Running a "successful" WordPress business - my talk from the WP Cape Town Meetup

The Business of WordPress

Miriam SchwabWP Cape Town Meetup

April 10, 2014

The miracle of South African manners.

8 Years in the WP biz

3 WordCamps organized

100+ WP sites built

5 Continents with clients

1. Diversify your services

Us, looking for new projects.

Projects vs. Recurring

Jan

Feb

Mar

chAp

rilMay

June

July

Aug

Sept Oct

Nov Dec0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

RecurringProject

The Zen of Recurring Revenue

Breakdown of services today

WordPress sites70%

WP Hosting/Maintenance

10%

Digital Mktg.10%

Courses/consulting10%

Goal breakdown of services

WordPress sites40%

WP Hosting/Maintenance30%

Digital Mktg.20%

Courses/consulting10%

2. Much ado about clients &

chemistry

Who is your ideal client?

Budget Industry

Referral

Timeline

Mentsch?

Same conditions…

Client 1 Client 2

Industry Tech Tech

Project Manager X X

Type of project Theme + custom design

Theme + custom design

Designer Theirs Theirs

Developer Y Y

Results: Client 1

Results: Client 2

“Grumble, grumble, you provide bad

service, we don’t like you. Grrrrrrr.”

Conclusion: we can only do our best.(So go have a cuppa.)

3. CRM. Now.

Global Workforce: 3.4 billion(IDC)

Using CRM: 15 million(SugarCRM)

CRM Penetration: 0.5%(ReadWriteWeb)

56%44% Using CRM

No CRM

Forrester CRM Study Q3 2012

CRM Options

Zoho CRM

4. Be prepared for growth

HiringWhat you are looking for• Experience• Portfolio• Personality• References• Test them!

What they are looking for• Compensation• Respect• Opportunity to learn• Flexibility• Passion

Collect Freelance Talent

You might be fired.

5. Finding your price.

Open Source means it’s free,so why do you cost so much?

I read that WP is easy, so can’t you just add this feature?

You will always cost more, and less, than others

x = number of billable hours per month = 60% of available work hoursy = overall overhead per month (salary, taxes, rent, office expenses)z = profit goalsa = hourly rate

(y + z) / x = a

Differentiate yourself

• Service• Skills• Holistic• Give• Social media

• Teach• Organize• Publish• Wow them

THANKS!

Miriam Schwab miriam@illuminea.comLearn more about illuminea at illuminea.com

Credits

Photos• Church of All Nations – Wikipedia• Western Wall – Wikipedia• Armenian Quarter – Jaime.Silva, Flickr• Southpark image – Southpark downloads• Running guys in black and white – New Old Stock• Sunset – Unsplash• The Aussie Troops – FlickrLinks• IDC report on CRM• SugarCRM data on usage• ReadWrite web on CRM