Matt Report

Episode 30: The Genesis of Copyblogger

Have you ever had that mouth wide open, I just met a celebrity feeling? That's the way I felt when I interviewed Rafal Tomal lead WordPress designer at Copyblogger. Ok, you might not love WordPress themes as much as I do, but if you do, I bet you love the stuff Rafal has put out. If you're a fan of his work and you want to dive into the mind of lead designer -- don't miss this episode! Matt Report Interview with Rafal Tomal http://youtu.be/a5MhogzU0Y4 Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version What it's like designing WordPress themes at Copyblogger I enjoyed learning how some of my favorite WordPress themes are being designed over at StudioPress. Brain Gardner refers to Rafal as his diamond in the rough and I don't disagree. This opportunity at learning the process, thoughts, tools, time and fun they have putting into building themes is just great. Aside from working at Copyblogger, we talk about supporting customers, looking for inspiration and some of his future plans -- including a book! I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. If you have questions, post below!  

Episode 29: Rafal Tomal lead WordPress designer at Copyblogger

A lot of the entrepreneurs I've interviewed started in the last economic downturn of 2008. So that got me thinking, is WordPress recession proof? WordPress services can be sliced and diced in many ways. It's not creating "work" that's the hard part, it's finding the right vertical. Rebecca Gill of Web Savvy Marketing joins us to share what it was like starting out in the recession, finding a niche and building an awesome virtual team. Interview with Rebecca Gill of Web Savvy Marketing http://youtu.be/ZYf5yGszffo Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version Recessions, niches and teams -- oh my! Can we say AWESOME interview? Rebecca shares a ton of great info about her journey as a WordPress entrepreneur. If you're just starting your business or you're a seasoned veteran, you're going to get a lot of great info out of this one. It seems a lot of great WordPress companies came out of the recession. Folks like Cory Miller and Rebecca saw great opportunity and growth and dove in head first when the rest of the world was running away. These economic swings are like huge reset buttons. You will hear people say no one is spending money, but that's just wrong. When one door closes another opens. They might not be spending money on the "usual" products and services but now is the time to offer an alternative. WordPress was and is poised to do just that. Offer up a complete solution for any size business at any budget  with a community to see it forward. When did you start your business? What was your biggest challenge? Let me know in the comments! Friendly reminder Hey, I'm on iTunes and if you love the show -- I'd love a review! Head on over to The MattReport on iTunes

Episode 28: Is WordPress recession proof?

These are the stories I love. Folks who are honing in on one vertical industry and putting out a great product or service. Angie Meeker of Angie Meeker Designs walks us through her journey of starting out in the WordPress world to finding a niche vertical business. If you're all about focus and growing -- don't miss this episode! Interview with Angie Meeker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axKpfPDJoX8 Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version Finding your niche A lot of us start out trying to grab as much business as we can. Who can blame us? We need to pay the bills and generate revenue. There's nothing wrong with it, you just have to be prepared to scale in some vertical. Some expertise that sets you apart from the rest. What can you do really really well? Great even. This will be your value proposition in your market. Your edge to landing the deal. What niche are you in? I'd love to hear in the comments below!

Episode 27: How to dominate in a niche WordPress business

You have to wear many hats as a freelancer. The question is, do you really want to? Ryan Duff joins us in Episode 26 to discuss his journey from freelancer to working at WebDevStudios one of the fastest growing WordPress shops around. Don't miss this episode if you're looking for a change in your WordPress career! Interview with Ryan Duff, developer at WebDevStudios http://youtu.be/ozm7dcwlWjg Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version Freelance vs Agency One of my goals for Matt Report is to help WordPress entrepreneurs choose the ideal path to success. I do however, leave the definition of success up to them. If you're going to be a freelancer, there's a lot to consider before you even being working a project. Here's just a few: Finding clients Negotiations Contracts Expectations Project management Billing and receivables Cash flow Customer support Doing it all over again... "But I don't want to deal with that Matt!" you might be saying. Well then listen to what Ryan has to say about agency life. There's a lot of positives to working with a team and not just for getting the work done -- but handling all of the overhead of client services. Positive reinforcement I've received some great feedback lately and I'm really happy people are enjoying the show. If there's another angle you want me to include, questions I should ask more frequenetly or you simply want me to stop the "ahh's & umm's" let me know in the comments! As always, share this with others if you can -- I appreciate it!

Episode 26: From WordPress freelancer to working at WebDevStudios

Looking for ways to find more clients, land bigger projects, grow a network of trusted peers and increase revenue? I sit down with Aaron Holbrook of A7 Web Design to discuss how he's doing just that and more.  Aaron shares his unique story and how it has unfolded into building his virtual agency. Don't miss Episode 25! Interview with Aaron Holbrook of A7 Web Design http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7fGLTH0kSA Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version How is your brand perceived? Here's what I found interesting when talking to Aaron -- I mentioned I loved his site and it made his agency feel bigger than just one person. He laughed and said that wasn't the plan. In fact, he wants to convey quite the opposite. He wants to be the face of the company. The familiar voice on the phone supporting the client or in the e-mail drafting the first proposal. It made me think, are we losing leads by presenting a brand persona that's out of reach for some? "I don't have the budget for these guys.", they might say? Or is this exactly what quality work should be doing? Finding clients with bigger budgets and bigger projects. I would love to hear your side of the story! Side note: What was up with my hair in this episode?! Ha!

Episode 25: Growth hacks for WordPress freelancers w/ Aaron Holbrook

Keep it simple stupid. Take your idea and cut it and half and then cut it in half again. Then pick the top 3 features of you product and cross off 2 of them. What do you have left? Buttons. I love the idea of Max Foundry's button plugin because it solves such a simple problem. Don't have the design chops or time to code some sweet CSS buttons? Let's see how Dave Donaldson solved this issue and built a business around it. Interview with Dave Donaldson of Max Foundry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocmo0JGc2A0 Watch on YouTube Listen to the audio version Keep it simple stupid A popular Matt Report interview is with John Saddington -- we chat about the power of focus and simplifying your message/product. One of the hardest things to do as an entrepreneur is to "say no" to all the wonderful features and functions we want to build. Once we start adding more "stuff" to our products & offering we start getting spread thin. Not enough vertical focus or rinse/repeat systems are in place. Here's what I think you're going to love about this interview -- Dave started with buttons as his first product. Buttons! From there, he took this simple solution and grew other products. Built a nice base of folks to market to and then capitalized. Don't miss this episode especially if you're just launching your new business! Like what I'm doing? Can you share this on Twitter or Google Plus? Share this if you love to talk WordPress shop!

Episode 24: A WordPress business built on selling buttons

Have you noticed an increase in WordPress media lately? Podcasts, YouTube channels, weekly newsletters, and recently a 24 hour live marathon are all on the rise. It's why I produce this podcast and why many others are starting to turn the camera and mic to WordPress. My latest guest runs a very popular WordPress podcast called Your Website Engineer. Meet Dustin Hartzler! Interview with Your Website Engineer Dustin Hartzler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO9GKDp36e8 Watch on YouTube How producing WordPress media can help you A lot of my guests talk about marketing strategies, SEO tactics, and creating your own marketplace. Dustin found his niche in producing a helpful WordPress podcast after he was fielding a lot of the same questions from clients. Much like how I started Matt Report -- I was getting a lot of "How do I do X in my WordPress business?" What do you think about WordPress media? Do you watch any WordPress shows or podcasts other than Dustin and I? Have you thought about creating your own? Let us know in the comments!  

Episode 23: The rise of WordPress media