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If you, or a client want to create a quick and VERY powerful membership site using your current or planned WordPress installation, I highly recommend Wishlist Member.
As more and more web development clients discover the power of WordPress, we find ourselves working regularly with projects that integrate this membership plugin.
Right now Wishlist Member is offering a Two License Promo (this is not advertised on their site) meaning that anyone who purchases a Single Site License has the opportunity to get a second license at a whopping 74% discount. It’s the best deal they’ve ever offered and for an extra $25, you get a second license – which means you can use it on another site.
If you’ve been thinking about starting a membership site, private community or you need a way to deliver a digital course, then you’ll want to take a look at this.
Why do I recommend this plugin so highly?
Because I work in it almost daily for myself and for our Web Development and Virtual Assistance clients. It’s by far the best solution for creating a membership site and there are even 30+ videos available for free showing you how it’s being used. Besides the huge savings, you’ll find that once you start using WishList Member, you’ll quickly see that there are many ways to use it.
For example, a little while back they released a free training video demonstrating 10 of the most popular kinds of membership sites (and some of them don’t even have content inside!). You can view that here.
My Web Development team is expert at working with this plugin so please feel free to ask any questions you like!
One thing we always recommend during a web development project is that the client consider obtaining a toll free number. Having a toll free number on your website while offering credibility, also offers the opportunity to not publish to the world your home or cell phone number. In this day of work-from-home entrepreneurs, this is an important consideration.
My office uses Grasshopper which used to be called GotVMail. Grasshopper is very easy to set up. Just pick a toll free number for your business, or transfer your current number. Then record your main greeting. You will also have the opportunity to have it professionally recorded if that is your preference. Add departments and employees, choose what phone number you want your calls to terminate to and you are done. I actually don’t have my toll free number ring to my office as it can be terribly disruptive. What we have done is to create mailboxes and departments and have the voice messages emailed to the proper department as an .MP3.
There is also a “Read Your Voicemail” function available for an additional $10 a month. If you are on the run a good bit, the voicemail transcription will be emailed to you as readable text. You’ll be able to stay connected when you can’t listen to the .MP3 file of your voicemail. You can also listen to your messages on your Blackberry or iPhone. Just click the “Play It On Mobile link in the notification email and you’ll be listening to your voice mails without dialing or logging in to your account. For those of us on the run, this is a great tool.
Another really great feature is that you have unlimited extensions for your small business. Each extension has its own call forwarding, voicemail and message delivery settings. Even if you’re the only employee, by utilizing unlimited extensions you are giving your small business the big business sound that it needs.
Truthfully, there are too many features for me to list here. What I can tell you is that we use it, and love it. It is also very affordable to have a toll free number these days. Plans start at $9.95 a month and there is a $25 activation fee. My monthly bill seems to hover around $25 a month which given all that the system offers is remarkably affordable. Be warned though, if you make a habit of answering the calls that come through on your toll free number you will run your bill right up through the roof. I strongly recommend that you treat this strictly as a voice mail system and return the calls at your first opportunity.
To train with Denise Griffitts to become a highly technically savvy, highly paid, highly sought-after Virtual Assistant please visit Virtual Assistance University.
**You have permission to reprint in your publication or to your website/blog any articles by Denise Griffitts found on this Website as long as Denise Griffitt’s name and contact information is included. Denise Griffitts, Virtual Assistance Industry Expert, http://internetmasteryblog.com, info @ virtualassistantindustry.com, 888-719-6711.
I recently began working with a brand new WordPress template created by “The Internet Genius”, Ben Cope called Stardust Theme and love it! In fact, we are currently using it for 3 different clients. Since each client has a very different business sensibility it is imperative that we work with templates that are very easy to customize to the clients needs without looking like we are just using the same template over and over again.
Take a look at MelanieJWilliams.com. This site is not completely done, but will give you an idea of just how lovely this template is.
