January 8, 2019 — Personalization, hyper targeting, and segmenting are far from subtle these days. In this session you’ll learn effective marketing techniques to help you actually connect with your users and customers. You’ll see real examples of how I learn about users and do it by providing them with value. We’ll also get hands-on with businesses from the audience discovering real world fair trade marketing opportunities. We’ll identify ways to raise your revenue and make customers happy doing it. And we’ll learn how to create up-sells that actually help users rather than just helping your bottom line.

Let’s stop duplicating the techniques and strategies we see across the Internet. Learn how to listen to your users, they’re already telling you what they need and how to connect with them.

January 8, 2019 — When Matt Mullenweg announced in December 2017 that Gutenberg and WordPress 5.0 would be ready in just a few short months, we sat up and took notice. Knowing the landscape of our institution – and higher ed’s proclivity for denying change – we started making plans.

From the beginning we were thinking about the full spectrum of WordPress experience: from developers to the one-off content editors. We set to work learning as much as we could about Gutenberg, the user experience, the transition options, and eventually, arrived at our own examination of how Gutenberg could/should/would work at NC State.

Join us as we recap our adventure so far into the world of user testing, communication strategies, site assessments, and overcoming resistance. This is a story of change management as we safely navigate our campus to the other side of the Gutenpocalypse.

January 8, 2019 — On the internet, content is king. Whether you are writing content for your business or a large corporation, you must know and respect your target audience. Targeted content is one of the best ways to grow your brand and the old tricks of the trade will no longer cut it. Content for the Modern World takes a deep dive into the new and emerging content marketing trends. Since content patterns are ever-changing, we’ll discover new ways to keep up-to-date with channels to follow and helpful and efficient tools. Have you been struggling to create viral and click-worthy blog titles and email subject lines? We’ll talk about what trends to look out for in 2018, how to create content that resonates and converts, and current SEO tips and tricks to be found on the web.

January 8, 2019 — Sometimes, it’s easier to edit something in the database than use the dashboard. BUT only if you know what you are doing!

Come learn about the database that powers WordPress and how you can use it to your advantage.

Takeaways:

How is the WordPress database structured
How to change your password without logging into your site
What you can change about your site from the database and how

Presentation Slides »

January 8, 2019 — As someone who builds WordPress websites for clients, you’ve probably learned that offering (or requiring) monthly maintenance contracts is smart business. It’s likely you’re including core software, plugin and theme updates as part of your maintenance plan, which ensures a steady income stream you can rely on and helps with your financial forecasting. But are you including website security as part of your project proposal and scope?

The security of your clients’ websites is often not a priority or is left till the end of a project (or sale?) as an optional add-on for the client to consider after going live. The value of a strong website security posture can be difficult to explain to clients, but when put in the context of their business and possible loss of revenue, it can become an integral part of your offering that separates you from the rest.

In this session, Adam will cover simple website security best practices that you can implement immediately for your own site and those of your clients. In addition, he’ll also offer advice and examples on how to best present the importance of website security during the proposal, scope, and maintenance package stages to your clients. Not only does this ensure your maintenance plans offer what every website needs, but also presents an additional revenue stream opportunity for your business.

Takeaways:

Learn why including security in your client discussions is essential to growing your business.
Learn how to break down the seemingly complex subject into bite-size nuggets to communicate the importance of security in terms your clients can understand.
Learn the simple security best practices that every website owner should employ.”

Presentation Slides »

January 8, 2019 — The murmuring about CSS Grid in the world of frontend development has gotten quite loud indeed. If you’ve been a developer awhile, you remember when CSS finally became powerful enough to overtake the almighty table. You probably also really love the incredible tool that is Flexbox, even if you, like I do, still need to reference the same darn CSS Tricks article every time you use it. So what’s Grid’s deal? What makes it so great anyway, and when can you start using it IRL? What if you don’t want to duplicate development, building complex fallbacks for legacy browsers? How do you decide if a project is a good fit for CSS Grid, and then how do you even get started? We’ll discuss these questions, review some tools and tricks, and look at a few examples of CSS Grid in action.

Takeaways:

Using CSS Grid
Recognizing when CSS Grid is a good fit
Fallbacks /Supporting old browsers

Presentation Slides »

January 8, 2019 — Pricing Websites Like a Pro

January 8, 2019 — (Video dark first 50 sec)

We all want to engage website visitors, bring them value and maybe even convert them into paying customers. I know I want to do all three! But if you don’t know who the people visiting your website are or what they really want, how can you do any of this? I want to give you some actionable tips and tools that will shed some light on who’s visiting your website and allow you to get the feedback you need to turn your site into something your visitors can’t get enough of 🙂

Takeaways:

Using Google Analytics to get visitor data
Using Hotjar to get visitor data
How to use that data to dictate your marketing strategy

Presentation Slides »

January 8, 2019 — The number one complaint we hear about web designers and agencies is poor customer service. Poor communication, ambiguous expectations, and missed deadlines frustrate clients and often deliver a disappointing finished product. Service is what sets you apart as an agency. You can have incredible design work and create innovative functionality, but if your clients don’t like you, they’ll leave. And it’s about much more than getting your clients to like you: it’s about listening to your clients so that you offer a solution that actually solves their problems; it’s about knowing when to push back and when to concede; and it’s about being honest and transparent even in the face of failure. When you provide service that meets these criteria, you produce clients that advocate for your business and stay around for the long haul.

Takeaways:

Web designers and agencies have a reputation for providing poor customer service. If you don’t recognize this problem and try to address it through the services you provide, you’re going to lose business and drive customers away.
Practical strategies and tips for providing great customer service during every stage of the project, from the initial sales meeting to the website launch and even beyond. These can apply to freelancers, full agencies, and anything inbetween.
How providing great customer service can help you retain current clients and gain new ones.

Presentation Slides »

January 8, 2019 — Most websites are disposable – they are built once and not changed until they are replaced or turned off. Frequently, this is despite the best intentions of the original owner, designer, or developer.

But some sites and applications are made to last – to be updated frequently as part of doing work, for weeks, months, or even years. These sites are an integrated part of a high-performing business or organization – one that can do a job well, and then adjust quickly to meet changing business needs.

In this talk, we will explore best practices that smart developers use when building things to last for years. In addition to technical design and development topics, we’ll cover some of the human factors that are at play in IT projects, especially when it comes to WordPress:

WordPress as a critical tool for business (not just as a workaround to IT policies)
Themes and plugins and custom development (how not to paint yourself into a corner)
Ownership through collaborative construction (how to avoid hand-offs that disappoint)