Bridget Willard | SaaS Marketing Agency

Author: Bridget Willard

  • Keynote at WordCamp Raleigh: Let’s Talk about Whole Health

    If you’re to volunteer in the Open Source Movement or the WordPress Project, your whole health — physical, emotional, and financial — need to be a priority. I was honored to be the keynote at WordCamp Raleigh in 2018 on this subject. Special thanks to Pressable for sending me. They were also my client at the time.

    Watch the Keynote: You Can’t Have a Thriving Codebase without a Thriving Community

    (Timestamps are at the bottom of this post.)

    What does code have to do with community?

    Free and Open Source Software depends upon the community who builds, creates, maintains, supports, translates, and markets it. That means any Open Source project depends upon a volunteer-based workforce.

    We all recognize that our livelihoods are somewhat attributed to the ability to use Free and Open Source Software — like WordPress — so we volunteer, contribute, to give back.

    What about burnout?

    It’s real.

    We’ve addressed it before in many ways. So let’s talk about how what a thriving community looks like.

    What is a thriving community?

    A thriving community realizes they can ebb and flow in and out of a project. They can contribute for months or years, take a break, maybe even mentor others, and come back — or not.

    A thriving community recruits volunteers based upon inclusion, not guilt.

    A thriving community isn’t burnt out or bitter.

    A thriving community is healthy — physically, emotionally, and financially.

    A Word About Perfection

    I spent 14 years in construction accounting and my job demanded perfection. I spent hours looking for a penny if my bank reconcilation was off. Job costing had to be accurate. Contracts had to be perfect. I get it.

    The problem with perfectionism is when we take a marketable skill from our career and apply it to our personal lives.

    Progress is better than perfection. Done is better than perfect. Something is better than nothing.

    Let’s Talk about Whole Health

    Health comes in many forms: physical, emotional, and financial. And there are quite a few overlaps in these three distint areas, too.

    It’s fine to talk about the abstract. In the conceptual, we all agree we should be physically, emotionally, and financially healthy. But are we?

    And do we stop from iterating in our personal lives because we haven’t created the perfect meal or exercise plan, because we haven’t felt emotionally ready or because we have financial goals that haven’t been met? Maybe. But let’s take some actionalble steps toward progress.

    The -er approach

    Better. Faster. Thinner. Healthier. Happier. They all end in -er. This suffix communicates progress — not completion.

    I’m going to talk about some of the things I’ve done in my life to be -er.

    It doesn’t matter if we don’t collaborate together.

    We are a community who understands iteration by collaboration. I put this on GitHub. Let’s iterate together.

    Physical Health

    1. My doctor wanted me to walk 60 minutes every day.

    That was overwhelming and impossible. So, I walked some. I walked more. I walked longer.

    First it was just 20 minutes once or twice a week. Taking photos to bribe myself.

    Then it was 30 minutes. Now I do 1.5 to 2 miles three to four times a week. It used to be impossible.

    2. I realized I felt better eating more protein.

    I decided to subscribe to Special K protein drinks on Amazon Prime. Now I drink one every morning.

    Sometimes, I forget to eat protein and then I remember. If you’re plant based or have other issues, find out what works for you. I’m not a nutritionist, just giving examples.

    Actionable goals with incremental progress is the key.

    What can you start doing today that will move your physical health in that direction?

    3. Take a 15 minute nap at 2:30 pm.

    The circadian rhythm is no joke. Set the timer on your phone and lay down – floor, bed, couch, wherever.

    Close your eyes. Relax. Allow yourself to just be. You don’t have to sleep, you just need to rest.

    If you want to level it up, drink coffee and by the time your alarm goes off the caffeine will have taken effect.

    Emotional Health

    Emotional health is tricky and often it intertwines and weaves along with physical health.

    My giant disclaimer is to follow professional medical advice.

    Here are some things I’ve done to help promote my mental health.

    1. Trust your soul with a friend.

    I’m not a private person. So I need a team of people I trust. I call them SEAL Team 7. They know everything about me. I have to have people who I can brainstorm life choices with who will have empathy and constructive suggestions.

    Opening your soul and being vulnerable takes great strength and courage. It also gives courage to your circle to do the same.

    No one has it all together. That’s an urban legend.

