Meet Magic People
An interview with Derek Stottlemyer – Founder of FindMagicPeople (FMP)
Who is FindMagicPeople for?
People come to our site to increase their spiritual awareness and make connections. We are living in a world that is in transition, where traditional approaches are not satisfying. A growing number of people are looking for solutions or alternatives, or just to try something different. The site is designed to match Seekers with Practitioners in the Holistic / Spiritual / Psychic realms.
How would you describe your vision for connection and growth in the spiritual community?
There is a palpable level of positive energy at a Spiritual/Holistic fair that we want to replicate online. People are delighted to discover that so many others are interested and spiritually aware. It feels good to talk with others that share a belief in connectedness and a curiosity about energy, health and the mysteries of life. The FindMagicPeople platform is designed to extend and support that community, with virtual and in-person connections, and to provide business resources for practitioners. Our team works to apply our technical skills and growth hacks to make spiritual and healing practices rewarding both personally and financially.
How do you help Seekers?
We give seekers several ways to learn and connect… Our social media posts stimulate curiosity on the broad range of available services. If they look online for spiritual practices, such as Meditation, Reiki, Tarot or Sound Healing, for example—their search will lead to FMP Topics pages for explanations and guidance, plus listings of related Offerings and providers. On our site, Seekers can explore descriptions of Practitioners, retail or meeting Venues, Events, and Offerings. They have several ways to communicate with Practitioners, ask questions, engage services, order products, and set up notifications for topics of interest.
How do you help Practitioners?
Practitioners have FMP profiles describing their background, skills, and expertise, of course… but a general menu is not always effective. Early on, I decided to structure the site around distinct Offerings so that Practitioners can separately describe every specific and distinct way that they can help people. Offerings have their own keywords and are listed with search results for related topics and events. Seekers dive into Offerings to explore and learn more about anything that triggers interest. Offerings enable them to better visualize an interaction with the Practitioner.
We enable Practitioners to focus on their customers and services, while we take care of promotion and much of the technical aspect of online promotion. We have good people working on search engine optimization, which is a continuously evolving space. We also have staff working on social media promotions—the time-consuming process of continually generating updated content for the site, every day, and every week. Independent practitioners have limited time and resources, but by working together we create a whole ecosystem rather than a web page. We DO NOT get involved in payment transactions, nor do we take commission.
Do you expect to add features to the FindMagicPeople platform?
Yes, we are exploring ways we can increase communication and interaction with Seekers and among Practitioners. Many Practitioners are interested in online and hybrid course platform, in zero maintenance personal websites and improved communication with clients. We are looking for mechanisms such as Calendars, location mapping, surveys, quizzes, and an “Ask the Expert” features. We would like a discussion channel for Practitioners to share ideas, collaborate, find new venues, and just be friends. The potential is very exciting.
Was there a moment when you knew 'this is it'?
Like others, my journey has been down a winding road, learning skills and gaining insights at each stop. I learned about cultural perspectives in the Peace Corps; I learned entrepreneurship from creating a guitar-learning software that sold globally; I learned programming by developing and managing software for instruction, gaming, and business purposes; I learned how technology can connect us as the lead developer for multiple online virtual worlds. As a web-architect, it has never made sense to solve a problem for myself alone. I’d rather solve it for thousands. When my personal spiritual journey led me to exploring workshops and mentors – it became clear that many practitioners were fantastic at their teaching, but most were uncomfortable with tech, self-promotion and marketing. This was something I knew I could help with.
I’d seen the shift of attitude in seekers trend from skeptical to open curiosity, and Covid made online and remote connections a necessity. To me, now is the perfect time for what I’m doing, and I feel blessed to able to offer and share this with the world.
