The Inner Circle is now CLOSED to new members.
Sorry, but there are a limited number of spaces available and since they're now all taken, there are no places available.
If any places become available or I open up any more, I'll let readers of my email newsletter know first of all. If you don't get the newsletter, you can sign up (free) at www.helpfulbooks.co.uk It gives lots of free tips and advice, all explained in plain simple language.
Announcing: 300 places in Tim Wakeling's PC Inner Circle,
along with his newest book...
“My latest book:
500 gone, 300 available now
(Why I won't let everyone get a copy)”
My other books sell up to 25,000 - so why so few? Well...
Sorry, but there are a limited number of spaces available and since they're now all taken, there are no places available.
If any places become available or I open up any more, I'll let readers of my email newsletter know first of all. If you don't get the newsletter, you can sign up (free) at www.helpfulbooks.co.uk It gives lots of free tips and advice, all explained in plain simple language.
along with his newest book...
500 gone, 300 available now
(Why I won't let everyone get a copy)”
Dear Reader,
You see, the reason is that I'm giving it away. But I'll come back to that in a moment. First I have some news…
Announcing Tim's PC Inner Circle (300 new places):
Recently, I launched the PC Inner Circle, limiting it to 500 people. The people who were quick enough to join now have access to a whole host of videos, articles (all regularly added to) and technical help (and judging by their comments, they don't know how they coped without it!). I'll go over exactly what's included in a moment, but the easiest way to explain it is to give you an example.
Picture this - has anything like this happened to you?
You're using your PC and need to, let's say, set up your anti-virus program. You know it's important to have it set up right, or viruses could slip through the net. But you don't know how. So you go into the Inner Circle website, type in your special password, then type "anti-virus" into the search box, and voila! You get an article entitled "How to install and set up your anti-virus program".
Or imagine this situation:
You're just back from holiday and want to put your photos together for your friends to see. You go onto the Inner Circle website, type in your password and this time search for "holiday photos". Minutes later you're watching a video that shows you how to download and use a free program that makes it easy to put your photos together, complete with captions, background music and even (if you want) a voiceover. The video shows you exactly what to do, which makes it nice and easy to use.
Or could you imagine this happening to you?
You're using your PC and are stuck on something - either it's gone wrong or you can't work out how to do a particular thing. You nip onto the Inner Circle "Clubroom" and leave a question. A little while later you check back - and there's the answer to your question. Maybe even several answers - a couple from other people who had the same problem and one from me personally.
Not that you have to be limited to technical questions like that - you might ask "Has anyone got a such and such make of printer? I'm thinking of getting one - are they any good?" or "Has anyone ever bought anything from so-and-so PC shop? What's the service like?"
But I'm getting ahead of myself - I should tell you exactly what the Inner Circle is and how it works.
It's a club where members can get all sorts of help & advice about computers - specifically aimed at people who aren't experts. You get:
Inner Circle Members get access to help in all sorts of ways:
- There's a whole bank of articles - and I add new ones regularly (and keep the ones there up to date). All the articles are in plain English to make them really easy to understand - and unlike my newsletter articles they have plenty of pictures of the screen so you can see exactly what to do.
- There's also a host of videos - showing you exactly what to do if you want to, say, sell on eBay, show other people your holiday photos in the best way or sort a nagging email problem. Like the articles, I add new ones all the time - and like the articles they're only available to members.
- There's the clubroom, where you can ask questions, make comments and reply to other people's questions. All members can ask questions and reply, so you might get answers from several people - and I read this regularly so you can get answers direct from me here.
- There's nothing to stop you browsing through the questions other people have asked, either. Several people have commented that they learned some useful tips by looking at the answers to other people's questions: "I had that problem too - I never thought to ask about it but now I know what to do!"
In the past I've often answered questions when I get them by email or phone, no matter who they're from - but answering them all takes a long time and with the launch of the Inner Circle I've put my time into answering members' questions. I won't be able to answer all the questions I get from non-members so the only way to get technical help from me will be to be an Inner Circle Member.
Does that sound useful - all that advice & help plus your questions answered?
Well, that's not all...
You also get:
- A selection of my books you can read online or print out. Some of these are books that are available elsewhere (once you're a member you'll be able to get them here - without paying anything). But some of them are books I've specifically written for the Inner Circle. They aren't available anywhere else - the ONLY way to get them is to be a member.
- You'll also get a list of great programs you can download for free - and where to get them from. I keep this up to date so as new free programs come out, I'll list them here. And I've tried out every program on this list, so you know it is worth having.
- And finally, you'll also get access to my journal - where I write quick notes about things you should know about in the computer world. If there's a new email scam to watch out for, a new article you really should read or simply a new version of a useful program out that you might want, I'll tell you about it here. It's not like the newsletter - this is more off the cuff - my inner thoughts.
You get a lot, I know. But don't be put off by how much there is. You only need to use the bits you want - and you can always come back to the rest later on.
