Kingpin Interview with Joe Howard
Q1: What's your story, and how did you begin to get involved with WordPress?
Much like many in the world of WordPress I discovered it following various jobs. I studied mathematics as a major and went to college. I had the opportunity to teach high school math for a few years with Washington, DC Public Schools.
In the end, I made the decision to step out of the field, I enrolled in an early stage SEO agency. I was appointed the Director of Operations. This title is amazing and when you're among the first employees of the business, it's all about running all over the place in a flash of hair and doing all the things.
I also had the opportunity to gain knowledge about the internet and ways to build an online business, abilities that I use and refine to this day.
My first startup gig was challenging, it was definitely worth the blood, sweat and tears in order to acquire the knowledge I required to reach where I am today (and where I'm heading toward in the near-term in the near future).
Q2: What's the most important things that people should be aware in relation to all of the activities you're doing with WordPress at present?
It's likely that I'm extremely engaged in my local WP community! I hire via the PostStatus job board and I also participate in WordPress Meetups (DC, Baltimore and Northern Virginia). Additionally, I'll be giving my first WordCamp talk at WordCamp Pittsburgh and WordCamp Baltimore. Boom!
Then, I've officially created WPMRR as well as the WPMRR WordPress podcast after the huge success that was WP Buffs. First, there's an online class that teaches WordPress pros how to manage sales and implement ongoing care plans for clients, and to boost the amount they earn every month. The entire podcast is focused on growing prosperous WordPress business as well as monthly recurring revenues and not taking things too seriously.
Questions 3: What obstacles did you face in getting up to the level you're professional?
There's a lot! Many people are impressed when they hear the news that WP Buffs is where it has been for just a year. But, I must explain to people that it came out of seven years of mistakes, and increasing the speed of learning. It has been between seven and ten unsuccessful projects that brought me here.
Honestly, the biggest challenge that I've faced in my journey in order to reach this point was not related to WordPress or anything else.
Let me be real; quitting my 9-5 job which paid well and was well-paid, to work on my startup in full-time capacity was very difficult for me. When I finally made my decision, I knew it had been the right choice. However when your life is familiar, it becomes harder to get out of that routine.
I am a firm believer in the idea that time is my best currency. Thus, everything I learned I had to get rid of. In addition, I was a poor employee. So going on my own was what I needed to accomplish.
Believing that I must work an entire time job to be successful was just the first step, however I think it was among the most significant actions I've made in the last few years.
It's important to make the effort to examine exactly what you did wrong, and then figure out how to do better next time in order to get the results you want. I'm focusing to do that, and I'm capable of improving.
Q4: What's amazed you in the WordPress world?
Sincere and honest, how warm how welcoming the WordPress community is.
It is possible to be a complete novice (like I was a year ago) but there are people who have joined WordPress Meetups and WordCamp Happiness Bars as well as WordCamp Happiness Bars that can help with your.
What ever business I have or the kind of company I manage being a part of the WordPress sector is something I'm proud of. The community is vibrant and made up of real people who don't hide their true self. There's not many areas in which you could put the extroverted marketing professional and the introverted programmer together and see that they get along easily It's very unique.
The same way, I'm also amazed at how many people concentrate only on WordPress yet don't devote enough energy to learning how to develop and develop a company. I believe there's a lot of room in the WordPress community for individuals to build scalable profit from small businesses instead of spending daily 80 hours of freelance jobs.
According to me I believe this is what we as a community have to work on. Making the right business choices and scaling what we're developing to the point that we won't need to do every day of the week, 24 hours days a week.
That's why I enjoy watching the likes of Troy Dean at WP Elevation helping people develop WordPress businesses, create real benefits for the users and resolve big problems.
Q5: What do you think the future look like for you in the WordPress world?
Moving forward and higher with WP Buffs!
We're determined to be the top technical support service to any business, individual or another entity which has an WordPress website. We're still working on it but, we're now close to 100 clients. This means that we've completed our demonstration-of-concept.
In the pursuit of expanding the scope of our White-label Partnership Program is an important goal for me personally. Locating the best marketing agencies, design firms as well as freelancers from WP to work to provide ongoing support for is one of the major areas of growth for us, and I'm impressed by the strides it has made in pushing the company ahead.
As with most business owners, I'm always thinking about the next projects or business I'd like to start, both in the WordPress sector and out of it. But, I'm trying to avoid to slip into"shiny object syndrome" so that I can be focused to make sure that WordPress Buffs will provide a fantastic service for our customers.
Q6: What factors do you think about when selecting a WordPress host?
One of the aspects I'm trying to find in hosting providers is if it's managed completely.
I can understand how cheap shared hosting might appeal to a few users. If you're just running a private blog that doesn't get much visitors sharing hosting could be your best option.
My opinion is I believe that time is the highest worth it. There are only 24 hours in a day and I'm using just a small amount of bandwidth. To keep growing WP Buffs' popularity and expand, I need to focus all of my attention on finding the best people and attending WordCamps, conferences and speaking in addition to resolving big issues. Making decisions on the dashboards of hosting for our customers isn't something I'd want to consider. That's why I collaborate with hosting companies to take charge of this.
Naturally, you'll want an excellent hosting solution which will keep your site quick, safe and up on the internet. But in all honesty there are plenty of top quality hosting services to choose from; should you pick one of them, chances are you'll be well-equipped to handle these kinds of services.
Q7: What are the activities you enjoy when you're away at your computer?
I reside in Mt. Pleasant. I'm tucked away at Rock Creek Park where I get my fix of nature and walk my dog Marvin daily.
If I'm not working on WordPress, I'm probably hanging out with my partner, Sterling. We got married this month! We love to hike in the mountains, and to camp out of Washington, DC. Also, we like traveling (Burning Man is coming up quick).
I'm also part of the group called Sandbox. Global summits have been that were held in the rainforests of Panama and on an island off Croatia. It's my tribe!
In terms of reading, I'm a huge fan of SciFi. I'm likely to finish about a book each month. In addition, I'm likely to go through about an hour's worth of podcasts (Tim Ferriss and Joe Rogan, etc) every day. There's a lot there!
Q8: Who should be our next interviewee and why?
Brian Krogsgard! Following his appearance at Post Status: Publish previously and am now more awed by his expertise in WordPress and the online space. The man also created a lively community of WordPress people out of air. It could be an excellent interview:)
Brian Jackson
Brian is a huge fan for WordPress is a frequent use of the platform for more than an decade. He is the developer of two of premium WordPress plugins. Brian is a fan of hiking, movies and blogging. Follow Brian via Twitter.
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