This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey there, what's up? Chris Guillebeau here. Got a great question from a listener today. She is wondering, well, she's got an online art class and she's wondering about the registration process for it. Because when it comes to DIY website building tools like Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, et cetera, many others, I often talk about how they have similar features and it really doesn't matter too much which one you choose unless you're doing something that does have some specialized thing that requires something that only one of them has, but that's kind of a strange situation.
Like most of the time it's not really gonna matter which one of these platforms you choose. So she's wondering basically if the same thing is true of online registration tools. So we're gonna get into that. And by the way, about tools and such, I think sometimes people want me to say, just go and use this one and I will do that. If I have a specific recommendation, if I think it is important, then I don't mind saying like here's what I think is best.
But when it comes to those like website building tools, as I said, there's a number of options. And so it really does come down to your personal preference and probably the most important thing to say is that you're not going to make the wrong choice. If for some reason you feel like you've made the wrong choice and you want to try something else, if the shiny object looks nicer, the grass being greener, whatever other metaphors I can mix, then it's not that hard to change. It's not that hard to change platforms. But the question is, is the same true of online registration tools?
So that's what we're gonna dive in today in this listener question. After the shout out to our sponsor, we will hear from Susan. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Susan at Art with Susan. I remember a while back you did a comparison of website builders and really the upshot of what you said was that it doesn't much matter, just pick one and go with it. I wonder if you feel that same way about registration systems.
I'm running online classes and I want people to be able to register easily and seamlessly, pay where they are and not have to keep typing their information over and over again every time they register. Is this also the type of thing? Just pick one and go with it or maybe there is some comparison shopping. I'd love to hear what you have to say. Thank you.
- Hey Susan, what's up? Thank you so much for listening. Listeners, you can check out Susan's website at Art with Susan.com. So yes, about those website platforms, I do think you should pretty much pick one and go with it. As you mentioned, with online classes, it's mostly the same with maybe one modification.
The modification is with an online class, there's often an integrated system for where the curriculum or the lessons or whatever it is that you're providing students for how that is delivered. So if you're using a specific platform that delivers that content or takes students through some kind of onboarding orientation, then it's important to either use that platform's payment processor if they have one or to choose something that works, integrates with that system basically. Because as you said, you don't want people to have to enter the same thing over and over again. So if I was doing a class like this, and I had already decided, here's how I'm delivering the content, then my decision for how I would handle the registration would probably connect to that somehow. And it might not matter, because if I was using something like PayPal, then it's probably pretty simple enough to tie it together.
But I just would want to be careful to not choose something that didn't integrate. We want to choose something that did make it difficult for people to not only pay, but also sign up. Like the more seamless you can make that, the better. So I don't think it makes a huge difference as long as it works together with how you're delivering the content. That's my thought on that.
Thank you again, Susan. And thank you listeners. If you have a question of your own, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We will feature them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects. Thank you so much.
Be strong out there. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
