Matt Report: Recent Episodes
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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 focusing all of my WP energy these days, with lots more fun stuff to come.
I also wanted to take an opportunity to share one of my favorite episodes ever, with Jose Caballer. It’s over a decade old but it’s SO worth listening to again. While some of the websites and links he’s mentioning no longer exist, the content of providing great web services is still very relevant in today’s world.
I hope you enjoy it (again) and thank you for being a loyal listener of the show!
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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,…
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…
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.…
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…
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,…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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.…
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…
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:…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
Podcasting in the WordPress space can be a thankless job. It’s a labor of love — or pain. I’ve talked about this before, it’s not something that is…
If you’ve skipped around the catalog of amazing episodes published this year, I’ve gathered four here today that should entice you to binge a few more. I stitched…
What a difference 3-plus-something years makes. Remember the Page Builder race? Then remember when Gutenberg came on the scene smashing the ground, cracking the earth beneath her like…
It’s all fun and games until the business starts to grow, and I mean, really grow. From 1 to 2 people, 2 to 10, 10 to 50 these…
It’s easy to overlook WordPress’ capability to expand in parallel with a growing online business. From starting as a simple blog to grow awareness, all the way to…
“Operating system for the web” has lingered around the ol’ noodle since I heard Matt Mullenweg mutter those words some 6 or 8 years ago. The headline made…
Curiosity. Curiosity is what the nocode movement has reignited for me. When I think back to my days of using Drupal 5 with the powerful combination of CCK…
Entrepreneur, a term that has lost its potency over the years, is finding it’s way back home in today’s story. There are those of us that start businesses…
WordPress product pricing is too cheap. Elementor, the most popular page builder for WordPress these days, has announced a price hike which will come into effect on March…
After Automattic released their experiment with selling $5,000 websites, I published a video, I spell it wordpress now. A video which has been viewed over 1,400 times and…
We’re back, with another fine episode of the Matt Report podcast. Don’t forget to subscribe, over at mattreport.com/subscribe because there’s a new podcast coming. I’ll hint at it…
There’s a saying being traded around the online business building world, which goes something like this: “Build in the open.” A sentiment that might lead you to believe…
Let’s say you’re a services business — you know, you make websites for people and sell them at fair market value. But, every so often, you get a…
Just a quick note about today’s episode: While my son’s really enjoyed hearing themselves with the echo effect on when I let them play with my podcasting set…
Welcome back to the Matt Report podcast, it’s the show for opinionated resilient business builders. How’s that, “opinionated resilient business builders.” Anyway, we’ll keep working on it, I…
While the life of a content creator might look glamorous on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok — it might be one of the most challenging businesses you can start.…
Welcome back to another episode of the Matt Report podcast. Thanks for tuning in nearly every week and staying connected at mattreport.com/subscribe Hey, look, if you have a…
We’re kicking off with another solo episode today featuring my thoughts on Salesforce acquiring Slack and #nocode tools. Hope you enjoy today’s episode, please share it with others!…
Corey Haines, former Growth Marketer at Baremetrics, joins us to talk about how he’s building out Swipe Files. If you’ve dipped your toe into the #nocoded movement, undoubtedly…
I love finding entrepreneurs at the intersections of starting something new, discovering their customers, and earning those first few dollars in revenue. Noah Bragg joins us today to…
Welcome back Brian Casel, for his 5th time appearing on the show! Maybe we’ll keep him away for at least another year — or until he launches another…
Monetizing “WordPress content” like a blog, a podcast, or a YouTube channel is tricky business. Results are rarely immediate for most creators, with the Google SERP odds being…
Chris Badgett is a life-long teacher of — things. He’s taught people how to make the perfect omelet, how to win a dog race in Alaska, all the…
If you thought running a membership website was easy, try throwing a global pandemic into the mix. Jason Resnick joins us today to talk about the upcoming re-launch…
Hold on to your hats as our fearless leader finds himself defending our beloved monolithic application against new kid(s) on the block, The JAMstack. For the last two…
When it comes to being profitable, nothing beats a fine-tuned process. As I grew my agency, some 15 years ago, the first thing I looked into was a…
Are you gripping to the handlebars of your product launch rollercoaster ride? Buckle up, as you’ll appreciate Lesley’s story in today’s episode. She’s the co-founder of Newsletter Glue…
I’ll give you a second to read today’s show title… That’s how I felt talking to Iain Poulson. Like, this dude is Neo, from the Matrix. How does…
Today’s guest is Sebastiaan van der Lans, the Founder & CEO of WordProof.io, a new business working to build trust over the internet through blockchain and WordPress. This…
Not to be outdone by their recent 1 million active install celebration, Astra finds itself in some hot murky water. The theme was recently suspended when the theme…
I recently shared a talk about marketing your WordPress service or business at the London WordPress meetup. Dan Maby, former guest of the show, invited me on share…
I came across a tweet by the team over at GiveWP sharing Rachel’s message about spinning up a WordPress site in a weekend, which enabled her client to…
I can’t believe it was nearly a year and a half ago when Dany Maby appeared on the podcast to talk about his charitable cause for supporting wellbeing…
WordPress implementers, the webmasters or site builders in our community, were placed back into the spotlight as I read through Mark Uraines post, Care and Influence: A theory…
I don’t know about you, but I love a good “started from the back of a van and built an empire” story. That’s how Vito Peleg started his…
The last time Dan was on the show, we talked about staying small, operating without that burning desire to scale to unruly levels. I think now, more than…
Working and learning from Sean during his time at Pagely was a real blessing for me. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but Sean has…
I’m delighted to interview longtime WordPress podcaster and friend of the show, Jonathan Denwood of WP-Tonic fame. I admire Jonathan’s approach to doing business, that of becoming a…
WordPress journalism and news coverage is making a comeback. I’m delighted to sit down and have a chat with my two friends in the WordPress space, Brian Krogsgard…
We’re back! Stoked that WordPress journalism is making a comeback in 2020. Here I was feeling all down and out over covering WordPress and a few friends of…
If you follow on me on Twitter you may have come across my announcement of the Business 5000 idea accelerator program. In today’s episode, I’ll dive a bit…
It only took half a decade to get my good friend Vova Feldman on to the show, and like most things in life, it was worth the wait.…
We’re back with a news update! As I cleared my queue of routine podcast listening, it occurred to me that I really miss Jeff Chandler’s WPWeekly podcast. A…
I’ve been a huge fan of Anders Norén‘s work for quite some time. Ever since the release of his Chaplin theme, I’ve been using it on sites like…
Jordan Gal joins the podcast today to review the 5-year journey he’s been on with CartHook. I know many of you might know him from co-hosting the Bootstrapped…
I have to be honest, I get a tad jealous when people say they aren’t coders, then go out to build a SaaS company as if they have…
For those of you traveling back from WordCamp US or missed the live stream, here Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word 2019 talk in audio format + transcript.…
In today’s episode, I welcome back repeat guest Rob Walling, who’s new endeavor as co-founder of TinySeed, has elevated his expertise in “indie funding” startups. SaaS companies that…
In our last episode, Keith guided us through the twisty caverns of WordPress project pricing only to find our way to the next challenge — product pricing.
