OfficeHours.FM

Tonya Mork is the Founder of Know the Code, with an impressive engineering background of 22 years building and leading teams in automating equipment and processes. In today's episode, we discuss balancing automation and people, and measuring the cost of automation.

Brian Casel is the Founder of Audience Ops, a content marketing service that powers blogs from creation to publication, and host of Productize Podcast. In today's episode, we dive deep into the nitty-gritty details surrounding task breakdown and the level of detail it takes to create a systemized process that saves you time.

Chris Lema is the Vice President of products and innovation at the hosting company Liquid Web. He spends his time building out WordPress offerings and WooCommerce hosting. In this episode, we discuss how to segment your audience by their behaviors and interests, and the importance of segmentation before automation.

Founder of Double Your Freelancing and co-founder of RightMessage, Brennan Dunn is a creator in the true sense of the word. From freelancing to running his own web development agency, to creating software, and consulting, he has a wealth of experience to share. In today's highly requested episode, we discuss why small tasks deserve automation, how to truly personalize automation, and soft segmentation.

Bill Erickson has been a WordPress Developer for 12 years, helping individuals, small businesses, and large companies build their sites. In today's episode, we discuss all things code, from templates and automation to Bill's perspective on time management.

Chris Ford is the Project Manager for Reactiv Studios. She began her career as a classically trained graphic designer, but soon fell into web development and has been in the field for 20 years. In today's episode, we discuss how automation saves time, the importance of customizing automation, and how it's not unlike muscle memory.

Jason Resnick, also known as Rezzz online, is a web developer who specializes in helping ecommerce and online businesses boost their conversion rates. He also assists other freelancers in building a sustainable businesses. In today's episode, we discuss how automation relates to the customer experience and the importance of crafting your content with hard data.

In today's episode, Jeff Large shares why finding your domino can make your process more effective, advice that has inspired him, and why podcasting is not only powerful, but might be a key puzzle piece missing from your marketing strategy.

Troy Dean of WP Elevation offers an interesting perspective on balancing automation with human creativity. In today's episode, he shares what his years of experience of running a digital agency and online community have taught him about automation, business, relationships, and fatherhood.

Welcome to the kick-off of Season 5, focused on automation. Beka Rice is Head of Product at SkyVerge and has an obsession with all things automated. Today, we discuss why automation doesn't have to be inhuman, how the order confirmation is actually the beginning of the customer relationship and what questions to ask in a discovery meeting. Produced by Come Alive Creative

Diane Kinney and I continue our conversation on project management.

On today's episode, Carrie interviews Karim Marucchi and Rian Kinney about contracts and what to consider when you are preparing to work with a client.

On today's episode, Carrie is interviewing Troy Dean. This is Troy's second interview on officehours.fm. Troy and Carrie are discussing project scoping and putting your business in the best possible position with the client that will make you (and your client) more successful.

Join me as indepdent web contract Jordan Rupp and I discuss what goes into a formalized discovery process for a web project.

In this episode, Carrie talks with Erin Flynn about Client Onboarding and how this process can be simplified by using templates and communicating regularly with your client.

In this episode, Carrie and Heather talk about Contact Relationship Management (CRMs) and how that applies to a freelancer or small agency. The discussion covers when you get that customer in the door and launch the project all the way establishing a retainer agreement with them.

In this podcast, Carrie interviews Brett Cohen CEO & co-founder of emagine, a digital agency located south of Boston, MA. Brett shares his insights of sales and marketing the "hard way" where there is no substitute for calling and meeting people face to face.

What we talked about Managing expectations from the very first interaction with a client Taking ownership of every aspect of a project Addressing "issues" immediately (no festering) Adversarial relationship toward customers Handling hard conversations (and keeping the emotion out) The best (and worst) forms of communication

What we talked about Using a business plan to decide what services you'll offer and what you won't Before choosing your ideal customer, you need to have customers to choose from :) When it's time to grow a team (and how to find the right people) Managing cash flow Business, communication, and tech tools used at WPRiders.com The importance of a mentor

What we talked about The process of developing a customer niche Just because you gear marketing toward your niche doesn't mean you can't serve others The three-level marketing strategy How to get a client ASAP Building confidence in yourself The importance of content (and tips for getting into the swing of content creation) Vetting potential clients

Solving all the problems.

