Customer Spotlight: NSAMA

The Website Objectives

Northshore Academy of Martial Arts is a family owned and operated martial arts school in Libertyville, IL. iCandy Graphics & Web Design recently had the privilege of redesigning NSA’s website and added some cool new features. The project goals included making the site easier to navigate; adding more photos and helpful information for students and parents such as a class calendar; and allowing the owner Marc Halleck to be able to update the site with upcoming events as needed. Marc will also be able to sell DVDs, weaponry and other items on the site via PayPal.

Building a Website with a Video Subscription Service

The most exciting feature that evolved as we were working on the site was Marc’s idea to offer martial arts training via video to people all around the world. We built a subscription video service in to the site, where every month he releases the next level of video training in his exclusive online Filipino Martial Arts program.

Upon joining the program, students can sign in to the website for access to new video lessons each week for their next level of training. Once they have trained and mastered each level, they are evaluated in person or via video by Guro Marc and gain access to new video lessons. Students who complete the training program can actually earn belts and certifications.

The Challenges

Building the custom online video subscription service was a complex task. The challenge was to make sure people singing up at different times could only access certain videos until they had mastered that level. In the geek world, this is called “dripping content.” We also wanted the site to be able to bill automatically without Marc having to sign up for a full merchant account to accept credit cards. And of course, we wanted Marc to be able to handle all the uploads and maintenance so he didn’t incur a bunch of ongoing costs and so he could add videos whenever he wanted.

The Solution

We built the site using WordPress as a content management system. With the help of a few awesome free plug-ins and a freeware program called Handbrake, Marc is able to film new videos and upload the files directly from his own computer with no help from us. The students sign up for a subscription and are billed automatically every month using PayPal until they complete the program or cancel their subscription.

We are proud to have been part of such a novel idea in martial arts training and are looking forward to seeing the site become a huge success!

Please visit the NSAMA website to check it out, and let us know if you are considering a website redesign for your business!