The Kim Doyal Show

Does it seem like there are a plethora of Managed WordPress Hosting options available now?

Probably because there is.

And I love the fact that GoDaddy has stepped into this space along with everything else they're doing to support the WordPress community. Needless to say I was excited about talking with the person who is part of this movement at GoDaddy and is behind the scenes with one of the absolute best on-boarding processes I've seen when it comes to installing and getting up and running with WordPress.

Gabe was a champ and we addressed the 'elephant in the room' so to speak (the elephant that GoDaddy has had a reputation for not being a top hosting choice). I'm a firm believer that regardless of past experiences, when a company makes a concerted effort and improves their products and services it's worth giving them another shot.

And can I just say, HOLY MOLY...

The efforts by the team at GoDaddy are pretty impressive to say the least.

Questions I Asked Gabe:

Before we get into all the WordPress & Godaddy awesomeness, can you share how you got into all of this? Apparently you taught yourself how to code while deployed in Afghanistan?

Let's address the elephant in the room... GoDaddy has changed a lot (for the better). Before we get into how much has changed and the new WordPress experience you guys are rolling out... what made you guys decide to put more energy into WordPress?

Can you share the evolution of WordPress & GoDaddy?

 You shared a sneak peek of the new WordPress OnBoarding process for GoDaddy customers... all I can say is wow! It looks fantastic. And I love that you partnered with Beaver Builder (love those guys). Can you explain this new process to the listeners?

Plugins: I didn't know you guys had plugins... as in plural. I've used the P3 profiler to test the plugin load on my site. Can you share a little more about your plugins & strategy?

Do you have any favorite plugins?

What's coming fro WordPress & GoDaddy?

What You're Going to Learn:

How the change in management at GoDaddy has stepped into the WordPress Managed Hosting space

What GoDaddy needed to do fix their reputation

What's included in the new on-boarding process

New custom themes based on the customers market (ex: if an accountant needs a new site there are accounting themes)

Free access to thousands of high quality, royalty free images searchable by category

Beaver Builder lite is bundled in the on-boarding process

New partnerships coming (Yoast, Ninja Forms & more to come)

... and more features coming to make the initial installation and set up that much easier

What GoDaddy does to choose their partners for what comes bundled in the on-boarding process

Check out the new GoDaddy on-boarding in the video below:

I've been thinking a lot about processes.

My new-found love of the daily email practice (even when my emails aren't daily), has ignited a small fondness for discipline.

I say small because the thought of structuring and scheduling my life to the point where everything requires a discipline makes my head hurt (and makes me go into immediate resistance.... don't MAKE me do anything). I'm finding little ways that I can apply this in all areas of my life. For the sake of the podcast though we'll stick with business.

Like most entrepreneurs, I enjoy the process of planning and getting excited about the possibilities of what I can do with my business. Taking the time away from the daily tasks often gives us the perspective we need get re-inspired or even clarity on something we've felt stuck on. There's something about changing the routine that feels better (even when we feel like we 'should' be at our desks taking care of the tasks).

As much as I like my time to myself, this can be most helpful when doing it with other people (mentor, peers, parters... your dog. Whatever works for you). The extra energy of someone else's excitement and enthusiasm is contagious. They see things you might have missed or can point something out from a totally different perspective that makes you take a second look at something.

Then of course there's all the 'stuff' that goes along with planning... pens, calendars, markers (or is that just me), white boards, ideas... lunch with a friend.

Kind of like the whipped cream on the sundae, right? Not necessary, but makes it that much sweeter.

Here's the problem with planning...

You can get STUCK there!

(I wish I had some southern phrase or saying about being stuck... somehow it seems like it would just 'fit' here).

I've been here myself.

Many, many times.

I've mapped everything out (I love me some outlines and Gliffy diagrams. I'm not really a mind mapper), created the first few steps then get caught back up in the tasks. Or better yet... I don't get past the first step and get caught back up in the tasks.

I'm actually way better at following through on things than I used to be (not a lot of people who know me would say I don't 'get things done', but I make it way more of a chore than it needs to be), but at the end of the day what should get the most attention are the things that can make me MONEY.

