WP eCommerce Show

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Do you ever get the feeling that something needs to change?

First off, this podcast isn’t broken. I just felt it was time for a change. I have loved interviewing dozens of eCommerce experts over the last 142 shows. It’s been amazing. I just feel the need to twist the podcast up a bit. To move from the conventional interview to a new space.

I don’t want to change the focus (that focus being WordPress, eCommerce and monetization).

We created our first eCommerce site way back in 2003. It was a stock photography site. After that experience, the next adventure was diving into the membership site phenomenon, which was shortly after my entrance into the WordPress space 12 years ago.

Although I touched on eCommerce in several ways over the early years, it wasn’t until the release of WooCommerce in 2011 that I started to seriously dabble in the space.

After the inception of this podcast in March 2016, I dove deeper into the eCommerce space in WordPress, interviewing smart eCommerce peeps, writing tons of content around eCommerce, and absorbing all the research my brain could handle. As a result, I’ve learned a few things.

Officially, as of today, this podcast is an eCommerce editorial podcast. Simply stated, I am going to share what I have learned, what I am learning, and how it affects WordPress and eCommerce. It will be filled with facts, reflections, stories, insights and, if you know me, some humor along the way. And of course, what’s an editorial without an opinion?

On this blog and podcast, I have written a lot of content and shared expertise from others on how to do stuff. But scattered through the how has been the why.

Over the last few years the realization of how important the why is has risen among the experts. Heck, I think there is even a book written about it. Now I’m not trying to toot my horn, but it’s been a part of my teaching for years. In fact, when I first started doing coaching and training in WordPress in 2000, I often had people telling me they appreciated that I not only told them how to do stuff, but why the heck they should con

Everyone wants to make money. And for those who are constantly creating new content, there may come a time when you seriously looking at monetizing it. At the same time, the when, where and why baffles you and you are not sure what next steps should be.

In episode 142, I asked Kyle Maurer from Sandhills Development to join me and share what he has discovered when it comes to dropping your content behind a paywall. He is part of the team behind the plugin Restrict Content Pro, and has spent a lot of his time on this, which he considers one of his favorite subjects.

Kyle shared his thoughts on:

• What content creators should be considering when it comes to content paywalls and the long-term.
• The balance you should strive for between offering free and paid content.
• Choosing the best medium to meet your own goals.
• The pros and cons of moving out of your comfort zone to branch out into other models and mediums.
• What the plugin Restrict Content Pro brings to WordPress users when it comes to monetizing your content.

Bob: Hey, everyone. Welcome to Episode 143. BobWP here, and today I have a very special guest, a good friend of mine and an eCommerce kind of guy.

Kyle Maurer join us today. He’s with Sandhills Development. They do a bunch of awesome eCommerce plugins. How are you doing today, Kyle?

Kyle: I’m great, Bob. I’m so excited to be on your awesome show. Thanks for having me.

Bob: You bet. It’s never been called an awesome show before. I’m going to make sure and not take that particular word out, because this is a first. I’ve got to take what I can get.

What we’re going to be talking about today is putting your content behind a paywall. We will be touching on your plugin, Restrict Content Pro, that you are involved with at Sandhills Development, probably throughout. We’ll focus a little bit more on that towards the end.

But I wanted to start with someone who might say, “Hey, I’m a content creator. I want to start monetizing my content.” What should they initially think about? Because there’s going to be long-term benefits or consequences. What is possible with content paywalls? Can you give us a general overview to get us sliding into this?

Kyle: Yeah, there’s a lot to consider, of course. I’m sure anybody in this position is, if they’ve started to look into it, probably feeling overwhelmed with the amount of options and routes they could take.

I think the tip that I would provide, or the first step that I would recommend to anybody I care about in this position, would be to monetize as soon as possible, and do that starting small.

If we’re assuming that this someone has free content already, and they’re trying to take the step into monetization, I think I would definitely recommend that you do that as quickly as possible. Don’t wait. Don’t try to build something more elaborate with which to monetize.

