Blog – Page 4

January 31, 2014

Being More Authentic

I’m pretty big on avoiding people who aren’t authentic. I know people who are sunshine and blowing bubbles in fields of green, allergy-free grass every day, but you know there’s a hurricane in the area. When things don’t line up, I get annoyed that they’re not being honest with their friends.

Then I was faced with the brutal reality that I’ve been doing the same thing.

I’m sorry.

When I greet people now, I’m not going to ask them, “how are you doing?” or “how is your day?” Those questions are too easily dismissed with a formed-by-habit, “fine” and don’t connect us any closer, other than I was polite enough to ask about them. Instead, I’ll ask a more thought-provoking question.

What’s been the highlight of your day/week/month/year?”

We’re not alone on this journey. Let’s connect. So…

What’s been the highlight of your January? Is there anything I can do to improve your February? Talk to me in the comments. I won’t bite.

January 6, 2014

Using P2 for (Certain) Client Communication

P2 Theme In my world, my inbox is my second biggest frustration, right after poor/inconsiderate communication of any form. I tried my extreme method of checking my inbox for a while, but it didn’t last more than a week in this form. It wasn’t realistic to go hours into the day not knowing that someone had changed their mind about a change overnight.

Why e-mail isn’t ideal for projects

Then new issues in my inbox started to become more frustrating. I learned in my last corporate job to not start with the oldest messages because someone usually took the reins or put an end to a thread by the time I got to my desk since many people had company laptops and worked from home after hours. Recently, I noticed several e-mails from people that looked like they were ready for an answer with the latest send, but there was information in the first message that was missing in all of the others.

In the end, in order to answer any e-mail from someone or for a project, I have to read all of the messages before responding to anything. My brain is too full for that. It simply doesn’t work that way with all of the other floating points that are informational spinning plates. I miss things. Wires get crossed because one thing overwrites a change made moments earlier, sometimes irretrievably.

That’s where P2 comes in

A few months ago, I kicked around the idea of using P2 as a way for each client to work through a project with me in a linear fashion with each item getting its own thread to follow and resolve. I’ve tried BaseCamp and I did’t like it. By the time I was done with a project of any length, I was ready to be institutionalized.

For those of you who don’t know what P2 is, it’s the blog theme that the developers of WordPress at Automattic use to communicate with their team and with core contributor users across the globe, so to say it’s effective is an understatement.

Personally, I didn’t yet have the experience to build a site like that because it involves multisite, a particular install of WordPress that I’ve avoided like the plague until October 2013. I started a pet project for long-term income that uses multisite and I have learned a lot since then.

Setup of multisite for P2

Installing multisite is the easy part for me, since I am a big user of WP Engine and they have a world-class, security-minded installer that has the option when you create an instance to create a multisite install right out of the gate. It may take some massaging of the domain settings to get it just right, but you should be able to get it up and running on a subdomain of one of your primary domains without too much trouble. Soon the fun begins.

I use subfolder sites instead of subdomains because my P2 multisite is a subdomain, so I want each install to be a subfolder. That requires an edit to the .htaccess file and the wp-config.php file (down at the bottom), besides the multiple domain name items throughout.

It should be noted that the Network Setup in your multisite will show a slightly different chunk than this if you’re on WP Engine. The chunk is already there, so you just need to modify what’s there based on your hosting. Line 1 isn’t in Network Setup, but it’s in my wp-config.php file.

Ready for fun? Plugins! Here is the set of plugins I have running on my business P2. It’s pretty bare-bone as far as installs go, but it’s very powerful for what you need to accomplish – and by all means, P2 is new enough to me that I’m open to great suggestions.

I only have P2 and the WooThemes child theme, Houston, so I have Default Theme (premium) to select Houston for new installs so it doesn’t default to a non-existent Twenty-fourteen theme.

P2 Likes by the great Scott Basgaard is there so I can like a post without commenting (and creating an e-mail).

P2 Resolved Posts is a way for me to track what’s remaining. If my client remembers, it is already that way by the time I get there, but it’s not an issue at all. It creates a widget you an put in the sidebar, so I can quickly look to see what’s open if it’s a long-term project with dozens or hundreds of posts.

Subscribe 2 allows us to be notified by e-mail of new posts with it set with checkboxes and users defaulted to be subscribed. It’s for posts, not comments to posts, so I also use Subscribe to Comments Reloaded, also with checkboxes defaulted to subscribe. See update at the bottom for a replacement plugin.

