Wp Builds

This episode is all about trying to make some kind of impact... how you can actually get people to notice what it is that you're doing and make them want to care about it, enough perhaps to become your client. So for this people really need to know what it is that you do. Not for a myriad of things that you might be interested in doing, but the core things that you do well and that are profitable for your business. Alongside all of this is the need to have some kind of emotional impact as well, something that really resonates with your clients. We go into all of this in the podcast, so why don't you have a listen...

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 17th February 2020

Today we stray into waters that we don't often swim in. We're talking about Agile development and launching a Minimal Viable Product, and the person I'm talking to is Marius Vetrici. Marius is a WordPress developer and runs an agency of twelve people... so he's got to have all his processes in place to ensure that his business is profitable and that his clients are happy. This discussion centres around a long post that Marius wrote entitles "Agile WordPress Development: How To Maximize The ROI Of Your MVP Website". In that post we learn that Marius had to learn to have processes in place because of a $200,000 project that just got out of hand. The product that he launched did not have the research done properly before the work started, and as such there was no real understanding of exactly what it was that they were trying to build. We talk about structuring work into sprints, how these sprints map to goals and how WordPress is the perfect tool to do all of this with minimal time and cost. Honestly... really

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 10th February 2020

This episode is looking at who we think our idea WordPress clients might be and where we might find them. There's more to this subject than meets the eye! for a start, when are the people who we're trying to engage as clients actually receptive to our messages? It might not be at the times that you think are suitable. Perhaps they work late into the evening, or the team is dotted all over the globe? In terms of the who, this can be really hard - trying to work out exactly who we are going to target and therefore the kind of messages that they're likely to resonate with. Should we push towards word of mouth, or perhaps use social media channels to get some traction? What should those messages sound like, controversial, a debate, riding a common theme? It's all in the WP Builds podcast this week...

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 3rd February 2020

On the WP Builds WordPress Podcast today with have Patrick Gallagher from Gridpane. We talk about their mission to save you time and hassle when you build and host WordPress websites. They have a unique product which is being discussed a lot right now. We talk about how the company got started and how it is that they go the extra mile so that you don't have to. It's little things like not making you repeat work that you perhaps don't need to every time your set up a new site. Build a site, save it as a bundle then reuse it over and over again. Pretty much all you need to do it is to name the site, tell Gridpane where you want it to be hosted and click a button, that's literally it. Of course you can bring your own hardware like Digital Ocean, Linode, Google, Amazon etc, or point to an IP address of a box in your house! WordPress installs created, managed, backed up in the least time possible! Go check it out...

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 27th January 2020

So many places to post your marketing messages and so many forms that they can take. What options are there and are any more useful than the others? We're taking another dive into the 'Watertight Marketing' book by Bryony Thomas, and exploring an area that neither David or I (Nathan) are particularly experienced at. We go over as many ways as we can think of for getting your (or your client) messages out there and think about what they might look or sound like. It's a surprisingly long list and it's changing all the time. What looked cool 3 years ago, might look foolish today and the platform of choice seems to change with alarming regularity! Have a listen to us chat this all through on the WP Builds Weekly WordPress Podcast.

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 20th January 2020

Creating content on your WordPress website that attracts people can be hard if you don't have a plan. Miles Beckler has a system to create content that people want to read. It's a simple system too. It might be something that you've implemented in the past, but it might be completely new to you. The approach is about creating content that you know that people are searching for, and for that you need a keyword tool (see the show notes).From there you write content that you are certain that people are actually going to want to read. You make it the best that you can, and you get better and faster at doing it. The beauty of this being held within WordPress is that it's going to be around for years to come and you can alter it should your data show that's it's in need of a tweak. You're not going to get rich over night, and that's not the point, but if you're willing to engage with Miles' process, you might find a new and interesting way to get paid. Fun listen...

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 13th January 2020

You know how this goes... You have an inbox and it's overflowing. You have almost no time in the day to deal with nonsense, but you do read your emails... some of your emails. But which ones? Which emails make the cut and get opened and which ones fall by the wayside, their only purpose in life was just to add a tiny amount to the carbon footprint? Building WordPress websites, you need to advise your clients about ways that they can interact with their customers or audience. They need to have a little understanding in terms of how they can market to the world. Perhaps you're not the person to teach them all of this, and yes, there might be people out there who are heaps better at marketing than you are (this is certainly true for myself and David), but that should not stop you thinking about this subject and offer your clients some thoughts as to what might work, and certainly what does not work anymore. Check out the podcast to hear our thoughts on this...

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 6th January 2020

Why should your WordPress website clients have any confidence in your ability to actually build and deploy their website? After all there are so many competitors to choose from. Is there any way that you can turn disbelief into belief? In another exploration of the 'Watertight Marketing' book we discuss this subject. Perhaps you've been using testimonials and turning them into case studies. These are easy to do, and no doubt quite effective, but how on earth do you actually get your clients to give up their precious time to provide then to you? Are you best just asking them directly or should you have them on some kind of 'website launch' sequence which guides them towards this? Are you going to tell them what to say or just leave it up to them, knowing that they'll miss out most of the things that you really need. It's a really difficult subject and one that both David and I feel that we need some help with!

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 30th December 2019

Have you ever wanted to increase your email list? My guess is that in most cases, the answer is yes! It can be a hard thing to do though right? One way that's becoming popular is to offer some kind of prize(s) and raffle them off. The intention is to incentivise your audience to share the contest far and wide and create some kind of viral loop in which people keep coming back and adding new entrants to the contest through their (not your) endeavours. It's a simple but highly effective idea if the conditions are right... the prize, the audience, the perceived value etc. Many SaaS platforms exist to do these kind of contests, but RafflePress is different in that it's all happening in your WordPress website, and it's got a mighty set of features too! Join the founder of the plugin, John Turner, as we talk about how to use RafflePress and what makes it the unique.

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 16th December 2019

What do you do when your WordPress website client says that they are talking to other people about the site that you're building... my girlfriend's nephew! How do we manage this? Do you just roll with the punches and assume that all will be well. Perhaps you need to ask who these people and what makes them qualified to offer their opinions. You could also put processes in place to make sure that the client has clear boundaries about who can suggest what. In this episode of the WP Builds WordPress podcast we talk this through. Guided by the Watertight Marketing book by Bryony Thomas. I'm sure that you've been through situations like this yourself, perhaps our ideas align with yours? Anyway, it's a fascinating subject which is the cause of so much wasted time and energy!

This weeks WordPress news - Covering The Week Commencing 9th December 2019