Instead, try to find some small value-added to introduce as early as possible, and possibly even just for a very nominal cost, as a way of beginning the walk down that path towards monetizing your project. We could go over examples, as well, if that’s …

Bob: Yeah, oh, I’d love to hear some.

Kyle: Say you’re a blogger, and you write a lot of articles. It wouldn’t be, then, extremely complicated for you to begin to add a new value-add to present to your audience. This could be creating an ebook or something from your content, a

What happens when you have been developing stores for customers and clients and decide to become a store owner yourself? In episode 141, we dive into this topic with someone who has done just that.

Micheal Tieso worked at WooCommerce and Automattic on the developer side. While he was still working with clients, he made the decision to start his own online store. Store owners and developers alike will learn a lot in todays’s episode.

I asked Michael:

• What were his reasons for wanting to start an online store?
• Does he have more empathy for store owners since he made this move?
• What was his previous experience in eCommerce and has his perspective changed?
• What has he learned and what does he think store owners need to be on top of?
• What are would be the benefits to developers running their own online stores?

Today’s transcript is brought to you by GreenGeeks Web Hosting, where you will find WordPress hosting that’s fast, scalable and eco-friendly.

Bob: Hey, everyone, welcome to Episode 141. We have Michael Tieso with us today. Now, Michael is a developer. I like to just call him an all-around e-commerce kind of guy. How are you doing Michael?

Michael: Good, good. Thank you for having me here again.

Bob: Yeah, I believe this might be your third time on this show. I’m not sure.

Michael: Yeah! Yeah. It’s always fun.

Bob: So we’re getting up there. I keep telling somebody else that when it happens the fifth time it’s going to have to be like Saturday Night Live used to do: the five-timer club. It’ll have to be the five-timer something. I’m not sure what that is but … anyway, for people who don’t know your background, let’s talk about your recent transition from developer to store owner. To set the stage, tell us a little bit about what you’d been doing prior to this in the eCommerce space?

Michael: Yeah. So for four years I was working with WooCommerce. It was a combination of Woo things at the time, and then they and Automattic combined. For four years I worked in support and development— and business development. And then almost exactly a year ago today, I decided to go freelance doing just development work, and so this past year I’ve been just working mostly with clients in building their stores and consulting. So it’s been mostly building sites for other people and supporting them, for roughly five years.

Bob: Now, somewhere along the line comes this decision that you’ve been building all these sites so why the heck shouldn’t I just run an online store? Tell us the story behind this and what you’ve done lately.

Michael: Yeah. So it’s actually been on my mind for a long time to run my own store. I just never got around to it. But what’s different this time is that I’m doing a physical product, shipping a physical product. It’s easy to create a digital product. Well, easy in a sense that there’s not as many puzzle pieces or logistical issues that you have to think about with digital product versus physical.

So this was the first time I decided to try something physical. It’s been in the back of my mind for a long time and I just decided now is the right time. In fact, I just remembered that the first time I was on your podcast and you asked me if I were to start a store what I would do. So this is how long I’ve been thinking about this. I said tea. And I was pretty broad about it then, but I knew th

In this podcast, we are talking about WordPress in the eCommerce space, including a look at what is happening with WooCommerce and how Jetpack plays into the equation.

Today I’m chatting with two special guests: Todd Wilkens, head of eCommerce at Automattic and Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and WordPress. They both shared some great insights on issues related to WordPress and eCommerce. And yes, we also did take time to offer perspectives on the new WordPress editor.

We chatted about:

• What we are seeing in the eCommerce and WordPress space with new integrations— and what this means for the future.
• How the new WordPress editor Gutenberg plays a specific role in WordPress and eCommerce sites.
• The reach of blocks with eCommerce plugins as add-ons to existing post types, or from top-to-bottom product page layouts.
• What WooCommerce is working on and how blocks are playing a big role in the future with added features.
• How Jetpack and its WooCommerce integrations will become a stand-alone option for users who want to monetize their blogs.
• The perception of Jetpack (and the reality).

