The Builders

In this solo episode, I talk about the launch of my new WordPress product, Unified Email Capture.. that was happening the day after this recording!   And did launch by the way.  :-) This plugin is the first of a series of plugins we are launching that will eventually form what we call a ‘toolkit’. This toolkit is first and foremost going to be used in-house for our own sites and client projects; to build custom websites.  But while we’re at it, we’re making each component available to the public as a premium plugin. I talk about what got us here, the process and how our business as a whole benefits.   Why ‘this’ plugin?  How does it benefit our business and our future as an agency?  Buckle up.. this is a true to form episode from the trenches.  Enjoy!

In today’s episode, Bridget returns to share her business’s story with us.  We start by laying the groundwork..  and maybe getting a little distracted talking about social media (totally my fault, haha).  Then we’re taken on an intriguing journey .. how it started through what things look like today. Why did she leave her job?  What she doesn’t like about working for others..  The challenges of leaving a job and go out on your own.  What unique skillsets did she gain over the decades to help guide her to what she is doing today.  How did her peers play a role.  And how important was that!  (hint: very) The last 15 minutes or so we started talking on a topic we hope to continue someday.. we talked a bit about pricing and how to price yourself.  And why you shouldn’t price yourself too low!  But what if you need the work and need to take what you can get?  Bridget has you covered.. You..  well, tune in to find out!  Enjoy!

One of the goals of The Builders is to share stories to inspire the listener and learn from; real life stories from the trenches.  Being that pricing is such a critical component of so many businesses and agencies, this is a topic that we should visit from time to time. Building off of Episode 4, I share my personal pricing strategies and how it's evolved over the years.  What’s happened in the past year and a half since that episode?   How big of a role does recurring income play now in my business and why I think it's something everyone should consider. I round it off with a discussion about why ‘Hourly Billing’ is not always bad AND what my plans/goals are for the future.  Big goals..  balanced by a no stress approach.  Enjoy!

Today I’m joined by Ben Gabler.  Ben is the Founder & CEO of Rocket.net (a web hosting company).  As we do with all our guests, the first episode is always about the person and their journey.  So we dive into his backstory and how he fell in love with his craft. His family always operated businesses so it was natural for him to gravitate to building a business.  Uniquely, it was delivering pizzas where he really learned about the fundamentals of business.  From there he fell in love with tech through the lens of being able to communicate with anyone on the planet using the Internet. As years go by he found his way to HostGator, did some startups, ended at GoDaddy..  until we eventually land on where he is today and building his hosting business.  We finally talk about differentiation and what he thinks sets them apart in the marketplace.  And so much more.. enjoy!

Danielle’s back for a 3rd episode! In this one, we check in to see how her web development business is going and to talk WordPress shop. Of course, that’s how we started. Both of us are pretty passionate about WordPress so it’s natural for us to go there. 🙂 We talked about the current state of WordPress, blocks and full-site editing (FSE themes). I was happy to hear she is ready to build her first FSE theme! We also talked about how WordPress has changed, the eco-system, the different ways to build and how it’s gotten better. Danielle is happy we are leaving the stage of ‘what has changed’ to the ‘what are they adding’ stage of WordPress' evolution. After that we caught up on how her web development business is going. She talks about her new business name, why she calls the business a ‘studio’ and what new things she’s been offering for services. It was a lot fun catching up.. an interesting conversation. Especially for those that love WordPress. Enjoy!

In this episode Matt’s joined by Matt Campbell. We dig deep into his journey building a wedding site that enjoys 4 million visitors a year due to use SEO & Content Efforts. It’s not by accident either. As you listen, you realize he’s doing exactly what he was cut out to do. Matt’s love for music led him straight into a career as a DJ early in life. And like many of us, life happened, he got married and he found himself moving to Las Vegas and doing something entirely different; working for someone else.. until that entrepreneurial itch kicked in and he launched into something that again reunited him with his love for music. He built a wedding website. The site itself started out great, but as many that depend on SEO have experienced, Google made changes that dramatically affected his traffic and revenue.. but, one of the things that’s amazing about this story is it didn’t end there. He didn’t give up, learned more about his craft and built it back better. It’s a GREAT comeback story. If you are interested in or depend on SEO, this is the episode for you. ENJOY!

On this solo episode, Matt dives deep into what influences him.  The key is what shaped his mindset, attitude and stick to it’ness can be found back in his early 20s (3 decades ago).  In those days he was one of those young people that were lost, mad at the world, and just wanted to have fun -- and be an artist.  But it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t playing out like he’d envisioned or hoped. But he had something in him… something drove him to look for those answers to solve the problem.  And it all started with a visit to a local bookstore.  There he saw a golden book sitting on the shelf that said something about you could grow rich.. thinking.  That book would be the first of many books and audio tapes that would over time remap his mind to become more positive and resilient. Through sharing his story he lands on some lessons that can be applied by you or anyone.  Some advice that if you’re ready for it, could change your life or business.  If you’re struggling, this could be an important listen!  Enjoy!

Today I’m joined by Joe Matz. Over the last 30 years Joe has run and owned a variety of businesses. From restaurants to schools. But what’s most interesting is he’s done that in 3 different countries! He spent years in Italy (twice), years in Brazil and back here in the United States. One of his big strengths is going into business knowing literally nothing.. not even the language. He had to learn these languages on the fly! He’s taken all his knowledge and experience and now coaches people to help them start over and find their ‘thing’ that sets they apart. He’s a master at guiding people and creating a roadmap to find what they are uniquely suited for, they can differentiate themselves with and want to do. There’s gold in this episode.. Enjoy!!

Matt is joined by.. I mean, Doland is joined by Matt Levenhagen! What? Doland had this great idea to do a Sadie Hawkins episode.. but instead of the girls asking the boys to the dance, Doland turns the tables and interviews Matt about his business. It was a lot of fun! So we talk about how I ended up doing what I do. Why did I decide to start an agency? We talk a LOT about ‘truth’ in business. How sacred it is and how it’s shaped how I approach just about everything now. We dive into a variety of stories from my past that influences me today. We end the episode with Doland posing the question, “What pisses you off?” And then talk a little bit about how I’m developing the team and how I look at that. Good stuff! Hope you can join us for a listen!

Matt’s trying something brand new in this episode. He’s always been a big fan of follow alongs himself.. following along while someone or a business does ‘something’. Today you’ll listen in as he shares highlights from a week at his agency. Real calendar items, real projects.. what his team is working on. Follow along as he shares the type of meetings he has - how many meetings does he have on a weekly basis? What is Matt working on personally.. what is one of his big focuses each week? How’s that plugin development going? What type of client projects are they working on? Within that he extracts lessons and gives you insights into what they are doing or why they are doing what they are doing. This includes how they manage and prioritize everything daily. Join us and experience the excitement.. Enjoy!