I'm running a BUSINESS.

This isn't a hobby. As much as I love creating content, there needs to be an endpoint, right? (don't go all sideways on me with an altruistic opinion on this... you know what I'm talking about here).

I'm going to give you two very specific examples so you can feel like you're getting something tangible and not just joining me for a self-help session (although that could be fun too).

Let's look at The WP Chick first.

When I decided to change my theme I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my messaging needed to be CLEAR (notice I didn't say clearer, because I can honestly say it wasn't clear at all before). I wanted people to know that when they got to my site they could learn about WordPress and Marketing. I have some re-structuring to do of my content model, but that's more of a 'moving forward' as opposed to going backwards. Meaning, new content that I create should support this model. There are some content pieces I am creating that will be more like cornerstone content (full post on getting started with WordPress, installation, theme, etc. ... because 'duh'... I should have done this years ago) as well as some really in-depth tutorials on certain products (ex: CoSchedule).

Then it's a matter of the navigation supporting that direction and having a very detailed 'Start Here' page, clear paths for my visitors and products and services that support that.

Oh. And a new, well thought out plan for lead generation (and execution of that plan).

Here are the ways I'll be monetizing my brand:

SEO is something we all know we're supposed to do.

So we get the Yoast SEO plugin, name our images with relevant keywords, follow some of the tips from Yoast and aim for the 'green light' from Yoast (I won't get into readability right now, because as I've been testing posting my emails as posts and those never get a decent readability score, but we'll leave that for another conversation).

Deciding to re-focus my efforts on a solid content strategy led me back to looking at SEO and what I can do to improve what I'm doing (or simply do it correctly... no shame here, it is what it is). If you're going to take the time to create content, share it and go so far as to do content upgrades (again, that's for another conversation), then isn't it worth it to make sure your content continues to work for you after you've hit publish?

Needless to say when I started diving into all of this I knew who I wanted to talk with.

Rebecca Gill of Web Savvy Marketing

I've been following Rebecca and her team at Web Savvy Marketing (full service agency that also sells their own Genesis child themes) and have had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca through a mutual friend, Carrie Dils. Not only is Rebecca wicked smart when it comes to SEO but she's pretty fun too (and I've only connected with her through Skype calls. I have no doubt she'd be a blast in person).

I'm going to be jumping into Rebecca's DIY SEO Course soon and will be blogging the journey (what I'm learning, data beforehand, etc.). I've been holding off jumping into the course because I know I need to set a certain amount of time aside to implement everything (mind you... the longer I wait the less optimized my site is, right? #assbackwards). Regardless, that will be happening this month (November, 2016).

Questions I Asked Rebecca

What were you doing before you launched Web Savvy Marketing?

Can you share what Web Savvy Marketing is with the listeners? What does your agency do?

What made you decide to create a DIY SEO course?

We've all heard "SEO is dead"... what's your take on this?

If you could recommend people do one thing with SEO, what would that be?

You've got an SEO even coming up in January with Cory Miller of iThemes and our lovely friend, Carrie Dils:

Is this your first event?

What made you decide to host a live event?

What's going to be covered?

What can people expect?

What's coming for you & Web Savvy Marketing in the next year?

What You're Going to Learn

Why SEO isn't just about getting a 'green dot' on your content (or a green 'Y')

Where you should start if you're new to SEO

Why SEO & content should be a primary focus for your website

What free tools Google gives you and why you should use them ( nothing like a little free data, right?)

What SEO can do for conversions on your site and in your business

Why you should attend the live SEO event (O.K., this was more me plugging than Rebecca)

Where to Connect with Rebecca

Website | Twitter | Facebook

I don't know if this is a distraction or real issue I need to solve.

Well... it's probably a little of both. Let me back this up a bit and give you a little 'why' behind this so-called dilemma.

I have done my fair share of setting up membership sites with WordPress plugins. I've used most at one time or another but tend to go back to Wishlist because I have a developers license for it (probably not the best reason, but hey, I can be practical once in a while).

