121 Group
⚖ Prepared for Matthew Eddy · v1.0 · 4 May 2026

Phase 2 Roadmap
From migration to member-led growth

You replied to our WordPress migration proposal with five questions and a four-layer content model. This document answers each one — keeps the $4,000 migration unchanged — and shows how the member portal, content engine, and four buyer-journey layers land in sequence over the next 6 months.

Phase 1 · now
$4,000
WP migration · IA fix included
Phase 2 · month 4–6
$2,500
Member portal · indicative
Content cadence
20–30 / mo
via Scenario B retainer upgrade
Horizon
6 months
All 4 layers operational
What we heard

Your five points, our five answers

Direct response to your 4 May email. Each point is addressed in the sections that follow.

What you saidWhat we heardWhere it lands
1. "I intend to launch a member portal in the next 6 months, so it would be good to add that into the roadmap." Phase 2 priority. Auth + subscription + gated content + HubSpot sync. § Member Portal · indicative $2,500
2. "Homepage shows 2 service offerings, services tab shows 3. Do we factor these amendments into scope/pricing?" You're right — that disconnect is real and confusing. It's in scope of the $4,000 migration. No price change. We'll unify the service architecture in the Week 1 IA workshop. § Roadmap · Phase 1
3. "I'm interested in understanding how we get from 5–6 posts/month to 20–30/month." Three-stage production line: AI-assisted drafting → editorial pass → your 15-min review gate. Covered by Scenario B retainer upgrade ($5k/mo) — the decision point already in your Month 2 plan. § Content Engine
4. "We should discuss ongoing maintenance of posts/thought leadership when I need to post something new or amend an existing post." Covered by the existing retainer (Scenario A today, B from Month 2). Same-day edits, 48-hour new posts. § Retainer alignment
5. "We need to think about the journey of our thought leadership/marketing assets [4-layer table]." Your four layers are the architecture — Insights → Community → Education → Advisory. Everything we build should serve this journey. § Operating Model
Operating model

Your four layers, reframed as architecture

You drew this. We've added columns for where the layer lives in the platform, what's required to build it, and which phase delivers it. It's the clearest articulation of your business we've seen — and it dictates everything below.

Layer What we publish / offer Buyer journey role Platform requirement Phase
1. Insights
free		 Whitepapers, podcast, LinkedIn cadence, vendor benchmarks, public maturity self-assessment Awareness + credibility Public WP site · SEO · schema · LinkedIn + email distribution Phase 1 · now
2. Community
paid		 Curated peer network for senior legal-ops leaders Engagement + warm relationships Member portal · auth · subscriptions · forum/discussion · invite workflow Phase 2 · month 4–6
3. Education & certification Maturity Programme, Procurement Mastery, AI for Legal Leaders cohorts Capability + commitment Cohort management · LMS (lessons, progress, cert) · Stripe · certificate issuance Phase 3 · month 6–9
4. Advisory & managed services Procurement Playbook, bespoke advisory, implementation, managed services, PE/GE diligence Revenue + delivery ABM-driven capture · case studies · gated proposal flow · HubSpot deal pipelines Phase 4 · month 9+
The layers are a funnel, but also a revenue stack. Layer 1 is free and builds audience. Layer 2 converts audience to paying members. Layer 3 monetises them at higher value. Layer 4 is where the 6-figure relationships happen. Each layer feeds the next.

Which layers the current strategic retainer serves

Scenario A · $3k/mo today
Delivers Layer 1 — Insights. 7 LinkedIn posts/week, repurposing your 40-article library, monthly reporting, measurement stack live. Does not cover 20–30 published articles/month.
Coverage: Layer 1 at current cadence
Scenario B · $5k/mo from month 2
Adds content engine (20–30 articles/mo), LinkedIn Ads ABM, Google Ads brand + category. Funds Layer 1 at full volume and begins populating Layer 4 (ABM capture). Already on your Month 2 decision path.
Coverage: Layer 1 full + Layer 4 capture
Layers 2 & 3 platform build
Not a retainer line item — they're capability builds. Member portal ($2,500, Phase 2) unlocks Layer 2. LMS / cohort system (Phase 3) unlocks Layer 3. Priced separately when we scope each.
Funded by: project-based SOWs per phase
Roadmap

Four phases, six months

Sequenced so each phase builds the foundation for the next. Phase 1 gives you the platform. Phase 2 gives you the community. Phase 3 gives you the revenue multiplier. Phase 4 gives you the enterprise capture engine.