I’ve used Trusted Only on all of my staging sites for a long time now and it works great to block people from seeing the content at all unless they’re logged in.

Who’s Online creates a widget so I know if I can expect a reply any time soon. I really like this plugin’s simplicity and function.

When you put all of these together, you get a homepage that looks like this.

I already have six P2 sites fully ready and adding a new one only takes a few minutes, though I’m sure that I’ll find a faster way in the near future. I expect to see my inbox switch to a notification center for P2s rather than a mess of 20 threads with 6-30 messages each now.

Hit me – do you like this idea to break free from your inbox as a to-do list for projects, especially ones with multiple parties?

Update – 01.10.2014

I’ve switched out the two subscribe plugins for P2 by Email. It handles both subscriptions to the posts and the comments AND allows you to reply or post via e-mail if you’ve got access to WP-CLI or Apache cron jobs.

November 25, 2013

How to Reel in Clients Without Landing a Stinker

Jesse Petersen Speaking WordCamp Orlando 2013 One of the greatest challenges I’ve faced as a solopreneur is quality client acquisition. Thankfully it’s not something that is still a challenge because of the mistakes I’ve made and the adjustments I’ve been agile enough to change who can refer to me as their WordPress guy.

I was honored to speak at WordCamp Orlando and presented on the topic that is the title of this post. My goal was to help people identify six different types of clients as early in the process as possible to avoid some of the trials I’ve been through. This is the first in a 7-part series, so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of them.

Six Types of Clients

Without watching the video and the lengthy but amazing Q&A, here are the six types of clients I’ve been quickly able to identify within one or two exchanges and nearly every first call (for those that go that far). They are:

the noob
the rescue
the know-it-all
the “Client from Hell” candidate
the cheapskate
the dream client

As you can tell from that list, it’s critical to determine a couple of those types immediately.

Here is the talk and discussion in its entirety. I’ll be writing on each type in the posts that follow to expand on each but I’d like to go ahead and discuss red flags below the video since that is separate from the specifics of the types of clients.

Beware Red Flags

Red card! Over the years, I’ve become much more in tune to my “Spidey Sense” to the point that I have lowered the threshold for a red flag to where my yellow flags used to be. My wife has said that I boot potential clients too fast, but my goal isn’t more clients for the sake of numbers. My goal is to have as many dream clients as I can handle.

Right now, I have at least a dozen dream clients. Some of them are harder to recall than others because they are both completely autonomous when we’re not making improvements and they don’t mess anything up. They pay on time, respect my time and experience, and we get along great. More on that in the last post of the series.

I used to have a 2 or 3 yellow flags limit and sometimes I’d even overlook a red flag. Those, in particular, usually came back to bite me. If you haven’t been afraid of losing your good name and getting some baseless lawsuit, you haven’t had a crazy client that you regretted allowing the process to continue because you thought, “I’ll be able to make this work with my charm and excellent communication skills.”

As time went on, I upped my standards to create this formula:

2 yellow flags = 1 red flag = not going there.

Of course, nothing is simple

Now for the tricky part, what about after the first few e-mails and the first call or two? What if that’s when you realize they are going to be a challenge?

I’ve got one client right now who has officially put himself in my dream client category, but it started out pretty good (if not a good bit better than that based on our first contacts). As the project moved on, the WordPress install wasn’t jiving and something was fishy about the whole thing.

My Spidey-Senses were going wild a bit too late in the process. I started to lose sleep and my appetite for a couple of days. I started working on other projects and avoiding the situation.

Finally, I went out on a limb and expressed my concerns about what was being asked and why because it didn’t quite match what I was seeing in the dashboard. I was so bothered by what I was seeing that I quietly asked two of my closest developer friends if they agreed with my concerns and the consensus was worse than my own assessment.

His reply was quick and appreciative that I cared enough to voice my concerns. It turned out that the previous developer actually was a crack addict (how many times do you hear that and it be a sad truth?). He did the work $50 at a time to support his habit, so what I was seeing was the work of a bonafide crackhead. Now, we have great calls and lots in common once I was able to get past that hangup. He’s fed me at least 5 new projects to work on together and we love what we do and who we serve.

Red flags are a grey area

The bottom line in that case is that if I’d seen that stuff in the first contact, I’d be gone. I’ve run faster than that dozens of times. On the flip side, look at the effort it took to clear things up: an exchange that can go either way and turn into that ugly mess that strikes fear of a request for refund or worse.

That makes all of these following posts on the initial interactions guidelines that I follow. Just like in fashion, once you know the rules, you can break some and get away with it. Ignore several at your own peril. Yes, I often have to change one or more items before leaving the house – I don’t know those rules that well.

