After 6 years of providing a totally open website, I decided to convert the MarquisParker.com blog to a membership-based model in 2009 for a few reasons:

• Protecting my content: Over the years, I’ve found that a LOT of the content I’ve posted has been either adapted or, in some cases, just plain stolen and posted on other websites. Switching to a membership-based model should help in protecting the original content that I produce for my reader community.
• Covering the operating costs of the site: When this was as a basic site on the Blogger.com platform, my only maintenance costs were my own time to develop the content. But, when I moved over to a full-service, self-hosted site, that changed greatly due to costs for hosting, domain registration, etc. This new model should be helpful in defraying these new costs of operation.
• Making the site more valuable to its readers: In the past, with so much content available for the masses to consume, I found that many users took my efforts to help people through this site for granted. By making the best content available to those who value it most, the overall value of the site should increase to the members of the reader community.

I recognize that this is a huge change for some of my long-time readers, but it was a necessary step in the evolution of MarquisParker.com.

There are four levels of membership available to meet the varying needs of my readers. Please note that Platinum membership comes with exclusive benefits, including special entries, faster responses to queries, and priority access to other available services.

If you are interested in becoming a registered user, please visit http://www.marquisparker.com/membership/register for instructions on how to sign-up. There is a ton of great content about the MBA application process, the MBA experience, and career advice and insights on this site and I plan on providing even more in the future. Trust me…I plan to make sure that being a registered user on MarquisParker.com is well worth it for my readers.

If you have questions about anything related to membership, please feel free to email me at marquis-AT-marquisparker-DOT-com with “Membership Question” in the title of the message. I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for checking out my site.

Marquis