Phase 1
WordPress migration + IA fix
Now · 4–5 weeks · $4,000 ex-GST
  • Full migration off Squarespace → WordPress
  • Homepage ↔ Services tab alignment — single unified service architecture (addresses Matt's point 2)
  • Platform ready to support Layers 2, 3, 4 without rebuild
  • Content models (CPTs) already include case_study, resource, cohort — wired for future phases
Phase 2
Member portal (Layer 2)
Month 4–6 · 4–6 weeks · ~$2,500 ex-GST
  • Auth (email + SSO optional), member directory, profile management
  • Subscription billing (Stripe) or invite-only gating
  • Gated content area: resources, member-only articles, event archive
  • HubSpot 2-way sync (member ↔ contact)
  • Community forum / discussion (BuddyBoss or lightweight alternative)
Phase 3
Education & certification (Layer 3)
Month 6–9 · scoped separately
  • LMS: Maturity Programme, Procurement Mastery, AI for Legal Leaders
  • Cohort management: enrolment, progress tracking, completion
  • Certificate issuance (automated PDF, LinkedIn-shareable)
  • Alumni programme + co-credentialing partnerships
  • Paid course commerce (Stripe or LearnDash + Stripe)
Phase 4
Advisory capture engine (Layer 4)
Month 9+ · scoped separately
  • Case study production system (5–8 anchor studies)
  • Gated proposal flow · Procurement Playbook lead magnet
  • ABM-driven page personalisation for named accounts
  • HubSpot deal pipelines aligned to Layer 4 offer types
  • PE/GE diligence landing pages + ABM targeting

Roadmap on a calendar

MonthPhase 1 · MigrationPhase 2 · PortalPhase 3 · EducationPhase 4 · AdvisoryRetainer (ongoing)
M1 (May) Build + launch — — — Scenario A · $3k
M2 (Jun) 30-day monitor Scoping session — — Scenario B · $5k decision
M3 (Jul) — Build brief finalised — — Scenario B · 20–30 posts/mo live
M4 (Aug) — Build starts LMS discovery — Scenario B
M5 (Sep) — Build continues Cohort design Case-study production begins Scenario B
M6 (Oct) — Portal LIVE LMS build starts ABM targeting live Scenario B
M7–9 — Membership growth First cohort LIVE Advisory pages live Scenario B or C
Content engine

How 5 posts/month becomes 20–30

The honest answer: not by typing faster. By building a three-stage production line where AI does the heavy lift, our editors do the craft, and you do the signal-off. Your time investment stays flat or decreases. Volume 4–6x.

Your time investment, today vs. at full volume
Today
~6 hr/mo
5–6 posts, mostly by you
→
At 20–30/mo
~4 hr/mo
Review gates only

The three-stage production line

Stage 1
AI-assisted drafting
~70% of the word count
  • Claude 4.5 Sonnet trained on your 40-article library + voice guide
  • Drafts from a brief: topic, angle, target reader, CTA
  • Pulls directly from your existing IP (no generic AI slop)
  • Output: 1,200–2,000 word draft in <10 min
Stage 2
Editorial pass
~30% of the word count
  • Our content editor rewrites for your voice, adds lived examples
  • Inserts proprietary data (from your audits, vendor benchmarks)
  • SEO pass: schema, internal links, meta, featured snippet targeting
  • Output: publication-ready draft + visuals brief
Stage 3
Your 15-min review gate
Where you add signal
  • Loom review tool: comment or voice-note per paragraph
  • Approve / request changes / kill — in one pass
  • Batch review: 5–8 drafts per Friday morning, ~90 min/week
  • Output: approved drafts → automated Gutenberg publish queue

