Most changes at Direction seem to be driven by necessity these days.
I was interviewed by Luke Ford, a recent graduate Alexander teacher in USA and mentioned to him that I would be happy to create a link to the Direction website that calculated traffic from his very busy website.
An "Affiliate" is like a commissioned sales person. Whatever sales that generate from click-throughs from Luke's website I pay a 20% commission. It's an idea that I've wanted to set up for quite a while but just haven't made the time to do so. Also, offering a commission has been criticized in the past as people think that rather than pay someone else 20%, it's better to just reduce prices this same amount for everyone.
But in the new world of social validation, recognizing people for their time spent recommending your products is common practice...perhaps more ethical nowadays than ever before. Due to the large modern social networks which react quickly to non-authentic conversation, a trusted and true comment on the value or benefit of a product/service is worth so much more.
So the good news is that anyone can become a Direction Affiliate! Simply click on the link at the left of the page and apply. You don't have to own a website... but an email address is mandatory. I've created a bunch of different ways you can recommend Direction Journal, from logos to simple text links.
One simple strategy is to put our logo on your website. Another is to mention Direction Journal to people you know via email or a blog post or facebook(to name a few). If people click on your unique link we can then record any purchases they make at our website for up to 12 months! Each month we pay out a minimum of $50AUD via Paypal or you can use the credit to purchase Direction products for yourself.
If you find a way to bring the Direction Journal back catalogue into a library, then 20% of that sale amounts to almost $200. Public Libraries are obligated to pay double the list price of our magazines for copyright clearance (allowing them to reproduce unlimited photocopies of articles and multiple loans etc.). As a student teacher, this could be a good way to supplement your school fees...and publicize Alexander technique at the same time.
I'll make other suggestions as time passes... but for now the top priority for me is to complete the Active Issue (3.9)... something that I've been striving to do since July. The plan is to ship it for Christmas to subscribers. We have an amazing Tennis article, Running, Golf, revolutionary Pilates information, Swimming and Skiing covered. So many physical pursuits in the Alexander world and the potential for so many more.
Look forward to your comments below.
