Sell your expertise beyond your own hours with course, membership and subscription platforms

A digital service product is software that delivers an expert's method without a live session, such as an online course, a membership platform or a subscription app. Clients pay for access and work through lessons, homework or guided sessions in their own time. LNOKS took over and extended a web course platform for AuthorPilot and built an iOS and Android subscription app for Pressure Points Guide.

First releases in this area have taken a few months. The Pressure Points Guide mobile app took 2 months. Your timeline depends on what the first release must include, so we agree that scope after a first call and quote the build from it. Further features follow once real users are on the product.

The first step is a call, and the build is quoted after scoping. If you cannot list the features yet, we can work on time and materials, where you pay for the hours worked, with a weekly limit on hours. That is how we work with AuthorPilot, and it keeps the budget under control while the product takes shape. We can also price a smaller first release next to the full scope, so you choose.

Use an off-the-shelf course builder if it already presents your course the way you teach it. It is cheaper and faster to launch. A custom platform makes sense when your method needs its own flow, such as homework reviewed by an instructor or sessions chosen from a client's problem. AuthorPilot's founders found that off-the-shelf course platforms did not present the course the way they wanted.

No, you do not need a finished feature list. AuthorPilot knew what the student experience should feel like but had no feature list, so we worked on time and materials and let the scope evolve as the product took shape. For Pressure Points Guide we offered two versions, a first release with the features needed to launch and the full scope, and the client chose the first release.

Yes, a custom platform can connect to the email and payment tools you already run. AuthorPilot keeps ThriveCart for checkout and subscriptions and ConvertKit for email; the platform reads subscription status to open or close access and sends student activity to ConvertKit. Mobile apps use App Store and Google Play subscriptions, which Pressure Points Guide manages through RevenueCat.

Choose a web platform when clients work with files and longer lessons at a desk, and a mobile app when they follow short sessions on their phone. AuthorPilot is a web platform where students upload manuscripts and homework. Pressure Points Guide is an iOS and Android app for guided video sessions, built from one React Native codebase for both stores.

The code becomes yours on delivery, and your course content and your clients' data are yours from the start. The integrations run on your own accounts with tools such as ThriveCart, ConvertKit or RevenueCat, so billing and email lists stay with your business. We confirm ownership in the contract before the build starts, and the first call is the place to raise anything specific you need.

After launch we agree the support and the next features your product needs. We have kept adding features for AuthorPilot since taking over the app, based on feedback from real students. Brian Berni, Founder of AuthorPilot, wrote in his Clutch review: "Our app now works well and the users are very happy with it." He added: "They're organized and extremely quick to respond."