Last December like much of the rest of the online world I was anticipating the release of "New Kajabi" because I was tired of using different tools and piecing solutions together (we've all been there, right? After you have the website sorted, then you add the membership plugin, set up the payment gateway, connect it to your auto responder, create your landing pages... sheesh. Makes me tired just thinking about it and I know how to do all this stuff).

So I jumped in with both feet.

Purchasing New Kajabi that is. I had set up a new community (now defunct... I've learned a lot about myself in the past year, but I'll try not to go too sideways with that) and after I got the hang of it things seemed to be O.K., yet for some reason there was a disconnect. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful platform...I just found I never really wanted to login and do what needed to be done (and no, I'm not going to hire someone to do that for me).

Then I though, I'll move my WordPress Genesis for Beginners course into New Kajabi... start selling that again.

Only I didn't.

I even moved the Selling with WordPress course Jon Perez and I had done into Kajabi.

I still didn't sell it (or promote it).

Why? That's the million dollar question, isn't it?

Before I get into the mindset issue here, let me share a few of the other platforms and options I've looked at and tested:

What is it with Kajabi that I cannot wrap my head around?

I don't know... but I'll let you know soon enough because I have a call with them tomorrow. Now that I'm doing these 'daily emails' I'm getting better at posting them as blog posts as well (more on that in a minute). I recently shared something about my decision to NOT renew New Kajabi in December and lo and behold I got an email from someone at Kajabi today asking if I would be up for a chat. They saw I said I was leaving and they wanted to get some feedback and see if they could keep me if it was a possibility.

Not too shabby on the customer service side of things if I do say so myself.

And here's my two cents on customer service in general:

You can ALWAYS find someone who has had a crappy experience with a company and you can ALWAYS find someone who has had an amazing experience with a company (O.K., most of the time. Just play along with me, k?). It's kind of like cars... some people hate a certain brand of car because they had a lemon. You can also find someone who has only bought that brand of car because they've been so reliable. Anytime you have people involved you're going to get a variety of experiences and opinions.

This is something you have to decide for yourself.

Here's what I'm doing before my call with Kajabi:

First, I'm going to go through all their latest updates (they're kind of kicking ass with updates. #justsayin). I'm going to go through the blog (obviously I can't read everything since the call is happening tomorrow), log back into my site and spend some more time with the platform so I come to the call with less than "I don't know what my issue is".... and ideally, get the points of disconnect connected!

When I started thinking about the benefits of using Kajabi it's a no-brainer. Everything in one place, I don't need to lay anything out, sales pages, checkout pages... they're all there. It's also ONE place for my customers to login if they've purchased more than one product from me (novel idea. Teachery actually does this too).

It will save me $300 a year on Wistia (you get a Wis...

Social Warfare is one of those plugins that you need to dive a little deeper into so you can understand what makes it different than all the other social sharing plugins.

I had actually bought Social Warfare a while ago, had an issue and forgot to go back to it (issue was nothing major). Like many of you I'm sure, I've tried multiple different social media plugins over the years. Not all the social media plugins have the same result (some are for sharing, some are for connecting, some are for data... you get the picture).

Part of making the most of any plugin that you use is understanding the bigger picture/ end result. In this case, it's not just about having options for social sharing on your site. It's about understanding how the different social media platforms work, what works better on different social networks and how you can maximize them for connection and results.

Not only did I have a great time talking with Dustin, I learned a ton from all of his wisdom and experience.

Questions I Asked Dustin

Before we get into Social Warfare, can you share your background with the listeners?

How did Warfare Plugins come about?

Social Warfare is a popular plugin - what made you guys decide another social sharing plugin was needed?

What were some of the challenges & struggles in launching a premium plugin company?

What would you recommend to someone in this space?

What's your business philosophy?

What's on the horizon for Warfare Plugins?

Wait until you hear the simple thing that made a huge difference with the Pinterest sharing feature in Social Warfare. Initially Dustin wasn't putting too much attention on Pinterest. Until he learned what he needed to do differently with Pinterest. He implemented a few changes that were recommended to him by friends in the social media space and saw a HUGE difference in the traffic from Pinterest.

