Divi Chat

User experience, commonly referred to as UX, is a broad and important subject. How the user is led through the site, how easy the site is to navigate, how quickly the user can find the information they are looking for -- these are all just a few things that go into tailoring the user experience on a website.

On today's chat we go over some ways we keep the user experience in mind when designing, and also share what we've learned along our professional journeys that have helped with how we approach UX design on our projects.

Hosts Present:

Cory Jenkins - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

David Blackmon - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Geno Quiroz - Monterey Premier / FB / @montereypremier

Sarah Oates - Endure Web Studios / FB / @endureweb

Resources Mentioned:

Crazy Egg

Who is Your Avatar?

Defining Your Customer Avatar: Who is your Ideal Client?

WordCamp Talks on User Experience

 

https://youtu.be/Qo0YVkWgFh4

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make a bit of cash while recommending stellar products. You can also become an affiliate and others can share your products, it's a win-win. If you're new to affiliate marketing this is a great episode to help you get your feet wet.

Hosts Present:

David Blackmon - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Leslie Bernal - A Girl and Her Mac / FB / @agirlandhermac

Corey Hammond – A2 Hosting / FB / @a2hosting

Cory Jenkins - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Resources Mentioned:

CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction)

Clickbank

AffiliateWP

Post Affiliate Pro

ShareASale

Thirsty Affiliates

 

https://youtu.be/DViPP1PuWoY

Small budgets and short timelines, we've all had clients with those parameters :D Today we talk about our methods on dealing with these types of projects, and share some great tools to help streamline those methods.

Hosts Present:

David Blackmon - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Geno Quiroz - Monterey Premier / FB / @montereypremier

Jake Kramer - Artillery Media / FB / @ArtilleryMedia

John Wooten - Artillery Media / FB / @ArtilleryMedia

Cory Jenkins - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Resources Mentioned:

Pageinaday.com

Codebox

Text Expander

Content Snare

1password

Basecamp

 

https://youtu.be/DEnejOst_tQ

Hosting, hosting, hosting. How do you handle it for your clients? Maybe you don't yet but are interested in offering it as part of maintenance. In this week's podcast we share our experiences and how we handle it for our clients.

Hosts Present:

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Josh Hall - JoshHall.co / FB

Olga Summerhayes - Infinite Imagination / FB / @OlgaSummerhayes

Sarah Oates - Endure Web Studios / FB / @endureweb

Leslie Bernal - A Girl and Her Mac / FB / @agirlandhermac

Resources:

Ultimate Reseller Hosting Guide

Everything You Need to Know About Reseller Hosting

Shared vs Managed WordPress Hosting – How To Choose The Right Service

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjvM9EdlTZI

Accounting... not something that gets most of our juices flowing LOL, but it is a very necessary topic to cover since we all run our own businesses. We hope to have a future episode on this topic again (or very similar) but with non-US based hosts so we can discuss options for our non-US listeners.

Our own Shannon Shaffer has gathered a ton of useful resources for your accounting pleasure :P

Hosts Present:

David Blackmon - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Cory Jenkins - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Shannon Shaffer - PFS Digital / FB / @purplefinchfoto

Leslie Bernal - A Girl and Her Mac / FB / @agirlandhermac

Josh Hall - JoshHall.co / FB

Awesome Resources:

Determining Your Entity Type

When beginning a business, you must decide what form of business entity to establish. Your form of business determines which income tax return form you have to file. The most common forms of business are the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and S corporation. A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a business structure allowed by state statute. Legal and tax considerations enter into selecting a business structure.

Government Resources (USA only)

Sole Proprietorships

Partnerships

Corporations

S Corporations

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Other Resources

Different Types Of Business Structures You Need To Know

Sole Proprietorship The Best Legal Structure For Your New Business?

How Structure Affects Your Small Business Tax Obligations

How To Create A Limited Liability Company (LLC)

What’s An S-Corporation, And How Do You Form One?

How To Form A Corporation: 9 Vital Steps

Obtaining an EIN

Employer Identification Numbers are issued for the purpose of tax administration.

Learn how to obtain an EIN here.

Accounting Software

Choosing your accounting software can be overwhelming, here are some of our favorites. Keep in mind that not all of these systems are full accounting systems, but provide the base accounting you need for a CPA.

Wave Accounting

Wave accounting is free accounting software that is an good choice for beginners. There are fees for upgraded offerings. Wave features true double entry accounting, invoicing, payments, payroll and more. Pay only for the upgraded features when you need them.

