Bridget Willard

Author: Bridget Willard

  • Do you want results or convenience?

    When it comes to our businesses we procrastinate on the things that we don’t like including [insert surprise here] marketing. But if marketing produces results, why do we wait?

    The question to you is this:

    Do you want results or convenience?

    Spend 7% of Your Gross Revenue on Marketing

    Budget may be an issue, though you should set aside a good 7% of revenue toward marketing, but it’s not the only excuse. Inconvenience tends to be the leader in the procrastination excuses.

    “The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends spending 7 to 8 percent of your gross revenue for marketing and advertising if you’re doing less than $5 million a year in sales and your net profit margin — after all expenses — is in the 10 percent to 12 percent range.” George Boykin

    For the sake of an example, if you are a WordPress Developer who charges $1,500 per website, $105 of that should go to marketing your business. This is a conservative investment in your future.

    If you do four of those sites a month, $420 should be invested in marketing. To be more aggressive, you’ll have to dedicate a larger percentage of gross revenue.

    [bctt tweet=”Spending $420 a month on marketing instead of something else isn’t convenient; it’s an investment.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    What is convenient?

    Pretty much nothing. You’ve heard the saying that nothing worth doing is ever easy? Well, nothing worth achieving is ever convenient.

    Does anyone ask rugby players if it’s convenient that they get so dirty or become injured because of the lack of pads? No. Does anyone ask X Games athletes how many bones they broke to be champions? No.

    There are plenty of things I do that are not convenient. But I choose to invest in my community, my business, and myself.

    [bctt tweet=”Investing in your business is never convenient.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    For example:

    • I drive 33 miles to my closest WordPress Meetup. This takes at least an hour in commute time. I do this one to three times a month. Results: friends, business, and fun. That matters.
    • I worked in Santa Ana for 14 years. It was a 27 mile commute and took an hour. Results: That job helped me launch my career shift.
    • I traveled for work while I was with Thought House (on behalf of GiveWP). I hated travel before. Results: I met people all over the world and many of them have become clients.
    • Attending WordCamps can be expensive (about $1000 is an average budget). Results: I get clients all the time from attending, organizing, or speaking at WordCamps. Also: friends.
    • Blogging takes time and focus. I don’t always feel like writing for myself, especially after doing client work. Results: people continue to read my current and past writing and (guess what?) I get business and referrals. This doesn’t even speak to branding issues. (Would you hire a marketer who didn’t blog?)

    I am not even talking about physical or mental fitness either. We all know that being fit is more than looking at magazines and having a gym membership. It’s not any different for your business.

    What gets results?

    Effort.

    Period.

    Start.

    Start somewhere. But stop complaining.

    It’s your business.

    [bctt tweet=”Results require effort. Effort is rarely convenient.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    Why aren’t you marketing your business?

    I always tell business owners that they have to care about the future of their business. As a consultant or even their social media manager, I can’t care about their business more than they do.

    So, I say the same to you — my audience. I can’t care about your business more than you do.

    It’s your livelihood. It’s your future. It’s your passion.

    [bctt tweet=”Your business is your passion. Don’t put its future into someone else’s hands.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    You should be involved in your business. You should care about its direction.

    When’s the last time you had a checkup for your body or your vision or your teeth? It’s been a year or less. Right?

    When’s the last time you had a checkup for your marketing plan? What worked ten years ago may not work now. What was true in social media last year, may not be true now. Changes in tactics are sometimes required.

    Maybe it’s time.

  • 25 Things You Spend More Than $25 On – An Argument for Managed WordPress Hosting

    Twenty-Five Dollars. $25. In 2018 when this article was first published, That’s all with my former client) . That price is now $45 as of this May 6, 2022 edit. Yet, most people think $25 is expensive. Is it?

    Let’s look at other managed WordPress hosting costs updated as of May 6, 2022.

    Your website is for your business. Isn’t it worth $25 a month?

    The List: 25 Things I spend more than $25 on

    I’ve left some of the original list and added a few bonus items. What are you spending $25 a month on?