Within 1 month he saw a 300% increase. A year later he saw 1000% increase in his traffic from Pinterest.

What I want to point out with this is we're not just talking about shares... we're talking about traffic. Which every website needs.

What You're Going to Learn

How Social Warfare doesn't slow down your website

The biggest issues Dustin wanted to solve with Social Warfare (what made it different)

The human psychology behind Social Warfare (and why it works so well)

How Dustin became a well known name and trusted authority in social media and content creation

Who influenced Dustin and how his own personal journey was the driving force

Why Dustin feels every piece of content should be written for one person

Where to Connect with Dustin & the Social Warfare Team

Website | Facebook  | Twitter

Links From this Episode

Warfare Plugins

Dustn.TV

John Saddington

Desk App

Pomodoro Technique

Elementor Page Builder is fantastic!

Yep... another front-end visual page builder for WordPress has joined the scene (even though it seems like these tools are coming out overnight, I can assure you these take a lot of time to build and test).

Personally, I couldn't be happier.

Maybe that's because I'm not a developer... many developers are anti-page builders. That's fine. They're not for them.

Page builders have been built for users and people who want to get things to market quicker (and more efficiently). Asking a developer to endorse a page builder is like asking a vegetarian to endorse a hamburger. It's an argument that is irrelevant.

And now that we got that out of the way, let's jump into Elementor.

When I first saw Elementor I was really impressed with it.

It has a really smooth UI, tons of features in the free version and is really easy to work with. Needless to say I was excited to have Ben Pines on the show. I'll definitely be doing a full post, review and video on it... but I didn't want to hold up the interview any longer (I have a list of 7 posts to write, so it will be coming soon).

Elementor is created by the team at Pojo.me and Ben Pines is the CMO.

Questions I asked Ben

Fill us in on how you connected with the team at Pojo?

Why did you decide to join the team?

Visual builders for WordPress are getting much more popular. What made you decide to create Elementor?

What makes this different from other visual builders?

I'm sure you have this question before, but Elementor is free. How are you guys going to monetize this awesome tool?

Where do you see page builders heading?

Features of Elementor You're Going to Love

Where to find Elementor & Connect with the Team

Website | Twitter  | YouTube

The last few months in my business have been interesting to say the least.

And by interesting, I mean good.

I've been taking consistent small action in a number of areas in my business and the results are paying off. Every day. And I love it.

Before we get into 'How to Be Your Own Case Study & Profit in The Process', let me share a little bit of how this all came up.

I've been sharing with you guys a little bit about my affiliate journey on this site and on the Freedom Papers Podcast site (which by the way is getting a complete brand makeover, but more on that in another episode. Let me just say that the decision didn't come lightly but it's one we're really excited about).

When I made the decision to start shifting away from service work (and by the way, if you're a current client please know that I'm not abandoning anyone. This is more about who I choose to work with and the type of work I choose to do) I had to step back and get clear on what I DID want to do (yes, this is uber obvious, I know).

This is the beauty of making changes. It requires you to find a different perspective on things and fortunately, my personal life provided that perspective.

The most obvious choice for me was to increase my affiliate income on The WordPress Chick.

You've heard me talk about CPA marketing and affiliate marketing with niche sites and through things that aren't related to this brand, but I've calmed down about that. It's still something I'm going to pursue but not right now. Trust me though, there is a method to my madness.

I have to admit that as I acknowledge all this it seems so obvious... the problem with obvious is that you have to be in the right frame of mind to see it.

And I wasn't.

The changes I was going through in my personal life were a little consuming (I'm sure you guys were as sick of my house move as I was). But hey... that's one of the reasons we run our own businesses, right? So we can live our lives too and not have our schedules dictated by what someone else dictates.

Now that all of that is behind me and I'm settled in my new place, I feel a fresh excitement and clarity with everything. Yes everything. My business and my personal life. For the sake of not boring you, I'm going to stick with the business side of things today.

Let's talk about Being Your Own Case Study

When I got into my first big mastermind group the model was: Create a case study, record a video, drive traffic to an opt-in page so the lead can then watch the case study video, then get them to apply for a strategy session where you can offer a high ticket service.

