Unlike the favorite things from the Sound of Music, “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens…” some of the favorite things I’m about to share, may not be as much fun, but they make it much easier to run an online business.
Over the years, many of you have asked me how to start an online business. Clinicians, perhaps you too, are looking for new ways to create revenue, either in addition to their practice or as a standalone business.
And one of the things you can do easily is package up your knowledge into a course and sell it.
The great thing about this approach is that it can be either a stand-alone business or a supplement to your current practice or coaching service.
But when people look at what it takes, it can be overwhelming! Because to take part in the knowledge commerce, you need to have multiple tools.
Here are just some of what you need:
- Email service provider
- Landing pages
- Forms to collect email
- Video hosting
- Website
- Course pages
- Easy ways to accept money online
- And much more.
It’s a lot, believe me, I know…
I’ve been doing this for many years now, and I can tell you, it’s a lot of overhead, not to mention the learning curve.
And this is where My Favorite Things come into the picture.
Course Platform
You see, in the past, I’ve paid far more for only a handful of tools, compared to what I pay for Kajabi, which is the platform I am using now.
About three years ago, I decided to try a new system, an all-in-one system called Kajabi. And it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made.
You see, Kajabi integrates everything into one platform: website, landing pages, email, autoresponder, memberships, courses, video hosting, web forms, payment processor, funnels, and more.
All the components talk to each other. Gone are the days of duct-taping individual systems together, trying to get them to work. While there is still a learning curve, it’s nothing like it used to be.
The Kajabi platform has saved us countless dollars and hours, not to mention frustration. It’s amazing, Kajabi just works, and it keeps getting better all the time.
A few NPs have jumped on board already, because they saw the value in doing this…….
So, here is what I want to make sure you know:
Kajabi Is Having A Black Friday To Cyber Monday Sale!
They’ve not had this kind of sale since they first opened up the “new” version of Kajabi – which is when I joined.
Kajabi offers a number of plans and options for you to choose from. Take a look and check it out. If you’re at all interested, it’s well worth your time.
I can tell you, as one of the early adopters, what I’m paying per year is a fraction of the current plans… because I joined during a sale!
If you’ve ever considered doing courses, please take a look and see if it’s right for you.
Hosting Provider
Perhaps you’re wondering why I would still need a hosting provider when everything is on Kajabi? And that’s a good question.
My site “ClinicianBusinessInsititue.com is hosted on the Kajabi platform. However, my original blog NPBusiness.org is hosted on Siteground.com.
You see, my blog is an established site with many links across the internet, and that’s why I didn’t want to move it.
Also, I don’t like to put all my eggs in one basket… and that’s why the blog is on Siteground.com. We’ve been with Siteground.com now for a while and are happy with the service.
In the past, I’ve also hosted with Liquidweb.com. However, since moving part of the business to Kajabi, I no longer needed this level of hosting and scaled down.
Both hosting providers are solid choices, and I recommend both.
Domain Registrar
Yes, I host my websites separate from where I register my domains… I think it’s just good business practice.
The domain registrars we’ve used for many years are NameCheap.com and GoDaddy.com. Over the years we’ve had good experiences with both and recommend them.
Both GoDaddy and NameCheap offer special sales during this weekend. So if you want to register a new domain/s, now is a good time to do it!
Social Media Tools
Here is a tool that makes it easier to have a consistent presence on social media. It’s one of my favorites and is called MeetEdgar.com. Take a look and see for yourself how MeetEdgar could help you with your social media too.
Buffer is great and I use it in conjunction with MeetEdgar. With Buffer, you can pre-schedule your content and/or share on the fly. They have a free version (limited) and a paid version. Check it out and see how it might help you as well.
Other Tools I Use
Here are three more of my go-to tools.
LastPass.com – it’s my choice of password manager. It’s a great program and I’d have a hard time without it. If you are not using a password manager, why?
Acuity Scheduler – it’s my choice for scheduling appointments; I’ve been using it for some time and love it! You can even collect payments before someone schedules with you…and it’s HIPAA compliant.
Canva – it’s hard to have an online platform without using images and Canva is one of the easiest to use platforms available. I used the free version for a long time before upgrading to their paid version for extra functionality. I use this almost daily!
If you’re at all interested to get started online, take advantage of the savings available throughout this weekend.
And if you have questions about any of the above, just let me know.
Hi
I really enjoyed your blog. I am particularly interested in HIPAA compliant sites where you can launch a course, have a blog, gather emails etc. Do you know whether Kajabi or a similar site is HIPAA compliant?
Thanks very much in advance
Barry
To my knowledge, none of these online platforms for courses and education are HIPAA compliant. The question I would ask is what you plan to do? What PHI are you planning on sharing? Does a site that is for educational purposes need to be HIPAA compliant? I’m not sure it does.
If you want your blog etc on a HIPAA compliant server, you can certainly do that. For example, Liquid Web offers HIPAA compliant hosting.