also really great for the alumni container. So if you are creating a backend membership, you don't need to give them more content.
You don't need to give them any fancy stuff. They've already bought into the fact that the value in you is the time they get with you. It's the actual coaching time. ⁓ And so this is often the smartest first move when it comes to creating a group program. The second level, kind of one step up from this is a more themed program, like a cohort where you're taking people through a very loosely structured.
I don't want to say curriculum, just a framework for the coaching. So again, they're probably all struggling with the same big area of challenge. And you might, let's say, have them sign up for eight group calls. And every group call, there is a loose theme or topic that you're going to be talking about. ⁓ And maybe there's like, you know, a worksheet that goes with each ⁓ each week.
but there isn't like a pre-recorded module online and a fancy interactive course or anything like that. So it's a very, it's light when we're talking about the ⁓ focus of this. And good examples of this might be burnout. Again, like you're gonna pick a big area of challenge, alcohol, helping people build self-confidence, people going through a specific type of transition.
It's still coaching led, it's not content heavy, it's content light, but there might be some content and a little more structure to it. The next level of this would be what I would call like a hybrid model where you combine an online course component with the live group coaching. This is how I set up a lot of my programs. I like this model, this is what I teach in the CCC. ⁓ And just you know, the CCC is the coaching course creator program that I have. It's always available.
self-guided. I offer it occasionally with a group coached component like a live group coaching component like we're talking about, but it's not being offered again anytime soon. If you're somebody who's looking to create a course, it is a really great tool for creating an online course. So that's where you're actually recording videos, creating modules and creating other resources to go with anyone upload that program to a platform. This course really teaches you how to do all of that and then market and launch it.
And in that program, I talk about the idea of creating really flexible course online that you can use in a variety of different ways that you can sell as a self-guided course that you can coach people through in a group like I often do with the CCC, or that you can also offer to people in conjunction with one-on-one coaching, which is currently what's available with the CCC. So if you want to do the CCC because I don't have a live group coach program with it, you can purchase the CCC self-guided.
and then add on four sessions with me where I work with you to create your course strategically and help you actually get it completed, right? So that's an example of that flexible, hybrid course model that I'm talking about. So that would be where you create modules, you release the modules probably weekly, that's mostly what people do. And then each week you have a live group coach call with that where you talk about the module that they've already watched. Maybe do a little teaching around it and then you do some coaching and...
in that session as well. So this is a lot more complicated and this is not something I suggest you do right away. Instead, I would suggest you start with a very loose model, like I said, very content light. And then eventually you could be, or you can be developing this content on the side as you are running these groups and testing your, you know, group.
coaching skills and learning about what it's like to coach groups. You can be building the content that eventually will become part of the next iteration of this program. A lot of my coach clients actually build the online content ⁓ when they're working with one-on-one clients, which I love and that's something I've done in the past as well. The BBB when I first launched it, a lot of the ⁓ resources that were in the BBB were things that I had created when I was working one-on-one with my business clients.
and that I then incorporated into the group program as resources. So the point is you can be doing more than one thing at the same time, but don't overwhelm yourself. And when you start, say, I'm not launching a group program unless I also have a really great online course to go with it. You don't need to do that. With this hybrid model of an online course and live group coaching, ⁓ can ⁓ often ⁓ offer it at a higher price point. So it can be more profitable, ⁓ but obviously it requires a lot of time.
⁓ and also some significant know-how to build an online course. So it's something that is better to do after you've piloted something that is simpler. Excuse me. The last thing that I want to talk about as an option is probably the most complex and that is a membership that also provides online group coaching. Now, memberships, ⁓ the structure of them is that they are ⁓
set up usually with a subscription ⁓ model for payment, which means people pay on a monthly basis. Although with a lot of memberships, there is an upfront commitment for a certain number of months or maybe the first year you have to commit to and then after that it goes to month to month. That's what the BBB is. So it's a six month commitment upfront and then month to month after that. But memberships are something you really want to be thinking very long and hard about. We actually had someone come in and do a masterclass inside the BBB on memberships. And this is one of the things that she really stressed.
you need to be prepared for what's involved in creating and keeping a membership populated because there is a lot of marketing and continued hustle and work involved in doing that. And it's something that you probably don't want to do until you have a pretty big audience established. ⁓ And you have like people who have been long time supporters of yours ⁓ and a really good sense of
the niche that you coach in and a really good repertoire of coaching topics and resources and all of that. So this is really the last step, I think, for most people. When we're talking about a membership, we're talking about a model that combines usually a community platform, so a place for people to commune and talk and support each other and ask questions and for you to provide resources as a coach, not usually coaching in that community platform, but there will also be monthly calls that are deemed to be coaching calls oftentimes.
And that might be part of the base level of the membership or you might have to pay more for that tier of the membership that involves the group coaching calls. And then there would be a resource or content library of some sort that goes along with that. And again, like this, you really need an audience and proven demand for this before you wanna get out there and launch this, but this is a type of group coach program and it can work very, very well.
if you are really strategic about it and if you're committed to the work that's involved in building and sustaining it because it does take a lot of work. Okay, the last thing I want to talk about is what not to do when it comes to group programming. The first thing I've already said, but I think I need to say it again, don't create a group just because someone told you to. Don't create a group just because you think it's the only way to scale. Don't create a group because one-on-one is like, you know, not enough.