Simple enough, right?

But what if you don't have any case studies?

You go get them.

What I did at the time was send an offer to my list stating that I was looking for case studies (I never said it would be free). I got about 8 responses immediately to my email and I set up the calls. Of the people I talked to I got 3 to sign up for a 3-month coaching program so I could get some results.

At the time I also had two other coaching clients so I was gaining traction with what I was doing.

From there I created my 'case studies', made my case study video and went into promotion mode.

This was in late 2013 so Facebook ads were much cheaper, but it worked. From less than an $90 ad spend I made $500 in strategy session calls ( I charged for the appointment) and $10k in coaching clients (this was paid over a 3 month period).

The next time I did case studies was for my Influence Podcasting program (done-for-you podcasting). We produced podcasts for 3 different people (show, show notes, website... all of it) at NO charge so we could get this process down. Only one of those people is still doing their podcast but it's worked extremely well for him (he got a $5k coaching client within the first two months directly from the podcast). We built our systems and ironed out the bugs in doing that. The trick with podcasting is that it's a marathon...

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I've been talking about Content Upgrades for a while now.

Not that I'm an expert by any means, but it's definitely a focus and something that I have first hand experience with. And it works.

I don't quite remember when I first tested using content upgrades (it was a while ago)... actually, I think it was when I created a PDF for a tool called Reachly (they don't exist anymore) that was for Pinterest. It was the early days of Pinterest and I was using it quite a bit (more for fun than for marketing) and when I came across Reachly (which I think eventually became Pinerly), I fell in love with it. It had a beautiful interface and was super easy to use. I have no idea what inspired me to create the PDF, but I just got caught up in the moment and went to town. I had heard about content upgrades before but hadn't paid too much attention to them. At the time I had an opt-in offer on my site but was not focused on building my list (more on that in a bit).

First, let's talk about what a Content Upgrade Is

I know... it sounds pretty obvious, but there are a few different schools of thought on the matter.

Some might tell you it is only when you provide more/additional content that is relevant to the content the visitor is reading /consuming.

For the sake of keeping things simple, I'm going to say a content upgrade is anything that provides additional value to your visitor.

Meaning, if you have amazing content that your reader might want to reference in the future, then providing that content in the form of a downloadable PDF is helping them (I don't know about you but I suck at bookmarking things and coming back to them. I just don't want to do it, so instead I save links and rarely go back to them. I know... doesn't make much sense). Keep in mind though if you're going to copy & paste a post into a PDF for easy reference, simply be transparent about it. Don't position the opt-in like they're getting something more. What I've done in the past is something like "If you want to download this post for easy reference click the button below" (or however I've linked to it).

Personally I prefer creating something additional to the original content.

It gives you more credibility with your audience and creates an asset for you in the process.

Content Upgrades aren't just PDFs

I think the default for creating a content upgrade is something in the form of a PDF, usually an ebook or guide.

Here are a few other options for content upgrades (and yes, I know some of these are in the form of a PDF but think 'not an ebook'):

If you're stuck with what type of content to create for your content upgrades (I'm starting to feel like I'm keyword stuffing here with the amount of times I'm using the word content), take a step back and think about what would help you the most. One thing I find most helpful is an actual example of when something has been used or implemented.

Take this podcast & post as an example (this literally just came to me as I was writing this).

I'll be including some tools and resources for content upgrades below. I could (can?) easily create a downloadable PDF with links to all the tools, a checklist for the process of creating a content upgrade (which may vary depending on what tool you're using) and maybe a video with one of my favorite tools (this could actually be a product to sell.. hmm... maybe I'll just include the checklist ;-) ). I could also include the audio download of the podcast for easy reference (no point in making someone come back and listen to it, right?).

How you do this depends on your own personal creative process.

There are times when I get ideas out of the blue (when I'm not at the computer) and I'll send myself a note or save a note in my phone so I don't forget it (the joys of getting older), but most of the time my creative juices start flowing when I'm doing the work.

This episode is sponsored by Sitelock

Yes folks, she's back.

