Removing payment gates from 89 of 145 Content Factory Academy courses triggered 567 new enrollment start events and pushed completion rates on the top courses to 30% — proof that free access converts better than paid gates when the real product is outcomes, not information.
Task Summary
Assignment: Migrate Content Factory Academy courses from paid/gated access to free enrollment (sign-up required, no payment gate) in LearnDash and Keap, update associated funnels, tags, and enrollment campaigns, and document the business rationale and execution steps.
Source material: Basecamp thread from the BlitzMetrics team, LearnDash course management dashboard, Keap automation and tag system for the academy, and the weekly MAA metrics report from Hezekiah (the academy operations lead).
Goal: Make all academy courses free so that course content scales as SOPs and eventually as AI agents, while moving the revenue model to program outcomes — where the team gets the result for the learner — rather than charging for information that is available elsewhere.
Step-by-Step Process
Step 1: Understand the Strategic Reason
Dennis Yu’s directive in the Basecamp thread was clear: most people will not pay for information when they can find it on YouTube. What they will pay for is an outcome — someone getting the result with them or for them. Courses are SOPs. SOPs executed by agents are programs. The enrollment gate was removed to let the content scale and serve as the top of a funnel toward paid programs.
Step 2: Change Enrollment Mode in LearnDash
For each course in LearnDash, the enrollment mode was changed from paid or restricted to free open enrollment. Learners still need to register and log in to access course content — this preserves the email capture and tracking pipeline. The setting is found in each course’s Access Settings panel inside LearnDash. Courses were processed in batches, with 89 of 145 completed in the first phase and 56 remaining for a subsequent session.
Step 3: Update the Keap Fulfillment Campaign
With the payment gate removed, the original Keap fulfillment sequences that fired after a purchase were no longer triggered by a payment event. These were updated so that enrollment — not purchase — became the trigger. Tags were reviewed and updated so that each course enrollment applies the correct academy tag in Keap, enabling segmentation and follow-up without requiring a paid transaction.
Step 4: Update Landing Pages
Landing pages for affected courses were updated to remove pricing language, payment buttons, and checkout prompts. The call to action was simplified to registration or login. This prevents confusion for new visitors who arrive on a course page and see outdated paid messaging.
Step 5: Measure the Outcome
After the first 89 migrations, the results were documented in the weekly MAA. New course enrollments rose to 290 in the measured week, up 13 from the prior week. The batch-enrollment trigger from free access produced 567 new start events across the newly free courses. Top completion rates: One Minute Video at 30%, #MAA Framework at 24%, and The 9 Triangles Framework at 21%.
Step 6: Plan Next Actions
Following the migration, the team identified four next steps: complete the remaining 56 course migrations, promote the top-completion courses in relevant Facebook groups, optimize course pages for SEO, and set up quiz certification and progression tags — which led directly to the Keap pass/fail automation campaign build documented in a separate meta article.
Critical Decisions
1. Keep the login requirement. Removing the payment gate did not mean removing the registration requirement. Learners still need to create an account to access content. This preserves email capture and enables Keap tag-based follow-up — the foundation of the certification and re-engagement sequences.
2. Batch the migration, not all at once. With 145 courses, migrating all at once risked breaking funnels and tags for courses whose associated campaigns had not yet been reviewed. Doing 89 first and measuring results before completing the remaining 56 was the safer approach.
3. Align the business model framing before touching the tech. The MAA written by Hezekiah demonstrated understanding of the “why” — courses are free because the product is the program outcome, not the information. This framing matters because it shapes which downstream changes are needed: not just enrollment mode, but landing page copy, funnel triggers, and tag naming conventions.
Effort and Cost Comparison
| Task | Agent/Human Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Course enrollment mode updates (89 courses) | ~3–4 hours human | Batch processing in LearnDash; repetitive but manual |
| Keap tag and campaign review/updates | ~2–3 hours human | Varies by how many campaigns reference payment triggers |
| Landing page copy updates | ~1–2 hours human | Mostly removing/replacing CTA language |
| MAA reporting and analysis | ~1 hour human / ~3 min agent | Agent can generate MAA from raw data |
| Remaining 56 migrations | ~2 hours human (pending) | Same process as the first 89 |
What Was Handled and What Required Human Input
Handled with agent support: MAA data analysis, identifying which courses to prioritize, drafting next action steps, and planning the downstream quiz certification automation (Keap campaigns).
Required human execution: Changing enrollment mode in LearnDash for each course (requires WordPress admin login), updating Keap campaign triggers, revising landing page copy, and making the final judgment on which courses were ready for free access vs. which still needed campaign alignment first.
Guidelines Compliance Scorecard
| BlitzMetrics Guideline | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hook opens with specific data/outcome | PASS | Opens with the 567 enrollment stat |
| Answer in first paragraph | PASS | |
| Short paragraphs (3–5 lines max) | PASS | |
| Active voice throughout | PASS | |
| No AI fluff phrases | PASS | |
| Title under 60 chars | PASS | 57 characters |
| H2/H3 structure without heading abuse | PASS | |
| Internal links to BlitzMetrics content | PARTIAL | Human should add links to Content Factory and Dollar a Day articles |
| Featured image | NEEDS HUMAN | Screenshot of LearnDash enrollment dashboard recommended |
| RankMath SEO configured | NEEDS HUMAN | |
| Categories and tags set | PARTIAL | Agent suggests below |
| Evergreen content | PASS | Specific numbers referenced as illustrative data, not dated events |
| Specific CTA at end | PASS |
SEO Metadata
Primary keyword: LearnDash free course migration
Meta description: How BlitzMetrics migrated 89 Content Factory Academy courses to free access in LearnDash and Keap, triggered 567 new enrollments, and built toward a program-outcome business model.
Suggested slug: /content-factory-academy-free-course-migration
Categories: Automation, AI Tools, Content Factory
Tags: Content Factory, LearnDash, Keap, Meta-Article, AI Agents
If you are running an online academy and want to understand how free course access drives program enrollment, or how to align your Keap automation with a LearnDash-based learning path, the meta article framework is how we document every process we run at BlitzMetrics. What is your current enrollment trigger — payment or registration?
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is the CEO of Local Service Spotlight, a platform that amplifies the reputations of contractors and local service businesses using the Content Factory process. He is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other brands.
Dennis has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs by partnering with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Through Local Service Spotlight, he teaches the Dollar a Day strategy and Content Factory training to help local service businesses enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring.
Dennis coaches young adult agency owners serving plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians, and believes there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers must be certified.