Changing the World one WordPress site at a Time Running a - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Changing the World one WordPress site at a Time Running a successful, distributed WordPress agency serving U.S. nonprofits

Our customers are changing the world • Am Americ ican an o or global al nonprofit fits (usually .org TLD, sometimes .gov or .edu) • Fund nding ng comes from individual donors, foundations, government agencies • 15-25% goes to over erhea head; extreme pressure to keep these costs down

We design & build websites

We build petitions & donation forms

We maintain 100+ WordPress sites Tool ools: InfiniteWP, Sucuri, Backstop JS, FreshDesk

We build plugins & data integrations • Me Media Ded eduper er Clea ean u n up t the he Med edia L Library and nd k keep eep i it clea ean • WP Po P Popup up Crea eate f e flex exible, e, power erful l layover ers • Wid idge get Menu enuizer er Crea eate e meg egamenu enus b s by adding ng widget et c cont ntent ent to menu enus • Bette tter Secti tion N Navi vigato tor Sho how sec section-based sed na navigation n via ia a a wid idge get

In 7 years, we’ve gone from this… Ben Be Designer, developer Lesley Ira ra Webmaster, Technical communications Project Manager Didn’t ’t kn know ow ea each h other her at a all…..

To this:

8 Secret Sauce Ingredients 1. Partners 2. Careful projections 3. Biting the bullet 4. Good tools 5. Employees & company culture 6. Treasuring (and firing) customers 7. Communicating 8. Constant assessment Graphic credit: Drew Melton www.phraseologyproject.com

Partners Photo credit: Bill Dickinson www.flickr.com/ Don’t go it alone – get partners! photos/skynoir/

Picking the Right Partners Partners Make sure you make a good team.

Careful Projections • What will you do? • What won’t you do? • Aim high, but make realistic predictions • Remember: Planning is guessing. Projections Create cautious expectations.

Biting the Bullet Bite the bullet Just do it!

(a few of) The T ools • Proje • ject M ct Manageme ment: : Co Contr tracts cts: Sign gnNo Now TeamLab, Sma marts tsheet • Wir ireframin ming: HotGloo, uxpin, • Time imekeepin ing: BeeB eeBol ole balsamiq, Axure re • Ca Callin ing/vid ideoco conferencin cing: • User te testin ting: Skype, UberConference, , Optima timal W Workshop Zoom an and S Slac ack • Ch Chattin tting: HipChat, S Slac ack Start free, pay when necessary & Good T ools don’t be afraid to change!

The Employees Hire people you want Employees & Culture to hang out with.

Hire people you want to hang out with Employees but who are different from you.

Our Customers Th This i s is s Hanna nnah. h. Customers Cultivate great relationships!

The Customers You’ll work hard to get them, but some customers aren’t worth keeping. Cultivate great relationships, Customers but KILL THE BAD ONES!

F*&%ing up My guarantee: you will mess up something … it’s all in the recovery! Have hard conversations Communicating quickly and bravely

Assessing Proje jects cts: budgeted versus actual hours Em Employees: s: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, every year Tools: ols: constant assessment Budget et: : monthly Constantly Assess Check and check again.

Awesome Sauce Ingredients 1. Don’t go it alone…but do choose carefully 2. Create cautious projections 3. JUST DO IT 4. Use great tools 5. Hire remote, and prioritize company culture 6. Treasure (and fire) customers 7. Communicate carefully and respectfully 8. Constantly assess

cornershopcreative.com @cornershop Lesley@cornershopcreative.com @eckandgrumble