120 We ask Matt Medeiros, "Is It Getting Harder to Make Money in WordPress?"

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English - August 27, 2016 15:38 - 42 minutes - ★★★★★ - 78 ratings
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Previous Episode: 119 Website Redesigns: What Should You Consider?

Next Episode: 121 The Relationships Between Agencies & Freelancers.

Matt Medeiros from The Matt Report is our guest. Our main discussion point, "Is it getting more difficult to make money in WordPress?"

Matt Medeiros knows many different facets of the WordPress ecosystem. He's the owner of Slocum Studios, a WordPress agency that specializes in higher education and publication websites. He also hosts one of the most popular WordPress podcasts, The Matt Report. Slocum Studios is also behind the Conductor plugin, which is a unique display building plugin for WordPress. He recently launched PluggedIn Radio, which is a podcast and video channel dedicated to WordPress plugin tutorials.

Because of the diversity of WordPress products and services Matt is involved in, we felt he was the perfect person to ask, "Is it getting harder to make money in the WordPress sandbox?"

Here's our 70 minute conversation with Matt, and his thoughts on the ecosystem.

Show Table of Contents:

0:00 Intros

1:28 An underlying theme in Season 3 of the Matt Report?

2:00 Is it getting harder to make money in the WordPress space?

2:55 Season 2 was an experiment

3:25 Season 3 is back to examining where people are in their business

3:54 Plateau or GTFO?

4:10 There's a trend going on in digital marketing

4:53 Things are getting a little bit harder

5:50 Focusing down on a vertical or niche makes it easier to survive

6:30 It's not getting harder because of more competition (at least not with people)

7:20 Other platforms are competition

8:50 Everyone is told to use WordPress..and then they give up on it

9:30 Getting things pixel-perfect is tough to do quickly

10:30 Where people hit the wall with Wix or Squarespace

11:35 The long game is WordPress will eventually be easier?

12:10 Why higher pay-scale projects seem to have a love affair with Drupal

13:55 Misconceptions about WordPress are still widespread

15:19 Enterprise companies like slow iteration in a CMS

16:30 Acquia may be more aggressive with enterprise sales than WordPress VIP

17:40 ExpressionEngine as a CMS

18:25 Some agencies think WordPress is equivalent to ThemeForest

19:10 Successfully positioning WordPress for enterprise projects

20:47 Products and client services in the WordPress space

21:30 Differentiation in the WordPress ecosystem

22:35 Educating low-budget clients for the future

23:23 The client exodus from all-in-one agencies or IT companies to boutique agencies

24:37 Specialization and looking for what you can focus on as a smaller agency

25:38 Where are agencies weak? Adapting to the market, and marketing in general

25:50 The drawback to productized services or consulting

27:00 Don't sell your value short

27:30 Figuring out pricing

28:05 Running your business like a business

28:35 Pushing your boundaries on pricing

28:59 The customer experience is part of your value

30:10 Finding the right clients takes work

30:55 You can't fake it till you make it with higher value projects

32:10 They hire you for continuity.

33:00 Sustainability and reinvesting

34:01 Just be real with customers

34:48 I've heard there's a gold rush, but where's the gold?

35:24 Define what you want out get out of the business

36:40 Find the clients you relate to best

37:30 You've got to get out from behind your desk

38:05 Content marketing takes time

38:29 Find the too