    1. Cazadores Tequila. At Hennessy’s it’s $9.50 a shot. Two shots plus a tip and tax is about $35.
    2. Pedicure. A plain pedicure at Happy Nails is $22. With a $5 tip that puts the cost at $27.
    3. Starbucks. Every reload on my  Gold Card is $25. I do that at least once a month.
    4. 2 for 1 burgers on Tuesdays. Again. This with a tip is about $35.
    5. A tank of gas. My last tank of gas at Chevron was $39.42.
    6. Monthly massage at White Lotus Day Spa. I’m a member so it’s $75.
    7. Jewelry. The last bracelet I bought was soft leather. $40
    8. Home Decor. I bought some pillows and paintings at Ross for $34.
    9. Office Supplies. Last run to Staples for misc pens and post-it notes was $67.
    10. Pizza. Domino’s large pizza, soda, delivery fee, and tip. $37.
    11. Sunday Brunch. Pierside blueberry pancakes and bottomless mimosas, tax, tip. $42.
    12. Toll Roads. My last statement was $39.
    13. Uber. I lost track of how much I spend monthly but it’s over $100. It’s why I prefer to walk. But when traveling, you have to do what you have to do.
    14. Hair coloring. I pay about $75 a month to not have gray hair.
    15. WiFi on Swiss Air flight. $39. It is admittedly less expensive on other airlines, but I had no problem spending this to get connected.
    16. Keepsake Frames. Print of a photo for my mom. $39.
    17. Monthly Flowers. I just purchased a subscription from Enjoy Flowers for $68.
    18. Airport Parking. The last time I parked at SNA it was $60. (Not everyone has a person who will drop them off and pick them up at the airport.)
    19. Choosing your seat on Swiss. I was glad to pay $55 each way to choose an aisle seat on my international flight to Belgrade.
    20. Vacation. Even though I won a two night stay at an all-inclusive resort, I had no trouble paying $215 for the airfare.
    21. Premium Plugins. and $30 on Better Click to Tweet without any reservation.
    22. Shorts. The last pair of shorts I bought from Old Navy was $22. Tax and shipping put that over.
    23. Advertising. $30 for LinkedIn. More than two $20 boosts on Facebook.
    24. Makeup. My last order was $100.
    25. Donations. I donate $20 to Natured Conservatory and $5 to FreeCodeCamp every month, plus the odd request for someone in need.
    26. Hootsuite is $79 a month and how I run my business.
    27. Fiber Internet: I pay $80/month for AT&T Fiber.
    28. Cat Food & Litter. Easily $40/month.
    29. Therapy: Twice a month at $65 each is $130.
    30. My last meal at Chuy’s was $44.64.

    None of these include utilities, rent, cell phones, internet, insurance, taxes, groceries, or car payments. My business costs about $1500 to run for recurring services, health insurance, and vendors. That doesn’t even include my salary.

    So, is $30 – $50 a month too much to spend on your business website? If the answer is no, then re-evaluate your business.

    People Speak up on Twitter

    https://twitter.com/joe4ska/status/1023601314704515073

    Your Time is Worth Money

    It doesn’t matter to me which host you choose, but pick managed hosting. The race to the bottom is real. Get good service. Invest in your own business by investing in your website.

    This also means blogging on a regular basis but that’s another post.

    This post contains affiliate links which means that if you click on them and buy I may receive a bit of compensation.

  • Marketing for WordPress Developers: You are What You Tweet

    When it comes to business tools for WordPress Developers, Twitter is one of the best — if you use it correctly. Tweet to build, not tear down.

    If you are what you tweet, what shouldn’t you say?

    We all have a voice. We all want our voices heard. There’s no way to circumvent the need for love and belonging and acceptance. It’s part of our nature.

    And in the WordPress space, we like to take all of our complaints to social media. This can be good and bad.

    Firstly, public venting is almost never a good thing. Rather than posting publicly, it is better to use private Facebook groups, Snapchat, and friends to text or call.

    Client Shaming on Twitter

    As an aside, I’d love to see client shaming die a long, painful death. I’ve seen it in every industry I’ve been in. Twitter is supposed to make you approachable. When people see your tweets shaming clients for not understanding DNS, they will be more afraid to talk to you, let alone hire you.

    It’s not the client’s responsibility to understand tech. That’s why they’re hiring you. Right? You deal with DNS and passwords and image sizes and naming conventions day in and day out. The fact that they could even find their passwords was a victory in their own eyes.

    Instead, be a bridge. Be a resource. Educate. Empower your clients.

    You shouldn’t be annoyed that they don’t understand what you do.

    What is a good business use of Twitter?

    I wrote about this more extensively, but here are some suggestions:

    • Congratulate friends.
    • Empathize with someone’s personal loss.
    • Share your hobbies.
    • Engage in light banter about red shirts v blue shirts, Croatia v France, Flexbox v Grid.
    • Promote your friends.
    • Tweet at WordCamps.
    • Share blog posts that talk about your services.
    • Educate clients on vocabulary and jargon.
    • Tweet photos from your vacation.
    • Talk about Tiger Woods reentering Golf.
    • Debate LeBron leaving the Cavaliers — again.
    • Share your struggles.
    • Ask for help.

    Here are some more thoughts, Tweetable, of course

    [bctt tweet=”If you want Twitter to be a safe place, start tweeting safe things.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    [bctt tweet=”Are your political opinions helping or hurting your online reputation?” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    [bctt tweet=”Venting frustration about clients can ward off potential ones. ” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

  • Marketing for WordPress Developers: Are you taking on new clients?

    Client work is great. But how do your Twitter followers, let alone your friends, know if you’re taking on new clients and projects. And if so, which ones?

    You do refer and take referrals, right?

    What is Marketing?

    Marketing is basic communication of your goods and services. Simple enough, right? So why do so many WordPress developers fail to tell their potential customers that they are available?
    There could be many reasons, but let’s start with a simple, actionable goal.

    Audit your website and Twitter bio.

