Streamlined Solopreneur: Build Systems so Your Business Supports Your Life

Brian Hogg is a Canadian, WordPress Plugin Developer, Educator, and more. He has a few great courses on how to create WordPress plugins and a very informative newsletter to go with them. In this 2 part episode, we discuss his plugins as well as general plugin development; this includes build tools, SVN, submitting to the WordPress repository, and more.   Show Notes Brian Hogg Event Calendar Newsle...

Mike Rohde is a designer and founder of the Sketchnotes Army! He's also a twice-published author and Green Bay Packers fan. In this episode, we talk about how he came up with sketchnotes, why it helps with retention, getting published, and tons more!  Show Notes Mike Rohde Mike on Twitter Sketchnotes The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard Sponsored by: Seriously Simple Podcasting | Liquid Web ————...

Andy and I continue our conversation from last week, about general theme development. We discuss our favorite tools and learning resources, plus much more! If you're interested in making WordPress themes, these episodes are must-listens!  Show Notes Part 1 Andy Wilkerson Parallelus UpThemes Theme Forest Google Trends WordPress.org Jade Grunt Episode 10: Beaver Builder Runway Underscores Creating a...

Andy Wilkerson is a theme developer and theme shop owner that made a name for himself on Theme Forest. Now he's working on all sorts of projects, not just for themes, but for podcasts and more! In this 2-parter, he and I talk about his story and general theme development. This episode, Part 1, focuses primarily on how he built his business.  Show Notes Andy Wilkerson Parallelus UpThemes Theme Fore...

Sean Blanda is a long time friend, journalist, and Editor-in-Chief of GrowthLab and I Will Teach You To Be Rich . He has an excellent newsletter that focuses in on specific topics and takes an objective approach to writing. In this episode, we discuss what an full stack Indy publishing platform would look like, and why it's important.  Show Notes Sean Blanda Sean on Twitter GrowthLab I Will Teach...

James Rose is an Australian agency owner who creates websites for a living. In this episode, we talk about his brand new product, Content Snare. Content Snare is a software product built to drastically cut down the time and headache wasted on chasing up clients for website content. I think anyone who's made websites can get behind this. We also talk about being a good developer, and how to create...

Ryan Sullivan is the founder of WP Site Care, a business that helps service and maintain WordPress sites. In this episode, we talk about building a business that meets a need and defines expectations, some great tools for running a support business, and what customer care really means.  Show Notes Ryan on Twitter WP Site Care Help Scout Basecamp Sponsored by: SIteLock | Liquid Web ———— Streamlined...

Russell Aaron is a backend developer working for WebDevStudios and working out of Reno, NV. He's done lots of work within the WordPress community, including work on the plugin Maintainn Tools, which he uses to help troubleshoot websites.  Show Notes Russell Aaron WebDevStudios Maintainn Maintainn Tools Pluginize Query Monitor Sponsored by: WP Site Care | Liquid Web ———— Streamlined Solopreneur hel...

This is the second of a 2-part series called Educational WordPress! In the last episode, I spoke to  Chris Badgett . Today, it's Justin Ferriman Justin Ferriman is the owner of the LearnDash LMS for WordPress. In this episode we talk about building an audience first, scratching your own itch, and listening to your customers. He provides some great advice on making sure you have people to sell to b...

This is the first of a 2-part series called Educational WordPress! Over the next 2 episodes, I talk to two of of the biggest names in a WordPress LMSs and WordPress in the educational space. Today, it's Chris Badgett. Chris Badgett is a software company owner, a world traveller, and first and foremost, an educator. In this episode, we get to talk all about empathy, teaching, and scratching your ow...

Kiko Doran is a veteran, developer, musician, teacher, and so much more! In this incredibly interesting interview, Kiko and I talk about how he created the iBook, Learn Pharrell Williams' Happy for Apple's new Tuniversity project . We talk about how the innovative new idea evolved, what it was like working on this high profile project, breaking the music down, learning iBooks Author, and so much m...

Jeff Matson is a WordPress man about town, making contributions to several big plugins and projects, and even WordPress itself. In this episode, we talk all about development, knowing when to cut your losses, developer tools, and much more. It was great having Jeff on the show!  Main Project: Heartbeat Control Heartbeat Control is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to easily manage the freque...

Stephanie Wells is a nurse turned coder who launched her own WordPress-based online business. Starting off in client work, she quickly moved into the product space, where she makes Formidable Forms. I was stoked to have Stephanie on the show and we talk about all sorts of great topics from scratching your own itch to family and more.  Show Notes Formidable Forms Blair Williams PressNomics CaboPres...

