For many years, I had this idea that if I got the website “just right”, then I wouldn’t have to do much of anything with it other than update the main content for my members.
And there have been times when this was essentially true.
However, I’ve found that every couple of years, I get bored with the status quo and get the urge to make changes. It would be easy to attribute this to the fact that I’m a Gemini with the sun, Mercury, and Mars sitting in Gemini on my natal astrology chart. It would also be easy to conclude that I’m an inconsistent person (flaky, as some might say), or that I find some attraction to chaos. I wouldn’t argue with any of these assessments.
The only “problem” with this is that making such changes usually takes far more effort than I initially imagine, and the deeper I get into the process, the more stuff that gets added to the task list.
As an example, this morning, I thought I was close to being done with the recent site renovation and just realized that I also need to write a new home page for the website. The current one is still promoting the memberships as the only option, and now they are just one of several.
Okay, so now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on with the purpose of this post. To fill you in on the many changes that have been made to the website.
The biggest change is that I’ve brought back the option to purchase products individually for permanent access, and memberships are not the only option available. They are still an option, and one I think will provide the most value to folks, but as a true Gemini, I love variety, and while the “one product, one price” business model makes sense, I can’t say I like it all that much.
Part of the renovation was also to prepare for a whole new line of hypnosis recordings that will address a wide variety of topics and issues, and there will be folks who aren’t interested in manifesting who will be helped by these new audio products.
Considering that I’m imagining creating 100’s of these recordings, I also needed a way to simplify the way products are presented and delivered. This same idea came up when working with a local organization (The Coptic Fellowship) when they decided to start offering workshops online.
Sure, a couple dozen could be easily offered through the normal shopping cart, but looking forward to a time when several hundred have been produced over the years, I wasn’t content to just go with what was convenient in the moment. Especially when video is involved and the customers are not technically inclined, we wanted to provide a means for customers to be able to watch the videos directly on the website without having to jump through a lot of hoops to find them.
The solution was a plugin that allowed products to be listed in a table, and also filtered so that a customer only saw the products they had purchased. So far, I’ve only found ONE plugin that does this and it’s made by a company called Barn2 Plugins. What makes this solution great is that it’s possible to include playable media right in the table itself, so a simple mouse click will start a video (or audio) playing, and another click will make the video full screen. (I’ll take some time later to find a way to combine these into a single click.)
Of course, I implemented the same product table idea on this website. The public one will be seen on our products page, with prices and Add to Cart buttons. A private members-only version includes direct links to the courses and/or media pages associated with each product. Adding a separate table for non-members is yet to be done as I write this, although I’ll probably take care of that soon. I just have to duplicate the member table and add one thing to the configuration.
BTW, it took months of searching (an hour or three here and there around other projects) to find a solution I liked. That’s another aspect of these renovations that tends to take more time than I’d like.
While the new table plugin may be more easily seen on the public Shop page, the main reason for it was to improve the My Account area for members and customers. If you have purchased anything other than a membership, you’ll see your purchases listed on the Media tab of the My Account page. This area got a few more updates, making it much more useful and attractive.
Astute members will notice that not all courses are listed on the public product page. There are 2 courses that need new sales pages written before they can be listed. They are the Awaken the Avatar Within course and Changing Lives for Fun & Profit. The Divine Dynamics course, which IS listed, needs to be packaged into a PDF before it’s fully ready, although the associated recordings are ready for download, and the written course itself can be accessed on the website, so it’s close enough to being fully ready to allow it on the public list.
As you can tell, this project is far from over.
Okay, other changes you might notice on the website.
Members get discounts on individual products. This way, if you want permanent access to a particular course or audio program, you can get it at a discount. Monthly Members get a 40% discount, and Annual Members get 60% off.
Lifetime Members, since you essentially get permanent access to everything anyways, get a full 100% discount during checkout, which is currently the easiest way to get download links for the materials. I have an idea for a better option, although that may not happen soon.
Private sessions with me have their own discounts. Monthly Members get a 5% discount here, Annual Members get 10% off, and Lifetime Members get a 20% discount.
Those who have been active on the website and racking up activity points will find they can trade them in for additional discounts during checkout.
These points can be applied to anything, including private sessions, so this is where active Lifetime Members will see a benefit to their activity points.
Incidentally, points are also awarded when purchasing, so they also serve as a type of loyalty reward program. To be more specific, if you spend $100, you get 100 points, and these points may be traded in for $10 off a future purchase.
The Member Welcome page lists a number of different things that will give you points, including completing courses, lessons, etc. or posting in the forums, which are still available even if hidden.
There have been a few other changes behind the scenes. I’ve switched the member content protection system again, this time to WishList Member, mostly because it makes it easy to sell access to specific pages while also giving access to ongoing members. Now that I’ve given this more than a passing glance, I see that this is really one of the most comprehensive membership systems available for WordPress.
There’s a chance that I haven’t completely set things up right, so if you run into any glitches, let me know and I’ll fix them. I’m testing as much as I can, and everything seems to be working for me, but I’m only working with Chrome and Firefox, so things might be different on other browsers.
And as mentioned earlier, there are still things yet to be done. As I’m writing this, I just thought of the various emails that go out when products are purchased that need to be edited, and I need to add some guidance somewhere to make it clear where to find downloads as opposed to on-site media. (There’s a Downloads area in the My Account page for this.) I’m also sure I need to look into setting up a new Member Dashboard with Wishlist Member and get a link to it where appropriate. If the forums are being removed, then I need to change the login landing page.
Sometimes the list seems endless.
To wrap this up, a lot of big changes have happened on the website recently, and more changes are in the works.
The biggest change yet to come is a whole new series of audio products based on my updated understandings of hypnosis and internal changework.
Personally, I feel like this whole year has been leading up to this, and while I REALLY wanted to start cranking out the new materials months ago, I’m allowing things to progress how they need to in order to create the best materials possible. I lost 4 members over the summer, and I believe it was due to the delay in producing the Harmonic Living course, which is still uppermost on my ToDo list.
What was originally planned for the Harmonic Living course has expanded to a point where it’s going to be a full product line that really could not be contained within a single course. And while I could say I’m a year behind in my plans, in 5 years time, the delay will seem minor in comparison.
In thinking about what to call this new line of products, I found what may be the most perfect name for such recordings right in the header of this website. PowerKeys.
Originally, the business name represented the core of the first course (Keys to Power), and fits perfectly with the idea of little recordings that can unlock vast realms of power within the listener.
To my members who have stayed with me throughout the years, I want you to know how much I appreciate you. It is for you that I continue to push myself to learn, grow, and become better at what I do in order to serve you at a higher level.
Until next time, be blessed, my friend.