I have big plans – always! 🙂 I’ve mentioned my membership site idea before to you all, but now I’m putting it out there to you to see if this membership site is something you really want – or is it just something that I think would be great?
The Spoonie Warriors Self Help Buffet
This is what I’d like to call my new membership site.
At this stage I think it’s the best name to encompass what the site will be about, but I’m open to suggestions (or my own change of mind!) 🙂
So I’ll cut to the chase (rare for me, I know, but I’m trying new things!) 😉 – THIS is what I want the Spoonie Warriors Self Help Buffet to provide:
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A one-stop shop for information about all types of alternative healing modalities, tools, practitioners and ways of supporting our healing and quality of life, while living with chronic illness and pain.
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The above would be primarily presented in the form of recorded audio interviews with practitioners and experts in the various fields.
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The interviews (downloadable mp3s) would be supplemented by a section on each topic/healing modality etc that would link to research articles, blog posts, podcasts, books and other high quality resources.
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A Forum where members can interact with like-minded Spoonies, who are also taking on the challenge of doing all they can to further their healing and quality of life via every means possible (or to just moan and groan about life as a spoonie, although that will be strictly limited to one moan and groan a day – or some such agreement!) 😉
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Regular additions to the interview library each month (I’m aiming to have about 10-20 up when the site launches, then add 2 or so a month)
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Live webinars twice a month where you will get a chance to interact with myself and my guest on whatever topic may be the “chosen one” that day. I plan to have one of the sessions each month be a Q & A group coaching call where I will coach alone or with a fellow coach to answer your questions. The other webinar will focus on an alternative healing modality or topic, with a guest who is an expert in that area. Q & A will also be involved at the end of these sessions. Recordings of these sessions, mp3 downloads and transcripts will be available if you miss the live session.
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Over time I plan to add other sections in the self-help realm, such as Healing Success Stories (with people who are now fit & healthy after being former Spoonies), Ways To Manage Everyday Life, Parenting, Dealing With Relationships, Spoonie Entrepreneur Tips and various other topics I could bore you with but won’t just yet. All these areas would have the interviews section and blog/research link section.
I could give you heaps more detail, but at this stage, I think this is enough to give you the flavour of what I’m wanting to create.
Is This What You Want?
Previously I’d been running on the mentality of “this is exactly the type of thing I would have loved to have access to when I was first diagnosed with CFS / ME, and in the following 22 years that followed. The information overload can be such an added stress in the Spoonie experience, and having lots of great info in the one place like that, where you could actually hear ‘from the horse’s mouth’ what things like acupuncture, kinesiology, yoga and Pilates are, would be awesome. Plus the forum community, plus the webinars, plus the ….” 🙂
And considering I have received most of my improvements in my health via alternative therapies rather than Western medicine, I would have also found it very helpful to not have to rely on word-of-mouth and the internet to find out about therapies/practices that may have helped me years ago.
I’ve also sort of had the “build it and they will come” attitude in a Field of Dreams way.
BUT I’ve realised this might be me living in a dream world (it’s happened before!!! Shock, horror!)
What I really need to know, before I put a lot of time, energy and money into building a membership site like this is, DO YOU WANT IT??
And, maybe a harder one to ask, WOULD YOU PAY FOR IT??
I’d love to do all this for free, but if I truly want to make a massive difference to you guys and my own life, I need to find a way to earn an income while I’m doing it – or I’ll have to stop!
Plus, I’d love to inspire and eventually mentor other Spoonie Entrepreneurs to do the same thing. I just have to make it happen for myself first so I can speak from experience :-).
I also want to make it a really great membership site that serves members well, and so that means it’s going to cost money to build and run. If I’m going to do it, I want to do it well, not just the cheapest, easiest option that eventually ends up being disappointing to all concerned.
So how much would I be asking you to pay?
At this stage I’m looking at an introductory price of US$10 a month, with it eventually going up to US$17.
In my experience, that amount of money is do-able on a Spoonie budget, and with enough members (200+), I’d be able to run it at the level I want and need to be able to run it at, while covering my costs and earning an income.
So it’s not a huge, costly thing for members by any means. And I’m planning to give way more value than you’d be paying for ~ always over-deliver will be my motto (or one of my many!).
So now I need to hear your answers
Do you want it?
Would you pay for it?
To respond to these questions, either comment directly below this post, with appropriate comments if you want to add them.
OR you can Tweet me and say “#SpoonieWarriorsSelfHelpBuffet “Yes, Yes” or “No, No” or some other combination of answers.
Another way you can say Yes to both, and also get a chance to be part of the creation/building process of the membership site is to join my private Facebook membership group ~ Spoonie Warriors Self Help Buffet Membership Site – “Building The Dream” Advisory Committee. (Ok, so that was too long a name for FB, so I had to go with this one – Spoonie Self Help Buffet Membership Site – “Build The Dream” Advisory Group (but I’m leaving the first one there so you know what I really wanted to call it!) 🙂
This private Facebook group will be for Spoonies who are “all in” on the idea of the membership site and really want to see me make it happen.
Your job as members of the group will be to give me ideas and feedback, let me bounce my ideas off you, motivate me when my own motivation (and energy) is flagging, and generally be my cheerleaders, partners, dream-makers and supporters in the journey toward making this thing happen.
As part of the group, at a certain time leading up to the site launch, you will be asked to literally buy in by becoming inaugural members at US$10. I’ll think of some bonuses for you for doing that, but at this stage they’re still in the “somewhere in Louise’s brain” phase of development 😉
This “buy in” will actually be what allows me to fund the launch of the site, so it’ll be a bit similar to a KickStarter campaign, but done within my existing Spoonie community and your links.
I’ve considered putting this business idea up on KickStarter and seeing if I can get it crowd-funded.
It’s still an option, but if I could crowd-fund it organically via my already-established Spoonie community, then all the better.
You will also get a chance to become affiliates for the membership site right off the bat, so that you will earn a commission for anyone you refer to the site (cos you think it’s fan-flipping-tastic, not just cos you want a cut of the proceeds! I’d only ever ask people to recommend something they truly believe in). 🙂
So that’s it. That’s my idea – or the bare bones anyway.
Do you want it? Do you think others do too? And would you pay for it?
Let me know via all the avenues mentioned above. I’d love to create this for you all, but the ball’s now in your court.
Keep Smiling
Louise 🙂
PS. Please share this post with any Spoonies you know or any Spoonie groups you’re involved with as I’d like feedback from as man
PPS. If you want a taster of the type of interviews I will be providing on the membership site, please pop over to my pre-Christmas 2014 post about my interview with Natural Therapist Sue Barnes (which you can get access to download)