What we talked about The origins of managed WordPress hosting Serving a niche in a crowded space Find your differentiators that set you apart from the competition Empowering others (teammates) to make decisions and take responsibility for the outcome Working through explosive topics (i.e. politics) with your team Expressing opinion as a company vs an individual Joshua shares what inspires him

What we talked about Going from solo owner/operator to a partnership Accountability in a partnership Inbound marketing Engaging with your site visitors Serving up content based on who's looking How to get someone into your marketing funnel

Marketing is simply building trust and empathy with a group of people by talking to them. - Paul Jarvis What we talked about Email marketing as two-way communication We hate marketing because we don't understand it Alienate most people in order to get the right people on your email list Unless there's engagement, having a huge list is meaningless Email automation doesn't have to be intimidating Getting started with email marketing Episode links Paul Jarvis on Twitter Paul Jarvis website (and newsletter signup) Sunday Dispatches podcast Invisible Office Hours podcast Chimp Essentials (course)

What We Talked About Freelancing "back in the day" Turning a passion into a revenue stream Opportunities to systematize repetitive tasks Opportunities to upsell clients (while offering great value) Quarterly "temperature" calls Defining your ideal client (and evolving that over time) Taking time away from work to work on your business Self/soul searching to figure out what it is we want to work on

What we talked about Setting financial stretch goals (and achieving them) The power of saying your goals "out loud" Investing in your business Serving a micro-niche vs a general client base (and how that can help with content strategy) The value and importance of live industry events

What we talked about Getting out from behind the computer and meeting folk Expressing yourself through content Having a professional online persona Getting into the habit of writing with directive journaling v Brainstorming content Promoting your content (and others)

What we talked about Being different in a crowded space Internalizing what others are doing and then innovating on it Copying someone's motivation vs copying someone's results Be the freelancer that answers the phone! If your offer isn't interesting and compelling, get a job and learn new things Risk dynamic as a freelancer vs an employee Go deep, not wide

What we talked about How to do your own content marketing by making a brand plan What to do if you started blogging before you had a brand plan The backstory behind Pamela's new book, Master Content Marketing Writing (confidently) even if you don't feel like a "writer" Content marketing as a creative act Education through content

What we talked about You will never get the complete story from an email or a Slack message. - Karim Marucchi Account management for small agencies and freelancers Using account management as business development Differences between an account manager and a project manager Coming across to your clients as the expert The importance of "face time" vs email Using email as a followup to a conversation, not the conversation itself Tips for composure and "positive control" in tough conversations How to make client delays work in your favor

What we talked about The isolation and anxiety many freelancers feel Online relationships vs real-world friends How to make connections online Being your true self online without oversharing Active listening Mental health maintenance How to find the right therapist Yoga!

What we talked about Benefits and challenges of serving a specific vertical niche Custom theme builds vs commercial Differentiating yourself in a crowded market Sustainable pricing Consolidation/tightening of the WordPress ecosystem Improving the "WordPress experience"

What we talked about Educating prospective clients The unique challenge of offering services in a small community Preparing for seasonality (the lows and highs) Working locally (vs digitally) Goal setting Building monthly recurring client revenue

What we talked about White-labeling plugins Terrible plugin ideas GPL & software licensing A Black Friday rant about Envato Sustainable product sales The WordPress community outside the US

What we talked about WordCamp US and the Patheon drama GoDaddy's year of acquisitions and partnerships LoopConf in 2017 WordPress 4.7 & REST API What's up with Calypso? Do we need to learn JavaScript deeply? Backend vs Front-end developers Tips from the panel

Here's some of what we talked about: Working in a partnership Serving a niche audience Vetting clients Maintenance plans Design inspiration

Season 3 of OfficeHours.FM is here! My panel of guests includes Rebecca Gill, Diane Kinney, and Matt Medeiros. Sometimes irreverent, sometimes serious, we cover the WIX GPL debate, subscription-based business models, and the impact of the REST API on businesses.

This week I've got Beka Rice, Operations Manager for SkyVerge, Leading Contributor at Sell with WP, and Content Manager for Shop Storm. Somehow she manages to have free time and in that free time she's traveling the world with her husband, eating at Chipotles along the way. On this final episode of Season 2, join us for a lively discussion on e-commerce in WordPress, what the product development process looks like for WooCommerce, and the unique challenges of working while traveling.

Travis VandeNoord