A WordPress podcast for digital business owners
Been a while right?! I m back with an update to what s going on with Matt Report, and a potential new direction I ll be taking the content through the new year. While I love all of the deep conversations I ve had about WordPress, the new home for that is The WP Minute. That s where I ve been [ ]
Heading to a major WordCamp event can be an overwhelming experience for the brand new camper. Having hundred if not thousands of WordPress-loving peers under one roof might have you stuck in your tracks, no pun intended. How do you meet new people? How do you get noticed? How do you recharge if you re an [ ]
Web accessibility was something I was afraid to discuss with clients, when I ran my agency. I didn t know much about it, where to begin, or how much time it would it take to implement the various practices. That fear steered me away from presenting it as part of a web design project. I m not [ ]
I forget that some WordPress users, even freelancers, don t realize the sheer size of WordPress. From billion dollar hosting companies, to boutique agencies, WordPress is quite vast. It took Yaw a few years to even realize that Automattic, the commercial entity behind WordPress, even existed! We ll explore his story today, starting out as a freelancer [ ]
Marc Benzakein shares a retrospective on running ServerPress for a decade in the WordPress space. We unpack the history on discovering the beloved software development tool and partnering with Steve Carnam, alongside Gregg Franklin. What makes this WordPress business so challenging from others? What held back some of the development and getting ahead of the [ ]
Just because you re an introvert doesn t mean you can t build a business. It doesn t mean you re afraid to get on stage and talk about your success or failures. Ken Elliott knows this role all too well. He s a self-described networking introvert that built a WordPress agency with his co-founder, will be emceeing WordCamp US [ ]
What if you locked yourself in a room and threw away the key to work on your business? Stop the Slacking, the doom scrolling, but forced to focus on the agenda of improving everything. That s exactly what Kim Coleman, co-founder Paid Memberships Pro Sitewide Sales, did to re-focus the Sitewide Sales business. Running a business [ ]
Corey is no stranger to building product. In part one, we chatted about his legacy of products, and selling his WordPress plugin. Today, we ll be back chatting about what goes into making great products. Important links Corey on Twitter Gelform Mexican Train Online Where will the WordPress middleclass go? Check out the NEW stuff from [ ]
I m chatting with Corey Maas, former owner of the Kanban for WordPress plugin. After a few years back in the saddle of day jobbing, he s now running Social Link Pages plugin for WordPress. He also spent some time during the pandemic launching a new online game built on WordPress. Come learn what it s like [ ]
In today s episode, I want to chat about the current vibe in WordPress. Compare and contrast the community vibe, to the business vibe. Porto looked like a ton of fun, sad I missed it! The WP Minute showed up in a big way, so I m really thankful for that. Plus! I couldn t hold off from [ ]
Rachel Winchester is challenging us to think about WordPress as a canvas for art. WordPress as a paint brush, not an NFT. In this episode we uncover how she found WordPress and bringing those skills to her day job at DigitalCube. As a loyal Elementor builder, what does Rachel think about Gutenberg and FSE? Tune [ ]
The most common piece of advice I think WordPress freelancers receive first is to find your niche. Easier said than done. Niches are still hard to find. Crowded markets together with figuring out what you re best at providing to customers can be a challenge. What if that niche involves web sustainability? That s not a crowded [ ]
Today s guest, Ines van Dijk, is helping WordPress product owners get better at customer support. With over a decade of experience in the WordPress customer support space with WooCommerce and Automattic, Ines knows what it takes to run a successful support team. You can hire her team to help build you a complete plan for [ ]
There s an entire industry built on selling you the Holy Grail of raising your rates. Courses, memberships, ebooks, videos all assuring you that $10,000 projects are just a click away. Why wouldn t you believe them? They re on the gram throwing hundred dollar bills off a boat or speeding away in a Lambo. To be fair, [ ]
There s a new cohort of WordPress celebrity hitting the spotlight these days and I m here for it. When we look back in the Gutenberg history books we ll be able to show that blocks, patterns, and javascript not only rocked the code of the project, but the community as well. Some immediately dropped out, other stayed, [ ]
What does the word entrepreneur mean anymore? To you? I think there’s that slightly jaded view of the TechCrunch Disrupt vision of days gone by. Building a unicorn. Changing the world. Buying that Porsche you always wanted. It’s about the endgame we so cleverly convince ourselves of. However, some of the best business builders are [ ]
From Expression Engine to WordPress, Rob Howard has built his WordPress agency as a flagship for larger agencies to source work to. Unqualified customers are the biggest threat to the early days of building a business. Also known as bad product fit, when we re offering something to the wrong customer, the whole relationship is setting [ ]
