Archives
SMTP WTF BBQ??
Whether it’s form or order notifications, marketing emails or newsletters, websites send email to us and our visitors. These messages are important for conducting any kind of business online. You don’t have to be a server admin to make sure your websites’ emails get delivered! Understanding a few basics will give you the tools to setup and troubleshoot all manner of email communication from your WordPress website.
Takeaways:
- How email and the WordPress email function work in non-technical terms.
- Correct settings for outgoing email messages.
- Email escalation – when and how to use SMTP services and plugins.
Basic Principles of Software Architecture
Do you constantly feel like you are hacking code together? Do you find it difficult to maintain, adapt or even read code you’ve written previously? Chances are, you are not taking into consideration some of the basic principles of software architecture. Come learn how some simple habits and changes in perspective can transform you from a 1x developer to a 10x developer!
Takeaways:
- How to keep your code simple and straightforward
- How to reduce bugs in your code
- How to become a more productive developer
Stop Designing and Start Listening
The number one complaint we hear about web designers and agencies is poor customer service. Poor communication, ambiguous expectations, and missed deadlines frustrate clients and often deliver a disappointing finished product. Service is what sets you apart as an agency. You can have incredible design work and create innovative functionality, but if your clients don’t like you, they’ll leave. And it’s about much more than getting your clients to like you: it’s about listening to your clients so that you offer a solution that actually solves their problems; it’s about knowing when to push back and when to concede; and it’s about being honest and transparent even in the face of failure. When you provide service that meets these criteria, you produce clients that advocate for your business and stay around for the long haul.
Takeaways:
- Web designers and agencies have a reputation for providing poor customer service. If you don’t recognize this problem and try to address it through the services you provide, you’re going to lose business and drive customers away.
- Practical strategies and tips for providing great customer service during every stage of the project, from the initial sales meeting to the website launch and even beyond. These can apply to freelancers, full agencies, and anything inbetween.
- How providing great customer service can help you retain current clients and gain new ones.
The Bermuda Triangle of Web Designer’s Hell
Frustrated with trying to make a living building WordPress websites? Think you just need to find the right theme for a project or learn a few more design tips? You’re not alone. This presentation will show you why it’s easy to get stuck and hard to get out of the Bermuda Triangle of Web Designer’s Hell – that place where you don’t know what you don’t know.
I’ll present a framework of seven core competencies to provide a foundation for becoming a skilled WordPress Designer who can price, close, create, and deliver effective WordPress websites for happy clients!
Takeaways:
- Why you may be stuck.
- The biggest mistake of broke web designers.
- The Seven Core Competency Framework for becoming a Master Web Designer.
My website has been hacked! Security Planning
Learn how to handle a hacked website in a moment of crisis.
A building has an evacuation plan. A website needs a security and disaster recovery plan.
Takeaways:
- Who should I call if I’m hacked?
- What should I do if I’m hacked?
- How do I ensure this doesn’t happen again?
- What needs to be in your plan
- Risks and damages hacking has on your organization
- Incident Response Plan
Transformational Transactions
This talk is specifically designed to explain how to use WordPress in order to create transformational relationships between your product and service with your customer. This talk will specifically focus on tools within WordPress that make it easier for WordPress users to send their customers on a journey where the customers use their products or services in order to transform their lives.
Takeaways:
- What is a transformational transaction?
- How does this type of transaction inform and engage your audience?
- Why is this vital to online conversions?
How to Stop Scope Creep Once and For All
This session will provide actionable steps for implementing some proven (and easy) project management techniques to stop the dreaded “scope creep” that so many WordPress practitioners struggle with when providing services for others.
Takeaways:
- The 6 Principles of Productivity Management You Knew and Then Forgot
- What to Put in the Contract so You Get Paid for Change
- How to Effectively Manage Change
Getting Started with Vue.js and WordPress
In this talk, we’ll dip our toes into the relatively new javascript framework called Vue.js. We’ll go over how to integrate Vue.js into a custom theme and use WordPress as the backend that powers a simple directory with an ajax search feature and Google Maps. We’ll cover a few basic concepts of Vue and why it can be a nice alternative to using jQuery.
Takeaways:
- You’ll know what Vue.js is!
- You’ll have a basic understanding of how to get started with Vue.
- You’ll see how to use the WordPress API in order to use that data with Vue.js
SEO Goes Local (2018 edition)
This is a completely updated version of the talk given at WordCamp Asheville 2015, modified to reflect the massive changes in local SEO in the past three years. Learn how local search engine optimization (SEO) differs from traditional SEO, and why it is so important to local businesses. I’ll outline the key components of local SEO and explain how you can use your WordPress site to strengthen each of them.
Takeaways:
- Why many consider Google to be the new home page for your business
- How to get reviews
- How local SEO differs from traditional website SEO