Holy moly though... a lot has changed with Carrie since she was on the show last (she was episode 7! One of my first guests and I was/am super appreciative of that).

Fast forward a few years and knew I needed to have Carrie back on. Her business has exploded (my words) since we spoke last. She's created more products, creates Genesis tutorials for Lynda.com (how awesome is that?), runs the OfficeHours.FM podcast and spent some time working with Crowd Favorite. Oh... and she has added speaker to her list of accomplishments (I haven't had the pleasure of seeing/hearing her speak but I can only imagine it would be awesome).

We talked about the disconnect that happens when you want to shift from freelancing to something else. Carrie had some great insight as to why this happens (which tends not to be for one reason only) and of course I had to get a little esoteric with her (I don't know what my obsession with that word is lately).

This conversation went in a whole bunch of different directions with this conversation... and let me just tell you... you will be laughing. Carrie is not only uber smart, but she's pretty damn funny (I was laughing throughout the interview and again when writing the show notes).

Questions I Asked Carrie

Since we last spoke you had gone over to Crowd Favorite and are back working for yourself again. I have a couple questions regarding that shift for you. First, what brought about the decision to work for Crowd Favorite and then what made you decide to go back to working for yourself?

When I was on your show last, we talked about changing directions and shifting gears with business. Obviously WordPress isn't going anywhere... where do you see opportunities for people in this space?

What do you fee are some challenges with running a profitable business in the WP space?

Where do you think the disconnect happens for people who are freelancing and decide they are DONE?

Since you've been online for a while, how do you think the landscape has changed and is changing?

Where do you want to take your business?

Anything you'd go back and tell yourself, say 5 years ago if you wanted to dispel a little wisdom?

 

What You're Going to Learn 

Where the landscape is headed for opportunities in WordPress

How to pick your own space within WordPress

How funny Carrie is (yes, I thought that was worth adding here)

Carrie's thoughts on marketing and where she can step it up

How Carrie's podcast, OfficeHours.FM has helped her business

The struggle of keeping sponsorship going with a podcast

To say I adore Carrie would be an understatement. I'm sure you can tell by listening to this show that it was a ton of fun and Carrie is a wealth of knowledge.

Where to Connect with Carrie

Website | Podcast | Twitter

This episode is brought to you by Sitelock

If I could bottle up the energy of the Merrymaker Sisters I would do it in a heartbeat.

I first discovered Emma & Carla Papas (aka, The Merrymaker Sisters), through Dan Norris. I had a feeling based on their name that they were going to be a blast to talk to  (which they were) and I loved what they were doing. I loved their story of getting out of dieting and how it changed their lives. They made a conscious choice to get off the merry-go-round and eat whole foods, stop pushing themselves at the gym and start enjoying their lives more.

Novel idea, right?

Their story into finding what was right for them (from a health perspective) really helped them shape their business in the process. Their story truly represents the saying "ignorance is bliss". They simply kept going with what was working and continued to share it. Their business continues to grow (cookbooks... a new book coming out in October! and a private membership). Emma & Carla are a huge inspiration and I know you're going to love the interview.

Questions I Asked Carla & Emma

Before we get into your business today, can you share what you guys were both doing before launching The Merrymaker Sisters?

 I'd love to hear more about your story of getting fed up counting calories & fad diets (amen!)... where did you go to start changing things?

When did you decide to take your business online?

Explain what your business is all about?

Your blog & content seems to be a mix of lifestyle, health and business (which I love). How has that worked with your audience?

You also launched a podcast... how's that going?

What are some of the ways people can work with you?

What's on the horizon for The MerryMaker Sisters?

What You're Going to Learn

How they went from government jobs to their dream business

How they came up with the brand (the name took 5 minutes) but the brand took time to grow.

What Merrymaker actually means

How they've allowed their interests to evolve and shift their business in the process

Why they let their audience change and grow with them

What allowed them to stop dieting (stepping into Paleo), feel great and start shifting into a whole food diet

How they found a new way of living... and how it created a business

Where to connect with The Merrymaker Sisters

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook