Thoughts On Business

Running a business is the most exhilarating and challenging experience of my life, rivaled only by my tours overseas. What I've learned in a very short time is that very few people actually know what they are doing, while most of us are just trying to figure it out. Here I hope to share my own insights and opinions, in the hopes that my experiences can be of some value.

SaaS Pricing and WordPress Businesses

Published in Business on November 5, 2014

I’m truly fascinated by the WordPress business ecosystem.

I’m frankly not sure why; when I look at it, it feels so young and at times exhausting, and yet so fascinating at the same time. I always want to fast forward 10 years, just so that I can look back and admire what it becomes and the trials and tribulations it went through. In my eyes the ecosystem is truly still in its infancy, and there is something beautiful as you watch it mature.

Yesterday I read an interesting article by the the SideKick team, titled Pricing Update: Feedback and Lessons. SideKick is a platform that allows you to create an interactive walkthrough for any website, plugin, theme or web-based platform. In reality, it’s a really cool feature set. I remember when it first came out, and I believe it was initially designed to target WordPress. They received advise from a number of folks and it looks as if they’ve morphed their model to be platform agnostic, I commend them greatly on this move.

I can’t stress the importance of being platform agnostic, it’s easy to be drawn the market share of 23% and growing, but never put your eggs in one basket.

By the way, looks like they’ll officially be launching November 14th or so, keep an eye out so you can try it.

A Day with the Woo: WooConf 2014

Published in Business on November 4, 2014

To think I was not going to attend the event.

It was already later in the year, November, and besides, as my beloved friend Chris Lema pointed out, I had been rejected to speak.

Forgive @perezbox and his tweets. He got a rejection letter from #wooconf without even applying to speak.

— Chris Lema (@chrislema) November 3, 2014

I didn’t even get my name in the hello.

Favorite Link Saver: @Pocket App

Published in Business on November 3, 2014

If you’re anything like me you’re constantly on the go, well at least in my mind I am. At least virtually you’re constantly moving, jumping between social streams, reading posts, updating posts, pushing posts, it’s our own little chaos of a world.

For a while now though I’ve been really struggling with a clean way to save interesting links. That’s compounded by the fact that I am constantly on multiple devices (i.e., desktop, notebook, iPad, mobile, etc…). For a while I was still using Delicious, seriously, I was. But that’s just not very useful, at least it wasn’t to me.

I was talking to a friend of mine, Cory Miller (at least I think it was him, if not, oh well he gets the credit), and he introduced me to this app called Pocket. At first glance it looked cool, but as if often the case I kind of shrugged it off, I get a lot of recommendations for apps.

Finally settling in at home though I started playing with it and quickly realize how cool of an app it was – more importantly how awesome the user experience is.

Your Personal and Professional Brand

Published in Business on November 1, 2014

At an event recently a friend of mine was cracking jokes on my online appearance. Although only joking, you can always tell when there is some truth to it.

It was enough where I started giving it a bit more thought.

In the process, I realized he was correct. So I found myself thinking more and more on the subject. As your personal brand equity begins to increase you give little thought to it, until all of a sudden it slaps you in the face.

It begins with random pings to be friends, emails, Skype messages, etc… Before you know it, it consumes your day and the lines between personal and public become non-existent. It really struck home when I published a picture on Facebook and my wife asked, “Who is that?”

I honestly didn’t know, other than it being a friend request I received and felt obligated to accept.

MailChimp Subscribe Form Plugin via @CrowdFavorite

Published in Business on October 31, 2014

Decided to update my email subscription feature and in the process set out to find a more effective solution.

I had been rocking the Jetpack plugin and using their subscription module, but it left a lot to be desired. Mainly the lack of control, or appeared lack of control over my own data (my emails). For the average site though it might be perfect, and right what the doctor ordered.

For me however I was looking for something specifically to integrate with MailChimp. I actually didn’t even know that there was a MailChimp plugin, I thought I would have to do a form myself (as I had done before), but oh how the things have changed.

