TransformingTheChurch.org As a Learning Marketplace Provider

In the normal operations of TransformingTheChurch.org, we build a pool of visitors and users with some degree of interest in online education in the subjects we offer. The pool consists of:

• First-time anonymous visitors
• Returning anonymous visitors
• Members of the Connected Community
• Registered students of courses
• Recurring students who take multiple courses

On the list above, the degree of interest in online education tends to increase from the top of the list to the bottom. We try to move our first-time visitors through the levels progressively. We do this by providing website content of interest; some of the content is public, some free but requires registration, and some fee based (and registration required.) Through our usual online content operations, we try to capture as many users at each level with the goal of converting the largest number of potential students as possible.

One of the key elements for successfully obtaining the broadest possible population of students is offering a comprehensive catalog of courses. The more courses we offer on more subjects, the more likely that we will fill a particular need of a particular potential student.

Also, we proactively endeavor to build the pool by loading users at each level of the list. We accomplish visitor/user loading through advertising and marketing techniques that include both organic (free) methods as well as paid advertising.

As a result, we are an Internet destination for people interested in church-related learning opportunities embodied in our courses. Month by month, the traffic for our website grows.

The overall impact is that we are a learning marketplace for our courses, often co-produced with our participating institutional partners, which is a valuable function for our content partners.