So you’d like to blog, then podcast about the blog, monetize the podcast with a course that has a membership component, accept PayPal and credit cards and invite affiliates to help market your services. Uh huh.

Oh, is that all? No problem! We can do that! Let me see, just 14 plugins, 2 WordPress installs, a half dozen other tools and you’re all set!

Unrealistic? Not so fast, Pendergrass. Here’s a note from a client letting me know exactly what she has going on (and a few comments about how that’s working out for her):

1. Memberium – a Word Press plug in to manage paid access to courses
2. Learn Dash – a Word Press plug in, a learning management system
3. Infusion Soft – to manage my list and to provide a shopping cart for my digital product sales
4. PayPal – to manage one time and subscription payments (I want to give student the option of choosing PayPal or a regular cc.)
5. Authorize.net – to manage one time and subscription payments
6. LeadPages – to capture leads.
7. Go To Webinar – to manage group meetings and record content. I want to drop this. It’s too expensive and complicated.
8. Plus This – an IS plug in to manage dynamic countdown timers within Lead Pages and emails. It’s too expensive and complicated.

What is she hoping to accomplish? To summarize, paid courses. Is that over simplifying? Maybe. Does it have to be so complex? Are there really so many plugins and SAAS tools necessary?

She goes on to say things like:

Any thoughts? Recommendations? I need help!

She’s obviously stuck and frustrated. But she’s not new to the whole game. She does say that this is an improvement over where it was:

I am still not satisfied with my tech. It is much better than before.

What else is out there? Is there life beyond WordPress? Is it time to say Thank You to our longtime WP friend and move onto … onto what? Is there a better solution out there?

Let’s see what the pros say.

• Here’s someone who seems to have figured it out, “How I setup an online course worth $100k“
• Chris Lema is asked, “Should I use RainMaker or host my own Platform?“
• Here are, ahem, 11 solutions to the challenge, “Alternative Apps to Rainmaker Platform.” But I count 8 items above. Oh, maybe you don’t need to use all of them.
• Getting a little further down in Google results gets things that say things like easy, “Use Kajabi To Make Money Selling Online Courses, Membership Sites and Information Products.” Never heard of Kajabi.
• Here’s a respectable source (WPMUDEV), “Selling Online Courses Using CoursePressPro And Membership Pro.” Are we down to 2 items? Oh! On further reading, this is a question, not a solution! The answer involves using tools like LeadPages … are we back to square one?

I worked for an SAP consulting firm in Holland. SAP is software that’s so complicated that it requires consulting firms to implement the software. Is that still the case? Is selling a membership course so complex that it requires a team of consultants, a variety pack of tools and thousands of dollars in implementation and set up?

You want complicated? I can get your complicated. [The Settlers of Catan]