Create Memberships with WP Courseware Version 4.7

Now you can use WP Courseware as a single solution to deliver courses and premium membership content!

Today we’re excited to announce that we’ve wrapped up development of version 4.7.0 of WP Courseware and it includes one of the most highly requested features of 2020…

Memberships!

In a nutshell, this functionality allows you to assign any content published on your site to a WP Courseware course. When users are enrolled for a course, they’ll automatically receive access to any content you’ve associated with that particular course.

Now you no longer need to purchase, configure, and maintain a separate membership plugin to offer both courses and premium members-only content.

To see the new membership functionality in action, be sure to check out Ben’s latest video on our YouTube channel…

So what type of content can you include in your membership?

With this new membership functionality, you can now get creative and really broaden the types of supplemental content you offer to your students to enhance the learning experience and deliver more perceived value.

Let’s look at a few types of resources you might choose to protect on dedicated pages which, together with your course(s), would create an attractive membership package.

Live Webinars

Webinars are a great way to add value to your course offerings. They can be used to address dynamic topics which change too frequently to be a part of your evergreen course content and they’re also great for bringing in guest presenters who may have expertise in an area tangential to your own. We’ve also seen them frequently used by course creators to cross-sell or upsell additional products or services such as coaching or consulting. Webinar hosting platforms like Zoom, GoToWebinar, and WebinarJam allow you to easily embed these sessions into WordPress pages.

Q and A Sessions

Following up on the heels of live webinars, we’ve also worked with course creators who dedicate a page behind their membership paywall to regular live question and answer sessions. These can also be facilitated through online conferencing platforms like Zoom and they’re a scalable way for you to offer your the value of your expertise without committing to one-on-one calls or coaching.

Group Discussion

Building a community in addition to a course can keep your members coming back long after they’ve finished your course content. Whether you choose to use a forum plugin to facilitate discussion or decide to embed a private Facebook Group on its own membership page, any discussion option you choose can now easily be associated with a specific course with WP Courseware’s membership feature.

Premium Downloads

This is a tried-and-true method for adding “bonuses” to your course’s sales page and enhancing overall value. In addition to your course content, you can offer valuable members-only resources within your site. This could include checklists, workbooks, ebooks, spreadsheets, audiobooks…we even worked with one course creator who offers a set of free members-only WordPress plugins that are designed to assist with parts of the workflows that he teaches students in his course.

Case Studies and Interviews

We’ve seen a lot of course topics which greatly benefit from students being able to see a “real world” example of the course concepts in action. If you’re teaching any topic which is designed to lead students to an outcome, why not use case studies or interviews to show them how someone else has used your strategies to arrive at that outcome? They can help your students build confidence in the subject they’re learning while also helping you establish social proof that you can deliver results!

Discounts and Special Offers

This doesn’t work in every course or membership niche, however, if you’re able to directly negotiate special pricing on products or services that your students can take advantage of, then creating a dedicated membership page for listing these is another terrific value-add.

Recommended Tools

Another great way to add value to your course is through a recommended list of tools or resources. This can be a major time-saver for your students, especially if your instructional content is highly process-oriented. This will prevent them from having to research and evaluate different solutions or tools when you’ve already done the work of “trial and error”. It can also be a nice source of additional income for any products you’re recommending for which you happen to be an affiliate.