What if my paid offer is a mix of multiple offer types?

We frequently hear from users that their paid programs don't neatly fit into a single category. There are a couple of common patterns where this happens:

• A Combination of One-On-One and Group Elements - This could be any combination of individual services or individual sessions and a group program. Most commonly, we've heard from people who offer a program that combines group and individual coaching sessions.
• A Combination of Multiple Group Programs - This can happen in any number of combinations, but the most common we've heard is a program that combines group coaching and an online course.

This article will help you understand how to categorize these types of hybrid programs when you are completing your legal audit.

Choose A Single Category Per Offer

Each paid offer should be listed only once in your legal audit answers. In other words, you should not choose multiple Paid Offer types to list a single product.

RULE: Do not list a single offer more than once in the Paid Offers section of the legal audit.

Including a single offer in more than one category will complicate your life and confuse things in your legal tasks.

The Legal Task Manager will create tasks for each product within each Paid Offer type you select during the audit process. In other words, if you include a program as both a Group Coaching program and an Online Course, the system will create tasks for that product under both product types. Some of those tasks will be exact duplicates (e.g., run a trademark search), while others will be similar but slightly different (e.g., create Group Coaching Terms & Conditions and create Online Course Terms & Conditions).

Adding a product in multiple offer types will create headaches and more confusion for you.

So, pick a single Paid Offer type for each product you sell.

For Offer That Combine Group & Individual Components, Generally Pick The Group Option

If your offer includes group components (e.g., group coaching sessions) and individual components (e.g., one-on-one coaching sessions), you should generally opt for a group program in the Paid Offer types.

The reason is simple... at their core, these are group programs.

Masterminds and group coaching programs often include some level of one-on-one support. That does not change the nature of these offers.

Moreover, it is relatively simple to structure group programs to include one-to-one elements from a legal perspective; you simply include those one-to-one elements in the list of deliverables for your group program terms and conditions.

It is much harder to structure legal agreements designed for one-on-one services to also include the necessary legalese to address group components.

With that guidance in mind, there is a narrow case where you should opt for a one-on-one option in the Paid Offers section. If your offer is fundamentally about one-on-one sessions but includes other programs as bonuses or add-ons, it should be categorized under the proper one-on-one offer type.

Automatically Renewing Group Programs Are Memberships

If your program is ongoing and customers stay in it (and are automatically charged on a recurring basis) until they cancel, you should classify it as a membership. To be clear, we are not talking about set payment plans (e.g., offering a 12-month payment option for a course); we are talking about programs where customers continue their payments until they cancel.

It does not matter what you call this program externally; from a legal perspective, this is a membership or subscription offer. That raises specific legal issues you need to address in your terms and conditions for the program.

Inside Plainly Legal™, we have designed our Membership Terms & Conditions to be extremely versatile. You can customize that agreement to work for a simple membership that includes digital downloads delivered monthly or an ongoing membership that offers services akin to group coaching.

The rule is simple: choose the Membership option for all programs with automatically renewing, recurring payments.

For Other Hybrid Group Programs, Pick The Highest Touch Option

Many one-to-many offers include a mix of different deliverables, from PDFs to course material to intensive group coaching and mentoring. That can make it a bit difficult to pick which offer type to use for your program.

Our rule is simple: choose the highest-touch offer type.

This serves your marketing purposes – because people will naturally place a higher value on your program – and works with how the Plainly Legal™ system is set up. In our system, the terms and conditions for higher-touch programs tend to have the most options regarding what you can include as deliverables.

With that guidance in mind, here is a list of the program types from highest touch to lowest touch:

• Masterminds
• Group Coaching
• Online Courses
• Virtual Events, Bootcamps, and Workshops
• Digital Downloads

When picking an option for your program, choose the one that fits your program that is the highest on that list.