The art of pricing your WordPress freelance projects is forever in motion. I guess that’s why it’s an art, you spend months crafting a new pitch or approach,…
In part 3 of my journey into digital product sales, I share the experiences of launching Conductor to $4,000 in sales on day one, only to watch it…
Did you know I started Dropbox before Dropbox was — Dropbox? I’m sure you invented Facebook before that existed too. Be an entrepreneur long enough and you surely…
Five years ago we launched Conductor plugin, our very first commercial WordPress plugin, and one that (in my opinion) was too far ahead of its time. We were…
Authenticity and that digital handshake is such a hard formula for companies to get right these days. All too often I see content or marketing campaigns treated as,…
If you haven’t heard, Automattic is embarking on a new challenge to make remote work easier for small teams and organizations. They’re starting with a tool called Happy…
The Yoast plugin is arguably one of the first plugins most WordPress site owners install once they get up and running. I know it’s been a staple for…
Can you imagine a world where you set out to create a product that becomes so popular, that — according to today’s guest — it powers 4% of…
I love getting new perspectives on our “little” WordPress business world we live in. Today, I’m happy to bring you Craig Hewitt and Dave Rodenbaugh of RogueStartups fame…
It’s undeniable that agency owners and consultants have started to look at alternative WordPress CMS software solutions over the last two years. From talking to people here on…
I normally ignore cold outreach requests to be on my show. I’ve written about being a great podcast guest, recorded a video about it, and ranted on the…
Friend of the show Cory Miller returns after recently joining us last season, to talk about starting again. I’ve always enjoyed Cory’s outlook on life and business so hearing…
I have a love/hate relationship with creating content for YouTube. Creating a video, even a talking head video, can be super time-consuming. As a perfectionist who sucks at…
We’re back with another amazing episode of The Matt Report! Paul Jarvis, the author of Company of One and creator of Fathom Analytics & WPComplete, joins me to…
Matt Medeiros continues Season 8 with his interview with Birgit Pauli-Haack. Birgit is a web developer in Naples, Florida and started as a freelancer in 2002. She became a developer…
Matt Medeiros starts 2019 and the second part of Season 8 with his interview with Dan Maby. Dan is a self-described wearer of many hats and is the…
Matt Medeiros finishes Season 8 with this interview of Robby Mccullough, who is a co-founder of the Beaver Builder page builder and is from the Bay area. Matt…
Matt Medeiros continues Season 8 with the roundtable format asking the question is there change in the WordPress ecosystem? John Turner and Phil Derksen are the special guests…
Matt Medeiros continues Season 8 with this interview discussing changes in the WordPress community. Liam Dempsey and Tara Claeys are running WordPress businesses, they are consultants and produce…
Matt Medeiros continues Season 8 with the third roundtable episode talking to Naomi Bush, Brad Williams, and Rebecca Gill. Matt discusses a recent podcast with Matt Mullenweg and…
Matt continues with Season 8 with the second roundtable episode talking to Jennifer Bourn, Davinder Singh Kainth and Chris Badgett. This panel represents the thought leaders in the…
This is the first roundtable of Season 8 where Matt Medeiros, Jason Resnick, Sara Dunn, and Nathan Allotey discuss the changes in the WordPress community. Each business owner talks…
With the kick-off episode of Season 8, Matt Mederios interviews Ryan Sullivan about entrepreneurial fears and changes that occur in a business. Ryan recently sold WP Site Care, a…
How time flies. It’s been nearly 7 months since I’ve published a new episode of the Matt Report and while it’s been kinda nice not to have all…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros wraps up the season interviewing Michelle Schulp from Marktime Media In Minneapolis. Michelle is an independent designer and front-end developer who works with…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros is winding down Season 7 by interviewing Kim Doyal, who is “formally” known as the WordPress Chick. Kim has been obsessed with content…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews Christie Chirinos a partner and business manager at Caldera Forms. Caldera Forms is known for the drag and drop form builder for…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros follows up with Troy Dean to discuss what he is doing with his business in 2018. They cover the online and education space.…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews Cory Miller from iThemes and jokes with him as being his most interviewed guest on the Matt Report. The big news for…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews Sara Dunn from the 11Web Agency. Sara is a website maker and SEO Consultant running a remote business based in Battle Creek…
Today’s guest is my good friend Lisa Sabin-Wilson. She shares her blueprint for increasing profits and client buy-in at WebDevStudios. This is a “lost” episode from a pre-recorded…
In this episode, Matt Mederios is winding down the December holiday season with this interview with Dan Roundhill. Dan is a mobile engineer for Automattic and is the project lead…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros continues the impromptu Season 6 with his interview with Tom McFarlin. Tom is a developer and business owner in the WordPress community but…
In this episode, Matt Mederios interviews Peter Kang, the partner, and co-founder of Barrel. The Barrel agency has been in business in NYC for about 10 years and…
I’m not foolish enough to think that the entirety of WordPress’ growth is driven by our love for the software, but that we consultants are responsible for a…
Matt Medeiros is continuing with Season 6 by interviewing guests as he connects with them in the community. In this episode, Matt interviews David Hayes from WPShout, a premier source…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews Nathan Allotey, a digital marketing strategist, web designer and freelancer who has the experience building websites for customers that are not necessarily…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews Alex Denning and Ben Gillbanks who have started the newsletter MasterWP. MasterWP weekly is the newsletter for WordPress professionals. Each week…
We live in a world of monetized Jetpack. Gone are the days where commercialized plugins were looked at under a watchful microscope, and leadership at Automattic felt that…
In this episode, Matt Medeiros interviews Troy Dean, the founder of WP Elevation and RockStar Empires. They touch on teaching entrepreneurs how to productize their businesses. Matt and…
On today’s episode Corey and Sam interview Brian Casel about his passion for productized services and how you can launch a SaaS product quickly. They discuss Brian’s newest…
I’m excited to release this interview with Jason Calacanis during the launch of his new book, Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups-Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who…
In this episode Sam and Corey interview Thomas Griffin from OptinMonster. The discussion is how you can successfully shift your business from a plugin model to SaaS model.…
On today’s episode, Sam and Corey interview Darren Ethier and Garth Koyle the co-founders of Event Espresso and Event Smart. They discuss how to take your successful WordPress…
On today’s episode, Sam and Corey hit the halfway mark of Season 5B by interviewing Tom Willmot, the CEO of Human Made. Tom talks about the agency along…
I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined the growing team at Pagely. Starting today, for the first time in ten years, I have to report to someone — this…
On today’s episode, Corry Maass and Sam Brodie are interviewing Bryce Adams. Bryce is the creator of Metorik. Bryce had been running the largest WooCommerce store for Automattic and…
On today’s episode, Corry Maass and Sam Brodie are talking with Brad Touesnard. Brad is an entrepreneur, developer, and designer living in Nova Scotia, Canada. Brad runs a…
On today’s episode, we’re talking to James Law. James talks about how to prepare your product for SaasS (Software as a Service). He is an accomplished developer who…
On today’s episode, we’re talking with Brent Jett. Brent is a lead designer and WordPress developer at Nehmedia. He is an accomplished photographer who loves taking photos. He…
On today’s episode, we’re talking for the first time with Davinder Singh Kainth. Davinder is an author and has been published on many sites including BasicWP, Simple Pro…
On today’s episode, we’re talking with Chris Wallace of Lift UX. Chris has been a partner of Lift UX where he has been running a high-end agency with…
Jonathan Perez has been running a successful side hustle called SureFire Web Services. He shares the lessons he has learned about running a business and how you should…
Page builders have become very popular in the last couple of years. We are discussing how Beaver Builder has had explosive growth and how it impacts the user…
Making an extra seven-hundred bucks isn’t keeping the lights on, but I’ll take it. Quenching the thirst of shiny-object syndrome is an on-going race of time versus effort,…
It’s that time again where I catch up with my good friend, Jake Goldman. Jake runs a distributed agency called 10up, well known for their contributions to WordPress core and portfolio…
It’s been nearly three years since I last interviewed Mason here on the show, which is far too long for someone that delivers great insights into our industry.…
Getting a lesson on open source “laws” from Richard Best of WP and Legal Stuff is the perfect way to end Season 4 of The Matt Report podcast. I’ve…
Doubling your agency rate is a great way to grow your business. Even if you’re a beginner freelancer, moving from $50/hr to $75/hr can start to move the needle…
WordPress support companies are one of the fastest growing business models that I’ve seen in our space in quite some time. The concept being, for a monthly fee, you get…
Everyone loves a good “how to make seven figures in software sales” story, but not every business owner desires to claim that headline. If there’s one trend throughout…
Shawn Hesketh is the creator of WP101, an online library and learning resource, for WordPress. When you don’t want to spend the time training your clients, or answering…
AJ Morris, Product Manager at Liquid Web, shares the lessons he learned from running his own boutique agency before joining the web hosting company. There’s a lot of…
The biggest sticking point for a new user of WordPress is it’s very own personal brand. What is it? Who does it serve? What’s the deal with WordPress.com…
The word of the day is: Evolve. Beka Rice, WooCommerce Team Lead at SkyVerge, joins the Matt Report to discuss the makings of a modern day WordPress agency.…
Remember that line in the Social Network, “A million dollars isn’t cool, you know what’s cool? A billion dollars.” Well…maybe not for all of us. Dan Cameron of…
Have you ever wondered how WordPress is made? Today’s guest, Helen Hou-Sandi of 10up, is leading the WordPress 4.7 release and joins us to discuss how the pieces…
Update: I added more tests below, based on the comments received. This time based on shared hosting by Siteground. Can we scare off the eight-hundred pound gorilla in…
Debating WordPress Page Builders is like your crazy uncle talking politics at the holiday dinner with the family. But let’s do it anyway? Full disclosure, I sell a…
Hooray! Season 4 is here! First and foremost, thanks for always tuning into the Matt Report, and craving great stories and how-to from our guests. Second, thanks to…
Wrapping up the gap season, I’ve invited Diane Kinney to host her very own Q&A on the show. I met Diane a few years ago, after launching my…
The main goal of my gap season is to introduce new ideas, conversations, and concepts from around the WordPress community. Today, I’m proud to have had the opportunity…
I met Topher a few years back when we were plopped down near one another at a WordCamp after party. We never met, or crossed paths before. In…
Have you been planning to launch that brandy new online course of yours? Who better than Carrie Dils, WordPress podcaster and Lynda trainer, to teach us the ins and…
I love a good actionable story about how to grow your business, especially in the competitive SaaS space. If you’ve been into digital products over the last few…
There was a time when you set off to the cabin, typewriter in tow, nothing but conquering writer’s block on your mind. Or at least, that’s how I…
I interview Rob Walling, the co-founder of Drip, an e-mail marketing automation tool, recently acquired by Leadpages. Rob Walling is also the co-creator of Microconf, a popular conference for self funded startups.
