Thanks for the call, Jonah. Here's the proposal you asked for, set out against your five Ps. You can click through a working sample of the platform here: the platform demo.
What you get
Your team supplies the course outline and the main lesson videos. I fill the gaps and build the platform they live on.
| Item | What's included |
|---|---|
| The platform | Your own course website on your subdomain (e.g. learn.voltxenergy.com.au). Learner sign-up and login, progress saved across devices, quizzes, a certificate on completion, reminder emails, and it works on phones. Built to hold future courses, so a learner who finishes one can be offered the next. |
| Course landing page | The public page that sells the course, with the copy written by me. |
| Teaser video | 1 video, up to 90 seconds: an Australian AI presenter introducing the course, for the landing page. |
| Module intro videos | 7 videos, up to 90 seconds each: "Welcome to module 1, here's what we'll cover." Includes the script, storyboard and production. |
| Quizzes | 7, one per module, 5 questions each, covering that module's three lessons. |
| Downloadable guides | 7, one per module, 1–2 pages, designed to your brand. |
| Course build | Your 21 existing lesson videos placed into the 7 modules, with short lesson text so the learning flows from one lesson to the next. |
Why build your own platform
Your tech team suggested Courses Plus, and it's a fair choice: it plugs straight into Shopify. But this course alone has 21 lessons plus intros and quizzes, which already puts you past its cheaper plans, and every course after this one adds more. Here's what each option costs to run:
| Platform | Monthly cost | 3 years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courses Plus (Shopify app) | $79.99 | ~$2,880 | Basic plan ($19.99) caps you at 20 lessons, so you'd need Professional |
| Teachable | $89 (Builder) | ~$3,200 | Starter ($39) adds a 7.5% fee on any sales |
| LearnWorlds | $99 (Pro Trainer) | ~$3,560 | |
| Thinkific | $109 (Start) | ~$3,920 | No free plan |
| Kajabi | $179 (Basic) | ~$6,440 | |
| Your own platform | ~$5–25 | ~$180–900 | Hosting on Cloudflare (~$5), logins on WorkOS (free up to 1 million users a month), reminder emails (free up to 3,000 a month, then ~$20) |
Monthly prices as listed on each platform, Nov 2026; annual billing is 15–25% cheaper. Building the platform is already included in the price below.
Cost isn't the main reason, though. Control is.
- You own it. The code is yours. No vendor can raise prices, cap your lessons or change how it works.
- It connects to anything. Sign-ups can flow into Shopify, your CRM or your analytics tools. Off-the-shelf platforms only connect where they choose to let you.
- It looks exactly how your designers want. When your website redesign lands, the hub can match it to the pixel.
- Your developers can work on it. It's a standard web app, not a locked system.
To be fair to the other side: with your own platform, your team looks after it once my support hours end. It's built to be simple to maintain, and the support hours cover the handover.
How I'll do it
Platform first, so you can see the course taking shape from week one. Content runs alongside it.
| Milestone | What you get | Done by | Payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Platform | The working platform on your subdomain: login, all 7 modules laid out with your videos, a sample quiz, the certificate and a draft landing page. Proof that the rest will follow. | Wed 25 Nov | 30% |
| 2. Scripts | Scripts and storyboards for all 8 videos, all quiz questions and guide outlines. Your sign-off locks them in. | Sent Tue 24 Nov, approved by Thu 26 Nov | 20% |
| 3. Content | All 8 videos, 7 quizzes and 7 guides, in the platform. Review round 1 on Frame.io. | Mon 30 Nov | 30% |
| 4. Launch | Review round 2, testing on desktop and phones, go live. Support hours start. | Mon 7 Dec | 20% |
Start: Thu 19 November. I'm aiming to have everything ready for review by the end of November; Monday 7 December is the firm deadline.
Review time is built in. Each review round gets 2 business days, and the final check gets 1.
How we'll work together
- One point of contact: me. No account managers, no hand-offs. You deal with the person doing the work.
- Asana. I'll work from your board, with tasks tied to the four milestones, so you can see what's moving at any time.
- Weekly summary every Friday: what's done, what's next, and anything I need from you.
- Chat replies within one business day, during Australian afternoons. A 30-minute weekly call if you'd like one.
- Reviews: videos on Frame.io; scripts, quizzes and guides as shared documents.
Price
All three include everything in What you get.
| Core | Recommended | Hub | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everything in What you get | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Course welcome and wrap-up videos (2 extra) | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Admin page, so your team can add and edit courses without a developer | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Sign-ups sent to Shopify or your CRM | ✓ | ||
| Dashboard: sign-ups, completions and where learners drop off | ✓ | ||
| Support after launch (fixes and help) | 10 hours, 30 days | 20 hours, 60 days | 30 hours, 90 days |
| Fixed price | $4,500 | $5,500 | $7,000 |
Paid by milestone through Upwork.
What's included, and what isn't
So we both know exactly what the fixed price covers:
- Scope is the lists above. Anything else is quoted in writing before I start it, at $50 an hour.
- Your team supplies the course outline, the 21 lesson videos (with download access), your brand guide, and the facts behind any technical, savings or rebate claims. VoltX checks the accuracy and compliance of the content.
- Scripts are locked once approved. Changing an approved script counts as new work.
- Two revision rounds per item, with feedback gathered into one set of comments each round.
- Reviews move the dates. If a review takes longer than agreed, the dates move by the same amount. If there's no reply after 5 business days, the item counts as approved.
- Third-party costs are yours, in your name: the AI avatar and voice tools (about $30–50 a month while videos are being made), hosting and email. You keep the accounts and everything in them.
- Support hours cover fixes and questions. New features are quoted separately.
- Ownership: everything I make is yours once paid in full. I may show the work in my portfolio.
- Stopping early: if the project stops, you pay for the milestones delivered and the work done on the current one.
What I need to start
- The course outline and your checker sheet of videos
- Your brand guide (and the Figma for the redesign, when it's ready)
- Access to your Asana board and Frame.io
- A subdomain for the hub, and someone who can point it at the platform
- One person who signs off each review
Examples
- Platform sample: open the demo: a VoltX-branded course you can click through, styled after HubSpot Academy.
- AI avatar video: watch it here: from HoHoHello, an app I built where Santa sends kids a personalised video. Made in 2023. Avatar technology has moved a long way since, so it shows what's possible, not the quality you'd get today.
- Courses I've built: Thriving on Overload for futurist Ross Dawson (2022), and AI training courses for Dragonfly Thinking (2026).
Happy to walk your CMO through any of it.
Sam