I also added my own experience with the WordPress editor and talked with Matt about how it had enabled me to improve my workflow.

Today’s transcript is brought to you by GreenGeeks Web Hosting, where you will find WordPress hosting that’s fast, scalable and eco-friendly.

Bob: Hey everybody. Welcome to Episode 140. Bob WP here, and I have two very special guests today. First of all, I have Todd Wilkins, who is the head of eCommerce at Automattic. Welcome to the show, Todd.

Todd: Thanks Bob.

Bob: And I have Matt Mullenweg here, founder of Automattic, and WordPress, and somebody I’ve tried to get on the show a few times, and finally we found the sweet spot. I appreciate you taking the time to be with us, Matt.

Matt: Great. I’m really excited to be here, too.

Bob: What I wanted to really dive into is, I mean it’s very broad: WordPress, eCommerce, and WooCommerce. I thought what better way to start it off than to explore a little bit around the space we’re in right now as far as WordPress and eCommerce. With the fact that eCommerce having done their integration, their plugin at the beginning of December (which I think is one of the first times I have seen a really a third party integrate as well as it did). Do you think this is a pivotal time right now, and that others might start looking at this and be thinking about the publishing power of WordPress, and how they, well, I don’t want to say jump on the bandwagon, but the opportunities that might be there?

Todd: Maybe I’ll take a first shot shot at this one. I know Matt has a lot of thoughts too, but since eCommerce is near and dear to my heart, I think there are two parts to your question. So, one is about companies like BigCommerce coming in to work and integrate with WordPress. That’s not surprising to me, especially as someone who, I haven’t been immersed in WordPress my whole career, so I’ve been on the inside and the outside, but WordPress is, clearly, it’s the most successful content platform on the web. It’s one of those effective customer engagement platforms on the web.

On top of that, you have this kind of amazing evolution going on right now with the Gutenberg blocks, and templates, and styles, and the new editor, and the new customer to this. There’s so many things happening with WordPress right now, so it has t

In this podcast, we explore the basics of print-on-demand, including setting it up on your WordPress site with WooCommerce and Printful.

Today I’m chatting with Maddy Osman who connects WordPress and other technology brands with relevant prospects from search. In this show I am getting into the eCommerce side of her experience, specifically, print-on-demand. We dive into some of the the popular products for print-on-demand, the advantages of using it it and who is it best for. We also dig into using WooCommerce and Printful to offer products on your WordPress site.

I chatted with Maddy about:

• The thinking behind print-on-demand
• Some of the more popular products in this space
• The advantages of print-on-demand
• Who print-on-demand is best for
• Using WooCommerce and Printful to offer products on your WordPress site

In this podcast, we look at dropshipping and the challenges and benefits both new and existing online store owners might experience.

Today I’m chatting with AJ Morris, lead of products and marketing at iThemes. AJ was part of the team behind building the WooCommerce managed hosting over at Liquid Web, the parent company of iThemes. They started creating hosting packages for specific needs, one of them based on dropshipping and WooCommerce.

I chatted with AJ about:

• What dropshipping is.
• The challenges that come with entering the dropshipping space.
• Perceptions of dropshipping.
• How adding dropshipping to your existing online store can benefit you.
• Dropshipping on your store vs. on a platform such as Amazon.
• The unique hosting package offered for dropshipping with your WooCommerce online store.

Today’s transcript is brought to you by GreenGeeks Web Hosting, where you will find WordPress hosting that’s faster, scalable and eco-friendly.

Bob: AJ Morris, lead of Products and Marketing at iThemes, is joining us today. How are you doing AJ?

AJ: Good. How are you, Bob? Thanks for having me.

Bob: You bet. I invited you on the show because you’ve had some experience in eCommerce and working in the dropshipping area. Lots of people are talking about dropshipping. I guess it’s like one of those things every year, somebody says, “Oh, this is gonna be the big thing.”

