NEW! Sell and host Courses on Squarespace

[@coachingcareconnections]

A on demand course structure has been established, which we'll call Class Number One. The objective is to start Class Number Two (which covers the same material) after completing Class Number One. It's important to ensure that access to all course material is not granted simultaneously for Class Number Two. This sequential approach to course access encourages a structured learning pathway, which helps students to focus and understand each successive class better.

[@KerstinMartin]

The only way to drip content in Squarespace is to use publishing dates. You cannot dynamically drip based on sign up date. If that's needed than a platform like Kajabi would be more suitable.

[@responsible-gambler]

Nice tutorial - thanks. Not too keen on the pricing plans. Better to offer all options to students e.g. 1 time payment or subscription or this or that, they choose, not us. Also the sign-up pop-up must be your choice not Squarespaces' i.e. 'would you like your students to sign up before or after they load cart' - as you said some people don't like that system so you should be able to set it up the way 'you' want depending on your niche. So, good as it is, it still needs to be more flexible.

[@JaneHinchliffe]

Looking forward to the webinar, Kerstin.

[@puredistancegolf]

Finally, an update. Good to see.

[@movementmuse]

Thank you, Kerstin!

[@KhidhirAhmad-c6u]

Fantastic tutorial and very well explained! Quick que, is there a way in 'courses' for people to upload assignments?

[@KerstinMartin]

Squarespace doesn't have an upload function but I have a workaround here which you'd be able to use inside Courses as well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZ7SqIlspNF2a5Yfeature=shared

[@Ihavegumption]

Was just looking into this. Thank you for this!😊

[@LoftyDevs]

It's really helpful, Thank you for sharing @Kerstin Martin

[@jenxwebdesign]

Very comprehensive, well done 👏

[@meaganjustus]

Great overview! I'm excited about this but still a bit confused. I'm sure your webinar next week will clarify for me 😃! I'd love to see a comparison chart on when to use Member Areas vs. Courses. I have several clients in unique niche's so the content I'm creating is in more of a 'grey area'. For example, I have a client with a small team of VIP customers who wants to offer special tutorials and videos (for free) only to them (or, if she chooses to also offer them publicly there would be a fee charged in those cases)--I can see where either of these platforms would work in her case but don't know yet how to decipher which one is best. I'm leaning toward Member Areas but maybe courses would be better because you could create the 'course' one time and give a coupon code for select people to get it free?

[@KerstinMartin]

Hi Meagan! It's more about the format you prefer to use. Member Areas is very flexible because you can add all kinds of page types, including Courses. Courses is nice for those who want a sidebar navigation and easier way to organize course lessons, plus completion tracking. I will talk more about it next week. Maybe register and leave your question in the Q&A section. Thanks! xo

[@caseyalexander9021]

Hi, do you have a recording of the free webinar? I missed it :(

[@KerstinMartin]

There is a link in the description 😍

[@nulifefit7782]

Hi! Great video! Is it anyway that I can get a replay of the webinar?

[@KerstinMartin]

Thanks! Yes, just go to the live videos on my KZbin, it's in there :)

[@HeatherClark-v6g]

thank you for this!

[@agymayachelonia8381]

This is great. Sadly I'm not on version 7.1 and need to do the dreaded upgrade. Can I still host video classes on v7.0 while I do the transition, or would you advise I wait?

[@KerstinMartin]

Yes, you can upload or embed videos in 7.0 but not via the video page, that is 7.1 only. However, in Q4 Squarespace are launching their 7.0 > 7.1 migration assistant, so watch out for that!

[@agymayachelonia8381]

@@KerstinMartin oh the migration assistant will be godsend. Thank you so much!!

[@puredistancegolf]

Sorry to comment so much, but do you know if they're going to update Member Areas to parallel these new features found in Courses? Correct me if I'm wrong but Courses just seems like Member Areas 1.5 with a different name. Not sure why they didn't just add this functionality to Member Areas.