    2. If you feel pain, feel it. If you need to cry, cry.

    I’m no longer suppressing my emotions, talking myself out of them, or allowing anyone else to do so.

    No one can feel your pain for you. It’s okay. Cry. Wash your face. Take a nap. Get up and start the rest of your day.

    3. Lexapro

    After my husband passed, I was deeply thrown into grief. After time passed, it wasn’t lessening. In fact, my anxiety increased to the point that I felt like I was constantly outrunning an avalance.

    I saw my doctor and she prescribed an antidepressant.

    I remember clearly waking up last year on March 8 with ideas. For the first time in ten years my brain worked.

    Financial Health

    Financial health is also important to a thriving community. You can’t keep giving back when you’re so broke, you’re stressed and overwhelmed.

    In my career journey that ended up with me as a freelancer, this is what I’ve learned.

    1. Believe you are worthy.

    If you don’t believe you’re worth $150 an hour, you won’t charge it.

    2. Understand what you cost.

    If you don’t know how much time you spend on a project, you don’t know if you’re profitable. This also means taking into account your expenses. See this blog post about job costing.

    3. Explore other business ideas.

    This is where failure is a great teacher. Sometimes the ideas we have come from iterating on our own ventures that aren’t working. Be open and agile to new ideas.

    Keynote Timestamps

    00:02:27 There’s no way you can have a thriving codebase without a thriving community.

    00:05:38 I don’t want to get fired from my volunteer job.

    00:06:45 Even your own volunteer work doesn’t all have to be you.

    00:07:20 When you do things for WordPress, you are a volunteer. And when it’s not fun anymore, don’t do it.

    00:09:07 You forgot the joy of why you’re giving back.

    00:10:19 Those kinds of skills that make us conscientious that make us excel in our careers and our paths are really bad for our personal lives.

    00:12:30 Progress is better than perfection. Something is better than nothing. Done is better than perfect.

    00:13:08 Your website shouldn’t be like the Money Pit.

    00:15:01 I have a personal working theory, that more than 50% of the people drawn to the people working with computers come from dysfunctional backgrounds based upon my own social science data.

    00:16:30 I have an -er approach.

    00:19:00 A/B Test your life.

    00:21:06 Our physical health matters.

    00:22:06 I don’t take a selfie when I’m crying in the corner.

    00:22:37 It’s okay to feel sad. It really is. (Kerri Strug Story)

    00:28:53 My own pride kept me from telling my doctor what I really needed.

    00:29:10 I want everybody to stop undercharging for your hourly rate. Please & thank you.

    00:29:53 People do not know how long it takes them to do things. Just because it’s easy to make a website doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take time.

    00:33:01 Your body is connected. It’s a big, giant ecosystem.

    00:34:20 Guess how hard it is to tweet for those people who don’t write. If you don’t write stuff for your blog, it’s pretty hard to tweet stuff from your blog.

    00:36:20 It’s good to have a niche.

    00:36:40 “You belong in the room. Your client came to you because you’re the expert.” @TheChrisDo

    00:36:15 We are a community that understands iteration by collaboration.

    00:37:30 Contribute to the GitHub Repo. Keep the conversation going.

  • Communication is a Science – We Read Live Data

    Communication is a science. I’m frankly tired of seeing it categorized as a soft skill as though it’s less important. Of course communication includes data. The trick with communication professionals is that we read and respond to data live.

    Are soft skills “hot air?”

    I saw this Venn Diagram and was offended at best. (By the way, did you know that you can create Venn Diagrams on Canva?) Business people (marketing, sales, finance) are not inferior to software developers, engineers, and/or front-end designers. Every specialty has its training and technical side. Let’s respect expertise for what it is — expertise.

    I commented on the blog. The author replied:

    Thanks for commenting, Bridget. I did not create the Venn diagram, nor do I endorse it or its labels. It is used as a counterexample for classifying data science in an over-exclusive way.

    Firstly, the fact that one didn’t create an image doesn’t remove one’s responsibility for it. What if it were hate speech? Why is it acceptable in the tech community to demean soft skills?

    To be fair, this diagram and discussion brought something to the surface that I’ve been encountering since I began marketing as a career.

    Data Requires Context

    Sure. Pour over the data you have in Google Analytics. Make charts. Create ratios. Create forecasting models. That’s needed. I’m not against data.

