MainWP Blog - 2017

Talking to Erin about things such as tools, the future of WordPress, and why she started teaching her training system. It is no secret that I love to hear people’s stories. I love to hear how entrepreneurs overcome adversity. I wrote a whole series of blog posts in 2016 called Entrepreneur Stories. This series did two things for me. First, it allowed me to connect. In most of these situations, I was reconnecting. I enjoyed being able to connect and ask Continue reading the post...

Thanksgiving is not just a practice we should practice at one time of year. We can benefit from being thankful year round. In this article, four WordPress professionals tell us for what they are thankful. Over the river, and through the wood, To Grandfather’s house we go; (in the song we sange, it was grandmother’s house) the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow. Over the River and Through the Wood I remember Continue reading the post...

It happened again. You are in the middle of some heavy coding and you get a frantic email from your client who is in a panic. They forgot how to upload an image to a blog post. If only you had a knowledge base for things like this. There are, of course, videos you can utilize for simple WordPress tasks. But what if you have something a little more custom. Maybe you are using Custom Post Types to display data. Continue reading the post...

We are in the third week of November and that means that we begin to think about the end of the year holidays. In the United States, the fourth Thursday of November is when we celebrate Thanksgiving. From there, we are on the fast lane headed to the end of the year and holiday row. Retailers make the greatest part of their revenue in the final quarter of the year largely because of the holidays. They have learned to leverage Continue reading the post...

As an entrepreneur, we have a limited amount time, so building a business off of services has limits. Adding a productized service to our revenue stream can be extremely helpful. One way to break free from this model is by creating products. With your services repackaged as products, you’ll be able to scale your business and serve more clients without giving up more of your time. TutsPlus There are various ways to use productized services. For the November edition of Continue reading the post...

Being an influencer can go a long way to helping you promote your content. Really, it is a longer-term strategy. Being a guest can help you grow your content promotion. Jon Morrow used guest blogging to launch his guest blogging course. He captured 9,000 subscribers from a post at Problogger.  The post is the most popular article on Problogger and has over 500 comments. Kim Kaupe and Brittany Hodak became household names after appearing Shark Tank. The two had started Continue reading the post...

Today, in the Podcast Roundup, we are looking at three well-known podcasts that discuss the future of WordPress (and other good topics) and SEO. November Podcast Roundup 49 – WordPress and where it’s headed with Matt Medeiros – wpBuilds Nathan Wrigley interviews the interviewer. Matt Medeiros runs the Matt Report podcast and is heavily involved in the WordPress ecosystem. Aside from his podcast, Matt is partners in a design agency, Slocum, and has a plugin along with a host of other Continue reading the post...

Maybe one of the reasons I like the stories of entrepreneurs so much is that they do, indeed, read like a story. I’m sure that writers and screenwriters (for movies) use a little “literary license” to make it more entertaining and thereby forcing the story format to make it more interesting. Nevertheless, if you look at common story frameworks, you see it laid out when you watch a movie such as The Founder starring Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc. Entrepreneurs and freelancers Continue reading the post...

Using social proof on your website is a no-brainer. It is kind of like being linked to the “cool kids” in high school or being known by a celebrity. The effect is real and something you should tap into because people are more likely to purchase when they see the “proof” that your product is good from others. Wikipedia says, Social proof (also known as informational social influence) is a psychological and social phenomenon where people assume the actions of Continue reading the post...

Ever walked into a store and not be greeted or even seen a single sales associate? How did that make you feel?  In the town where I live, we have a chain restaurant called Moe’s Southwest Grill. It is similar to a Chipotle. One of the things that Moes does differently is that they greet everyone who walks in the door with, “Welcome to Moes!” One time I walked into a retail store close to closing time. I walked all Continue reading the post...