March 16, 2017 — Our success as freelancers is built upon the lessons we’ve learned from our biggest mistakes. In this talk, Nathan draws on his 20 years of freelancing experience to share important lessons he had to learn the hard way and common mistakes we all can avoid.

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March 16, 2017 — At the time of WordCamp Us, it will be almost exactly one year since the first public release of Kanban for WordPress. I’ll speak about my experience, reflecting on:

* Going it alone as a developer, marketer, entrepreneur
* The “WordPress-y” way extending beyond code logic to development, business, and community
* Freemium with add-ons as a business model, and the alternatives
* Service like Freemius or EDD to manage sales and updates vs coding your own
* Maintaining and testing so much code
* Marketing a WordPress plugin
* Everyone disagreeing, strongly, with your pricing
* Supporting users, sometimes customers, who range from awful to amazing

…And lots more!

March 16, 2017 — If you’re an Entrepreneur, chances are that you’ve had to work with Engineers. Best case scenario, they’ve created something that met your specifications in a semi-timely manner. Worst case scenario, they’ve kept you up all night stressing over a deadline, causing premature hair-loss.

If you’re an Engineer, chances are that you’ve had to work with Entrepreneurs. Best case scenario, they’ve given you well-written specifications and you can finish the project without a lot of back and forth. Worse case scenario, they keep making “simple” changes and call every fifteen minutes for status updates.

What if I told you that the tension between these opposites is the secret to a project’s success? Whether you partner with your opposite or simply work with them on a project, managing this tension is the difference between good and great. Join James and Kevin as they share how they’ve learned to appreciate each other’s personalities, create decent products, and become better at their respective roles in the process.

March 16, 2017 — How much money and credibility would you lose if your website went down for a week? A day? An hour?

Let’s take a look at some of the most common things that can go wrong with a WordPress site. This short talk will outline easy plans and steps you can take to prevent website disaster, even if the zombies come after you. Kate will share a downloadable action plan to help you get started.

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March 16, 2017 — Working from home is more common than ever, especially for those of us helping to build a better web with WordPress. But working from home comes with unique challenges that aren’t found in a typical in-office setting.

In this session, Adam will share his personal experiences working remotely for the past 5 years and how, through trial and error, he’s learned how to avoid the most common pitfalls and create a work/life balance. Spoiler alert: there are also two toddlers in this mix!

Whether you’ve been yearning to break out of cubicle life or currently working from a home office, you’re sure to find some tips and tricks that will help you be productive and most of all happy with the “work from home” lifestyle.

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March 16, 2017 — This topic will be a discussion about the future of WordPress and how to adapt and stay relevant as a developer. With the popularity of services like “SquareSpace”, “Wix” and “Fiverr” it is becoming clear that many new business ideas are worked on independently by their creators, despite having no web development or UI/UX experience. Even WordPress itself is seeming to move towards a more “Do it yourself” mindset. Our discussion will be audience engaging and cover ways to stay relevant and offer your clients a reason to work with you, and then stick with you for years to come.

March 16, 2017 — Your website needs to look clean, needs to work seamlessly, but it also needs succinct & effective content. The best website copy communicates quickly & clearly with each & every visitor to the site (whether they are browsing on desktop or mobile). It can be difficult to balance the web content so that visitors receive the information that they are looking for without being frustrated with excess.
This session will cover some ideas & examples to get you started whether you are creating a new site or revamping your current site. If anyone is brave enough, I would love to do a live critique of your website & the content that is there.

March 16, 2017 — So-called digital natives might pick up tech skills easily, but that doesn’t mean they intuit everything tech-related – there is plenty to teach and learn, especially when it comes to a robust storytelling tool like WordPress. Teaching high school students how to properly design, set up, and launch a WordPress blog and how to tell their stories powerfully to a target audience, with good writing and high-quality multimedia, gives them a mighty perch from which to sing. I’ll explain the step-by-step process I’ve used to teach teens to become WordPress bloggers.

March 16, 2017 — Word-of-mouth advertising – and a good reputation among customers – is still your most valuable marketing and public relations asset in the digital age. On the Internet, a positive reputation can take you farther than ever… and a few bad reviews can sink your sales overnight.

In this short workshop, experienced online marketing coach Tammy Finch is going to show you:

 How to monitor reviews and respond to negative feedback

 How to manage (and separate) your personal and professional personas

 How to use social media profiles and other digital tools to get feedback from buyers

This should be considered a must-attend session for any marketer or business owner.

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March 16, 2017 — …and made me more valuable as a writer. I detest feeling stupid and for years refused to dive into new technology because it always frustrated me. Teaching myself the basics of navigating WP as a user cured me of any technofear. It made me more confident also made me more valuable as a copywriter because I understood how websites are put together, know what is possible, how all the parts of digital marketing (should) work together. The ability to “speak the language” of design, basic development, and organic SEO means I can set higher fees. And that is a good thing.

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