    But data alone isn’t the whole picture. Recently, a client noticed a drop in leads from Yelp. Is it because Yelp isn’t effective? That was the conclusion all too easy to jump to. Yet, what has changed? Quite a lot, actually. We began advertising on Facebook, we launched a new website with regular blog posts, and we started an Instagram account. Yelp isn’t less effective, it’s simply no longer the only star in the sky of data.

    Context, a story, matters when interpreting data. That comes with soft skills. Anyone can collect data. But can you ask the right questions to interpret the data?

    Brené Brown is now famous for saying, “Maybe stories are just data with a soul” in her TED talk. Stories give context to data. This is what makes data powerful. Otherwise, any data can be manipulated for any purpose.

    “Figures often beguile me particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’” Mark Twain

    Are soft skills scientific?

    They are. This is why behaviorism is a part of psychology. There are plenty of studies that look at inflection, tone, word choice, gestures, facial ticks, and body language. All of this is data. It’s being streamed through our senses and interpreted in real-time by our brains.

    Soft skills are scientific. We call them soft because it’s hard for us to define.

    Those with business, marketing, sales, and communication skills read a different kind of data: it’s human data. It’s behavior and behavior patterns. We analyze body language, inflection, and tone. We decipher patterns and predict behavior in real-time in order to adjust the conversation for affinity.

    Whether online or in-person affinity is key. Affinity leads to loyalty. Loyalty leads to sales. Of course, data is important, but it’s good to be reminded that data is a look at the past, not in the moment. Collected data is the autopsy. Soft skills are preventive medicine.

    “I’ve concluded that that data has the most impact when it’s wrapped in a story. …Data won’t get you standing ovation; stories will. Stories inform, illuminate, and inspire. Tell more of them.” Carmine Gallo, Harvard Business Review

    Inspired by:

    Engineering Data Science at Automattic

    Kari Shea

  • What a Social Media Manager Can’t (or shouldn’t) Do for You

    Updated 3/26/25

    Social Media Managers are awesome. They’re so awesome, in fact, that they get mind-blowing (read: unreasonable) requests.

    My friend Carol Stephen wrote a post called “What Can a Social Media Manager Do For You?” In that post, she includes items such as research, deciding when to post, and choosing hashtags.

    I thought it would be fun to do the opposite.

    10 Things Outside of the Scope of Social Media Management

    A social media manager should not:

    1. Care about your business more than you do.
    2. Be a videographer.
    3. Be a video editor.
    4. Be a professional photographer or editor.
    5. Be an expert in InDesign, Photoshop, et al.
    6. Design logos or creative.
    7. Build your website.
    8. Be a technical SEO expert.
    9. Be an expert in paid advertising.
    10. Be a professional copywriter.

    Even though many social media managers have specialized training in marketing, these requests are way out of the scope of social media management. Especially if you’re underpaying them or (god forbid) are using a VA.

    How Much Should I Pay a Social Media Manager?

    Paying a social media manager what they’re worth is directly correlated with the quality of the postings. I strongly recommend against hiring someone on an hourly basis since social media management isn’t a 9-5 job.

    With that said, ZipRecruiter shows that the average salary of an in-house social media manager is $62,638 (2025) in Corpus Christi, TX. The low is $23,666 a year and the highest is $105,773. What surprises me is that nationally, ZipRecruiter shows that the average is just above Corpus Christi’s, which isn’t an affluent area.

    In contrast, I have flat rates based on the platform and scope. If you want the pro level of Twitter/X, for example, that’s going to cost you $1200/mo. But if you want the low end, it’s just under $400.

    image
    Screenshot from ZipRecruiter

    Who Typically Hires a Social Media Manager in a Large Corporation?

    A Marketing Manager ($85k+/year) will most likely be responsible for the entire list but outsource quite a few marketing tasks to vendors.

    A social media manager who bills for the work, not the time, is easy to get a hold of and has a good account of their own. A Marketing Manager will likely hire a social media manager to work under them.

    Social Media Managers Free Up Your Time

    Have you thought about outsourcing social media? It’s a great way to grow your business and free some of your own time. Having realistic expectations helps you value what a social media manager actually does.