Turns out that in my absence, a few months – maybe years, things continue to evolve. How awesome is that!

Turns out our friends at Crowd Favorite built a free MailChimp plugin. #hattip

The Value a Blog Brings To Your Brand

Published in Business on October 31, 2014

While in San Francisco this past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a conference, WordCamp San Francisco. I didn’t sit in on that many sessions, for a variety of reasons, but there was one that I attended, mostly because I know the speaker and he delivers a good and impactful talk – Chris Lema.

His talk was on Building Your Brand with a Blog – yes I stole the concept for the post title from that.

He defined 6 key elements to a successful content marketing strategy:

Audience
Needs
Opinion
Consistency
Tone
Sharing

If you have never heard my Chilean friend talk, you really need to, oh and don’t worry you have a lot of opportunities to. I encourage you to grab a glass of your favorite drink and go through the various videos, he’s a phenomenal speaker, and he writes about it too. But look, this post isn’t about my friend, it is however about his 6 key points.

Accounting For The Squeaky Wheel

Published in Business on October 7, 2014

This has been on my mind for a while, likely because of how big of an issue it is for me. I didn’t realize how big of an issue it is though until I started doing some research.

I came across the most eloquent description:

It means that if you bitch loud enough, you’ll eventually get your way.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, phrase, and you run a business you should acclimate yourself with it quickly. As an entrepreneur, as your business grows you will have to contend with it on a daily basis. I find it a very dangerous dilemma.

WordPress: The Vision of Five And What it Means

Published in Business on October 1, 2014

I was in Europe this past week for WordCamp Europe. I was accepted to speak about security, go figure… :)

Of the several talks I sat in on, the one I found most fascinating was the interview with Matt Mullenwegg ( WordPress Co-Founder, Head of the WordPress Foundation, CEO / Founder of Automattic). I am not sure why, I have often found myself in the crowd listening to Matt give a talk of some kind, whether it’s in a Town Hall setting or an interview.

I have crossed verbal swords with him on posts and twitter, extending and interpreting his words based on my own personal biases, etc… This time however, for once, I just listened and tried to really appreciate what he was saying.

Sometimes when you shut up, it’s amazing the things you really hear…

The Harsh Reality of Running a Business

Published in Business on September 21, 2014

Yesterday a very well respected entrepreneur, Rand Fishkin, put out a very personal post on his struggle with depression over the past 12 months and it’s affects on his ability to run his business, although deeply personal and very open, it resonated with me for a variety of reasons. In fact, it something that resonates with me because of how close to home it hits.

Being an Entrepreneur

Perhaps the hardest and loneliest job you’ll have, yet the most exciting and rewarding as well. It’s frankly the craziest experience that words can hardly adequately describe in a way that many will understand or appreciate. I think what was special about his post was the honesty, his revelation of all that is good and bad with being at the top of your business.

WordCamp Minneapolis 2014: Commercial WordPress Products

Published in Business on May 1, 2014

Recently I spoke at WordCamp Minneapolis 2014 on The Basics Of WordPress Security.

At the event, I pulled double duty and also participated in a panel discussion on Commercial WordPress Products moderated by Kiko Doran with:

Reid Peifer of Modern Tribe and Events Calendar Pro
Marc Benzakein of ServerPress and Desktop Server
Carl Hancock of RocketGenius and Gravity Forms
Ben Fox of FlowPress and SidekickPro

In this panel discussion we all answer some pointed questions by Kiko about our opinions and experiences selling commercial WordPress products.

Check out the video of the panel discussion and thanks for Paul Lampland for snapping this great photo!

Watch The Video

Analysis of Top 1 Million Domains

Published in Business on September 6, 2013

Over at Sucuri, our researchers have been having fun downloading the internet, in the process they found some interesting data…

Also be sure to check out the blog post, Over 10 of Alexa Top Million Websites Are Not Safe, on the subject.

Get The Data

10 Dangerous Lies Entrepreneurs Tell Themselves

Published in Business on August 20, 2013

My friend David, over at Early Growth Financial Services, put out this post on Forbes and it hit the nail on when it comes to the lies we tell ourselves.

