The Builders

If you're building an agency or business, this episode is for you. Besides revealing my 5-10 year vision for my agency , I delve into how my web design business has developed. Any time we release a service or product it can end up being something we didn't anticipate.. my agency has been the same way. But as I talk about in this episode, that doesn't mean we let go of our initial vision. You adapt...

I'm joined by Widmaer Telisma in this episode.  Wid, as we call him, currently runs a successful web marketing agency in Montreal (Canada).  Him and I have a very similar story these past 15 or so years; in fact, he had joined one of my memberships back in 2007.  That is where I first met him hanging out in my community and forum.   We both started our days online doing a wide...

In this solo episode I dig into telling stories to sell your personal brand, services and more.  Learn how I incorporate stories into my business..  how to connect stories from your past into a conversation that helps 'soft' sell.  Learn the types of stories you can tell and how to deliver them. Stories are things we tell verbally.. but we are also telling a story with the content w...

I get to be a nerd today and get excited about a WordPress plugin!  I've grown to love Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) over the past few years running my web design agency.  In the past I didn't want 'another plugin' and I created a lot of custom code that leveraged WordPress' core features (eg, metaboxes and the customizer). Today though, I reach for ACF more often than not.  In this...

I'm joined by Matthew Biggar in this episode.  Listen in as we discuss video, social media, building brand, audiences and more!  Are you interested in how you can leverage video in your business ?  Then this IS the episode for you.  That's his speciality! Matthew's been using video and teaching others how to use video for years!  He's had his own production company and in...

An episode about building a podcast on The Builders Podcast ...  need I say more?  As with all the content we talk about on this podcast, I'm talking from the trenches; talking to what I'm doing and have experience with.  The past 20 episodes has been a journey.  I've learned a number of lessons, have a pretty good feel for what we're doing now, the benefits.. and I'm ready to...

Join me for a discussion with Jenney Denney .  She's been doing digital marketing for over 15 years , runs an agency and has a lot experience and knowledge to share!  We get to know more about her, the journey and how she landed where she is today.  What influenced her, what guides her... We also talk about her experience with virtual teams.  She's lead large teams in virtual e...

Join me for a discussion with Shoumo Ganguly.  Shoumo is a business consultant and expert on the topic of business models .  With a long and storied career with many large corporations (from IBM, projects with Toyota and a long stint at PricewaterhouseCoopers) he's got a lot of experience and insights to bring to the table. As I do with all my guests in our first episode, we get to know...

This episode is for freelancers or agencies that would like to hear a perspective from someone that sets up and manages hosting for clients.  OR it's for businesses that would like to extract some thoughts around the importance of choosing a good web host and what the process is around moving to a new server and web host. Whether you're just launching a website or have an existing, growing bu...

In this episode I talk about how to infuse flexibility in your business in that you can handle spikes in your volume without hiring a huge team off the bat.  And why you may not want internal hiring to be your only solution to getting stuff done. What avenues are out there for your business to operate like a cloud computer or server platform where you can scale it up or down depending on the...

In this episode I'm having a conversation with 2 other web developers .  We start by diving into their backgrounds and journey.  Ryan's been a web developer for over 15 years .  Danielle's been at it for around 9 years .  Both, like myself, focus a lot on WordPress, but we talk about 'what else' we do or will be doing.  We all worked together as a team in a previous compan...

In this episode I talk about generating ideas and brainstorming.  This something I take very seriously in my own business.  It's a never ending process...  and often ideas simmer for long periods so I can develop them.  When they are ready, they may see the light. I touch on a recent idea that is just now seeing the light of day.  It's something that started to gel around...

This episode digs into the awesomeness of WooCommerce - a WordPress eCommerce plugin.  I have been using and developing with WooCommerce for years.  It's my go to solution if one of my clients needs to sell products on their website (digital or physical). We have an eCommerce WordPress theme at Hexater called, Furniture Shop .  Hexater.com itself is driven by a cart-less install of...

If you're an agency that needs to or is trying to hire good web developers or have some other reason you need to find good people to do work for you, this episode is for you. After building multiple teams over the years I've learned some lessons that helps me find good people relatively consistently (knock on wood). I've hired people to help me build niche sites, create content, design and develop...

This episode will take us on a journey into my past.  I reference a thread I participated in on the Warrior Forum back in 2003-04.  When I was active there. We're talking about just getting something launched and not getting caught up in making everything perfect before you take action.  Just launch it!  Too many spend weeks, months or even years because they don't feel confide...

This is a conversation with the one and only Doland White . Doland and I met while working at the same company a few years ago.. he was the CEO and I was just one of the web development grunts. ;)  ...but no, we built their WordPress business together and he taught me a lot as I helped build the themes and a team of designers and developers. He's been involved with technology in some shape or...

This is a new type of segment for the Builders Crew! I’ve chosen a specific type of page on a website (the Team Page) and we’re going to go through a project from start to finish. This will be great for anyone that has or is planning a team page .. whether that’s your business OR something you are building for someone else. I’m providing some background on the project as a whole and the relationsh...

It's a question you've heard or seen a million times if you've spent time in web development communities online.   Should I learn this or what should I learn next? No question is a dumb question of course.. let's start there.  But often I think there doesn't need to be a next.  It's ok to just focus on the basics at certain times or getting better at what's in front of you. &nb...

Introducing a new segment! The “Builders News Minute”. A minute I share what’s new since the last podcast.  But more importantly, we get into the business of testing in business. Where testing is applied and how it influences and touches almost everything. Testing is something to be embraced and understood. You usually have to start with an educated guess and ‘choices’, but over time you can...

If you are starting an agency or are established, heads up!  This is a great episode. ESPECIALLY if you don't currently sell web design services but have clients asking.. "can you provide web design services or do you know WordPress?" Here's what's exciting...  You don't have to do it!  You don't have to be the expert.  Partner up with an agency, find expertise, provide your cl...

I find the evolution of products and services fascinating.  In so many cases the ideas we start with evolve into something else or we focus in on something we couldn't predicted.  Even as an agency we are doing things today that we would never have thought of on our own 2 years ago. In this episode I explore this and use some examples where this has happened in the real world for both pr...

Last summer I needed to pause the podcast to focus on the business.  This episode ushers in a new go at it.. I talk about what we've been up to, how the business is doing and the future of this podcast (new'ish format.. mostly related to length). Enjoy!

While a lot of people or gurus today preach charging high from day 1, that's not exactly the path I took.  While a lot of gurus or internet experts preach value pricing over hourly, I'm not a purest in that regard either. This is my story (putting it all out there!).. from a fledgling developer back in 2012 charging $15/hour to where I am today averaging over a $100 per hour... landing web de...

Building a business is tough.  There are a lot of moving parts.  But something that I have always gravitated to from day 1 is defining what my speciality will be.  A specialty in your chosen field, business or career allows you to build an identity and brand that is more valuable and makes your services easier to sell.  It helps you attract better projects, projects you are per...

Bootstrap has been a major part of my web development toolkit since 2014.  Back then I had created a custom WordPress theme framework with Bootstrap baked in; over the years I've continued to use it for Hexater themes, have refined how I use it and have it baked into a custom theme framework I use for clients (I specialize in building custom WordPress themes).   Beyond that I've built a...