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
AdSence Makes no sense. 1 in 1,000 users click ads on my
website Bluehost pays me $65 per signup. 1 in 3 clicks from my site
to Bluehost signup Generating me $21.67 in afliate sales per 1,000
visitsWednesday, 9 November, 11 35
Know well what holds you back, and what moves you forward The
BuddhaWednesday, 9 November, 11 36
Work Directly for WordPress Become a core developer on
WordPress Work for WordPress.com and Automattic Work for Matt
Mullenweg, Audrey Capital etc.Wednesday, 9 November, 11 37
Manage your Wordow with Mo Jangda. 2pm in room 302Wednesday, 9
November, 11 38
The Community How to make a living with WordPress WordCamp
Toronto, 2011Wednesday, 9 November, 11 39
The Secret to Success Help edit the Codex, write great content
for users Volunteer in the forums, build strong relationships Write
free plugins and submit them to WordPress.org Create themes for
WordPress.orgWednesday, 9 November, 11 40
Three Easy Ways to Fail Focus on selling yourself instead of
helping others Create conict instead of creating great websites
Forget that WordPress is about the GPLWednesday, 9 November, 11
41
Thank you, any questions? @thisismyurlWednesday, 9 November, 11
42