    A good social media manager will represent your brand online and off. They will post content created by your editorial staff (content creation is another job). They will post photos taken by your team (or professionals you hire) and write captions and add hashtags. Your social media manager will interact with your audience (known as engagement) with your best interest in mind.

    Do You Need a Social Media Manager for Your Business?

    What kinds of questions can I help you answer or problems I can solve. Let’s roll up our sleeves and do the work.

  • How to Market Your WordPress Freelance Business

    So, you’re a small agency or freelancer. How do you market your WordPress freelance or small agency? My recommendation is content marketing through creation and distribution.

    What is Marketing?

    Marketing is using resources to bring your product or service to the attention of your customer (the market). So you have to dedicate resources (time, personnel, and budget) to tell people about your business. What are the best ways to do that? Here are some of my ideas.

    Thanks to Cemal Tashan for recording it.

    Here are the slides.

  • Yep. Twitter Works if You Work It.

    Twitter works and requires work. Yes, Twitter is more than the POTUS or a Pop star tweeting. Twitter is an equalizer. It makes conversations possible regardless of economic or geographical boundaries. It allows people to express themselves and find others that think the same. It allows us to widen our circle as well — learning from the perspective of others and exercising empathy.

    Sure it takes time (work) to participate on Twitter. Almost everyone who does, sends me a tweet about how well it works. Like any relationship, you have to put in time. It’s a long game not something you can hack.

    Okay my rant is over. Now, what made me write this article is a response to an article by Neil Patel.

    Twitter is the Best B2B Marketing Platform

    Anyone who follows me knows how much I believe in Twitter as a B2B relationship marketing platform. An article by Neil Patel “12 Powerful Twitter Marketing Tips [That Actually Work]” came across my way via Robert Nissenbaum.

    Instead of commenting on his blog, it was suggested that I write my own post. So, here it is.

    Set Up Twitter Right – The First Time

    “Your Twitter handle has to be recognizable, easy-to-remember, and short enough for people to easily tag you.” Neil Patel

    I totally agree with Neil. You need to set up Twitter right the first time. Don’t follow anyone until this is done. And make your bio something that makes sense. If your grandma doesn’t know what your Twitter bio means, then rewrite it. Think of a city sign or slogan that makes sense.

    Well, if you didn’t do it right the first time, there’s no reason why you can’t fix it now. Think generic keywords. A bio is how you are found.

    “Incorporate some personality or humor. Don’t be afraid to tell a few jokes or say something original.” Neil Patel

    Neil recommends using humor but if it’s too inside baseball, people won’t engage. Show personality, but be careful that you’re speaking to your audience.

    Here is my post on how to set up Twitter.

    When do you Tweet?

    So, Neil recommends tweeting during peak hours. Yet, that is a lot of volume to compete with. That said, people usually check Twitter during the times they take breaks. Think about before work (7:30 a.m.), during lunch (noon), and when they’re sick of sitting at their desk (4:30 p.m.).

    “Your peak posting times will depend on your specific audience, so test how your content performs at different times and days to find out what works best for your brand.” Neil Patel

    Tweet when you want. But be responsive when you do. There’s nothing worse than scheduling tweets when you’re away from the keyboard, so to speak. It’s better to not tweet than to tweet and not respond. An audience is a responsibility. It’s your responsibility.

    [bctt tweet=”If you’re going to schedule tweets, then make sure you’re available to respond. Your audience is your responsibility.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    Hashtag Use on Twitter

    A hashtag is a word or combination of words preceded by a pound sign. They become clickable and act as a filter. You will see tweets with that hashtag from anyone, not just people you follow.

    On this I completely agree with Neil:

    “It’s important to use the right kind of hashtags without overusing them. Only include hashtags that add some context to your tweets.” Neil Patel

    Use words that make sense. Think about the yellow pages, keywords, generic terms. Don’t hashtag your business name. That makes zero sense. No one knows you so they’re not going to use that hashtag or see it to click on it.

    Using Twitter’s Advanced Search

    “Advanced searches put new leads right in front of you. Reach out to those people and tell them how you can fix their problem or help them out.” Neil Patel

    This is a great idea and I know my friend Carol Stephen talks about how to use Advance Search often.