What s the side effect from WordPress changing so rapidly? We re dragging blocks, inserting patterns, and visually building our themes these days. There s been great discussion spurred around themes, where Matt Mullenweg What s the side effect from WordPress changing so rapidly? We re dragging blocks, inserting patterns, and visually building our themes these days. There s been great [ ]
When you hear the phrase high performance WordPress websites, what examples come to mind? This is a phrase that I see a lot of companies using in their marketing, which includes Malcare, today’s guest and sponsor of this show. Products and services targeting the type of buyer that might be managing a high traffic site [ ]
Hey listener, before we get started, if you’d like to support WordPress community member Andrey Savchenko or anyone else currently in the Ukraine, please donate here or here. (read his original tweet https://twitter.com/Rarst/status/1497516263597387782) I can comfortably admit that I didn’t see Artificial Intelligence as the next big thing for WordPress in 2022. The march to [ ]
If you found your way to this episode from my newsletter, thanks for taking part in one of the areas I lack most in: emailing my list. If you’re like me, stuck in a proverbial hamster wheel of self-doubt content creation, today’s episode is for you. In fact, if it weren’t for today’s guests, [ ]
The house that WordPress built…or will build. It can be challenging for new WordPress freelancers to get started in this industry. You have to find the right tools, the right customers, get paid and…actually build the websites! Is there a right path to take? Meet Terry Carter, Manager at Newfold Digital WordPress Live Blue [ ]
I ve known today s guest before I even ventured into the professional WordPress industry. In fact, it wasn t his themes that revolutionized my thinking, it was the checkout process. Brian Gardner launched a theme company using a payment portal and delivery tool called e-junkie. I just checked, they still exist, they were the Gumroad before Web [ ]
Welcome back to the Matt Report, where we continue our special 2-part series with Josepha Haden Chomposy. If you haven’t listened to the previous episode, I suggest you go back and learn what the WordPress Executive Director does on a day to to day basis. Today, we’ll be exploring some meatier topics that come up [ ]
If you’re like me, you know Josepha Haden Chomposy is the Director for WordPress the open source project in title, but you probably don’t know what she does on a day to day basis. Or that she’s part of the Open Source Group Division inside of Automattic. Something I always knew, but once framed that [ ]
WordPress news is hard. I mean, it s hard to turn it into a real business. I get away with covering WordPress here on the Matt Report because our guests share lessons on how they built their business or spend time telling us how they navigated the community, until they found their way. But news? Well, [ ]
I typically open up my monologue with setting some tension or to attempt to provoke how a grand idea might come together in the upcoming audio. I don t have that today. What I have is a young entrepreneur that impressed me with his story, branding, and how he s approaching the business of…college movers. I know [ ]
A tricky part about all of this stuff we do in business and online is to not let the work consume you. I know people say that your work is not your worth, and I get it, but it’s really hard for me to disconnect from that. To show the world what you’ve built and [ ]
Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in a famous line from Godfather Part III and a recurring theme I ve noticed for those of who have used WordPress for a while. No matter how much we might moan about the shortcomings of WordPress, it s still pretty darn powerful. The core of WordPress [ ]
There s no better feeling than when you launch something that just clicks with people. I guess at the end of the day, folks that build businesses or create content are simply seeking acceptance. We want to see our idea flourish, to be adopted by the masses, and to leave an impact. When Maciej Palmowski launched [ ]
Now that the WordPress acquisition market has cooled a bit, it s time to stoke the fire on all things Gatsby and JAMStack-y-ness….again. Don t let Full Site Editing steal all of the thunder, there s still so much happening around headless WordPress and the ability to integrate 3rd party APIs to take the place of plugins. Look, [ ]
I mentor at a local business accelerator for sustainable startups that have community impact. Small no, tiny startups that are just getting out of the idea phase. More often than not, this is the founder s first leap into running a business. About 6 weeks into this 12 week program, I teach a class [ ]
As designers or developers even product makers when WordPress is your hammer, everything looks like a nail. WordPress is certainly in an inflection point. Where as the software is evolving, read: gutenberg + fullsite editing, the community of users grapple with what WordPress really is. I feel like that s a statement which has [ ]