When have you ignored a red flag and it bit you? Have you ever been glad you didn’t throw a red flag?

November 21, 2013

How Confidence Affects Profits

It’s a funny thing, confidence is. There is a fine line between being confident, cocky, and a butt-hole. I know this because I walk that line every day and I probably cross over onto one side or another more often than I realize.

Just don’t live on one side. Where you live in relation to that line affects your name, your brand.

At WordCamp Orlando this past weekend, the questions and conversations had a common thread: how do you have the confidence to charge enough, say “no,” tell people to wait, and be confident on a call with a prospective client?

the answer is easy – not easy to reach

It takes time. I didn’t start out confident, but I also started out moonlighting doing support beyond what purchasing a premium theme provides. That’s why my e-mail signature since Groundhog Day 2009 has had this at the end: “WordPress and Business Services – for the things premium support doesn’t cover.”

The key there is that I didn’t become confident with the caliber of client that makes for a dream client by my standards today. It was with the nervous, desperate, and very small/starter businesses. Knowing your audience includes knowing what level of confidence they expect. With some people it is okay to not have an answer or have to research things for a simple question or quote.

Others will smell weakness and pounce. “Pouncing” in these situations gives them the upper hand, gives them something to negotiate with.

This leaves you two choices when starting out: work on projects with less-than-ideal clients or fake it until you make it.

what is fake confidence?

It looks and sounds like someone who:

doesn’t jump at every request for work
can’t start today unless it’s a 5-minute job
doesn’t publish their contact info
has a clean website with relevant posts (doesn’t have to be epic)
has to look at their calendar and the scope and provide a price

It’s easier to exude confidence in an e-mail than on voice or video. Human communication has too many non-verbal signals to fake too much. Once the call is over, it’s just as professional in appearance to then research plugins, code snippets, themes, and ask a colleague before e-mailing back with a plan, pricing, and a recap of the call.

That is what being professional is: a great communicator.

the proof is in the pudding

I’ve had a season where I wasn’t confident. I don’t recall the reason why, but I couldn’t land a new project to save my life for two or three weeks. Back in the day, my wife would comment that she loved listening to my calls because I was so confident and professional on Skype. One day in the middle of the drought, we realized I wasn’t confident at that point.

Without confidence, I wasn’t giving those potential clients confidence in my work – in me. Each day was another vote of no confidence in my abilities — based on my confidence, not my abilities. I’ve hired far better coders than myself to tackle problems because their body of work showed their abilities.

Prospective clients don’t give you that opportunity unless someone gushed about your work and their experience working with you. Even then, if you’re hemming and hawing while discussing a plan of attack, you may change their mind.

Scroll back up to the beginning of of this. Put on that face before every call. Feel the difference. Own your price. Command your brand. Increase your profits, starting with improving your client acquisition and quality.

For more tips on client acquisition, take a look at a slide deck on the topic.

September 17, 2013

Cutting the Fat: Business Expenses

Cutting Fat Last week my friend, Curtis McHale, wrote a newsletter about reviewing recurring business expenses to keep overhead low. After a hectic week when it hit my inbox, I finally got around to reading it and it kicked my butt into making a bunch of changes with more to follow. It was simply time to start cutting the fat from my outgo.

who’s first?

The first casualty was Audible, which I use nearly daily on my phone. I had the 2 credits/mo plan for $22.95 and have quite a backlog and had 6 credits available. Just in case the price goes up or they change things soon, I placed it on hold for 90 days. If I am caught up on books by then (after getting 6 more, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy), then I can resume it or alter my plan. Savings: $275/yr.

The next one was much rougher, but something I’d been mulling over for many, many, many months. Such a long breakup just made the financial decision all the more obvious and, looking in hindsight, the delay was not very smart. I signed up for Scribe SEO very soon after it was released for 300 inspections/mo for $27/mo, which is no longer an offered plan. That was the sole reason I have held onto my license for over 18 months now and I just realized that alone was not a good reason to keep paying $27/mo. I barely use it because I know enough about SEO to not rely on it and I have been using WordPress SEO for many months with clients who can’t pay $97/mo for Scribe. Savings: $324/yr

what’s next?

My next move is using a trial period of a new client invoicing system to shave some more fat off. I’ve used Freshbooks since before I was full-time running my business, but they charge more to keep adding clients using the grandfathered plan I have now or else switch plans and pay $29.95/mo. Right now I’m paying $24/mo.

