If I had to pick one of the biggest mistakes I see online business owners make, it would probably be using the same contract for all of their offers.
And trust me, I understand why you might do this. I mean, it’s just a contract right?! It covers the basics of what your clients can expect and that’s all that really matters… right?
I wish that were the case my friend, I really do! But it’s just not that simple.
While using a generic contract for all of your offers might feel like a convenient shortcut, using the wrong agreement for the wrong type of product or service can leave your business exposed to legal risk, unpaid invoices, intellectual property disputes, and frustrated clients.
There’s no such thing as a one-size fits all contract, which means if you have multiple offers, you need multiple contracts.
A coaching agreement isn’t the same as a digital product agreement and that’s definitely not the same as a service based agreement.
Every single offer you sell has its own legal nuances and it's your contract's job to address those!
So, let’s dig into those differences and make sure that you know exactly what contracts you need and what they need to include depending on your industry and offer type.
Coaching vs. Course Contracts
On the surface, coaching and courses might feel similar – you’re teaching, guiding, and helping people get results. But from a legal standpoint, they couldn’t be more different.
Think about it: in a coaching container, whether it's a group or 1:1, you have to set expectations regarding your time and scope of support.
Many times coaching clients will unintentionally (or sometimes even intentionally 🫣) take advantage of their time with you. This can look like asking multiple questions, sending them over their allotted time for their call, expecting your help for something unrelated to your expertise, or misusing your community platform, like Slack, in hopes of getting more coaching opportunities.
This is why a coaching contract needs to have very specific clauses that are unique to a coaching relationship, like:
✔️ session scheduling (including session cancellation or rescheduling policy)
✔️ when and where you’ll meet
✔️ scope of support (what you can offer coaching on and what you can’t)
✔️ length of coaching relationship
✔️ coaching code of ethics
✔️ coach and client responsibilities
✔️ disclaimers (because you’re promising your expertise, not guaranteed outcomes)
All of these clauses are highly specific to a coaching relationship, but don’t necessarily make sense for a course contract…
Which is why if you ALSO sell a course, in addition to your coaching services, you need two different contracts!
A course contract, typically referred to as a Terms of Purchase, should be more focused on access and intellectual property.
While there might be a few clauses that repeat from a coaching contract, like disclaimers for example, your Terms of Purchase for your course (or really any digital product) needs to specifically address:
✔️ your no-refund policy (commonly used among course creators since buyers receive immediate access to the content)
✔️ licensing terms that spell out exactly how students can use your materials (this helps prevent them from copying or reselling your content)
✔️ access terms that define how long students will have access (lifetime access, limited-time, or only while the course is live)
✔️ payment plan obligations and consequences of failed or missed payments (important since many courses are offered in installments)
✔️ restrictions on sharing login details or granting unauthorized access to others (helps safeguard your intellectual property)
✔️ intellectual property protection that clarifies you own the curriculum, videos, and downloads, even if students have access
While both contracts are aimed to ultimately legally protect you, they both do so in different ways!
Digital Product vs. Service Based Contracts
It’s common for online business owners to have both digital products and service-based offers and that’s a great thing! Having a mix can diversify your income, give you more stability, and allow you to earn money without always being “on” and serving clients in real time.
But here’s where a lot of online business owners trip up: trying to use one client agreement for both done-for-you services and digital products.
They are two very different things and your contracts need to reflect that.
I briefly touched on this above when discussing the difference between coaching and course contracts, but it needs to be repeated because it really is that important.
Digital product contracts, like Terms of Use or a licensing agreement, emphasize intellectual property, permissions, and refunds.
For example, if you sell Pinterest templates in Canva, your Terms of Use should make it clear whether buyers can edit them for their own brand, share them with others, or resell them (spoiler: that last one should always be a no).
Without this clarity, you risk losing control of your work the second someone downloads it.
Service-based contracts, on the other hand, like a web design or copywriting agreement, need to cover a completely different set of issues.
Most commonly this includes: scope of work, deliverables, revision limits, late payment penalties, and what happens if a client ghosts you mid-project.
These contracts exist to prevent scope creep and protect your income while keeping client relationships clear and professional.
Put simply, service-based contracts are more concerned with protecting your time and process, while digital product contracts are more about protecting your content.
The Ultimate Legal Contract Bundle for Creative Business Owners
If you’re a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur who juggles clients, courses, and digital products, it’s no question that you need more than one contract for your business.
But the problem that so many people like this run into is that contracts can be expensive, it can be time consuming to write them, and honestly sometimes you don’t even know exactly what you need.
So that’s why I decided to create the solution for multi-hyphenate entrepreneurs with the Chief Legal Officer Suite.
The CLO Suite is essentially your business’s legal department in a box with 40+ attorney-drafted templates that cover every corner of your business, including:
- Client & Service Agreements (for coaching, group programs, creative services, and contractors)
- Sales & Purchase Protection (like Terms of Purchase, refund policies, and payment plan clauses)
- Website Compliance (including Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and disclaimers)
- Marketing & Affiliate Agreements (for influencers, affiliates, and testimonials)
- Media & Community Protections (like speaker agreements, podcast guest releases, and community guidelines)
And the best part is that it's a one-time purchase and every future contract template or update is automatically included. That means you’ll never have to wonder if your contracts are outdated or scramble to buy a new one when your offers evolve.
You’ll have exactly what you need, when you need it!
So whether you’re onboarding new clients, launching a course, or scaling your digital product shop, the CLO Suite ensures you’ve got the right contract for the job – no guesswork, just full protection.
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