What 20–30 posts/month actually looks like

Content typeVolume/moSourcePurpose
Pillar articles (1,500–3,000 words)4Flagship topics · SEO-anchoredRanking assets, multi-year traffic
Supporting articles (800–1,500 words)8–12Sub-topics linked to pillarsTopical authority, long-tail capture
Opinion / commentary (600–1,000 words)4–6Industry news reactionsLinkedIn distribution, thought-leadership signal
Whitepaper extracts (snippets)2Repurposed from long-form gated assetsLead magnet seeding
Vendor benchmarks / maturity signals2Your proprietary dataUnique-to-you content, no competitor has this
Total articles20–26—Powering Layers 1 → 4

Quality safeguards

Voice consistency
AI drafting trained on your library. Editor enforces voice guide. Nothing publishes without your sign-off. If it doesn't sound like you, it doesn't ship.
Fact accuracy
AI is banned from citing numbers not in your corpus or a verified source. Every claim linked or sourced. Zero hallucinations in production.
SEO value
Schema markup, internal linking to pillars, featured-snippet formatting, unique takes only — Google's March 2024 update penalises generic AI, rewards expert-led content. We're building the latter.
This is covered by the Scenario B retainer upgrade ($5k/mo) — the same decision point already in your Month 2 plan. No additional agency fee beyond the A→B upgrade.
Phase 2 · Member portal

Layer 2 — the paying community

Your Layer 2 is "curated peer network for senior legal-ops leaders." That's not a feature, that's a product. Here's the platform shape that serves it, and an indicative investment. Firm scope + price locked in a 60-min session after Phase 1 go-live.

What a senior legal-ops leader expects when they join

01
Frictionless access
One email, one password, remembered across devices. SSO via LinkedIn/Google optional. No logging back in every week.
02
Peer discoverability
Searchable member directory (role, industry, company size). Direct-message or book-a-peer-chat. Opt-in visibility.
03
Member-only content
Gated resources, member-only articles, event recordings, private podcast feed, exclusive benchmarks.
04
Lightweight discussion
Topic channels for peer Q&A (procurement, AI rollouts, vendor reviews). Not a Slack/forum nightmare — curated, small-group, high-signal.
05
Events layer
Monthly virtual roundtables, quarterly in-person dinners, calendar integration. Attendance tracked, recorded, archived in the portal.
06
Your admin view
See who joined, what they're reading, who's active. Monthly engagement dashboard. HubSpot sync so your CRM knows everything the portal knows.

Recommended stack

LayerRecommendationWhy
Auth + membershipPaid Memberships Pro or MemberPressWordPress-native, mature, 100k+ deployments, Stripe built-in
Member directoryCustom CPT + ACF + AJAX searchFast, indexable (for members only), looks like your site
Gated contentMembership rules per-CPT / per-categoryMix free + gated content on the same site, no duplicate CMS
DiscussionbbPress (lightweight) or BuddyBoss (full community)Right-size to your expected 50–500 member range
PaymentsStripe (AUD, monthly + annual)2.9% + 30¢ AU, automatic tax, recurring billing, subscription management
HubSpot syncNative webhook + HubSpot APIMember becomes a Contact with custom properties (tier, join date, last active)
EventsThe Events Calendar Pro + Zoom integrationFull event lifecycle, recording archive, RSVP tracking

