How do you set up an online calendar for consultations?

One personal booking link, session types as services and your other calendar as busy time.

Guides by type of business

For consultants, solicitors, psychologists, coaches and freelancers, an online diary ends the long email exchange about who’s free when. With 4appointments you share one link and clients pick a free time. You confirm each request yourself, and you send any meeting link yourself, as the tool produces none.

Create a provider for yourself with your real weekly schedule, then add your session types as services, each with a duration and a price: for example a short intro call, a full session or a follow-up. Use Availability for days off and blocks, including time you keep free for preparation or admin.

Copy your personal booking link, which is separate from that of other providers, and place it in your email signature, on LinkedIn or on your website. Clients choose a service and a free time without creating an account, and the page shows only times that are really free.

Set the rules that protect your day. The notice rules decide how soon before the session someone may book and how far ahead (the defaults are 120 minutes and 60 days, and each service can have its own values), and the pause field adds a gap after every booking for notes or a breather. Mark services as online if they take place remotely: the flag creates no meeting link, so send your own when you confirm. Each request arrives as pending, so confirm it in the Bookings section and tell the client by email or message.

Keep other commitments out of the way. Subscribe to the ICS link of your external calendar and its busy blocks close those times, refreshed about every 15 minutes. Your own schedule can also be followed on your phone through an ICS export.

The essentials

  • ✓One personal booking link, shared once and used everywhere
  • ✓Notice rules and a pause after each session, set by you
  • ✓Meeting links are sent by you, as the tool creates none

Common questions

Can I hold hours in my calendar for admin or creative work?+

Yes. Add blocks or days off in Availability, and those times won’t be offered to clients.

Can the first consultation be free and the others paid?+

You can create one service at a price of zero and others with a price. The tool doesn’t collect payment, so arrange it outside, by invoice or transfer, before you confirm.

More guides you may find useful

Work for yourself or advise clients?

Replace the “when are you free?” emails with one booking link. The first 12 months are free, with no card, and the plans then start from €1 per month.

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