If you build WordPress websites for a living, this presentation is for you. We go through why you are in business and then steps through the process of handling your project Before, During and After. A great compliment to any developers reference materials.

1. Before, During and After:
Strategy For a Successful
WordPress Project
Friday, March 23, 12

2. FOUNDATION:
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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3. When you first get into the web all
you are interested in is about how to
do something then after a while you
start to ask why you are doing it.
Strategy For a WordPress Project
Friday, March 23, 12

4. A few years ago, I realized,
it wasn't working.
• Projects were more complex
• Details were forgotten
• It was about the next deal
• Clients became the enemy
• How did we get here?
Strategy For a WordPress Project
Friday, March 23, 12

5. On vacation I read,
“Let My People Go Surfing”
- Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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6. 1991 Patagonia
• Couldn’t sustain it’s growth
• Had to re-define themselves
• Created a set of core values
• Values became philosophies
• Patagonia was reborn
Strategy For a WordPress Project
Friday, March 23, 12

7. I wanted to be part of a business
that believed in what they taught.
That stood for something.
Strategy For a WordPress Project
Friday, March 23, 12

8. My Six Founding Principles
1. Quality is number one
2. Always be learning
3. Simple solutions will win
4. Expand naturally
5. Do right
6. Give back
Strategy For a WordPress Project
Friday, March 23, 12

9. “The people that make the web have
a responsibility to protect the web.”
- Jeffrey Veen, Founder, CEO, Typekit
(In response to the closing of Geocities by yahoo.)
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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10. If you keep having problems with
clients on every project, you're the
problem.
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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11. “To protect the web, as builders of
the web, it is our responsibility to
make our clients as successful as
possible.”
If not, what do we show, how do
we learn and how can we grow?
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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12. FOUNDATION: Sustainability
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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13. Sustainability is being self sufficient,
self reliant and enduring the ups and
downs of your business. It’s how
you tell your clients you run your
business.
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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14. Sustainability = Cash Flow
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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15. BEFORE: Process
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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16. “In the beginning, it’s not necessarily
important what your process is, it’s
that you have one.”
- Steve Axthelm
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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17. What method do you use?
• Waterfall
• Scrum
• Agile
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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18. Waterfall approach with
some tweaks
• The Waterfall method works, because
clients get it. There is precedent for it.
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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19. Process Overview
• Meet / Estimate / Contract
• Kickoff / Mindmap / Schedule
• Wireframes / Site Architecture
• Design Mockups / Key Pages
• Development / Content
• Reviews / Fixes / Launch
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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20. BEFORE: Estimates, Proposals, & Contracts
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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21. “There are two checks I am happy
to write every month, one is to my
therapist and the other is to my
lawyer”
- Mike Monteiro, Mule Design
(from the famous “fuck you pay me” presentation)
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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22. Defining Requirements
• Really listen, interpret
• Talk behaviors, i.e. “it should do this...”
• Watch for red flags
• Leverage existing standards
• Don’t reinvent the wheel
• Develop a scope of work
• It’s okay to walk away
Strategy For a WordPress Project
Friday, March 23, 12

23. Proposal & Terms
• Price according to features
• Use Freshbooks "Accept" estimate feature
• Contract has EVERYTHING in it!
• Dates depend on features
• 50% deposit, 25% after 30 days, 25% at end
• No work released until paid in full
• Anything changes, work stops
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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24. DURING: Discovery
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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25. A web developer has to be confident, a
salesman, a psychologist, a counselor,
a marketer, a charlatan, a designer, a
programmer, a researcher, a hacker, a
project manager, cool tempered and a
human.
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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26. Mind Map
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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27. DURING: Production
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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28. Schedule
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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29. “Good design is as little
design as possible”
- Dieter Rams, helvetica
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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30. Use Metrics
• Take the “guessing” out of your design
• Back up your decisions to clients
• Leverage previous A/B testing results
• Review current or similar sites metrics
• Identify potential bottlenecks to clients
• Address user and business goals first
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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31. Wireframes
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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32. Design
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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33. Content
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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34. Revisions
• 5 hours of revisions only
• Two rounds of revisions
• Create list one, do list one
• Create list two, do list two
• Additional revisions require new estimate
and charged $150 / hr
• Test like crazy - Browserstack.com
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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35. AFTER: Education
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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36. Walkthrough & Education
• Create a formal review
• Reference original goals
• Set time for training, 5 hours
• Note any last minute bugs
• Set a date for launch
• Invoice for final payment
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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37. Final Power Tips
• Set up a regular status update schedule
• Warn of blackout period during production
• Projects get weird at 3 months, meet up
• Go live on a Tuesday
• Follow up with your client in a week, really
• If you messed up, fix it
• If they want more, charge for it
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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38. When it goes south...
• Call client for call or meeting
• It's better to have a face to face
• Review where things are & what's left
• Provide scenarios for completion
• Come up with a realistic timeline
• Do what you say
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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39. Sleep great
• Be elegant
• Be professional
• Be sincere
• Do great work
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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40. Thank you!
• For any questions feel free to contact me!
• Wes@CrowdedSites.com
Strategy For a WordPress Project
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