Curtis’ e-mail pushed me to look at other solutions, so I signed up for Ballpark using a 30-day trial and really like what I see, especially for $12.99/mo. I imported all of my Freshbooks clients, invoices, and estimates and all appears to be great. You can use offer code JESSEPETERSEN for 10% off your paid account if you like it after your trial. I don’t really see any downside to switching other than losing my historical reporting and my wife learning a new system to do our finances. Potential savings: $132/yr.

July 25, 2013

Genesis 2.0 HTML5 Conversion Giveaway

The Genesis framework is going to be releasing their massive and much-anticipated update to version 2.0 any day now. When that happens, you can take advantage of very valuable SEO updates to the child themes, but only if the child themes have the new HTML5 markup enabled.

The StudioPress crew, in their vast wisdom, made it clear that you don’t have to enable HTML5 to update your Genesis parent theme to 2.0. Updating Genesis is not the same as updating your child theme to be 2.0 markup-compatible (What is markup? Read on.) Everything will still work if you upgrade, but without enabling HTML5 in your child theme, you won’t benefit from many things V2.0 includes.

This is still consistent with why a framework is important and why Genesis is the only theme family I work with.

All of a sudden, if you enable HTML5, the entire site design breaks because of the markup of the new code. Markup are the design bits that your design files look for in order to apply styles, layout, and other behavioral modifications or appearance. Without the proper “addresses” in your design, things break.

If you’ve made any alterations to your child theme over the months or years and don’t want to lose those by downloading a new HTML5 child theme, then you need to update your theme. StudioPress has said they’ve been sitting on for months waiting for everyone to get WordPress 3.6 and Genesis 2.0 in order to release a bunch of new and updated themes.

I’ve already updated the StudioPress child themes and several community themes, so you can have them now.

I’ve worked out a way to convert any child theme, no matter how much it’s been modified by another developer. This is not something you want to throw at your developer with a request if they’ve not yet done one. You’ll spend a lot of money if this is their first rodeo with V2.0.

giveaway steps

My conversion service is $248 for the first child theme and $150 for each one after that. By telling me why you love using Genesis, WordPress, or just generally participating in the comments with something nice, new, or celebrating life, you’ll be entered into a random draw the day after Genesis 2.0 releases to receive a FREE conversion.

July 24, 2013

The Bootstrap Business Life

One of the pillars of how I do business is that nothing happens unless the funds are available in cash (not credit) and are not a buffer for those down months. It’s bootstrap business at its best. While it can be frustrating to not do certain growth activities, it’s better than the stress that debt causes.

a little story

Mac Mini Day The single most rewarding purchase of my life was a 2011 Mac Mini server. For weeks, no, months, I planned the computer I’d be using for the next 3-5 years. Utilizing pro/con lists, spreadsheets of features, CPU power, upgradability, and cost-per-day calculations, I passed on a 27″ iMac and a MacBook Pro in favor of their diminutive brother. It wasn’t a moment too soon, because I was driving my wife nuts with my back and forth debates with myself, which sometimes involved her listening.

We walked into the Apple Store and asked the man to fetch me one and I grabbed a trackpad. My decision to choose the Mini left plenty of funds in our account, even after a second 22″ monitor and additional RAM. It was a good thing, too, because disaster struck.

Tractor Jumpstart That weekend, we drove from Florida to Ohio to visit my grandparents. Just past Valdosta, GA, the dashboard lights started doing weird things and we took an exit that only had a marine dealership. We got a marine battery and were on our way.

Two hours later, the same thing happened at the Locust Grove exit, about an hour south of Atlanta. We spent the night at the La Quinta (a very nice one, too) while the battery charged on a new charger from Wal-mart. At 8am, I put the battery in and drove to the shop 1/4 mile away and we left on our “merry” way shortly after noon. On a good note, we liked the hotel so much, we stayed there the next time we drove up – then we realized we have to drive straight through with a toddler. CRAZY!

La Quinta - Locust Grove, GA

We spent over $700 getting to Ohio over 2 days instead of what was supposed to be $150 in gas.

the lesson in that

What if I’d gone for a bigger computer or used credit? The stress would have been too much for what I can deal with. It was a really good thing we were in a strong financial position for that epic turn of events that would have previously made me quite sick. I distinctly remember walking back to the shop at lunch, just enjoying the weather and peaceful that I’d provided for us to not make this a big deal.