Easy, real accounting

Run multiple businesses in one account

Seamless integration with payroll

Bill and invoice reminders

Connect Wave with PayPal

Customized, professional invoices

Easy bank reconciliation

Unlimited expense tracking

Freshbooks

Freshbooks is a clean, easy to use system, perfect for small business or sole proprietorship. Freshbooks starts at $15 a month for an entry level plan. Freshbooks definitely is designed with the non-accounting professional in mind. Freshbooks also integrates easily with many common apps and SaaS offerings.

Some features include:

Online invoicing.

Time tracking.

Electronic payments.

Timesheet management.

Late payment reminders.

Expense tracking.

Accounting reports & taxes.

Automatic expense import.

17 Hats

17hats goes beyond just an accounting system. It is a system that helps to automate your business processes. It is designed to allow you to invoice, send quotes, and manage leads. This is a better option as your company grows. 17hats starts at $25 a month and allows you to manage your entire business in one spot.

Some features include:

Client Profile Management

Invoice Management

Scheduling

Credit Card Payments

Templates

Online Contract Signing

Billing

Lead Generation

Dubsado

Dubsado is a newer player in the accounting world. They call themselves a "Client Management System for Creative Entrepreneurs" . This system allows you to send contracts, invoices, questionnaires and manage all things business in one system.

If  you're handling multiple web projects at the same time you know what a pain it can be to stay organized and on top of every aspect of each project. This week we discuss some of our regular practices as well as tools we use to help us handle multiple jobs at once.

Hosts Present:

Cory Jenkins - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Olga Summerhayes - Infinite Imagination / FB / @OlgaSummerhayes

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Geno Quiroz - Monterey Premier / FB / @montereypremier

Jerry Simmons - Monterey Premier / FB / @montereypremier

Resources Mentioned:

Asana

Trello

Slack

Basecamp

Google Tasks

Todoist

GoTasks

Clear

Dropbox

Google Drive

Google Suite

Google Inbox

Insightly

LastPass

Boomerang

 

https://youtu.be/ZyiWGm9DCw4

Yaaaayyy podcasting! Today we have a chat about some of the reasons you might want to get into podcasting as well as why you might want to start listening to them. They're super helpful and there are podcasts out now on just about any topic.

We also touch on some tools and tips, softwares and hardwares, and of course we have to share our favorite podcasts for fun and work!

Hosts Present:

David Blackmon - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Cory Jenkins - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Sarah Oates - Endure Web Studios / FB / @endureweb

Róbey Lawrence - Bearded Friend / FB / @robeylawrence

Leslie Bernal - A Girl and Her Mac / FB / @agirlandhermac

Resources Mentioned:

OmnyStudio

Blubrry PowerPress Podcasting Plugin

Zencastr

Podcasts We Listen To (various categories):

Divi Chat (heehee)

Divi Nation

WP Bosses

Marketing School

WP Watercooler

WP Innovator

Entrepreneur on Fire

Matt Report

The WP Crowd

Your Website Engineer

Hello From the Magic Tavern

The Productivity Show

Late Nights with Trav and Los

Hot Copy

Hackable? by McAfee

WP Elevation

Kitchen Sink WP

WP Plugins A to Z

RV Entrepreneur

Road Treking

Serial

The Top

 

https://youtu.be/aLk6mTwXotw

Lead magnets. What are they? Can I have them on my Divi site? What's so great about 'em anyway? We'll cover these q's and more on this week's podcast!

Hosts Present:

David Blackmon - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Geno Quiroz - Monterey Premier / FB / @montereypremier

Leslie Bernal - A Girl and Her Mac / FB / @agirlandhermac

Resources:

Opt-in Laws in North America and Europe

 

https://youtu.be/UgJ93MU0nlc

In this episode we talk about how to market your Divi site, aka get eyeballs on it! Of course SEO is one way but there's more you can do to drive traffic. This topic can really be broken down a lot more so we'll be adding more episodes that go more in depth based on industry, target audience, etc., but this is a good start.

Hosts Present:

Tammy Grant - Sunflower Creatives / FB / @yourblogplace

David Blackmon - Aspen Grove Studios / FB / @aspengrovellc

Tim Strifler - Divi Life / FB / @timstrifler

Geno Quiroz - Monterey Premier / FB / @montereypremier

Leslie Bernal - A Girl and Her Mac / FB / @agirlandhermac

Josh Hall - In Transit Studios / FB

Resources:

Clarity

Build My Content

WPblab EP73 – WordPress Freelancers: Optimize Your Time With Social Tools

Why & How to Install the Facebook Pixel

Quora.com

 

https://youtu.be/3b1xxcGz3gk