The Builders

If you're an agency that needs to or is trying to hire good web developers or have some other reason you need to find good people to do work for you, this episode is for you. After building multiple teams over the years I've learned some lessons that helps me find good people relatively consistently (knock on wood). I've hired people to help me build niche sites, create content, design and develop. I've worked with creatives and tech'y people to build stuff on the web. There's a process and some key things you need to consider if you are going to have success; considerations depending on who you are seeking and from where. Enjoy!

This episode will take us on a journey into my past.  I reference a thread I participated in on the Warrior Forum back in 2003-04.  When I was active there. We're talking about just getting something launched and not getting caught up in making everything perfect before you take action.  Just launch it!  Too many spend weeks, months or even years because they don't feel confident that they are ready and everything is perfect. When the real answer is to just get something minimal viable together and get it out there.  By the time some people launch 1 product or service they could have tested 10 and found that winner.

This is a conversation with the one and only Doland White. Doland and I met while working at the same company a few years ago.. he was the CEO and I was just one of the web development grunts. ;)  ...but no, we built their WordPress business together and he taught me a lot as I helped build the themes and a team of designers and developers. He's been involved with technology in some shape or form for over 3 decades.  He worked at IBM, 11 years at Novell, Symantec.. and other great companies.  He started as a programmer, made his way into management and beyond.  There is SO MUCH to learn from him! In this episode we dig into the business of building a business.  How to keep things simple in the beginning, how to put things in place so you don't get overwhelmed, growth vs scaling and so much more!

This is a new type of segment for the Builders Crew! I’ve chosen a specific type of page on a website (the Team Page) and we’re going to go through a project from start to finish. This will be great for anyone that has or is planning a team page .. whether that’s your business OR something you are building for someone else. I’m providing some background on the project as a whole and the relationship between us, the agency and client. We’ll look at what decisions and changes were made along the way and what impact they had. As well as how that process looked.

It's a question you've heard or seen a million times if you've spent time in web development communities online.   Should I learn this or what should I learn next? No question is a dumb question of course.. let's start there.  But often I think there doesn't need to be a next.  It's ok to just focus on the basics at certain times or getting better at what's in front of you.   Or just chilling until something comes along that tells you what to learn; that inspires you to take action. The better thing to do often is to simply look inside yourself.  What gets you excited.  What past experience might tell you what is a good direction for you.  In my opinion how much money you can make isn't the right question either; I've a big proponent of following your passion.. doing things that inspire you first.

Introducing a new segment! The “Builders News Minute”. A minute I share what’s new since the last podcast.  But more importantly, we get into the business of testing in business. Where testing is applied and how it influences and touches almost everything. Testing is something to be embraced and understood. You usually have to start with an educated guess and ‘choices’, but over time you can measure results and data to guide you through improvements.

If you are starting an agency or are established, heads up!  This is a great episode. ESPECIALLY if you don't currently sell web design services but have clients asking.. "can you provide web design services or do you know WordPress?" Here's what's exciting...  You don't have to do it!  You don't have to be the expert.  Partner up with an agency, find expertise, provide your clients more value and create new opportunities!

I find the evolution of products and services fascinating.  In so many cases the ideas we start with evolve into something else or we focus in on something we couldn't predicted.  Even as an agency we are doing things today that we would never have thought of on our own 2 years ago. In this episode I explore this and use some examples where this has happened in the real world for both products and services.

Last summer I needed to pause the podcast to focus on the business.  This episode ushers in a new go at it.. I talk about what we've been up to, how the business is doing and the future of this podcast (new'ish format.. mostly related to length). Enjoy!

While a lot of people or gurus today preach charging high from day 1, that's not exactly the path I took.  While a lot of gurus or internet experts preach value pricing over hourly, I'm not a purest in that regard either. This is my story (putting it all out there!).. from a fledgling developer back in 2012 charging $15/hour to where I am today averaging over a $100 per hour... landing web development and design projects for $5000+.  I dig into the why I started super low (hint, experience, knowledge, relationships) to how that developed and I raised my value and pricing over time. I don't know if this is a blueprint for you to follow, but my hope is sharing my story helps someone uncertain about pricing have an ah-ha moment that improves their situation.