Matt Medeiros from The Matt Report is our guest. Our main discussion point, “Is it getting more difficult to make money in WordPress?”
Matt Medeiros knows many different facets of the WordPress ecosystem. He’s the owner of Slocum Studios, a WordPress agency that specializes in higher education and publication websites. He also hosts one of the most popular WordPress podcasts, The Matt Report. Slocum Studios is also behind the Conductor plugin, which is a unique display building plugin for WordPress. He recently launched PluggedIn Radio, which is a podcast and video channel dedicated to WordPress plugin tutorials.
Because of the diversity of WordPress products and services Matt is involved in, we felt he was the perfect person to ask, “Is it getting harder to make money in the WordPress sandbox?”
Here’s our 70 minute conversation with Matt, and his thoughts on the ecosystem.
Show Table of Contents:
0:00 Intros
1:28 An underlying theme in Season 3 of the Matt Report?
2:00 Is it getting harder to make money in the WordPress space?
2:55 Season 2 was an experiment
3:25 Season 3 is back to examining where people are in their business
3:54 Plateau or GTFO?
4:10 There’s a trend going on in digital marketing
4:53 Things are getting a little bit harder
5:50 Focusing down on a vertical or niche makes it easier to survive
6:30 It’s not getting harder because of more competition (at least not with people)
7:20 Other platforms are competition
8:50 Everyone is told to use WordPress..and then they give up on it
9:30 Getting things pixel-perfect is tough to do quickly
10:30 Where people hit the wall with Wix or Squarespace
11:35 The long game is WordPress will eventually be easier?
12:10 Why higher pay-scale projects seem to have a love affair with Drupal
13:55 Misconceptions about WordPress are still widespread
15:19 Enterprise companies like slow iteration in a CMS
16:30 Acquia may be more aggressive with enterprise sales than WordPress VIP
17:40 ExpressionEngine as a CMS
18:25 Some agencies think WordPress is equivalent to ThemeForest
19:10 Successfully positioning WordPress for enterprise projects
20:47 Products and client services in the WordPress space
21:30 Differentiation in the WordPress ecosystem
22:35 Educating low-budget clients for the future
23:23 The client exodus from all-in-one agencies or IT companies to boutique agencies
24:37 Specialization and looking for what you can focus on as a smaller agency
25:38 Where are agencies weak? Adapting to the market, and marketing in general
25:50 The drawback to productized services or consulting
27:00 Don’t sell your value short
27:30 Figuring out pricing
28:05 Running your business like a business
28:35 Pushing your boundaries on pricing
28:59 The customer experience is part of your value
30:10 Finding the right clients takes work
30:55 You can’t fake it till you make it with higher value projects
32:10 They hire you for continuity.
33:00 Sustainability and reinvesting
34:01 Just be real with customers
34:48 I’ve heard there’s a gold rush, but where’s the gold?
35:24 Define what you want out get out of the business
36:40 Find the clients you relate to best
37:30 You’ve got to get out from behind your desk
38:05 Content marketing takes time
38:29 Find the tools you are comfortable with
40:4…