Archives for December 2014

In case you missed the first article in the series, visit WordCamp Slide 001: Know Thyself to start at the beginning. This is actually Slide 2 from WordCamp Orlando 2014: Being Profitable in WP (SpeakerDeck link).

My first WordPress job was as Support Manager for a theme shop and 99% of my customer interaction was on the forums. The number of calls I got on could easily be counted on one hand. Then I started moonlighting and started my business and the whole client interaction game started to change.

I didn’t want to get on Skype as one of the first interactions because I was afraid they’d ask me a question I didn’t know the answer to. Before too long, I learned a new phrase, which you can feel free to steal:

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back with you.”

Simple, I know!

It took me far longer than most to realize this point, I’m sure, because I’m a blockhead, but a call after a couple of email exchanges to ensure the contact has decent communication skills and isn’t completely crazy quickly can build rapport. Rapport is like currency in this industry.

Rapport = leverage

Need more time to complete something? Do you think you’ll get more time with more or less rapport? We’ve got a kid in school. Sometimes he gets sick. Sometimes he’s sick and get my wife sick. When that happens, no so much gets done at my desk. Rapport “buys” me clients who say, “Family comes first, go take care of them.”

A football story

I’m from Ohio, not born, but raised. Then we moved to Tampa when I turned 16 (yes, on my birthday), where I’ve been raised and aged. Some of you might be aware that we become supreme mortal enemies with the state to our north (as Buckeyes) in the last week of October each year. It’s called “The Game” and features THE Ohio State University and the University of Michigan.

At the time of this presentation last weekend, that game was the weekend before. Around 10am, I sent an email to one of my very first, and thus longest running, clients, who happened to go to UM law school. We’ve had a good banter for years about our respective schools. My subject read: “Go Bucks!” and only put “‘good luck'” in the body. In quotes. Airquotes, as far as I was concerned.

About an hour later, I get a reply, but the subject read, “Re: Go Blue!” and “Dear Jesse, You had a typo in your subject field. I’ve fixed it for you.”

BOOM!

I LOVE MY CLIENTS who are on this level with me. I’m getting excited just writing this! I mean, what stuffy corporate job lets you do this? I’ve shared a hotel room at a conference with one client to save coin, too. Some clients were friends first, but the vast majority of them were clients who became fast friends.

How well do you know your clients? Got any stories to share?

Welcome to the inaugural article of WordCamp Slide! In these long-form articles, I’m going to break down each slide from my WordCamp presentations the way I wanted to present them. I’ve always left something out when the pressure hits, so here is a chance to say it all.

You see, combined with impostor syndrome (video), I also feel like I’m talking at triple speed and that if I pause for a moment, someone in the audience is going to shoot me and take over without hesitation. Being told no fewer than four times yesterday that there were proper pauses, I’m just going to have to believe that to be true.

Ridiculous, I know, but after four WordCamp presentations, I’m pretty sure that feeling is never going away. Hopefully this format is more valuable with everything I intended to convey live. There will also be a video edition for each of these coming along after each article.

This slide is from WordCamp Orlando 2014: Being Profitable in WP (SpeakerDeck link)

Before you can be profitable in anything, not even restricted to monetary profit, someone must know themselves. If you don’t know who you are, you really don’t know anything of value.

Do you know what makes you tick? You need to know what your motivators and de-motivators are. Things are simple here: quantifiable results make me keep going. If I don’t ship, the wheels start to spin and I enter a cycle of broke, desperate, and stupid.

Do you know what time of day you do your best work and how long you can work at peak performance? If you have control over your schedule, don’t force yourself to work before lunch if you do your best work after 10pm. I do my best work from 4pm until 7pm. By that time, I’ve cleared my inbox and incidental items and finally get into the groove. Then dinner is at 6pm. Sometimes I will text downstairs and say it would be very beneficial to eat later. That last hour of work could equal a day of work during off-peak times. You likely have a similar sweet spot time and similar “epic work” time limit.

Do you know what skills you are a rockstar in or what you want to become a rockstar in? I used to think my CSS is pretty good and was well aware that my PHP was intermediate, at best. I now know, with the help of someone experienced as a business talent scout, that my strongest and most valuable skill is a complex mix of client relations and cutting through any useless wants and translating them into functional needs.

Do you know what drains you? People drain me. Plain and simple. If you’ve ever taken the Meyers-Brigg personality profile, I’m an ISTJ. A decade ago, I was way up on the introvert slider. After years in corporate America and running my business for 6 years, I’m right on the line between introvert and extrovert. Now, instead of appearing to be an introvert, no one is the wiser but my battery is completely drained each day. By the time we were at dinner after the 2nd day of WordCamp last night, I was sitting at the table and just smiling.

My good friends and family know when and how to rescue me when they see I’ve reached my limit.

Do you get drained by other things, like coding, designing, sales, migrating, or some other area of business? Think of some way to minimize the drain by pairing it with something that recharges you. If coding is a drain, spend a couple of hours in Illustrator. I can always edit photos in Lightroom or pull a Marvel movie up on iTunes. My office drain is switching tasks from creative to logical several times per day… that and back to back calls.

The big question

Why do you do what you do? If you’re going to have a purpose-driven life, that necessitates having purpose. Two poignant questions were tossed at me that took me by surprise. While my answers were complete and accurate, my brain needed more time to formulate a more intimate angle, which I believe community deserves. Our son was also present, which influenced my words chosen.

It’s no secret to those who follow me on Twitter that we are foster parents. We’ve primarily had one boy for the past three years, yes, 3 years, but we’ve had 18 in all as of today. The System takes an unbelievable toll on our schedule and emotions, not just with mandated appointments but the aftermath of them, also. I have been focused on increasing profit to increase my time with the family and decrease my dependency on being at my desk. In order to help any more kids, there will have to be an end to trading time for money for our primary revenue stream.

The next few months and years are being set into motion with that target in my sights.

A related question of “what is your end game?” received a simple answer of “when enough is enough to not need to work… but it won’t be much more lifestyle than we have now.” A more expanded explanation is a whole post by itself, so I’ll link to it from here when it’s ready for public consumption. For sure, “being set” won’t mean an end to work – I love what I do too much to stay out of WordPress and out of what WP Valet is doing.

Helping people is me, and I am helping people.