From my presentation at WordCamp Toronto 2011, the piece was on how to make a living supporting and working with WordPress, a free website building tool.
Text of Wordcamp Toronto
Make Money by Giving it Away for Free How to make a living with WordPress WordCamp Toronto, 2011Wednesday, 9 November, 11 1
About Christopher thisismyurl.com @thisismyurlWednesday, 9 November, 11 2
About Christopher WordPress developer since 2006 Web developer since 1996 Software developer since 1986Wednesday, 9 November, 11 3
About Christopher No formal training in software development Studied political communications at university Went back to school for business, not computersWednesday, 9 November, 11 4
About Christopher WordPress developer for Canadas largest news company 25 plugins in the WordPress repository Travels the country consulting on WordPress websitesWednesday, 9 November, 11 5
About Christopher Free is not a business model Pray for help but swim for shore The best things in life really are free.Wednesday, 9 November, 11 6
What are we going to cover? How to make a living with WordPress WordCamp Toronto, 2011Wednesday, 9 November, 11 7
Todays talk is about ... Money and whats really important to get from WordPress How to make a living from WordPress How to prot from WordPress Learning from (and giving to) the communityWednesday, 9 November, 11 8
What are you doing wrong? The fundamental misunderstanding of most WordPress developers.Wednesday, 9 November, 11 9
You are your own brand. Build your knowledge base, build your community Build your community, build your authority Build your authority, increase your opportunities Build your opportunities, achieve your goalsWednesday, 9 November, 11 10
Money isnt enough. Theres more to building a living than money alone.Wednesday, 9 November, 11 11
Lets talk about sex. Indulgence is about things you want, not things you need Travel opportunities, eating in nice restaurants, etc. Good WordPress developers can indulge in lifeWednesday, 9 November, 11 12
Two years ago, I spent two months in Europe and my income didnt suffer Bill Ericson @billericson http://billericson.comWednesday, 9 November, 11 13
Lets talk about money. Security is about having the things you need in life Knowing your mortgage is paid, food is on the table Good WordPress developers can count on a pay chequeWednesday, 9 November, 11 14
I tell my wife, we live in a home that WordPress built. Chris Bavota @bavotasan http://bavotasan.comWednesday, 9 November, 11 15
Pressworks with Brendan Sera-Shriar 12pm in room 303Wednesday, 9 November, 11 16
Lets talk about power. Authority is about inuence and the respect of your peers Being condent isnt being arrogant Good WordPress developers can work from anywhereWednesday, 9 November, 11 17
Theres always more to learn, even as a core developer. Andrea Rennick @andrea_r http:/ronandandrea.comWednesday, 9 November, 11 18
WordPress Multisite with Ron and Andrea 2pm in room 302Wednesday, 9 November, 11 19
I had 3,000 views a day. I was shocked. Samuel Wood @otto42 http://ottopress.comWednesday, 9 November, 11 20
How to Make a Living with WordPress Five ways to make a living with WordPressWednesday, 9 November, 11 21
20,000 people make a living from WordPress Matt Mullenweg @photomatt http:/ma.ttWednesday, 9 November, 11 22
Work for the man. Full time work as a WordPress developer Startups, media and small rms often use WordPress Offers steady income and securityWednesday, 9 November, 11 23
Consulting is cool. Consultants work as hired guns, not employees Often work remotely from their own location Bill 2x or 3x standard rate, but give up securityWednesday, 9 November, 11 24
19% of Alexas top 100,000 sites are on WordPress.Wednesday, 9 November, 11 25
65,000,000 websites run on WordPress.orgWednesday, 9 November, 11 26
32,500,000 websites run WordPress 3.2Wednesday, 9 November, 11 27
32.5 million websites at $50/upgrade? $1,625,000,000Wednesday, 9 November, 11 28
Publish your expertise. Write free tutorials to create authority and drive trafc Build an audience, help them learn to use WordPress Offer free support in the WordPress.org forums Publish paid PDF or video content to generate revenueWednesday, 9 November, 11 29
Q: What would you consider to be your most valuable contribution to WordPress? A: Helping in the support forums. Mika A. Epstein @ipstenu ipstenu.orgWednesday, 9 November, 11 30
Sell your solutions. Build free themes and plugins for WordPress.org 35% of trafc to thisismyurl.com comes from plugins Create custom plugins as a consultant Sell commercial themes and plugins as residual revenueWednesday, 9 November, 11 31
Create content for a living Write tutorials on your blog, sell paid tutorials Contribute to the Codex to raise your authority Sell your technical writing to online magazines and papers Design icons, themes and artwork for other bloggersWednesday, 9 November, 11 32
Advertise on your website. Advertising with CPC or CPM models Use afliate links to promote suitable content Advertise yourself, or at least know your marketWednesday, 9 November, 11 33
AdSence Makes no sense. 1 in 1,000 users click ads on my website Google pays me approximately $1.25 per click. Generating $1.25 in ad sales per 1,000 visitsWednesday, 9 November, 11 34