The WordPress acquisition world was rocking this week. If this week were a heavyweight fight between Learn Dash and Sandhills Development, Pippin would certainly be the beloved veteran. You can hear more about his side of the story in this podcast interview. Today I got to sit down with Syed Balkhi, founder of Awesome Motive, [ ]
Today s a bittersweet moment in WordPress business land with the announcement of Awesome Motive acquiring Sandhills Development suite of plugins including Easy Digital Downloads, AffiliateWP, and more. I m honored to call Pippin my friend who has helped me grow up in the WordPress community. I m happy for him, and sad that he s retiring from the [ ]
Even with all of the WordPress consolidation happening, there s still plenty of opportunity ahead for the industry. There s lots of potential users, customers, and room for investment (note: we just saw the acquisition of Yoast happen by Newfold, formally EIG. If I had to guess, somewhere between a $30-50M deal.) If you though the plugin [ ]
Is there ever a right time to start a business? We could subscribe to every podcast, take every online course, thumbs up every video Troy Dean puts out on Facebook and we still wouldn t be 100% ready. Imagine having a full-time job and peddling your small piece of software on the side. Before you know [ ]
I appreciate a good side hustle story. Someone slogging away in the cubical but slowly building up an audience on Twitter on the weekends. I m sure you know all about the build in open movement, and today s guest really shocked me with that. See, maybe like you, I ve listened to Dave Rodenbaugh on his podcast [ ]
Probably just like you, the exploration for the secret ingredient to running a successful business is a tricky one. Speaking for myself, I can tell you that I m constantly trying to learn and dissect what some of the most successful brands are in my space. How did she do it? What does the website look [ ]
The important role of an in-house media creator (or content creator) to a brand, especially in the software space, has been a topic weighing on my mind for a while. In today s episode, I break down a few clips from a recent episode of Bootstrapped Web, where hosts Brian Joran discuss their challenge of [ ]
Forming a successful partnership in business might be the most powerful, yet, most challenging things to do right. This goes beyond simply linking to each others business or handing over the occasional customer referral. I m talking about two (or more) partners both handling responsibilities and working towards a shared goal for the overall mission. Tara [ ]
There s a fine balance between optimizing your services for profits and providing satisfactory value for the money you charge your customers. Let me frame that for you: A high-touch, white glove services business is people + time intensive. If you own a boutique agency, you re aware of the time and money you invest on all [ ]
Today s guest used to sit on the opposite sides of the WordPress hosting competition table from me. At one point in his career, he was pumping out content on Kinsta s blog like an absolute machine while I was raging against that machine, selling would-be customers on Pagely s hosting stack. So where is Brian Jackson, former [ ]
It took me a while to draw out what I wanted to say in today s monologue about our guest. This will be his 6th appearance on the show. With this episode, we ve covered 4 different SaaS based businesses, with a handful of digital products and one service-based business that s still running, of which, I ve never [ ]
I came across Kristen Youngs YouTube channel while I was exploring the popular no code Bubble.io platform. At first, I thought she was creating the typical tutorial videos channel around this very popular app building platform, but as I explored more, I realized she was building a very unique business behind the scenes. I think [ ]
Over the last few years, I think one of the most important lessons we ve learned is that our community can go beyond WordPress. From the tools and the code, to the neighboring software s we use to get the job done. Whatever that job is for you. It could be publishing a simple blog or helping [ ]
Today I m experimenting with a new type of podcast episode called Play it Forward. I m borrowing this concept from a show called 3 Clips that we produce at my day job, Castos. In that show the host, Jay Acunzo, asks his guest to play it forward by recommending another podcast that the listener should absolutely [ ]
Courage might be the most valuable trait running through an entrepreneur s veins. The stories shared on this podcast are born from some of the most difficult times for the individuals starting a business. In terms of the economy, there s an entire cohort of successful agencies and WordPress software products that started during the financial crisis [ ]
I m sure we re all very familiar with building in public. As someone that has been doing exactly that for the last 15 or so years, I can tell you, it s the only way I really know how to do something. If you re unfamiliar with the practice, it starts as early as the idea phase. You [ ]
Failures in business become some of our greatest lessons. There are 100 moments of failure in my career that have redirected the course of my business building journey. While they sting in the moment, even collapse relationships or new opportunities, I can t help but learn from them. But failure in business, is not the lesson [ ]