[@KerstinMartin]

No. Member Areas is quite different and can include all kinds of pages (regular, blogs, podcasts, shops, portfolios) AND courses, too. If all you need is a course then just use Courses on its own. But if you want a membership with more features, like a private blog for instance, then go with Member Areas. I agree that this is a bit confusing, to know which use case is the best and I will cover this in my webinar next week.

[@lisaalexander9891]

This is great! Thank you. Curious to know if there are new(er) templates in Squarespace that accommodate courses. Obviously you can add courses in any template.

[@KerstinMartin]

Yes I think there are! I seem to remember seeing course creator templates being mentioned somewhere. Maybe have a look at the Squarespace template shop. However, if you already have a Squarespace website you won't be able to switch templates, then you just need to do a redesign. But you probably know that already :-)

[@jeanetteblix2764]

This is amazing!!!

[@jenneyoung2980]

I am still a little unclear on the cost. Is there a 9% fee plus the credit card fee if you are selling courses on the business plan?

[@KerstinMartin]

Yes, the 9% is in addition and only on the lowerst tier of the Courses pricing plan. The medium plan is 3% and the highest plan 0%. As much as I love Squarespace, I wish their pricing for all their products wasn't so complicated!

[@puredistancegolf]

They really need to get rid of the "Join"/sign up button (which forces people to create a member area profile PRIOR to it showing up in their shopping card and purchasing). This a sales killer.

[@KerstinMartin]

I disagree. People who are ready and serious about purchasing will be happy to go through the process. I actually think it's a great sequence because it gives students immediate access to their courses, without having to wait for an email with an access link. Anyone who is put off by this is not a serious buyer.

[@puredistancegolf]

@@KerstinMartin fair enough.

[@KerstinMartin]

@@ElizabethaKaur That's not entirely correct. The Squarespace sequence just lends more visibility to the fact that many prospective buyers abandon their carts, like 70% - only here they are stopped at the account creation point. I used both methods for years and shifting to create-account-first made no difference to my numbers. If someone buys a course they expect to create an account with a personal password, a serious buyer will not have an issue with this. I can see where this is an issue for hustlers who rely on manipulative methods to trigger fast purchases. They are the ones who then also get a lot of refund requests.

[@RelateGREAT]

I'm so excited!!! You answered me in a comment a couple of months ago that SQS was expanding Member Areas beyond the 10-course limit later this summer.. so I hung on... just to find out that they did this!!! THIS is what I was needing. I've been building my course on Podia, which is good, but I prefer SQS and everything integrated. So happy and relieved about this. Thank you for your wonderful video. So helpful. Do you know if there is a limit to courses with this or no?

[@KerstinMartin]

The only limit is dictated by the total number of webpages you can have on your website :) So no more limit of 10 as we had with member areas.

[@BigBangThinking]

Hola ! Is there a way to override the 10 course limit in a payment plan? Thanks

[@KerstinMartin]

@@BigBangThinking Not that I am aware of. I wonder if you could create pricing plans with ten products each and then bundle these pricing plans? But that could get quite messy I suppose.

[@BigBangThinking]

@@KerstinMartin tried to add pricing plans to pricing plans, but they don’t work. That is what you meant by Bundles? Or there are bundles as well?

[@KerstinMartin]

@@BigBangThinking Yes, that's what I meant but I wasn't sure whether that actually worked. I think you can only add actual digital products to pricing plans. How many products do you want to bundle?

[@coachellyn]

One thing I'm not seeing is the ability for people who watch the lesson to comment below the lesson and ask questions. Is this something that is possible from your knowledge?

[@KerstinMartin]

Can't do that unfortunately but we've submitted it as a feature request :)

[@AliBrownie]

I noticed that too. I get LOTS of questions teaching art. I think this would be difficult for my students not to be able to ask questions. I could perhaps do a Facebook group but do like to have things tidy in one space. I’m so fed up with Teachable and really need to get my courses back on my website.