    You can do this. Or you can use Twitter Lists, read the tweets from your demographics and know exactly how they speak. Whatever works for you, the point is to understand the language your audience uses, not you.

    [bctt tweet=”We are not our audience. Use terms they use, not your industry jargon.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    When to Use Images or Video In Tweets

    It’s true that images increase the likelihood that your tweet will be seen. But using an image, for the sake of using an image, isn’t effective. It should be an image that supports the tweet.

    “When you add images to your tweets, you’ll get more shares and clicks than the tweets without images.” Neil Patel

    I use images when it’s a selfie or group photo. Remember, we relate to other humans. We are social animals. It’s wired in our DNA to appreciate faces.

    Secondly, use featured images and a plugin like Yoast SEO that integrates Open Graph data. Then, when you share your blog post on Twitter, better yet if one of your audience members does, it has the image and metadata — because it uses Twitter cards.

    So about video. Let’s talk. Yeah. Twitter video is neat. I’ve used Periscope. A better suggestion is recording on YouTube and sharing that link. Twitter supports live preview of Twitter videos. It’s fine to use Twitter’s native video, but know that it isn’t as an effective in the long term.

    “Twitter video allows Twitter users to record a new video from a device or upload an existing video.” Neil Patel

    [bctt tweet=”Always tweet what is natural. Anything that feels forced doesn’t work — ever. Be the best version of yourself online and off.” username=”BridgetMWillard”]

    What about Twitter Polls?

    “One of the easiest ways to create more activity on your Twitter page is to create a Twitter poll.” Neil Patel

    Yeah. You can. People like choosing. But then what? Doing something just because you can makes no sense. But you can create a poll and then use those results for action — say, choosing which charity to donate to, choosing an image for the next blog post, voting on a product to launch. Then it makes sense.

    Then, follow up. Embed the tweet and the results in a blog post. Use it in a Presentation. My friend Glenn Zucman did this before his Women Who WP presentation.

    Asking a dumb question just to ask is annoying — at best.

    More Advice from Neil

    Call To Actions, AB Testing Headlines, Influencer Reach, and Twitter Ads

    A call to action (CTA) is an ask. Mix them up. Try different things. Every tweet shouldn’t have one. But for sure if you are linking to your web property, you should have an ask. The CTA should also be in your meta description if you’re sharing a blog post.

    “You’re probably already using CTAs asking users to share your posts, which is great. But this isn’t the only CTA that you should be using on your Twitter profile.” Neil Patel

    AB Testing is always a good idea. You can use a plugin to do that, or you can write a few varieties of tweets. It’s up to you. But make sure the headline isn’t too spammy. Write for your audience.

    “Testing headlines on Twitter is a great idea because the visual elements aren’t as prominent on as they are with a platform like Facebook.” Neil Patel

    I’m more dubious about influencer marketing. But that’s me. My philosophy has been to build your own tribe of people. Create affinity which leads to loyalty which leads to sales. Make your influencers.

    “It’s now easier than ever to pitch your ideas to someone with a large following. If they like what you bring to the table, they can change your brand’s world with one simple post.” Neil Patel

    Twitter is a great place to advertise, especially if you geolocate and use hashtags. Jason Knill over at GiveWP did a great job with this for WordCamp-specific ads. We actually found these ads to be much less expensive than Facebook, Google Display Network, or LinkedIn.

    “Twitter Ads can be a bit more expensive than Facebook Ads, but they will boost engagement when you need it most. Promoted tweets are the best option for this purpose.” Neil Patel

    But Wait: There’s More — Using Twitter’s Analytics

    So, I’m a tiny bit surprised this wasn’t included in his post. Twitter has powerful analytics. I have a whole post on this but this is the main thing I pay attention to. Are you ready? Tweets to Profile Visit ratio. I like that to be .20.

    I make a Google Sheet and enter the numbers every month for clients. Profile visits mean they are interested in you, they’re reading your bio, and likely clicking on your website link.

    Final Thoughts

    • Have fun.
    • It’s your business. No one knows it better than you.
    • Outsource social media if it’s overwhelming to you.
    • Always ask questions.
    • Social media is always about being social but the platforms change a bit.
    • Twitter is a long game. First-click leads almost never happen. Give it at least six months to see some results.

    What works for you? Tell me in the comments.