Check Out The Article

Create an Email Distribution List Using Google Apps

Published in Business on July 30, 2013

**Updated August 2017 to reflect the most current changes**

I am personally a big fan of Google Apps for all Small Businesses. I find it to be a comprehensive solution, offering a wide range of productivity tools – including email.

As a small business, one of the things that helps establish trust and authority with your customers is when they see that your domain corresponds with your company name. The challenge you might find yourself with is the associated cost. I was fortunate enough to start with Google Apps during a period when it was Free for users with a low number of emails, that’s no longer the case.

In this article I’ll introduce you to the process of creating a Distribution list within google apps so that you can created emails like info@yourdomain.com, sales@yourdomain.com or billing@yourdomain.com. As a small business these are some of the more common emails people expect to use, and will try them by default. Creating them when you have a cost associated with them is challenging. Distribution lists allow you to get past the cost implications, while empowering you to share access with more than one person (i.e., multiple people can get the emails and respond to them).

Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action

Published in Business on July 8, 2013

Found this very good TED talk on communication and leadership by Simon Sinek…

I Need Phone Support…

Published in Business on May 31, 2013

In my daily scan of Facebook comments and posts I saw something that went a little something like this:

Does Company X really only provide phone support for “emergencies”? I recommended them to a friend who needs some help setting up her site, because I thought they had better support than other hosts. But their phone prompt basically says that if it’s not an emergency outage, then you have to go through their website. Is it true that they refuse to speak to their customers via phone unless it’s an emergency? Or does that phone prompt just give the wrong impression?

I found this very interesting, mainly because of how close it hit home.

At my company we are a services company that depends heavily on its support function. For us, it’s perhaps 80% of our focus these days, and it should be. All too often though we have come across this same dilemma with clients. Why don’t you offer technical phone support?

Open New FileZilla Client / Window on a MAC

Published in Business on May 29, 2013

If you’re not familiar with Filezilla, it’s an open source tool that allows you to quickly FTP/SFTP into your servers.

Unfortunately, if you have worked on Windows and Mac you know that sometimes you can’t quite do all the same things. One of those things that has been irritating me for quite some time is opening a new instance of FileZilla on a Mac. By instance I mean a new window.

Entrepreneurship: What I wish I knew

Published in Business on May 28, 2013

The life of an entrepreneur is an interesting one. Many from the outside looking in wonder what it’s really about, all the while those in the inside are still not quite sure. In it’s simplest form it’s defined as this by thefreedictionary.com: A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture.

The act of even defining it is a bit interesting in it of itself, you could likely find dissertations just on the description, but I chose this definition specifically for it’s simplicity. To me that is important, simplicity is key to understanding.

Know Your Clients

Published in Business on March 29, 2013

I don’t know why I don’t write more about business, finances or projects, but maybe this is the start.. who knows..

What I do know is that I sat in a great talk this weekend by my good friend Steve Zehngut, Founder and CTO of Zeek Interactive. To get a sense of how awesome they are just check out their Google tagline:

WordPress.org Promotes 100% GPL MarketPlace

Published in Business on March 28, 2013

Have you noticed anything new on WordPress.org lately? I have.

Right smack on the front page there is a new ad for a MarketPlace that is 100% GPL compliant, well, at least what I like to call WordPress GPL Compliant. And yes, there is a distinction, but that’s a story for another day.

WordCamp San Diego 2013: PressNomics For All

Published in Business on March 25, 2013

This was an interesting year for me when it comes to WordCamp San Diego.

It was the third one being held in the city and the first in which I was not involved. I have to admit, it was odd but pleasant. I remember a conversation in which someone told me that WordCamp organizers are perhaps the most under-appreciated volunteers in the WordPress eco-system, and I have to admit they probably are. Having been part of the organizing team for the first two I know first hand the obstacles they face and have to overcome to be successful. Which is also one of the reasons I am volunteering to help the WordCamp Guidelines committee.