Indicative investment

Phase 2 · Member Portal
~$2,500
indicative · AUD ex-GST · 4–6 weeks build · firm scope issued after Phase 1 go-live
  • Auth + membership (Paid Memberships Pro / MemberPress)
  • Stripe subscription billing · AUD · monthly + annual tiers
  • Member directory with search/filter
  • Gated content controls across all CPTs
  • Discussion layer (bbPress or BuddyBoss)
  • HubSpot 2-way sync (member ↔ contact properties)
  • Events calendar + Zoom integration
  • Member dashboard (activity, content, payments)
  • Admin engagement dashboard
What drives the final price:
  • Tier count (1 tier vs 2–3 tiers)
  • Free trial / grace-period logic
  • Invite-only vs self-serve onboarding
  • Discussion depth (bbPress = simple, BuddyBoss = full community)
  • Custom member profile fields beyond the default set
$2,500 is our indicative range based on typical scope for a firm of your size. 60-min scoping session in Month 3 converts this to a fixed-fee SOW.
Retainer alignment

Your existing $3k covers today. $5k from Month 2 covers everything.

You chose Scenario A in our strategy proposal. That's the right starting point. Your Month 2 decision gate (A → B) is exactly the moment the content-volume question gets answered. Here's how the retainer maps to what you asked about.

What you need Scenario A · $3k Scenario B · $5k recommended Scenario C · $8k
Strategy + measurement + reporting ✓ ✓ ✓
LinkedIn cadence (7 posts/week) ✓ ✓ ✓
Repurposing 40-article library ✓ ✓ ✓
5–6 new articles / month ✓ ✓ ✓
20–30 new articles / month (your point 3) ✗ ✓ included ✓ + video
Same-day post edits / amendments (your point 4) ✓ ✓ ✓
Paid media execution (LinkedIn ABM, Google Ads) test only ($250) $1.7k/mo allocated $3.3k/mo allocated
Video production ✗ ✗ ✓
Design retainer for marketing assets limited ✓ ✓ expanded
✓ Our recommendation
Stay on Scenario A for May while Phase 1 migration ships. Upgrade to Scenario B from 1 June (Month 2). That move alone funds:
  • The 20–30 posts/month content engine (your point 3)
  • Same-day post maintenance + amendments (your point 4)
  • Paid ABM targeting to start feeding Layer 4
No new retainer tier required. The A → B upgrade was already on the table.
Governance

Friday 12pm WIP is the right venue

Your email asked whether to set up a separate call or add this to the Friday cadence. Our recommendation: keep it in the WIP. Here's why, and how we propose running it.

Why Friday WIP works
  • 1. Kate, Chris and your team already on the call — no scheduling drag
  • 2. Decisions get made inside the cadence, not in isolation
  • 3. Phase 2 is sequential with Phase 1 — both belong in the same room
  • 4. We issue an action register from each WIP — decisions are traceable
  • 5. Member portal scoping session (Month 3) is the deep conversation — standalone, 60 min
How we'll run it
  • This Friday (8 May, 12pm): walk this document, align on Phase 1 scope + IA fix approach
  • Friday 15 May: Phase 1 migration SOW signed, kickoff set
  • Friday 5 June: Phase 1 review + Scenario A→B decision
  • Friday 3 July: member portal scoping agenda item — triggers the 60-min dedicated session
  • Friday 7 August: Phase 2 SOW signed, build kickoff
Next steps

Four moves for Friday's WIP

1
Confirm Phase 1 scope includes IA restructure
We align on: homepage shows 3 unified offerings (same as services tab), or homepage shows 2 headline + "3 in the services area" — one clean IA. No scope creep to the $4,000 price.
Decision
Friday WIP
2
Sign Phase 1 migration SOW
$4,000 fixed fee · 4–5 weeks · 2 × $2,000 payments. Kickoff Monday after sign-off.
Value
$4,000
3
Agree Scenario B trigger date
Default: 1 June 2026 (Month 2). $5k/mo from that date funds the 20–30 posts/month engine + paid media + ongoing maintenance.
Trigger
1 June
4
Diary the member portal scoping session
60 min · Month 3 (July) · deep scope + fixed-fee SOW issued within 5 business days. Indicative $2,500.
Horizon
July
The five points in your email fit cleanly into what was already on the table — the migration + the A→B retainer upgrade, plus one new phase (the member portal). Nothing we recommend requires discarding work already committed. Everything compounds.