Why you’ll love the Stardust WordPress Theme …
When laying out the plan for your WordPress platform website you may want to consider creating a membership site meaning that you are providing valuable and needed content to paying customers each month. Quite literally a membership site means that you sign up readers to pay a monthly subscription fee. Your members will receive coaching, teaching, business tips, audios, videos, downloads or anything else that your particular niche can provide. We strongly recommend using WP Wishlist which is a very affordable and incredibly powerful WordPress plugin. Popular features include Total Content Protection, Sequential Content Delivery, Easy Member Management and much more.
Special guest Philip Mutrie talks about how WP WishList helped him grow his optin list to 12,000 people. That all by itself makes it worth listening to but of course they covered other very important topics such as some powerful ways to increase interaction with your members, why creating “sub-groups” can increase member loyalty, why not accepting everyone can improve your membership and lastly, they discuss the 2 step registration process. Click here to listen to interview and then decide if a membership site is the perfect solution for your online business.
We recommend GoDaddy for domain name purchases but don’t really like hosting WordPress sites with them. We find that they put way too many sites on one server which means bottlenecks and slow loading pages. We now host all WordPress sites on HostGator and have been very happy with the results.
If you have any questions about WordPress and membership sites please email them to me at info @ virtualassistantindustry.com.
**You have permission to reprint in your publication or to your website/blog any articles by Denise Griffitts found on this Website as long as Denise Griffitt’s name and contact information is included. Denise Griffitts, Virtual Assistance Industry Expert, http://internetmasteryblog.com, info @ virtualassistantindustry.com, 888-719-6711.
I think by now that most people who pay close attention to social media marketing are probably familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk. He is the “social media” expert behind the now famous Wine Library TV. Frankly, I don’t much care for wine and rarely drink alcohol of any description but keep up with this website just to see what new ideas Gary comes up with that can be utlitzed for myself or my clients.
I just found out that one of my favorite WordPress Plugins, WP Wishlist is now offering a free copy of Gary’s new book “Crush It” and an interview with Gary during the month of October with any purchase. The book is a perfect match for all WishList customers as it outlines how to turn your passion into a profitable business by using the internet. As Gary himself says about this book, it is “the secret for business – with details!” If you are in the process of building a membership site WP Wishlist is a “MUST HAVE” plugin. Combining it with this book is pure genius in my opinion.
Review (Courtesy of Amazon.com)
“Gary is a force of nature. His authentic, raw passion and caring touches everyone. His insights into social media & his message of opportunity could not be more timely.” (Tony Robbins )
“Gary was the first person to push me on the importance of personal brand and transparency – this was months before anyone was talking about it, he’s always two steps ahead of anyone else.” (Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg.com )
“Anyone looking to supercharge their career should beg, borrow, and steal to learn Gary Vee’s techniques. He reinvented the rules to build a $60-million business from scratch-on his own terms.” (Tim Ferriss, #1 NY Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek )
“Gary Vaynerchuk is one of those entrepreneurs who has discovered the secret to combining passion with business. He is always an inspiration and always entertaining. You owe it to yourself to read this book!” (Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com )
“Gary Vaynerchuk has become a walking, talking (and oh, such talking!), webbing and Tweeting example of how believing in what you do and keeping it fun can step up your life in all ways. There is nobody I would rather talk sports with-or wine or life.” (Scott Simon, host of Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR )
Product Description
Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.
**You have permission to reprint in your publication or to your website/blog any articles by Denise Griffitts found on this Website as long as Denise Griffitt’s name and contact information is included. Denise Griffitts, Virtual Assistance Industry Expert, http://internetmasteryblog.com, info @ virtualassistantindustry.com, 888-719-6711.
Denise Griffitts, Founder and CEO of Your Office On The Web and Your Virtual Assistant, along with her team of highly sought after web developers and virtual assistants share insightful tips and tools that you can use immediately to build and grow your online presence.
Denise is a nationally recognized Virtual Assistance Industry Expert, Thought Leader, Coach and Mentor. She also trains and coaches virtual assistants at Virtual Assistance University, a leading provider of training and coaching for the virtual assistance industry. Whether you're just looking to get started as a VA, or you've already got a strong client base, VAU will help you skyrocket your success as a Virtual Assistant.
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