Definitely don't create a group program if you can't sell your one-on-one because if you can't sell your one-on-one, you're not gonna be able to sell your group and there's something else broken there. It's not that you don't have a group, trust me. So don't do any of that. And when you start, when you do create a group, if you decide to do that, keep it super simple in the beginning and stay in beta mindset around it. I've talked about that in lots of other podcast episodes, but it's really important to stay in experiment mode around it. It is not gonna be the final iteration of that group program. It's going to change, it's going to grow. That's all a good thing.
You want to be paying attention to what's working, what's not working, what people are asking for and be prepared to change it as you go and make it better. Your first group does not need 12 modules and a 40 page workbook. Your first group can be very, very simple. ⁓ You don't even need anything online for people to access except for the link to the Zoom room where you're going to meet. You can keep it very, very simple. What you do need to have a successful group program is a very clear
problem that you help people solve with this program so people know this is for them, this is the right group program for them, a really clear promise as to what it is you're going to help people do inside this container, and ⁓ the time and the energy to commit to it. And I think also that beta mindset is pretty important. That's what you need. ⁓ And I think most importantly, most importantly, guys, I really want you to really
Get real with yourself as to whether you have this yet if you're thinking about creating a group program you need an audience You need people to sell this thing too And I know that you think that it's gonna be easy to sell this because people have said yeah If you had a group program, I would absolutely take that but you've got to trust me on this as somebody who's been Marketing and selling group programs now for a really long time. I mean, I think my first group program I launched two years after I was doing one-on-one. So for at least 13 years I've been running group programs
Only like maybe 25 % of the people who say they're in are actually gonna sign up. So you need a much bigger audience than you think you do. You need a much bigger group of interested people to actually fill a group program. It's going to be a lot of work. You need to be prepared for that. And the simplest, safest way to do it is to offer it to people who have already bought in to your services to try that alumni backend membership first. You can keep it small.
but it's a really good way to test the waters. And lots of my coaches inside of the BBB have done it that way. Okay, so just the last thing, just a reminder, if you do wanna do a course and you're looking for support on that, the CCC, My Coaching Course Creator is available self-guided all the time. You can purchase it ⁓ and you can go through the modules. They are very well laid out. It's very comprehensive. There's so much information inside the course. It's a really, really good online course. It will take you step by step through all the things that you need to think about.
in terms of your big idea, mapping it all out, figuring out what to include and what not to include, also the tech side of it, how to actually film your modules and your videos, how to create extra resources, and then how to like market and launch the thing and to beta test it properly, how to price it, all of that stuff is included in that course. If you're doing that course and you want to work with me, ⁓ it's the group led version of that is not available probably right now and you're listening to this podcast.
but it will say on the landing page if it is. So I'll put the link in the show notes. But as of the recording time of this podcast, it's not open right now as a group, but you do have the option to work with me privately. So if you sign up for that course and you want to do some one-on-one with me, you can do four one-on-one sessions with me in conjunction with that course. And I can help you get your course built. So that is always an option. And again, this goes back to what I was talking about before, this whole like you can...
If you know how to coach one-on-one and you are confident in your one-on-one coaching skills and the value that you provide, you can always go back to one-on-one and offer one-on-one. So at a time when I am not offering my group coach program around course creation, I have the ability to offer it as a self-guided program and take people throughout one-on-one, right? So that is the flexibility that confidence in one-on-one coaching gives you. So.
If nothing else, I hope you take from this episode that it is absolutely laudable and worth your time to work on building your one-on-one practice first. That is where I recommend all my coaches start. And if you decide you want to stay there, good for you. I would be delighted for you. And I definitely have supported many coaches inside the BBB to building really resonant, profitable one-on-one practices because that is what feels right to them. And honestly for me,
As I've said, it's an important part of my model because I love it so much. And I also feel pretty confident that when I start moving towards retirement, I'm gonna move back to more one-on-one coaching because it's more flexible for me. It requires ⁓ less of a commitment. I can ramp it up in some months and take it down in other months if I have other things that I wanna be focusing on. So.
Don't discount the value of building a really good one-on-one practice. That's where you should start and it's where you can stay if that's where you wanna stay. But if you are thinking about group coaching, please make sure that you can see clearly these signs that you're actually ready for it. And be very thoughtful and strategic and deliberate in terms of how you start testing your first group coached program.
⁓ As always, if you would like to give me some feedback on the episode or if you have ideas for another episode, I'd love to hear from you. can send me a message at wendy at wendymichellum.com or DM me on Instagram. I'm Wendy McCallum Coach. And you know, I'm always looking for new things to talk about on this podcast. So send them my way if you have ideas. If you're looking for support, you have a couple of different options for working with me. The BBB is always open for enrollment.
That is the group community and coach program with a large content library for coaches in the first five years of business. And I also have some slots, like limited slots available right now for one-on-one business coaching. So reach out to me if that's something you're interested in. Have a wonderful week, and I will see you next time on The Coaching Edge. Thanks for listening.
