The last several years have been busy in many ways.
Not only did I spend a lot of time with my photography / videography business, I also created a couple of new courses, updated one or two, and rebuilt this website to restructure my courses into an actual Learning Management System (LMS) to better present the content, and move away from the old aMemberPro software, which never fully integrated into the WordPress environment used for the content.
Earlier this year, I put together a new package and had great success in selling the package, yet found myself wondering if the old way of selling my materials was really the BEST way.
So, I’ve put together a plan for going further in this site reconstruction project, and will share it here so all members are aware of the upcoming changes.
FIRST STEP
The Woocommerce shopping cart that has worked OKAY since it was installed is getting replaced with a membership-focused system. Paid Memberships Pro is what I have installed, and am setting up now.
In this new system, I’m setting up 4 different memberships. There will be an Annual All-Access Membership and a Lifetime All-Access Membership, as well as an Annual Course-Access Membership and a Lifetime Course-Access Membership.
While a year is enough time for most folks to go through the materials, I have some members who have been with me for many years, and they will appreciate being able to get access to all new courses and support systems as they are released. I tend to create at least 1 new course each year, and I have ideas for other support system materials to create.
I’m keeping the prices of these memberships low to compensate for the fact that new members will not have a choice to buy one or two courses only. Lifetime Course-Access Membership is priced to be equivalent to the current prices of all courses (about $149), yet will also include new courses as they are created and added to the website. (I have 4 more courses to add, which doubles the value of this membership.)
Annual Course-Access Membership will be priced at 1/3rd of the Lifetime Membership (just $49), or about the same price as a single course currently. The main difference is that previously, purchasing a single course meant lifetime access to that one course, with additional purchases necessary to get access to other courses.
All-Access memberships include all courses and all support systems. I want to keep the annual price of this membership within reach of most folks, so I will price the Annual All-Access Membership at $149/year. Essentially the price of one course plus one of the support systems (the ones I recommend the most — Awaken the Avatar Within, and the Symbolic Solutions 2.0 package). Sticking with the 3x multiplier, the lifetime membership gets priced at $449, which is quite a bit lower than the total of all currently listed items (roughly $550) as well as the Platinum Membership, which was most recently priced at $795 and offered the same thing.
So, to summarize, this first step is to restructure the way my courses and support systems are offered and priced. This should be completed within a week.
As part of this step, I’ll be converting all previous memberships (at least those active since 2016) into this same structure, so many members will end up getting more than they originally paid for.
SECOND STEP
Following the change in how my materials are sold, I’m planning to “gamify” the members area. I want to do whatever I can to help my members get the most value out of my materials, and that means finding ways to motivate them to go through the materials, use them, and do the exercises described.
So, I’ll be setting up a system to award points for things like completing the lessons of each course, more points for completing the courses, as well as points when passing quizzes, which is another thing that will be added to the courses. I also plan to find a way to award points for listening to the various audios included in the support systems.
All these points will go towards earning badges and “ranks” in the community. Those who do the most work to improve their manifesting skills will be recognized for their diligence, and I hope to find other ways of rewarding hard work as well.
And speaking of community, this is something I’ve wanted to create since the early days. I’ve already identified the tools needed to set up a more social aspect for site members. I believe the main advantage to doing this on the website rather than Facebook is the more private nature provided here. Yes, Facebook allows for private groups, but there is still Facebook themselves tracking and analyzing every post, even in the private groups. They don’t need to know that we sometimes question reality itself and wonder about the purpose of living.
This step will take more time. The initial setup may only take a couple of weeks. Tuning it to perfection will most likely take several months.
OTHER STEPS
Over the years, I’ve found it best to allow things to grow organically, so I don’t want to plan too far into the future. However, I do have some ideas of where I’d like to see this website go.
The first idea is to create video versions of all the lessons in all the courses. Currently, this means about 400 videos. Once I add the other courses, this number may double. Obviously, this will take a significant amount of time to complete.
Ideally, I’d like to see our community grow to a point where we have in-person events at least once a year. Maybe monthly live events online, like we’ve learned how to do with Zoom and other conferencing platforms this past year.
I’d also like to see more people discovering their inner Power and learn how to manifest their desires. The more people who understand that Life is unlimited and we can have everything we want, the less people will feel a need to deprive others so they can have more.
One step towards this will be a grassroots-marketing effort where members feel proud to introduce their friends and family to my materials. Hopefully, the changes planned for the second step of this plan will result in a website members are proud to recommend.
And finally, I always pay attention to suggestions given to me by my students. I may not always know the best way to implement them, and sometimes I can be a little slow in switching directions. Ultimately, though, the future of this website will be shaped by what we ALL want to see.
Feel free to post your comments below about what YOU’D like to see this website become.
Less than a week after posting the roadmap above, and I’ve already got the memberships set up as well as the core of the “gamification” system in place. Still need to test everything to make sure it works, although I’m confident it will work perfectly.
Haven’t yet found out how to award points for listening to the support system audios, and haven’t yet added any community aspects to the member area. These will come later.
Two weeks since posting, and I’ve got the new memberships set up and have most of the gamification and community aspects in place.
Right now, I’m focused on polishing the way the elements are presented, including various system messages, emails, and that sort of thing.
We should be ready to invite new members in soon.
Thanks!