Or: "How I Met Your Mummers" In this first episode of Season 3, Tracy and I talk about doing client work vs. product work, owning an agency in Philly, and moving from the free to freemium pricing model. We also talk all sorts of non-computer stuff like raising children (being parents and business owners), Philly lingo, and How I Met Your Mother. Show Notes Tracy Levesque Tracy on Twitter YIKES, In...

We close out Season 2 talking to Michael Sacca of Crew and Unsplash. Crew has since been acquired by Dribbble , but the story of how they got to where they are is great! We discuss startups, finding the right balance, and how a simple side project can be the thing that changes your main business.  It's a great way to end Season 2, so  have a listen!  Show Notes Crew Unsplash Michael Sacca Rocketsh...

David Bisset is a WordPress developer who also happens to plan one of the biggest WordCamps in the United States. Their 9th one happened recently so I sat down and talked to David about what goes into planning a WordCamp, especially one this big!  Show Notes David Bisset David on Twitter Make WordPress WordCamp.org BuddyPress Episode 21:  Liam Dempsey and WordPress Meetups Caring Enough to Give Ba...

Diane Kinney is a WordPress Developer, Designer, and Marketer. And soon, she'll be adding author to that biographical line. She and Carrie Dils are working on a book called Real World Freelancing that talks all about what it really takes to be a freelancer. In this episode, she and I talk all about the writing process, decisions for self-publishing, and more.  Show Notes Diane Kinney Diane on Twit...

Shawn Hesketh is a good friend of the show and an excellent educator and mentor. His widely popular site, WP101, teached thousands of folks how to use WordPress. In this episode, we get pretty deep into the woods on how he built WP101, and in typical Shawn fashion, he imparts some great advice all along the way. This one is a little longer that usual, but it's packed full of fantastic content, inc...

Erin Flynn is a freelancer and educator based on Colorado. In this episode we talk about how she found her way into the product space, all the twists and turns of freelancing, and how she creates courses and keeps her sales funnel on point.  Show Notes Erin Flynn Rethink.fm: Tips for Mastering Client Communications Streak for GMail Teachable Rain Maker Unstoppable Courses ConvertKit Sponsored by:...

Tom is a man of many hats! He's a WordPress user, avid blogger, developer, editor for Envato, and much more. He also takes the approach that he'll scratch his own itch if he needs to. In this episode, we talk about how he tackles problems, why and how he built the plugin Page Template Dashboard, and his development tools.  Show Notes Tom McFarlin Tom on Twitter Page Template Dashboard Adopt a Plug...

In this episode, Ty and I discuss a few great topics! His company, Cantilever, focuses on strong client relationships that elicit enough trust to try cool, experimental projects, like what they did with Rustic Pathways. We talk about integrating the REST API in an interesting way, the importance of communicating with clients, and why trying a project as "just a project" might not be the best way t...

In this episode, Andy and I discuss some of the specific challenges and rewards of developing WordPress sites for non-profits, why empathy is so important, and why you should never say never when choosing the right tool for the job.  Show Notes Andy Stitt WP for Non-Profits How to Use WordPress to Build Your Non-Profit Site - WordCamp Baltimore The Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Society Have Empa...

In this episode, we get pretty heavy into servers and server setup! Jonathan talks about how he got the idea for WP Stagecoach. We also discuss some of the difficulties with spinning up and simulating multiple server setups, how good coding can go a long way, and much much more.  Show Notes WP Stagecoach What is a Staging Server? What is a Script Kiddie? Apache III Sponsored by: BoldGrid | Pantheo...

In this episode, Daniel and I get pretty heavy into development tools and using WP CLI, automated testing, and the future of WP-CLI and Open Source. We go a little long, but it's a great conversation no matter what your background is.  Show Notes Daniel Bachhuber WP-CLI Hand Built WP-CLI on make.wordpress Behat Automated Testing Unit Testing Laravel Valet Harvest Sponsored by: BoldGrid | Formidabl...

In this episode, Troy and I have a great conversation about developing online courses, creating scarcity, and keeping students engaged. If you've been looking to start an online course or develop a great online community, this episode should not be missed!  Show Notes Troy Dean WP Elevation RockStar Empires Running Lean Social Learner Learn Dash Episode 9 with Zac Gordon Teachable Headspace App Sp...