169 AJ Morris & Chris Lema of LiquidWeb

Chris Lema and AJ Morris of Liquid Web stop by to talk product innovation, hosting, and the WordPress community.   We're also joined by our WordPress panel for this special episode.   Cast for Episode 169:   AJ Morris: https://ajmorris.me/ Chris Lema: http://chrislema.com/ Sallie Goetsch https://www.wpfangirl.com/ Lee Jackson https://trailblazer.fm Jonathan Denwood https://www.wp-tonic.com/ John Locke Lockedown SEO   ==================   Our episode this week is sponsored by LiquidWeb. Liquid Web is offering a 33% discount for your first 6 months of managed WordPress hosting. Head over to https://LiquidWeb.com/wordpress and use the code WPTONIC33 at checkout for your discount.   ==================   Table of Contents for Episode 169: 0:00 Podcast intros. 4:03 Why did Chris choose LiquidWeb as his next company to join? What criteria did he evaluate? 7:48 How do you differentiate yourself in a market where you are not first to market? 10:45 Why LiquidWeb can still cover a lot of space in the WordPress hosting space, and areas that many managed WordPress hosts fail to cover. 17:35 Building a new product for customers that will be useful for updates. 19:45 Evaluating the competition in the WordPress hosting space and working with restraints. 24:38 Picking a strategic target for your hosting product so you can deliver maximum value. 28:28 Looking for the gaps in the existing market, and does that gap constitute a market? 31:04 Why GoDaddy may have bought WP Curve and how they are trying to consolidate their market segments. 35:37 Layers of security in the stack below the application, the network levels and infrastructure levels. 40:59 Timeline for continued support for Multisite on LiquidWeb. 42:32 Accepting the rules of the WordPress ecosystem, and working within those constraints. Predicting the decisions about the future of WordPress. 49:38 Insider baseball posts don't talk to customers - they talk to the 5000 people who are the super-inside WordPress Community. 54:03 In software development cycles, what's old is new again.  57:52 How important is it to be involved in the WordPress community to market to the WordPress community and their customers? The hidden benefit of community on your marketing message. 1:03:18 Podcast outros. ===================   Find bonus content for this episode on the WP-Tonic website: https://www.wp-tonic.com/podcast/169-aj-morris-chris-lema-liquidweb/   ===================   Subscribe to WP-Tonic on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wp-tonic-wordpress-podcast/id893083124?mt=2   ===================   WP-Tonic is both a WordPress maintenance and development service, and the publisher of a weekly WordPress business podcast where we talk to some of the brightest minds in web development, online marketing, and business.