From what I’m reading, that people are becoming a bit more curious about it, maybe thinking about diving into it. And then I think a lot of people just absolutely … you know, even though it may be the right solution to them, they don’t have any idea.

So why don’t we start first with your experience around dropshipping— just to kind of lead into the rest of the show—and the questions I have specifically around it.

AJ: Absolutely. So … last year, we at Liquid Web, started to build a managed WooCommerce offering. This was a different offering than what you traditionally see in the market, with managed WordPress, in that when you look at managed WordPress, you get the features like backups, and securities, and caching, and updating of WordPress, so that you don’t have to worry about those pieces.

When you think about managed WooCommerce, there’s a lot of different things at play; mainly around your shopping cart. At any given time, there’s somebody likely on your site who is making a purchase decision, or going through checkout. And so, there’s different set of criteria in order to call yourself a managed WooCommerce player.

As we started to define that space, we spent most of 2018 working with established stores. These are stores that maybe they were hosted by other providers, and just weren’t experiencing the benefits of what we were bringing to the table, in terms of caching, and infrastructure, and performance tests, and all the other things that we’ve classified as managed eCommerce.

So around September, we started focusing on how can we help beginner stores. We launched a number of beginner plans to really help people that wanted to just get in and get their feet wet a little bit, in starting an eCommerce store. One of those startup strategies is dropshi

In this podcast, we visit a very unique site that offers outdoor adventures for geeks with diverse interests and passions across the globe who want an off-of-grid experience that leaves technology while leaving technology behind.

I had the chance to chat with Mendel Kurland, founder of Geek Adventures. He shares with us:

• What Geek Adventures is and where the idea came from.
• When the turning point came for him to turn this into a full-time gig.
• His biggest technical challenge when creating an eCommerce site.
• Which plugins he used to meet the needs of his customers and community.
• How he has monetized the site.
• Where things are headed for Geek Adventures.

Today’s transcript is brought to you by Liquid Web, WooCommerce hosting done the right way.

Bob: It’s my pleasure today to chat with Mendel Kurland, is the founder of Geek Adventures. Hey Mendel, how are you doing?

Mendel: Hey Bob. Thanks for having me on the show.

Bob: This is an exciting time for you. You just made a huge transition into making this a full-time endeavor. I know that people can go to your site and see the story behind it but I thought, it’s always good hearing the story verbally. First of all, what is Geek Adventures, and how did this idea come to you?

Mendel: Geek Adventures is an outdoor experience company The purpose is to help STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workers disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other and the outdoors, all on the trail, in adventurous places. So we have a few hiking meetups called Hiking with Geeks all over the country, but we also do trips to exotic places. We’re going to Iceland and Ireland this year. In case international travel isn’t your thing, we’re going to the Grand Canyon and some domestic stuff as well.

The whole idea is just to separate your digital life from your real life and reconnect with the thing that I think we all are kind of starved for these days, and that is experiences where we can leave our technology behind. the lack of technology. Basically, instead of notifications and things like that popping up all the time on your cell phone, getting rid of all that and just spending time with each other.

Bob: Cool. So how did it come into being? Outside of there certainly being an audience for this, what was the epiphany, the point when Mendel said, “Wow, this is something I should get into,” ? What drove you to do it?

Mendel: Yeah, I guess it was 20 years ago. I was a freelance web developer and I was building websites for industries like bars and restaurants and real estate. From there, I moved on, became excited about a career in engineering and went in the direction of web development for a music company. From there, I started working for a tech company, sitting in front of a computer all day.

Fast forward to the last three years of my life. I’ve spent it flying around the world, talking with geeks of all sorts: freelancers, agency owners, people that work for huge technology companies The one thing that stuck was that everybody always need some sort of break and they would talk about the things they loved to do outside of their work. I’d be talking to somebody and the typical questions got pretty old: what do you for work, what projects are you working on? But if you want to So if you want to get deeper, you start talking about what do you do for