I'm joined by Rachel Baker from The Wirecutter, to talk about how the popular review site uses WordPress for high-traffic publishing, and to uncover why we don't have the REST API in core yet.
This freelancer has designed a business where customers come to her, and pipeline is never a concern. Megan Gray, founder of House of Grays, teaches us the secret to her freelancing success.
Paul Jarvis and I sit down to discuss what it's like to be a freelancer in 2016, sell digital products, and launch a SaaS business. Is this stuff still possible?
Learn how to market yourself and your services through relationship building and partnerships with Tonya Mork of Know the Code.
Brian Krogsgard spills the beans on how he started the successful WordPress membership and news website, Poststatus. A great episode for anyone interested in launching a similar business.
In this episode, I interview Daan Tol the new owner of WPLift.com to talk about his recent $205k purchase of the domain, where it's going, and what he has planned next.
A top-to-bottom discussion with Chris Lema about pricing products, servicing customers, and persevering through the business world.
Brad Williams joins us to talk about Pluginize a new premium product offering from his company, WebDevStudios. We'll learn how he grew his company to service brands like Microsoft and Discovery, while uncovering the new challenges ahead for the product space.
With so many WordPress themes available on the market, it might sound crazy to even try and start a business selling your own. There are super-huge, multi-purpose themes…
I co-hosted episode #100 of OfficeHours.fm and received a batch of great listener questions. I thought it best to drill down and expand upon what it's like running a WordPress consultancy, while trying to sell digital products.
When I wrote the blog post about WordPress not being easy for small business owners, Kronda reached out and said we should connect. I thought her material would be perfect for the show, and boy was I right. Kronda takes us down the path of servicing small business website needs and what it really takes to do it right.
There's a war going on for our content. Major social platforms are driving us to publish our hard-earned content within their walls. This impacts businesses, brands, and our very freedoms. Today's post is a 1,300 word rant. Enjoy.
Creative accounting. Have you heard that phrase used before? I certainly didn’t until I met today’s guest, Jason Blumer. Jason runs a virtual accounting practice specifically designed for…
Here are slides and monologue for my PressNomics 4 presentation. Slides White Knuckle Owner from Matt Report Monologue Hello everyone, thanks for coming out to the…
WordPress isn’t easy. There, I said it.
I’m willing to bet if you’ve spent any time using the software, you probably feel the same way. Even if you’re a WordPress expert, using the software is not without frustration. As a consultant, what I find even more frustrating, is the difficulty I have in recommending WordPress to a lot of new-to-the-web users or users with strict goals to launch their new business online.
I’m mentoring an accelerator class and 90% of the students need to make their mark on the web. Sounds easy enough, but within a deluge of learning business legalese, accelerator students can’t come up for air to learn the best practices of WordPress too. Quite frankly, they shouldn’t have to.
In the end, there’s simply too many moving parts for the newcomer to comprehend.
WordPress has allowed me to kickstart and foster my own career in the digital age and I’m betting it has for you too. That’s the beauty of such…
Do we need another WordPress contact form plugin? The team behind Captain Form thinks so and they’re throwing their hat into the ring of contenders. There are plenty…
Have you lost your sizzle? Maybe your pop, panache or mojo? I’ll do you one better and ask, has anyone ever told you you’ve lost it? That happened to…
Are you part of a local WordPress meetup and you’re interested in growing that into an annual WordCamp? Or maybe you’re generally interested in what goes on behind the…
Running a digital company isn’t easy. Those that think new age entrepreneurs are just Starbucks sipping hipsters pushing pixels on a laptop screen need to walk a mile…
What is a website teardown? A common practice in which someone evaluates a website “line-by-line” and provides feedback to the website owner within a given context. For instance,…
With so many tools and communication channels available to us, choosing how you support your WordPress product can be a real head-scratcher. Luckily, in today’s episode, Devin and I…
We live in an age of information and “how-to do anything” tutorials lay at our fingertips. If you’re looking to start a business online, there’s a massive amount…
Can authors still make money selling WordPress themes? In today’s episode, Jonathan Atkinson an Envato Exclusive Author, joins Devin and I to discuss the current state of affairs in…
Dear readers, The following conversation is made available to help agency owners and clients understand the importance of running a profitable web project. If you’re an agency, this…
Rachel Carden is a web developer & designer within the student affairs division at the University of Alabama. Carden is also the driving force behind the latest WordPress…
Does real marketing in the WordPress product space exist? For the past few weeks, I’ve been chatting with other plugin and theme shop owners and asking what their…
How do publishers make money online? If you frequent the average WordPress news-y property, it goes like this: Paid/Network ads Sponsored reviews Affiliate links Few WordPress publishers have…
I’ve only geeked out a few times when booking someone on the show – this was one of them. I was excited for the opportunity to sit down and…
This week we find ourselves diving deeper into the Drip marketing service and exploring how to connect it to our WordPress websites. Last week I eluded to the idea…
What is it about today’s fad phrases that infuriate those of us exposed to this constant stream of marketing chatter? Content marketing. Growth hacking. Retargetting. Marketing automation. Surely THIS ONE…
Who knew that getting married and going on honeymoon would take up so much time? Devin and I are back to recap where we’ve been and what we’ve…
I was recently contacted by a large recruiting service on behalf of a client in my area seeking to hire a WordPress developer. As a boutique agency owner —…
I turned to Facebook ads this week in my quest to grow the Julep beta list to 100 subscribers. If you’ve been following along, I’m actively developing a…
This isn’t your typical how-to select a WordPress theme tutorial. Instead of comparing and contrasting features, we’re comparing and contrasting the expectations of a theme buyer and a theme…
We’re back with Season 2 Episode 2 documenting the launch of my latest product, Julep. This week I’ve invited returning guest, Troy Dean of WP Elevation, to talk…
Launching a product isn’t easy. I announced a new plugin called, Julep, which is going to help make your WordPress images more fun and engaging. Unlike my other…
“I created a WordPress plugin and sold $4k of licenses in the 1st hour of launch.” We’ve heard it all before and you probably tuned into this very…
Today I’m reviewing the Postmatic plugin, a new way to deliver posts & comments to your inbox. The plugin was created by Jason Lemieux & Dylan Kuhn to…
I’m a firm believer in fully understanding the essentials (or fundamentals) of any problem you’re trying to solve. For instance, you might not be a designer, but you’re…
Enter part 4 of our web design series, Managing the Fifty-Thousand Dollar Web Project. The Matt Report Web Design Series Part 1: Discovery Process Part 2: Setting the…
John Hawkins founder of 9Seeds, joins us to breakdown how to sell, support, and manage a 5 - 15k web project budget.
It’s easy for us to sit back and tell consultants to raise their rates and set better expectations, but it’s another story when we are the customer. Today’s guest is…
The podcast is back! We’re (finally) entering into that web design story line I’ve been promising you for quite some time now. I’ve been sitting on the entire…
Life has a funny way of introducing you to a perfect stranger, forming that into a strong bond, and then ripping it away from you at the blink of an…
I’ll admit, I was skeptical when ManageWP.org launched. “Here’s another Digg,” I thought. Do we really need another source of WordPress news? Will this just turn into a…
Today, I’m excited to finally have Matt Mullenweg join us on the Matt Report podcast. We’re going to satisfy our typical entrepreneur appetite by diving into his day-to-day…
Recently, Tom McFarlin brought the idea of innovating WordPress themes to center stage. I always find his posts thought-provoking and I felt this one in particular warranted a blog…
Last week I showed you how I reverse engineer my competition in 10 minutes. Today, Nathan Wright of Theme of The Crop joins the Matt Report podcast to…
One day you woke up and said to yourself that you wanted to control our own destiny. No more listening to the man or long hours stuck in…
My father grew up tinkering with cars and I grew up tinkering with servers. Back in the day, I was a computer salesman at Circuit City. Small Office/Home…
Knowledge is power. What you’re about to read is not a magic bullet to beating out your competition. It’s also not some secret NSA-like dive into their data…
I listen to a lot of podcasts. In fact, my Stitcher app reports that I have over 1,000 hours of listening time since I started using the service.…
I don’t recall exactly how I stumbled across Andrew’s podcast, eCommerceFuel, but when I did I was hooked. Here’s an entrepreneur talking strictly about the e-commerce market, with…
Today, I’d like to talk about embracing business. As creators of product, we’re always after the shiny object. If you’re like me, we’re constantly chasing the opportunity. Chasing an opportunity leads to…
I’m always surprised to find digital business owners that are not social savvy. Actually, maybe I’m not anymore. I couldn’t begin to tally the amount of no response situations I find…
All too often we get lost in thinking about creating content for a larger audience to consume. We worry about headlines, retweets, and shares. Content is king and it’s the…
In just over two years time, I’ve finally accumulated 100 published iTunes episodes of the Matt Report. It’s been a fun ride and I’m looking forward to the next 100.…
It’s that time of year again where everyone is setting out to achieve some new goal. Be it health and fitness or reorganizing their business aspirations. Noise will…
Anyone that inspires you. Anyone that does great work. Anyone that is starting from the bottom. Anyone that is generous with their knowledge. Anyone that teaches you a…
Update: It’s with heavy-heart that I mention Clint’s passing. He will be missed. Think about why you ventured into client services. Did you quit your cushy day job…
I invited my good friend, Brian Casel, to return to our airwaves and teach us a new lesson — productizing. Brian, like most of us, started as a…
Leadin is a project that was conceived and continues to be nurtured at the Hubspot headquarters. While there is a plugin to integrate WordPress with the Hubspot system…
This is not the first time Dan Norris has been featured on Matt Report. In November 2013 Dan applied and was accepted as one of the 4 business…
Zoe Rooney’s business niche has evolved into being known as the designer’s developer. Shaping a narrower focus has helped Zoe’s business grow in a sustainable way and has…
Several years ago Amure Pinho started as a Blogo user and now is the CEO @GetBlogo. Amure shares his experience with growing Blogo and provides insights for you…
If you’ve been following me for a while, you might catch an undertone of hustle and hard work are at the core of my message. It might be…
For Tracy Levesque co-owner of Yikes, the details make a difference in the delivery. Beyond adding a client’s logo to the WordPress login screen, it’s about really listening…
WordPress business owners are operating in an exciting time. Agencies are growing rapidly while the field for developing and investing in WP product surges. As the market matures, I…
Since the early days of BuddyPress plugin, David Bisset has focused his freelance developement business around integrating it into his highly customized client projects. He has been able…
How Josh Broton (along with co-founder Kiko Doran) came up with the the idea for Prestige Conference might suprise you. After speaking 20 conferences over the last year,…
Imagine you are working with new client and during your discovery meeting the business owner tells you they want to work with you to fix up their website,…
Attention WordPress agency owners…or hopeful owners! In today’s episode, I sit down with Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative and hash out what it takes to go from freelancer…
Being a freelancer means you get to run your business your way. More than likely you start by building your personal brand. You take a deep breathe and…
Shawn DeWolfe, co-founder of ThoseDeWolfes Creative, reaches his hand into both the WordPress and Drupal “cookie jars” depending on the nature of the project he’s working on. With…
Ben Fox co-founder of FlowPress, WPUniversity.com and Sidekick.pro shares smart ideas about pricing, building a team and having a greater vision for his new product offering. Embrace and…
Marketing automation and fine tuning your sales funnel should be on every business owner’s radar. Marketing automation isn’t just for e-commerce or digital product sites. If you have…
It has almost been 1 year since I met Troy Dean as a guest on his own WordPress podcast. Shortly after that, I met him at PressNomics, where…
The first time I virtually met Dre was when I co-hosted the popular DradCast web show. Following that episode, we finally met in person at PressNomics in Phoenix…
Want to know how to make $5,000 dollars in a weekend via a $10 Facebook ad? Too bad. You can’t. If you’re like me, you are probably so numb…
Two years ago, at WordCamp NYC, the idea for The Matt Report podcast struck me. Certainly not to the degree that the podcast exists today, but as a small seed…
Curtis McHale is a returning guest on the Matt Report. In this return appearance on the Matt Report, Curtis shares how and why his rule of no weeknight…
Here’s a special episode today hosted by my good friend Troy Dean. We chatted a while back about putting on a”host swap” of sorts. I interview a guest…
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I sat down with the founder of Flywheel. I did my usual routine of background checks, blog…
Note from Matt: I’d like you to give a warm welcome to Lisa Snyder, Executive Producer, for the Matt Report podcast. Lisa has been a faithful listener and…
Looking to work up a sweat optimizing your next WordPress website launch this summer? Of course you are! In this premier of The Startup Platform, we cover the major…
Back at WordCamp Miami, I had dinner with my new friend Topher, where we shared some great food and conversation. In typical podcaster fashion I asked, “Who should I interview…
Today I sit down with Cody Landefeld of CodyL.com fame. You may be familiar with the User Experience of a website or app, but what about your business? That’s…
Daniel Faggella is the founder CLVboost of a boutique marketing automation and strategic email market consultancy based in Cambridge, Massachusetts Daniel originally started learning and using WP when…
Adam Clark’s journey to becoming the WordPress-loving freelance developer he is today took a detour. Adam started out in the field of journalism and moved into using and…
Do you have to train your clients on using WordPress after a site launch? In today’s episode I get to sit down with someone I have a ton…
Building an audience is quickly becoming the #1 way to market yourself or your services. When I hear developers say, “I stopped selling xyz product because I couldn’t…
You might refer to it as crushing it or pushing through or even the grind. Determination is often overlooked in the entrepreneur’s journey. Some will fold when faced with the slightest friction of…
Fan favorite Carrie Dils joins the show today to talk about GiggleSnort — I mean WordPress freelancing. Carrie brings us through some amazing stories, from bootstrapping a greeting…
I’ve had the chance to talk to some really smart and down to earth people lately. Today’s guest, Marcus Couch of WordPress podcasting fame (though don’t say that…
There’s a great resource that so many of us overlook. It starts with the time you spend invoicing, speaking on the phone and training clients. It’s the time…
One day I’ll write a book about how the experience of selling cars should be a precursor to becoming an entrepreneur. In fact, I’ve put some thoughts together…
I have the honor of sitting down with legacy WordPress entrepreneur Alex King of Crowd Favorite in today’s episode. Rounding off my release of big name WordPress agency…
In today’s episode I finally make it around to inviting my good friend Jake Goldman on to the show. If you don’t know Jake, he’s running one of…
Speeding up your WordPress blog is super important and almost a no-brainer in today’s SEO world. One of the biggest culprits weighing us down are the featured images…
There is managed WordPress hosting and then there is the VIP platform. Ok, so maybe you don’t make the leap THAT fast, but if you’re a Fortune 50…
It’s not often one has the chance to share a stage with guru of responsive design Ethan Marcotte, as I did during WordCamp Boston 2013. Ok, so it…
Are you afraid to start because you’re not in San Francisco, New York, or Austin? What if I told you that today’s guest is doing just fine out…
If there’s one thing I’m sick of it’s flash in the pan web marketers. Crappy ads and “consultants” that promise WhatsApp money in a weekend’s worth of SEO…
If you follow me closely you know I’m embarking on a new journey. A real step up to the plate, face the music, look at myself in the…
Some of the best conversations I’ve had with WordPress entrepreneurs are those coming from a military background. Embrace the suck is a phrase that today’s guest Nathan Hangen introduced…
What do you get when you combine 3 awesome WordPress startups with 3 awesome WordPress proven entrepreneurs? The Matt Report WordPress Startup Challenge of course! This is one…
Who wants to be in the client services field when you can be in product? After all, the road to the Golden Chalice is lined with riches and…
Now that those darn daily blogging resoluters are cooling off…who remains and who are you going to follow? Sure there’s Tom and Chris or perhaps even Curtis. We…
Dare I say it’s easy to launch a product when there’s a competitor in the wild? How about easier? It’s one challenge to build a competing product and grow a…
Running a WordPress business? Of course you are! If you’re not, you can use these services for any form of online business. In part 1, we’ll briefly cover…
It looks like 2014 WordPress entrepreneurial resolutions include launching new products. I’m also on that list and because of that I’ve been thinking a lot about pricing. In…
The Matt Report will be getting a minor facelift soon to accommodate the Pro membership portion. Instead of landing on the homepage and seeing the blog roll, the…
We’re jumping into 2014 with a fresh start and dropping all that nasty baggage. Except for you or them, the critic. You know who she is — she’s the internal voice.…
And just like that, it’s day 2 of your blogging daily new year’s resolution. What were your first two posts about? Were they epic and attractive to a…
If you’re like me, it’s hard to sum up all of the little things you’re striving for in the new year. It’s all the same rhetoric to us:…
As I promised yesterday, here’s the list of the top Matt Report episodes and interviews of 2013. If you’re just finding out about my show this will serve…
It’s that time of year again where all the top “blah blah blah” come out — so did you think I was just going to sit out on…
Yesterday I posted 4 tips for content marketing and today I want to followup with how you can get instant market validation while that audience grows. Arguably, the…
During a pre-sale call for my consulting service, a client asked me if I did content marketing “campaigns.” Now there are PPC campaigns, impression campaigns, and even some podcasting…
Recently I made a post about becoming a WordPress mentor and the feedback has been really great so far. With that, I figured why not give this little…
High pressure, pushy, keep-your-keys until you sign kind of sales people. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the stigma a lot of car salesman fall prey to.…
I’m looking for a few folks to help test our new photoblogging theme. This theme might be perfect for posting your ugly sweater Christmas party selfies or amazing…
There’s a bevy of reasons why you should join the WordPress community. Become a better developer Find design inspiration Grow your business Help out in the support forum…
Think about the high performing companies you subscribe to and the image they portray on the web, in social media, and within your inbox. I’m a raving fan…
This is a thought about what to do with your business, not what to do in it. With the new year fast approaching, you might be starting to think about the…
I’m really excited to sit down and chat with the developer of wpForGlass, a WordPress plugin for publishing via Google Glass. When the news broke, the first thing…
The holiday season is upon us and it’s time to give thanks to folks near and far. For the last 5 years I’ve been volunteering as a mentor…
This weekend I took part in an Olympian event called WordSesh. I loaded up Google Hangouts to join the discussion with six other hosts that also run their…
For the first time in my life, I might have the podcasting jitters. WordSesh is in full swing and I’m about to take the mic. For those of…
The hardest part of our work is not the making money part — it’s the focus part. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but ideas…
Daily blogging is a feat I wish to accomplish at some consecutive rate in the near future. Even a 90 day stretch would feel great because I don’t…
Sometimes I should learn to keep my mouth shut. But if I did, we wouldn’t get awesome interviews like this one with James Schramko of superfastbusiness.com. I was listening…
Data — It’s what I love to hate as a web marketer and consultant. Data tells us who our customers are, where they come from and how long they…
If you’re looking to organize your Gravity Forms contact submissions, I’ve got just the trick for you. I connect my general Contact form and my Challenge application forms…
Owning your content is sort of the WordPress way, right? We publish a ton of data from our blog’s to our Facebook accounts. Instagram captures our memories and…
Am I the only one that has an urge to start writing a book when the winter time rolls around? Brian Casel returns to The Matt Report to…
Recently at WordCamp Boston 2013, a strange thing happened. Two plugin announcements randomly collided. I attended Steven Word’s talk called “Unconventional WordPress” and unconventional it was. At the…
The moment is finally here! The first episode of the WordPress Startup Challenge! Hope you really enjoy this series please share it with friends!
Well, it’s finally happened. I interviewed Brian Gardner. If you don’t know who Brian is, where the heck have you been? He’s the first WordPress entrepreneur to pioneer the…
Just getting back from PressNomics and flipping through my Rolodex of awesome new connections. Oh and catching up from jet lag — sorry Rebecca. 🙂 If you’re interested…
There’s a certain energy in the air when you first walk into the room at PressNomics. In my perspective, WordCamp’s are light and airy, like a high school…
Whew….I just finished recording the pilot episode of the Matt Report WordPress startup challenge. It. Was. Epic! First, I want to say it was a humbling experience getting…
Two of my favorite entrepreneurs to follow tweeted out some awesome content this week. Gary Vaynerchuck is one of the hardest working dude’s getting shit done in the…
Are you running your business strictly for the money? Let me put it this way: If we’re building a business for financial freedom that affords us the opportunity…
So it’s been one amazing year already and you’re asking, what’s next? You might remember a while back I asked for early stage WordPress startups to apply for…
The #1 question I get when consulting other WordPress entrepreneurs is, “How do you sell WordPress websites and not label yourself a developer or designer?” The quick answer…
Yesterday I published episode 52 of the Matt Report exactly 1 year to the date of the first episode. Honestly, I didn’t even realize it until recording another…
You’re an entrepreneur still trading time for dollars — how do you get out of that? You launch a new WordPress website for a client and everyone is…
The greatest reward from starting the Matt Report podcast are the new relationships I’ve made. I get e-mail’s like this all the time: “Are you getting qualified leads…
I can’t believe it took 51 episodes to get the guy who puts the hustle in being a WordPress entrepreneur. Meet Syed Balkhi the man behind WPBeginner.com, one of the…
There’s some changes in the works for The Matt Report podcast. I’ll have more announcements coming soon, but in the meantime I’d like to find a few good…
A while back I said Shane Pearlman is the Godfather of Freelancing. If that’s true, than Bill Erickson is a made man. I’ve been a fan of Bill…
Roughly 2.2 million total free downloads across 9 themes and monthly revenue upwards of $35k a month. Meet Trent Lapinski, CEO of CyberChimps themes. I invited Trent on…
If there were ever a mob or “Family” of WordPress freelancers, it’s a safe bet that Shane Pearlman would be head of the family. I had always known…
How long have you been freelancing? Long enough to think you’re the man? Brian Richards is one of the keenest entreprenerus that I’ve interviewed. The funny thing is,…
What goes up must come down or in our case, what went down came back up?! You be the judge in my latest interview with Brad Touesnard of…
“How do I find more clients for my WordPress business?”, he asked. The folks sitting in the room shifted in their seats as if it were some choreographed…
Oh the WordPress media industry — how we love thee. When the news of WPDaily.co shutting down landed on us so abruptly, it left a few of us scratching…
I’m about to get a little weird on you. First, I’m not a developer so I’m telling this story like a man (which I am) describing birth (which…
What do you do when your agency is burned by bad service and unlucky outsourcing? Roll your own offering. Our latest guest Robert Neu of YouNeedFat.com takes us…
Shane is the man. I tried to get him on the show a while back but our schedule’s didn’t line up. This past weekend, he ran on the business track…
Here’s the deal, WPEngine is funding an independent voice for WordPress news with the acquisition of the WPDaily archives. Dubbed a publication, no WordPressy title in the name and almost…
At the MattReport, we’re always looking for new and interesting ways folks have launched their WordPress business. Some people believe that there’s no difference in a WordPress business,…
If you’re a premium WordPress shop or just running your own business, where do you set the bar? My next guest has a relentless pursuit to create something…
Every now and again you come across an individual who is just knocking it out of the park with awesome stuff. Recently for me, it’s Chris Lema an…
Brad Williams founder of WebDevStudios joins us to give us a behind the scenes look at this fast growing WordPress agency. He’s also a fellow WordPress media man…
Yes, I jumped Jeff of WPTavern ahead of the line! The orignal WordPress media man has been all in the news lately. One fascinating thing about Jeff is,…
I found Brent through this article, where he told us never to say WordPress in our web project negotiations. We want to leave the tech out of the conversation and…
I invited Adam Warner on to the show to talk about his revenue at FooPlugins. For this episode, I was looking for someone who has grown their WordPress…
With so many WordCamps and new WordPress meetups cropping up it’s hard to decide where to spend your frequent flyer miles. But, what if you don’t have to…
The thought that’s been floating around the #DramaPress twittersphere — Does the business track belong at WordCamp? Chris Lema and Jake Goldman join me on a live Google…
I’m always trying to find new blood for our little community here. Today I bring you John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire fame. Here’s a local New…
Every now again you come across an entrepreneur who’s doing things a bit differently. Meet Blair Williams founder of the WordPress membership plugin Memberpress. Blair joins the program…
I found Paul Goodchild when someone tweeted: “Do we really need another WordPress management tool?” Well, if you listen to Paul’s interview, you’re going to find out why…
Learn what Adam Pickering did to grow his WordPress theme shop and build his brand. Adam is co-founder of Mint Themes and designer of the Astoundify crowd funding…
Do you know how hard it is to craft a headline about a guy who spends his time writing headlines? Introducing Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger Media, is…
Have you ever had that mouth wide open, I just met a celebrity feeling? That’s the way I felt when I interviewed Rafal Tomal lead WordPress designer at…
A lot of the entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed started in the last economic downturn of 2008. So that got me thinking, is WordPress recession proof? WordPress services can be…
These are the stories I love. Folks who are honing in on one vertical industry and putting out a great product or service. Angie Meeker of Angie Meeker Designs walks…
You have to wear many hats as a freelancer. The question is, do you really want to? Ryan Duff joins us in Episode 26 to discuss his journey…
Looking for ways to find more clients, land bigger projects, grow a network of trusted peers and increase revenue? I sit down with Aaron Holbrook of A7 Web…
Keep it simple stupid. Take your idea and cut it and half and then cut it in half again. Then pick the top 3 features of you product…
Have you noticed an increase in WordPress media lately? Podcasts, YouTube channels, weekly newsletters, and recently a 24 hour live marathon are all on the rise. It’s why I…
We hear it in blogging all the time. Find a niche and you will find your market. Meet Thomas Griffin author of Soliloquy a powerful responsive WordPress slider. In…
Ever wonder what it’s like to work at Automattic? Not sure what or who Automattic is? Meet my guest Erick Hitter as he introduces us to the life…
Recently, there’s been a lot of buzz about business tracks and their place at WordCamp. Last week while listening to the DradCast, Chris Lema’s opening remark was a “call to arms”…
WordPress is an amazing platform when it enriches the publishing power of a business or an individual. It’s even better when it empowers an entrepreneur to find a…
What happens when your plugin business outgrows itself? What about if the WordPress plugin model turns your business into a commodity? Learn how Travis Ketchum the founder of…
Want to land the big client? What happens when they ask for a $1 million insurance policy? Welcome to the big league. My next guest is C.C. Chapman…
Let’s cut to the chase. WordCamp’s are great, but it’s a breeding ground for our competition. I know, I know — we’re all friends here. Just hear out…
Want to learn how to be more productive in your freelance career or WordPress business? If you answered yes, you’ve come to the right place. Meet Mike Vardy…
Literally, the lights went out in this episode! But hey, if you’re listening to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher – you won’t even notice. Seriously though, what…
I don’t like to play favorites, but this has been one of the best interviews so far. Cory Miller has built a massively successful WordPress business over at…
Becoming an entrepreneur takes a special person. Some might say passionate, driven, and even crazy. I only have two words to describe Mr. Saddington: Focus and clarity. If…
The Matt Report is all about learning from other WordPress entrepreneurs and their respective business. We’re not just listening to the journey of designers and developers — but also marketers,…
Every business is faced with the question, “how are we going to make money?” The web app world is no stranger to this question. A majority of startups…
How do you land the $100k project? Watch this interview with Jose Caballer. If you’re a freelancer, startup, or growing agency one thing you will always face is…
Are you ready to learn how to find a niche business? One of the things I really want to do for MattReport.com is to seek out folks who…
Last week I released the awesome 2 part interview with Andy Stratton. Andy is a kick ass freelance WordPress entrepreneur who is setting out to revolutionize his business.…
What do you get when you combine a WordPress web show thirsty for entrepreneur knowledge and a guy who did a talk dressed in a crushed velvet robe…
Think freelancing is a tough gig? Try moving half way around the world and rebuilding your business from the ground up. In this amazing interview with Amber Weinberg,…
As I write this post, the intern I’m suppose to meet for a kickoff meeting is now 20 minutes late. I just shot her an e-mail and still…
What makes a support team, business, or community successful? Someone with awesome drive, who communicates well, and genuinely cares about the customer. That’s just a small part of what makes…
Some of us love what we do and some of us do not. Tom McFarlin joined me to talk about building his WordPress freelance career. He’s a partner…
I’ve started a new journey that I hope can help others. I’m pivoting with MattReport. I’m going to build a web show based around interviewing folks who make…
Making money while you sleep is awesome. Making money while you sleep using WordPress is even better. Meet Brian Casel of CasJam Media. In episode #3 of The…
I had the chance to interview one of my favorite WordPress personas on Twitter Curtis McHale. I’ve been following Curtis for a while and just love the type…
Watch this interview to learn how Jesse Friedman went from newbie WordPress developer to noted WordPress author of The Web Designers Guide to WordPress (aff. link) in just…
The social space is quickly coming to an interesting fork in the road. Facebook’s IPO didn’t just shine light on bloated tech company valuation, but also on the…
For better or for worse, I make a lot of my decision based off of gut feeling. There are times when you’re making the wrong decision and you…
You can’t afford: To stop… 1. Caring. 2. Innovating. 3. Focusing on delivery. 4. Understanding the real problems. 5. Producing quality work. 6. Shipping. 7. Listening. 8. Being…
For the last year I’ve been running a company while building a software as a service product within the same ecosystem. I listen to interviews on Mixergy and…
You know the dream where you’re free falling from the the sky? Your whole body weightless as gravity pushes you to the earth. A massive knot in your…
Uh, what the hell? So in an effort to make search more secure, Google is really dropping a bomb on SEO. As internet entrepreneurs we really live and…
I am the next Steve Jobs. You are the next Steve Jobs. If it’s one thing Jobs would not want – it’s finding the next Steve Jobs. He…
The famous question: Are you using social media correctly? Everyday we’re learning how to use social media in various ways that drive results, connect with people, and build…
UPDATE: What I left out from this story was a not so stellar experience I had with a third party vendor at the mansion. After I wrote this,…
The internet is going wild over the news coming out of Facebook: F8 Developer Conference. Love it or hate it, your profile is about to change to the…
In part one of connecting the dot’s of web marketing series, we discussed building a foundation. Today we talk about building your hub. Recently, we mapped out the…
As small business web marketing consultants, we wear a lot of hats. We are our client’s design team, social media expert, SEO guru, and overall go-to marketing consultant.…
Are you planning to launch a new blog or website soon? If so, you may find the techniques to increase your traffic, e-mail list, and social media following…
I was having an interesting discussion with my Father the other day. We were discussing the topic of offering too much. Being involved in multiple business models. Spreading…
Chris Brogan is back at it again. Pissing people off by releasing a new book, Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything (aff. link) If you don’t…
Struggling with your digital media efforts? Don’t even know what the phrase means? That’s OK – this list might help you see some of the things you are…
You have you’re idea and now it’s time to put it to work. Ideas are a dime a dozen, it’s the execution of the ideas that really matter.…
An odd thing happened the other day when someone asked me what I did for a living. It’s a loaded question, but when I was done rambling about…
We get it. You can’t stand yourself. I consult with clients that tell me: “I can’t video blog, I can’t stand to look at myself.” “I can’t podcast,…
If you haven’t watched an interview with Gary – you don’t know what you’re missing. When I need a boost or a reminder of why I do what…
Don’t know Chris Brogan? If you’re in the social media realm, chances are you’ve come across him. He’s one of the most self made marketing and human business experts…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy someone is finally competing against Facebook. I haven’t seen Facebook really innovate in some time. Nothing major has happened in over…
I’m really trying to get into using Google+ on a daily basis (by the way you can add me on G+.) I want to be in circles/follow/+1 the…
We have connections all around us. Do you value each and every one? Recently I had a terrible customer service (hell, loyalty) experience at a local coffee shop I frequent.…
I’m sitting in the keynote speech by Brian Halligan, Founder of HubSpot at the South Coast Social event. This is the first time I’ve heard Brian speak and…
The Summer is here and everyone is making sure their yards look great. How is your Digital Landscape going? Do you run a blog, tweet, or promote a…
Has anyone else noticed the retro trend we’re experiencing?
Remember when you would go to OfficeMax or CompUSA to buy your boxed (gasp) software? Racing home to pop in CD’s 1 – 4 to do a complete install? Maybe you remember as far back as Windows 95? 20 – 30 3.5″ floppy disks.
Them were the days.
Who buys software today? ~~I haven’t bought a physical piece of distributed software in about 3 years.~~ I lied, I bought the Max OS Snow Leopard upgrade. However, even that will be a thing of the past soon.
Remember when we were designing sites to fit on a standard 17″ monitor? Now we’re designing them to fit in our pockets. Same goes for the desktop app. We were sick of installing them, so we moved them to the cloud. Now Apple has helped us bring them back to the desktop.
Here is a look at that journey and some of my favorite web and desktop based apps.
The Rush To Web Apps What was your first real web app? Mine was Gmail.
I remember telling everyone they were crazy if they we’rent using it. Early adoption of the cloud I’d say. (Cloud – I don’t even like that term.) I was syncing contacts, calendar entries and my e-mail across many computers. “Fantastic!” I would rave.
The introduction of Google Docs really kicked in the productivity of a person and their browser.
Here are some of my favorite web apps to date: * Gmail * Google Docs * Basecamp * Highrise * Hootsuite * Twitter * Facebook * WordPress
Less and less I was using applications like Outlook, Thunderbird, Office, and even AIM instant messenger. Give me a browser on any operating system and I could be fully functional.
The concept of putting everything on the cloud has become more and more common over the last 2 years. Why worry about losing data locally when you can store it in the puffy white sky?
Well I’ll tell you why, because even the cloud has problems.
So here we are, 2011, happily humming along with being productive in our browsers. But wait. What’s this monkey wrench Apple has thrown our way?
Apple Re-Invents The App Leave it to Steve Jobs to re-brand the App as we know it.
Long gone are the days of buying the $59 dollar box with a jewel case clanking around inside. Now you’re more likely to drop 99-cents via you’re iPhone on Angry Birds or some other time killing game. More recently, Apple announced the App store for the desktop. On-demand access to software for your Mac Desktop in an iTunes like store front. (I’m going to go ahead and predict that in a year, software will be available for Windows too.)
Now I’m at a cross roads.
Where I love all my browser based productivity, these apps are just so damn sexy! I’m finding myself using these gorgeous apps more and more.
Here are my favorite Mac Desktop Apps: * Sparrow * Twitter * Evernote * Reeder * Adium
(Pro Tip: Once upon a time, I used Gmail as my instant message platform. I realized it impacted my productivity when I popped in to check e-mail and someone would start a conversation with me and kill time. Since then, I’ve set my auto sign-in to off and strictly use Adium to chat. Hopefully that helps you too.)
App vs Cloud So what will it be? Run your apps in the cloud or on your desktop?
So far I’m loving the desktop apps again. They’re quick, beautiful, and add even more function than their web based counterparts. I don’t spread across to many computers anymore. I use my MacBook Air as my day-to-day and an iMac at my studio.
So are you falling back into this trend? Have apps made a return for you? I’m curious, so let me know in the comments!
Today I met Chris Brogan.
I went up to the New England Expo in Boston with my father to check things out. I had two goals:
- Evaluate what other businesses were doing.
- Listen to Chris speak at his keynote on Social Media.
Wasn’t I pleasantly surprised to find Chris on the floor at his Kitchen Table Companies booth. Even more so, surprised at how human he really is. Here are some interesting points I pulled away from meeting Chris for a short moment.
The importance of an Avatar (or YOU) Chris had actually kind of recognized me.
I post a lot on his blog and tweet to him weekly if not daily. I use the same avatar on Twitter as I do my Disqus (universal blog comments) profile. Because I’ve attached my photo to my social presence, Chris was able to put the face to the name.
Later on in his keynote, he commented how important this was. It was nice to see it working so well!
The importance of being human One of the most striking things I’ve witnessed anyone do at a networking event happened today.
While talking to Chris, we were interrupted by another personality and keynote speaker. She just had to come in and talk to Chris. She was much more “important” and high profile than us at this event. Probably someone that could pay off ten times for Chris’s career compared to myself.
Without skipping a beat, Chris made sure we were introduced and that we had all the dialogue going as a group. He didn’t allow her to butt in and steal the conversation away from us.
Class act my friend – truly impressive!
The importance of selling As the other personality continued to talk to Chris about the speaking arrangements for the afternoon, I decided it was time we move on. Before leaving the scene, Chris grabbed me and introduced me to his new product – Home Base Maker.
He didn’t stop and say, “They aren’t buyers.” or “This high profile person is more important.”
He knew the importance of connecting with a customer and investing that 1-on-1 to land a deal. Another note he brought up later in his talk and how his grandfather built a business that way.
Chris Brogan, The Human Businessman He’s real and I’ve met him – class act on all accounts and a true visionary.
What makes me feel good is that with all the “Pros” and “Gurus” out there – I feel I’m already practicing the theories he preaches. If you’re ever in a moment of doubt, take the time to reflect.
You’re far more ahead of the curve than most.
The fact that you read and subscribe to this blog proves it! : )
Preface: I think 37signals is one of the most well run, interesting, and innovative companies of our time. Not only am I a customer of their products, I’m also a fan. I follow founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier on twitter, their company blog and their popular interviews.
I also acclaimed Jason as one of the top Web Professionals of the year in 2010. These guys can wield innovation, buzz and a cult like following that is unmatched.
But what happens when this power is abused? Half a million bucks and an apology that’s what.
A Bit About Sortfolio Two years ago 37signals launched a new pet project called Haystack (now: Sortfolio.) A slick and easy to use visual browser of creative agencies or freelancers organized into budget by city location. A new approach to lead generation for us creative types.
I ran to the site and signed up. Listed my company and uploaded some portfolio work.
Enter the premium version. Ninety-nine bucks a month would score me larger more prominent listings and get me more example photos. Just launching Slocum Studio around the same time, I didn’t think $1200 a year was in the budget yet.
Plus, how was 37signals going to drive traffic (read: leads) to my business?
Well, therein lies the rub.
I don’t think they could (effectively.) My customers were not their customers.
It is like marketing for small business to use social media, on social media. They are not there. Thus the need to use traditional media to target them.
The $500 Thousand Dollar Apology “I don’t really like sitting on something and having people pay us for it. It doesn’t seem fair.” Jason Fried; interview with Mixergy. Recently Jason was interviewed by Andrew Warner on Mixergy about selling Sortfolio. The above is one of the key quotes I took away from the interview.
I remember an interview with David a while back where he said Sortfolio was built in a few weeks. In this recent interview, Jason said it was a few months.
Half a million bucks, in a few years is not a bad return with that kind of investment.
But it’s not fair and Jason confirmed it.
My assumption is, they were getting a lot of cancellations or complaints about lack of results. Over the span of 2 years, I had received 3 spam e-mails from the listing. Granted I’m listed in the Boston market (even though I’m closer to Providence,) in a median budget range $10k – $25k, and on the free version.
Further in the interview, it was clear there wasn’t enough focus put on the product or driving traffic to the site and to their clients.
Had I signed up for the premium, I would have felt a little slighted from this. Especially had I paid for two years. Maybe the premium folks were getting results – I can’t confirm.
This is all fascinating to me because it is flexing the power of a brand. They were able to make some serious bucks, off a short investment, based on their brand.
The Force Is Strong In 37signals 37signals Jedi or Sith? I’m just kidding – it’s not THAT drastic.
However, I think it’s certainly a very interesting business case study.
Here you have a company, that has a very strong following and can “do no wrong.” They scratch an itch for their largest audience, and slap it on the back of their buzz of awesomeness. A few years later, with very little overhead or investment to the product, they gross half a million and some cash when they exit.
A co-founder comes out and admits it’s not “fair.”
Fair?
This is business!
I do applaud Jason’s openness, I think it’s what makes him a great innovator and web professional of our time.
But I can’t seem to stop playing some quasi Star Wars script in my head: They wield all this great power and build awesome product. With the (virtual) wave of a hand they can make some damn good profit from their clients based off of their brand buzz. Then just toss it away as if it never happened.
I find it fascinating.
I’m Still A Customer No matter what, I’m still a customer.
I still find 37 Signals a trend setting company. I still continue to model some of my own business fundamentals after the ideals of Jason and David.
It’s been an interesting last year watching them evolve from a seemingly elite team with a freelancers spirit to what looks to becoming a well defined power house company.
I only wish to have the success they’ve achieved in business and lifestyle.
So you know how I feel, what about you? Were you on Sortfolio? Did you have success? What are your thoughts on the whole deal?
Sound off in the comments below or let me know on the MattReport Facebook page.
I haven’t written a rant post in a long time…so here goes.
Recently I became a fan of the very funny Bill Burr. Check him out if you’re into in-your-face hardline comedy. He’s also from the Boston area so I can relate to a lot of the way he views things.
“Bill Burr is the funniest man in business – not in business.” That’s my quote to preface this post.
Bill does a piece on businesses in Bill Burr: Let It Go that should be taught in every MBA course. It’s a look into how large business chains cut costs by making you do the work or removing value in your purchasing experience.
He’s right on the money with this skit and I’m going to break it down for us to ponder for our own business. Hopefully this gets you thinking too.
I Paid 100% Of The Money For 100% Of The Sandwich A customer walks into a fast food chain and orders a sandwich. The clerk then informs the customer that the condiments and other toppings are located at a separate table.
Sound familiar?
Hence the line, “I Paid 100% Of The Money For 100% Of The Sandwich!”
Here we are the mighty customer, coming in to purchase a product that we expect to be ready the way we want it. Instead, we’re greeted by someone who is collecting 100% of our money for us to complete the other 50% of the product.
What’s up with that?
I consult on building client websites.
We don’t get halfway through the project and ask a client to “color in the rest” while charging full price.
Would a car dealer tell the customer, “Oh you want this car in red? The paint is out back.”
No. None of this would happen.
So why do we let it happen on the micro product level?
Is it OK to do this when a person is only spending a “small” amount of money? Margins are probably greater so why let this happen?
Are you offering 100% value to your customers?
I’m Sorry They Fired The Mayonnaise Guy But I’m Not Doing It Ah the mayonnaise guy.
The
Why? Because you can do it yourself.
Duh.
Is it acceptable to self service a product when there is only one retail price?
Are you selling a product that requires your customer to complete because you’ve factored in the overheard of an employee to do it as too costly?
“Where’s the guy making me do all this extra shit?!” – Bill Burr, Let It Go Bill also gets into talking about “savings cards” and their underlining purpose of surveying your purchases. Further diving into how bullshit the self checkout process is in the grand scheme of running a business.
In under 3 minutes he captures the pain and suffering of the last 15 years as a consumer.
As a consumer, it got me thinking how some large business are skating by with me fulfilling 50% of a product or service or paying a premium over a base fee for features.
As a small business owner, it got me thinking how society has seemingly accepted this at the “micro product” level. However, in some service fields (especially creative services) the bar is still held high and demand for value is tremendous.
I Challenge You… As a consumer
I challenge you to search out the companies, services or products that are making you do more work than you should. Let’s get our voices heard. Post to their social media streams and ask “WHY?”
As an owner
I challenge you to increase the value in your product or service. What can you do to increase customer retention and just be better?
Sound off below if you agree or disagree with some of my thoughts and rants here.
Today I turn 30.
Today’s the day life really falls into perspective for most. We’re all getting old and there’s nothing we can do about it.
This next decade I’m really focused in on achieving the goals I’ve set for myself in life and in my new business.
Celebrating Your Birthday With Social Media I think it’s great that others around the globe, that I’ve connected with via social media, take the time to wish me a happy birthday.
Not only is it a gratifying experience – you gain followers.
Not a bad little birthday gift!
Thanks to those that have wished me a happy birthday today! * @AccidentalChic * @TomCatalini * @AlexisLegend * @Kleighcreative * @misterfonzie * @painternik
And welcome to all my new followers that have met me today! Thank you for the birthday wishes!
Now I’m off to practice my short game at the driving range!
I’m working on a new project that has a ton of potential call-to-action areas.
We want to get visitors to contact for a free consultation, sign up for their newsletters to stay informed, register for live events to meet and greet and lastly connect via social media to stay in touch.
Normally, I have to really pull some teeth to get one CTA in place – now I have too many.
So what do you do when you have two, three, or four? Let’s take a look at some of the ways I’m handling the organization of all this.
3 Ideas For Planning Better Call To Action I’m in the middle of a project and I’m taking the time to write out what I’m doing. (this should probably be the 4th idea onto itself)
These aren’t earth shattering discoveries, but something I have found extremely useful in my latest project. I hope they help you in your next big project.
- Get Visual
I use little sticky notes on grid paper to make my CTA’s visual. Believe it or not, it helps my brain associate these “goals” from simply writing text on the same sheet of paper. If you’re like me, you might start scribbling beyond your paper’s boundaries – enter in the moveable sticky note – keeping your goals organized.
“The pen (and paper) is mightier than the iOS!” If you’re not already a fan of Moleskine notebooks, I suggest you become one. I have all the toys – MacBook Air, iPhone and iPad. I’m a power Evernote user and yet my go to tool is my Moleskine notebook.
- Connect The Dots
If you have many CTA’s try and connect them together if possible. Example:
Free Consultation!
User clicks > fills out contact info > submits > is dropped to a functional interior page asking to convert more:
- Newsletter signup
- Live events registration
- Connect via Social Media
Visually map out these connections. This will help you stay on course and not interject the old “Well maybe we can have them do this too…”
- Make Sure It All Makes Sense
Duh.
But I’m serious.
Don’t map out, grid, draw, sketch and meet if you don’t need to. If you’re goal is to have people register – write that down on a single index card.
Bam. There’s your planning.
You can spin your wheels getting too creative or too caught up in the workflow of the path you want your visitors to take. Remember, it’s call-to-action, you want them to succeed at it – not get lost along the way.
Better Call To Action Hopefully these 3 simple tips help you with your next call-to-action planning. If you’re building your own site or for a client, it’s good to get this stuff on paper and tangible.
Do you have some tips on organizing your website or blog’s goals? Let us know below!
If you’ve read a little about me, you will know how I perceive my success:
“Success is when just one person benefits from what I have to say.” That’s my tag line I like to promote.
And I really mean it.
In a world of “everyone is a professional” – I’m not trying to gather a mass following of commercial fans. I’m not writing for everyone to agree with me or jump on the bandwagon.
I’m writing to help others – wether it be 1 or a 1 million – that’s for you to decide.
Read on to learn how I became an overnight success.
Motivating Myself Recently I wrote a post about confidence, passion, and motivation. I then covered it in my first video weekly recap. Since then, I’ve received some great feedback on the new endeavor.
I thought about it for a few hours on how I would do the lighting and would I use my high end video and podcasting equipment? Should I sketch out a script?
Where should I sit?
What should I wear?
I slapped myself and said, “Self, you tell everyone else to just ship it, so what are you waiting for?”
I took my advice, sat down and produced the new video. Then I became an overnight success…
Meet Tom [blackbirdpie id=”57476765282598912″]
Tom and I consider each other friends.
I’ve never met Tom.
We tweeted back and forth once after attending a Chris Brogan webinar about how much we enjoyed it. Since then, we’ve followed each other and exchanged blog ideas and comments about our respective writing.
“Friends”.
Tom was motivated by my post and decided to make his very first video cast here.
Measuring Your Success For all intensive purposes, I’m successful.
I was able to inspire Tom and help him get to “doing.”
I hope I can do the same for you on many of the topics I write about.
How are you measuring your success? Either on your blog, in business, or in life? Let me know in the comments or on the Matt Report Facebook Page.
I went at this really fast. Didn’t prepare much, didn’t adjust for lighting, quality or substance.
Round 1.
Fight. (hope you enjoy!)
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPvivIwJwG8[/tube]
Matt Report Weekly Recap 1
I Promise the upcoming videos will be higher quality. I had a deadline on myself to produce one today and of course…was running thin on time! Please let me know in comments below what you would like to watch!
There I was, waiting at a stop light in traffic today. A woman in the passenger seat of a fairly new Nissan Altima exits the car and runs to pickup a beer can in the nearby median.
She scores 5-cents. We watched.
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
She must be poor.
She probably doesn’t have a lot.
That is awful.
I say, good for her.
It takes a lot of confidence to get out there, in front of an audience and do your thing. You must have a passion for life and your beliefs to stay motivated in these situations.
What I want you to get out of this article is to stop being afraid. Especially from the fears and challenges you place on yourself.
Confidence Are you as confident to get out in front of a crowd and pickup a beer can like the woman from my story?
How about standing up to speak about your product, service, or cause?
I recently spoke at UMass Dartmouth about careers in Social Media. I’m not going to lie, I was a little scared. MBA classes and top ranking professors listening to me speak about a topic that is constantly evolving?
What do I know?
We know a lot more than we lead ourselves to believe.
Find your confidence. Don’t be afraid to shoot a video describing your passion, write a blog post on an opinion, or speak in front of a crowd.
Passion & Motivation What’s the difference?
If you’re passionate about something, then you’re motivated – right?
Not always, but I like to look at it that way. The woman from my story is motivated to survive. She’s thinking:
“If no one else wants it – then I’ll take it.” That’s where the passion comes in.
She will keep motivated to survive any way she sees fit and she’s not going to be embarrassed how she gets there. Keep yourself motivated by selecting the passions that drive you.
Don’t stop. Ever.
Make It Happen To coin a phrase from a friend – Make It Happen.
Don’t let anyone stop you, even yourself, from going after what you want.
Don’t hold back on speaking your mind.
Don’t be ashamed of who you are and what you represent.
Let me know below what you think of this story. Is this inspirational? Are you motivated now? What are you working to achieve every day? I wrote about motivation before.