I'd never done anything like this before
You might have read my newsletter (don't worry, by the way, I'll carry on with that and it'll still be free).
This is quite different from the newsletter. You'll get access to more videos and articles - and instead of them arriving in your email at a certain time, you'll be able to choose when you look up and read a particular article or watch a particular video. Plus you'll be able to ask me questions whenever you like.
I've never done anything like this before because of one very important reason:
Time.
You can imagine the time it will take to write all the articles, record the videos, maintain the website, and answer everyone's questions.
But I really wanted to do this anyway. And then I had a brainwave - which is...
The next 300 people to apply for membership get in but after that, the doors close. After that if you try to join, you'll get a friendly and polite, "sorry, it's full".
As I said, typically when I write a new book it gets bought by anywhere between 3000 and 25,000 people. So 300 more members isn't very many. I just don't want to risk not being able to keep up. You'll need to move fairly quickly if you'd like to be part of it. In fact the original 500 places sold out in 7½ days - so you can imagine that 300 more won't take long to fill up!
A few facts you should know before you make any decisions:
- When you ask a question, I might not answer it that very minute - I might not be at my PC! But you won't have to wait long - it's not like sending a question to me for the reader's question in the newsletter, seeing if I include it in the next issue and waiting several weeks for the issue to come out. I'll be looking at it each day at work at the least.
- You don't need a fancy super-duper PC. All you need is a PC running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. If you're not sure which version of Windows you have, it should appear on the screen each time you turn the PC on, while it's loading.
- You also need an internet connection - and ideally it should be broadband of some kind or other, whether it's wireless, through a phone line or cable.
- You must be a reader of my newsletter, have one of my books or have one of my video courses. Since I'm limiting the numbers it's only fair to reserve them for my existing customers.
Oh, I suppose I ought to tell you the price!
I spent quite a while thinking about this. I don't want to charge over the odds. But I also need to make sure it's a fair amount - after all, I'm planning to put a lot of time into making sure you get the videos, articles & ebooks you need.
So I started by looking at what you'd pay if you got a PC tutor to go over all the things included. That would cost at least £30-£45 per month (at £15 per hour), possibly more.
That sounded a lot to me, so I had a look around to see if there was anything similar to the Inner Circle. There isn't anything exactly the same, but a company called Agora offer something a bit similar (www.windows-solutions.co.uk) though it doesn't have the videos or one or two of the other bits. They charge £11.87 per month (and once you're in, you're tied in for 12 months).
Better, but I still felt I should be able to make it a bit cheaper.
So I thought about what else you might spend money on every month. I thought about the Sunday paper - which costs me £2 a week - or £8 a month.
When I told Dad about this he thought I'd flipped. He thought I should charge more, given how much I'm including. And when he found out that the Agora version is £11.87 and doesn't include everything mine does, he really thought I'd lost it.
But I've stuck to it. I want my version to be the best and the cheapest - despite the business gurus telling me I should either go for best or cheapest. Nuts to them.
There's one thing I haven't told Dad though - my risk free promise
If you are interested in joining the Inner Circle, but you're not sure if it's worth if for you, here's what you can do:
Join now, so you get your place before they all fill up.
Then see what you think of it for 30 days. If at any time in those 30 days you decide you'd rather not be a member, let me know and I'll refund everything you've paid. Not just the time you haven't used, your whole subscription. So it'll have cost you nothing at all.
And of course there's no tie-in. At any time after the 30 days you can leave the Inner Circle and you'll only pay for the time you have been a member - no minimum term or anything sneaky like that.
I'm confident you'll want to stay a member - but the choice is yours.
You get this all straight away - instant access
Join now and in a matter of minutes you could be reading one of the articles, watching a video or typing a question into the clubroom. You don't have to wait around.
What does this mean for you?
It means you can get the technical help you need, direct from me. Get your questions answered. Find out anything new you need to know about. And print out new books from me without having to pay for them (quite legally!) - books non-members can't get their hands on at all. You can try it out without committing yourself at all - and you can cancel if you decide it's not for you.
So best sign up now
Don't forget, after 300 people have signed up, that's it, the doors close. Best act now. Just click the button below and you'll be taken to a page where you can join online. Or if you don't like using your card online, give us a call on 01229 777606 or fill in the form and post it to us.
Yours,
Tim Wakeling
PS
Last time, all 500 places went in 7½ days, so these new 300 places won't take long to go. If you don't take up your place fairly quickly, the place will go to someone else If you're not sure, best join now to get make sure of getting in. Then try it out for 30 days without any commitment.
PPS
I nearly forgot to tell you about the new 50-page book I've written! It's called Speed Up Your PC and as an Inner Circle member you can read it on screen or simply print it off. It shows you the settings to change to make your PC run faster, without spending any money on extra equipment or software. It explains why your PC gets slower as it gets older - and how to stop it happening.
It's only available to members (they get it for no extra charge). Non-members won't be able to get it anywhere - ever.