In the summer of 2009, I founded Web Savvy Marketing. I've often joked about being the accidental entrepreneur, because I didn't plan on ever working for myself, running an agency, or doing anything I've done over the last ten years. I grew up as the ward of the state of Michigan, very poor, and in a small rural town. As I was graduating high school, I knew I needed to figure out my life, because post-graduation I didn't really have a place to live. I never had career aspirations or any lofty ... Read More
WordPress Community
Learn WordPress With These 20+ Training Courses and Resources
When I picked up my new SUV last summer, the dealership tried to give me a quick overview of the dashboard and options available. They had me for the first five minutes and then I completely lost interest and just wanted to drive off into the sunset with my fancy new ride. Sadly that training failure isn’t an isolated experience for me or anyone else. For training to work well, the trainer needs to be knowledgeable, structured, patient, and have the ability to apply their skills to ... Read More
A Chat About eCommerce Plugins and Themes
Today I had the pleasure of joining Carrie Dils on her weekly podcast series Genesis Office Hours. Carrie invited me on to talk about the launch of our new WordPress eCommerce theme. We were joined by Cory Miller, Justin Sainton, and Daniel Espinoza. The four of us represented the theme and plugin developers associated with our new Jessica theme. Carrie as kind enough to ask us on the show when she heard the new theme would be styled to run three different eCommerce plugins. That is kind of ... Read More
A Visit to the WP Round Table
This week I had the pleasure of appearing as a guest on the WP Round Table. Kellen, Kyle, and Jason spent an hour with me in a question and answer format that explored my background, our business, and my place in the WordPress community. The podcast covers the firm's creation, our customers, our services and products, and my background in accounting. Yes, I really did major in accounting in college. And yes, I don't know what I was thinking when I made that decision. We chatted about ... Read More
We’re Sponsoring WordCamp Ann Arbor 2014
WordCamp Ann Arbor is Coming on October 4th! Fall is WordCamp season and this means WordCamp events are happening all around the world. In fact, the are multiple WordCamps scheduled the exact same day as Ann Arbor's camp. This is the first time Ann Arbor will have a WordCamp and I'm very excited. I've been a small part of the organizing committee, Debbie is a volunteer for the day, Web Savvy is a sponsor, and I'll be speaking at the event. I'll be on stage at 11:00am on Saturday to give a ... Read More
Best WordPress Podcasts for Your Listening Enjoyment
Earlier this week we published a blog post about getting started with WordPress podcasts. This post was a how-to Q & A on podcasts with Jason Tucker. I wanted to follow up with a list of the best WordPress podcasts I feel are worthy of your listening time. These podcasts will cover topics from general WordPress education to technical expertise. Read last week's post titled Tips for Getting Your WordPress Podcast Started -> Most WordPress podcasts run weekly and are presented in a 30 ... Read More
Tips for Getting Your WordPress Podcast Started
I’ve always been a fan of blogging and social media, however I’ve lately found myself drawn in by the growth of WordPress podcast sites. I’ll admit that I was a bit anti-podcasting at first. I wasn’t sure it would stick and I really didn’t see the value of it. And then something changed. I was invited to be a guest on a number of WordPress podcast shows and I realized this new type of marketing had something to offer. Podcasting can have a reach that is unique and unlike that of blogging, ... Read More
Friday’s Marketing Roundup: Good Reads for April 4th
Happy Friday! We're back again with a quick update on this week's interesting articles on WordPress, website design, usability, SEO and social media. This week there were some great articles to read and digest, but if you ask me, I think the WordPress podcasts stole the show. It seems everyone is jumping into podcasting and this week there have been some fabulous folks chatting about design, usability, and best practices in WordPress businesses. Podcasts are becoming an important part ... Read More
Friday’s Marketing Roundup: Good Reads for December 20th
Happy Friday! It seems everyone is settling down the for the holidays and the internet is slowing to a crawl. Before you head off to that holiday event, take a moment and check out our list of interesting blog posts, news and articles. Our content this week includes a variety of articles from best practices to reviews of SEO changes in 2013. I think my favorite posts are those that talk about my beloved WordPress community. Carrie Dils writes a raw post about her year in 2013 and Matt ... Read More
The WordPress Community Has Your Back
While the concept of communal relations and interest led associations dates back to Confucius, the definition of community is constantly being redefined as civilization advances. Technology, and in particular the internet, has taken the concept of community to a completely new level. Social media has not only fueled the growth of communities, it has forced it to evolve. Psychology and sociology have always fascinated me. My love for these subject areas almost surpasses my infatuation with ... Read More
Friday’s Marketing Roundup: Good Reads from the Week Ending November 15th
Ok I'll admit it - we've been really bad at providing our marketing roundups lately. I've been busy and we've been launching new themes and new client websites. For that I apologize and I'm going to try and get back into the habit of writing our roundups each Friday. I've changed the format up a bit and added in a new section for generic goodness. Sometimes the best articles don't have to be about WordPress or SEO. Sometimes they can just be about business. After all, business is what keeps ... Read More
Six Reasons Your Should Embrace Your Online Competition
Over the last four years our firm has had exceptional growth. I believe our competition has been an instrumental source of this growth and maturity. Since forming the firm I have embraced our competition. I don’t know why I went this route, but I did and it has helped us year over year. I believe and hope my philosophy can be adopted by other organizations. Competitors Are My Friends Inspiration – When I bumped into Jennifer Bourn online I immediately liked her. She is a direct competitor ... Read More
We’re Sponsoring PressNomics 2 in 2013
This week Web Savvy Marketing became a community sponsor for the 2013 PressNomics 2 conference. In my mind it is money worth spent, because PressNomics attendees are the future of WordPress. What started out as a small, open source blogging package has morphed into a huge ecosystem that now drives a substantial part of the internet. From small businesses to major organizations and news outlets, WordPress has grown up and it is a powerhouse. While many bloggers still operate on free themes and ... Read More
The Matt Report Interviews Rebecca Gill
This week The Matt Report released an interview with Web Savvy Marketing founder, Rebecca Gill. The Matt Report is a WordPress podcast for entrepreneurs, startups, and freelancers. Since it’s creation, Matt Medeiros has interviewed various WordPress business owners from Ryan Duff and Cory Miller to Thomas Griffin and Andrea Rennick. In his latest installment, he adds Rebecca Gill to the list. Episode 28, titled Is WordPress Recession Proof?, takes a look at Web Savvy Marketing’s origins and ... Read More
WordPress: The Warp Core of the Internet
The college student in me was in love with Star Trek: The Next Generation. The professional in me is in love with WordPress. Because of this, whenever anyone talks about the WordPress “core”, my mind always jumps back to episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I’m not at all a science geek, but I so loved this show. I know part of this love was due to the idealism illustrated by creator Gene Roddenberry. The show presented a future life where disease was limited, food effortlessly ... Read More
2012 Was the Year WordPress Grew Up
As I ponder this last year one thing stands out more than anything else. The year of 2012 will be know as the year WordPress grew up. WordPress didn’t just become a big kid, it became a major player in the world of website design. This realization makes me incredibly exited to see what the year of 2013 will bring for the entire WordPress community. If you’re not personally drinking the WordPress kool-aid already, you might be thinking I’m just pushing what I know and sell. Not true. There ... Read More
Web Savvy Marketing
TwitterYoutubeFacebookLinkedinGoogle +