I was reminded of this day as I was planning my “next big thing” and was about to pull the trigger on a Kickstart campaign. First, my wife wasn’t comfortable with the idea of having that money and keeping track of it while we paid it out. Then when I discussed it with the person who was working with me on the idea, they said that it’s not worth the stress of not waiting.

They were right. You’ll just have to wait longer to see what it is, now.

July 20, 2013

Stop the Insanity – Don’t Babysit Your Inbox

Stop the insanity! Don’t babysit your inbox all day, every day or even all day at your desk. This is now my second or third productivity tip this week… because the things I’m doing are working. The stat or guesstimate that I believe I heard listening to the 4-hr Workweek (total lie of a system for 95% of entrepreneurs, but good outside-the-box thinking) appears to be correct in my life.

For every e-mail replied to, you get 1.7 responses back.

I had no idea that had any chance of being correct until I started checking my inbox twice per day on weekdays and once per day on the weekends. The feeling is somewhere between “flabbergasted” and “elated” each day I spend 5-20 minutes in my inbox. It’s taken a lot of willpower to stick to it since all of my mobile devices have two or three mail apps on the home pages. I should move them, yes? Today took almost no willpower to wake up at 6am and not check mail until after 1pm. I’m done already and the Gmail and Google Apps tabs are closed until tomorrow. I sent one e-mail, sent a reply, got a reply, and responded again in 20 minutes.

Remember that quote above?

it’s a rat wheel, I tell you

They don’t call it “the rat race” for nothing, people. Every day, people all over the globe get up and let other people inject other peoples’ priorities into their day almost immediately. Be honest: do you check your e-mail on your phone or tablet:

Before leaving your bedroom or en suite?
Before breakfast?
Before exercise?
Before spending time with other people?
As soon as you get to your desk?

Not only is that exercising poor boundaries, you’re handicapping your brain for the rest of the day. How many times are you going to bed and have the same “Item #1” on your list staring at you as your head hits the pillow? I no longer go to bed with remorse that I didn’t touch a piece of code or go for my walk (because someone’s e-mail persuaded my sense of duty to go straight to my desk) or write some content. I started writing a book in February. Publisher and everything is ready. I just need to write.

How stupid have I been the past 6 months?

examine other people living the sort of life you’d like

About 2 years ago, I began wondering how people like Brian Gardner and Chris Brogan got so much done. They’re both writing, promoting their brands, being on social media, and Brian has always been available to bounce something off him even though he’s also training for Iron Man and re-designing his website every 4-8 weeks. I was over here drowning in easy stuff and I knew there was a system that some people use that I needed to learn.

So I went about the business of learning that system as best I could without pestering everyone in my network who was a few steps ahead of me. I got audiobooks, found sites to read dozens of articles, tried different apps, and did pick some peoples’ brains over lunch while I was in Austin for a WordPress conference.

Those people don’t let e-mail run their lives. None of them. I watched. They’re present where they are, not lost in thought because they have “thinking times” built into their schedule. Creativity also improved my productivity and have nearly doubled revenue this month as a result of working when I’m at my desk and playing when I’m not.

Funny thing, that is.

Are you willing to be radical to see if it changes your trajectory?

July 19, 2013

It’s All About Expectations

Surprised? Manage Expectations. A majority of projects that have gone bad are my fault. Sure, it would be strongly argued that it is the client’s fault, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, I didn’t set good expectations. Those incidents create a flood of e-mails, a high-stress call, and sometimes threats for either party that ought not happen.

Expectations, clear ones, set the tone for the entire project and the duration of what could be a long-term client relationship. Don’t mess it up with muddy water.

how to avoid poor expectations

The key to such calamities is communication. I state before a call is scheduled what my normal starting price for a project is and what my timeline looks like. That immediately dissuades those who are looking for a $500 site by the end of the week.

Communication can also disrupt feelings of discontentment with waiting for the project start or completion. Unless there is a hard deadline due to a publication or some sort of hard launch, then it’s best to communicate that everyone gets your full attention when it’s their turn, just as you expect with a doctor’s visit. I don’t mind waiting past my appointment time nearly as much when I know I won’t be rushed out the door when it’s my turn to be seen.

terms and conditions

Terms and conditions should be stated clearly and in plain terms, not legalese. My terms are quite a bit longer than I would like them to be, but if any part of it is removed, then it opens the door for poor communication. As an example, if I solve a need that many people have with their sites and I spent a good chunk of time solving it, I like to share it on GitHub or package it into a plugin – my terms allow me to do that so long as it’s not proprietary to my client’s business. No surprises.

reputations precede you

It’s always good when someone is referred to you from a close friend or respected colleague of that person. There is going to be an instant trust with your new contact because they have built trust with their contact. That’s one barrier down right away.

When I sense that someone is leery of my ability to exceed their expectations, I often open them up to the idea of asking around on Twitter what other people “think about @jpetersen’s #WordPress and #GenesisWP skills” and I have yet to see anyone do that, so it must be transparent enough to do the job.

I’ve said dozens of times that I’m an open book. Very, very rarely do I hide anything that I’m doing with the rare exceptions of launching a new service when I only teased and told 2 people – one of whom was also concurrently working on his own service and we both launched same-day.

Once I’ve figured something out and it’s not any real benefit to be the only one who knows what it is that I’m doing, I share it. Transparency reaps trust and helps an expectation that I’ll help out in the very near future. I don’t like monopolies, even in what I do for a living.

When clients see that is the kind of person you are, you are helping your current and future self out… possibly even future generations.

July 16, 2013

The Technology We Use – 15 Years From Now

JVC HR-3300U VHS VCR. This is the United States release of the HR-3300. The HR-3300 is the world’s first VHS-based VCR.

While pondering a 1-page website that I want to create and leave alone for 15-20 years, it made me ponder what technology I want to build it on. Really – what are we using today that was created and unchanged enough to last 15 years? What in the world?! I’ll be 50 in 15 years…

technology (obviously) evolves quickly

The first website was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html and was created in August 1991. 1991! I have t-shirts older than that, and I’ll be 35 later this year (because I’m not a dirty old man wearing a KISS shirt from a concert smoking dope in 1981).

As recently as 2010, this site was being reported as gone forever, but they have restored the server, the IP address, and as much of the original setup as possible. Hats off to you.

By the time I got on Facebook, it was approaching my high school’s 10th reunion in a year or so. Nothing was being said about when and where it was, so I guessed there were only 20 of the original 350 still not in jail or dead from overdose, so I forgot all about it. Then I found out that the info was on MySpace. Remember that craptastic site that everyone borked up their pages as fugly as possible? For the record, I’m against non-designers having control over colors, fonts, and backgrounds (Blogger.com, I’m talking to you).

It was 2007 and a lot of people still hadn’t moved to Facebook yet and were still doing their “it was nice knowing you, cruel world” messages on MySpace. Now it’s all but a memory, even though they spent a bazillion dollars on an actually decent redesign.

Technology moves faster than the mainstream population, so there is always a lag in consumer adoption. In my lifetime, I’ve seen the adoption of VHS, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, flat screens, computers, laptops, smart phones, and now tablets.

adoption is also quickening its pace

We got a VCR around the same time we got a Commodore 64, which I think was 1984 or 1985. Later we got a TV with a remote control! Aside from computer upgrades, that was about it until about 1989 when CDs came out.

CDs took a long time to catch on. I clearly remember the day I first saw and heard one in a friend’s house. They had ONE CD. Within a year or two, I had a mini stereo system in my room with a radio, cassette (kids, those came before CDs), and a CD player on top. I spent all of my allowance acquiring new music rather than waiting for the radio.

DVDs took about 3 years for a lot of people to start getting the technology and the media was a tad scarce for several years. Some of the guys a few years older than me when I graduated high school had massive VHS collections with big TVs and surround sound. I’d already started buying DVDs for my collection, but they were too invested to abandon their current titles. We haven’t had a VHS player since we gave mine to my parents (I have NO IDEA WHY they took it) in 2006.

Now it’s all Blu-rays catching on, and they come bundled with DVDs, so there isn’t any real barrier to entry either way other than a still inflated price – if you have DVD now, you’re set for later and if you have a friend with DVD, then split the costs. Our collection is up to 9 titles, including one 3D Blu-ray (The Avengers) and I’ve nabbed two at consignment for $2 each.

it’s not realistic to think that a new website will be as-is in 15 years

At least I’m not in denial. At some point the content on the domain I’ve purchased will need to switch platforms or technology. As widespread as WordPress is today, powering 17% of all websites on the Internet, I don’t think it will be around in 15 years.

Someone, maybe Matt Mullenweg himself, will innovate.

Will HTML even still generate content that people can or will access? Technology tends to build upon itself, but every now and then an innovation changes the entire global landscape. It’s not like we are benefitting from some new advancement in pens and paper since the 70s when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak changed the world with the first “affordable” personal computer.

It’s ~~very possible~~ probable that we won’t be using a computer or tablet as we know it now to visit a domain name.