    Audit Your Website

    You may need a third party on this one. Don’t look at the code or the design. Instead, look to see where a potential customer would know the following:

    1. Are you accepting new work?
    2. What kind of work do you specialize in?
    3. How does someone contact you?

    You could go further with:

    1. Do you have a portfolio?
    2. Do you have recommendations?
    3. Do you list your clients?

    But that is way extra credit.

    Your services page should be clear in the main navigation and not buried. This is for potential customers and for your friends who are looking to refer you. If your friends are like me, they check your website first.

    Audit Your Twitter Bio

    What does your Twitter bio say? Does it say you’re a “WordPress Developer.” That’s awesome. Your peers know who you are. But does the general public. I’m going to say a hard “no.”

    If you build websites, and taking on work, I’d strongly suggest that your Twitter bio says “I build websites” in some form.

    Here are a couple of quick Google Search Screenshots that should help convince you.

    Notice that it says “web designer” or “website” in most of the suggestions. Also, the “People also ask” section is a good source of headlines for future blog posts like, “How Much Does It Cost To Hire Someone to Build A Website?”

    Oh, and please put a link to your website on your Twitter.

    More questions?

    I’d love to help you. And, yes, I am taking on marketing consulting clients.

    Below is my form.

    [caldera_form id=”CF59e795482d092″]

  • SaaS: The Cost of Doing Business Online

    SaaS: The Cost of Doing Business Online

    Updated 2/14/23

    So many small business owners think doing business online means they save money. Well, you could save money, but then you would be compromising on your tech stack.

    So many people think “online” means “free.” It used to, for sure.

    For example, many small businesses ask me how much they should budget for marketing. The answer is 15% of your gross revenue. Sound high? Maybe. But do you want to grow? It goes with website hosts, too. If you’re paying less than $25 for a web host, it’s time to upgrade.

    So what is the cost of doing business online? In this post, I detail my own SasS expenses to give you an idea of how much to budget.

    I originally wrote this in 2018 when my SaaS subscriptions were $125. Those were the days. You won’t need all of the services, but you will have some. 

    Software as a Service (Saas)

    Software as a Service basically means you can get a service through a webpage. Wikipedia has a better definition. The point is, that digital space has a cost. Software over the cloud has a cost. Clouds are not free.

    Traditional Services

    Traditional services like accounting and law typically charge retainers and charge by 15 minute increments. We never question this. So why not value our own time?

    This also includes monthly, recurring costs like cable (internet provider), electricity (to power and charge the devices you use to get to the cloud), cell phones to work remotely and call clients, as well as a percentage of your mortgage/rent or co-working fees.

    This isn’t the place for it, but please understand your costs as an agency. Understanding your costs allows you to charge for your value.

    My Monthly SaaS Costs

    I spend quite a bit of money for cloud-based tools that I deem necessary to run my Marketing Consultancy.

    Here are my monthly Saas Costs.

    Of course, these are rounded to the nearest dollar and don’t include yearly licences.

    • Postmatic (for content delivery and commenting) $20
    • Dropbox (for website & photo backups) $21
    • Backblaze (backup computer) $15
    • Loom (video tutorials for clients) $10
    • Lumen5 (video from text) $15
    • Apple (cloud storage) $4
    • Bitly (link shortening) $37
    • Hootsuite (manage client social accounts) $75
    • Xero (invoicing clients) $37
    • Canva.com (making graphics) $27
    • Calendly (to schedule appointments) $15
    • Zoom (client meetings) $16
    • GSuite (for domain name email) $24
    • Plugin Rank (for plugin stats) $9
    • Castos (podcast hosting) $49
    • Mailchimp (email marketing) $21
    • Termageddon (privacy policy) $10
    • Basecamp (project management) $21
    • Twitter Blue (edit tweets) $11

    The total amount I spend monthly on things specifically to run my business is $467.

    This doesn’t include traditional services and utilities like fiber internet ($67), cell phone ($99), electricity ($58) , or the $122 I can legally write off of my rent for my home office.

    If my math is correct, that’s $813 I need just to operate monthly.

    With a 20% self-employment tax (that we all should be saving), the client who you charge $1,000 a month only yields $233 profit.

    We haven’t even talked about my time; just the fixed monthly nut.

    The second and third, fourth and fifth clients start adding to the your net profit.

    Why am I writing about job costing and the cost of doing online business?

    As someone who spent almost 15 years in construction accounting, it baffles me that the majority of WordPress freelancers don’t:

    • Track their time (even as a sample to average out)
    • Attach costs to jobs
    • Find out their operating cost before determining pricing

    It’s another blog post or WordCamp talk to properly give an overview, but the point is that costs are costs. Figure out what you need in your workflow and do it. If you can’t afford those tools, then charge more to your clients.

    There is no such thing as a free lunch.

    Nothing is free. Your time isn’t free. Even if you don’t have to pay for software (like WordPress.org), someone still has to implement it, you still have to design a site, and it still has to be hosted. A modern website requires at least three different businesses that will be paid just to have a free website.

    Your business matters. Stop trying to do everything for free. Invest in your dream. No one else should care about your business more than you do.

    Once you figure out your operating costs, feel free to reach out to me when you’re ready to add marketing.