Thoughts on product management, WordPress, WooCommerce, leadership, and coaching from Chris Lema.https://chrislema.com/https://chrislema.com/encoded-judgment-cheap-model-performs-like-expensive/https://chrislema.com/encoded-judgment-cheap-model-performs-like-expensive/I ran a product team that captured every customer question into a playbook before handing it off. That old loop is exactly how you make a cheap AI model carry expensive work.Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/loop-engineering-dumber-models-smarter-code/https://chrislema.com/loop-engineering-dumber-models-smarter-code/My take on loop engineering: push judgment onto dumber, cheaper models and smarter code over time, so a long-running agent gets cheaper and more trustworthy with use.Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-ai-to-organize-my-blog/https://chrislema.com/using-ai-to-organize-my-blog/I put AI to work on the boring part of my site: reading 74 posts to surface the topics, audiences, and cross-links that were hiding in them all along.Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/inside-the-claude-skill-that-builds-assessments/https://chrislema.com/inside-the-claude-skill-that-builds-assessments/I open the hood on the Claude Skill that builds mirror assessments — the eight-step pipeline, the single spec it compiles, and the checker that won't ship broken.Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/claude-skill-converts-leads-with-a-quiz/https://chrislema.com/claude-skill-converts-leads-with-a-quiz/I gave a one-page brief to a new Claude Skill and got back a working lead-gen quiz — a design doc and a hostable assessment. Here's how the skill does it.Sun, 07 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/custom-assessment/https://chrislema.com/custom-assessment/Everyone needs a custom assessment, and when you think of your own experiences, you'll agree with me.Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-paradigm-shifts-to-embrace-about-ai/https://chrislema.com/five-paradigm-shifts-to-embrace-about-ai/Five paradigm shifts from three years building with AI: design time over runtime, judgment over prompts, real feedback loops, conversation, and knowledge that's built, not stored.Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/scoreboard-lying-to-you/https://chrislema.com/scoreboard-lying-to-you/A pizza shop's flyer contest shows why your AI scoreboard can climb while the work gets worse - and why a measure that can't be gamed is the real job.Sat, 30 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/knowledge-isnt-stored-its-built/https://chrislema.com/knowledge-isnt-stored-its-built/Why storage is the wrong question for knowledge, and how decomposing content into a graph builds answers no document ever held. The MCode Coach story.Thu, 28 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ten-conversations-before-vibe-coding/https://chrislema.com/ten-conversations-before-vibe-coding/One prompt gets you something. Ten conversations get you something better. Here are the ten you should have with Claude before any code gets written.Tue, 26 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-burning-ai-budget/https://chrislema.com/stop-burning-ai-budget/Companies are blowing through AI budgets, but pricing isn't the real cause. Two habits keep my bills flat without rolling back what AI lets me do.Sun, 24 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-key-comes-before-the-song/https://chrislema.com/the-key-comes-before-the-song/When you build with AI doing the content generation, the obvious move is QA at the end. But if that's your whole strategy, you sat down at the piano without picking a key. Here's how I'm thinking about evals for a new product — and why guardrails belong upstream, not downstream.Fri, 22 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/claude-session-more-questions-not-answers/https://chrislema.com/claude-session-more-questions-not-answers/Most Claude sessions produce transcripts because users ask for answers. The posture that produces real specifications looks different. Here's what it requires.Wed, 20 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-selling-privacy-policy-ship-privacy-protocol/https://chrislema.com/stop-selling-privacy-policy-ship-privacy-protocol/When both sides have IP, current AI privacy answers force one of them to bleed. The fix isn't a better policy or a clever cryptographic trick. It's a design discipline: stop protecting what crosses the wire and start designing what's allowed to cross in the first place.Mon, 18 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/own-the-architecture/https://chrislema.com/own-the-architecture/AI is changing everything and nothing at the same time. So where should you spend your scarce time? Three things will always matter: your domain, systems thinking, and architecture. And architecture isn't what most people think it is. It's the load-bearing decisions you care about, written down before the AI builds the wrong thing.Sat, 16 May 2026 17:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-scans-ai-assisted-projects/https://chrislema.com/four-scans-ai-assisted-projects/There are no magic prompts. But there are four scans I run after every first pass on AI-assisted code: race conditions, concurrency, idempotency, and dead code. Each one catches issues you'd otherwise debug months later.Thu, 14 May 2026 13:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lovable-cardboard-model-problem/https://chrislema.com/lovable-cardboard-model-problem/Most people who have ideas aren't developers, so their ideas live and die in one head. Lovable changes the cost of building a cardboard model to roughly zero. Here's what that means for the conversations you can finally have.Tue, 12 May 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-harness-is-the-craft/https://chrislema.com/the-harness-is-the-craft/Most engineers pick a model they trust, eyeball a couple of runs, and ship. I don't ship that way. Here's what eval-driven development actually looks like, and the seven principles I'd hand to anyone shipping LLM systems.Sun, 10 May 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-is-a-claude-skill/https://chrislema.com/what-is-a-claude-skill/A Claude Skill teaches AI to work the way you want, not the average way. Here's a walkthrough of one I built (Expert Profiler) and the install pattern you can reuse for any technical setup.Fri, 08 May 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-bill-too-high-architecture-fix-saves-40-percent/https://chrislema.com/ai-bill-too-high-architecture-fix-saves-40-percent/Most companies run their AI like a doctor's office. The ones that scale run it like an ER. Here's the architecture decision that cuts AI costs by 40%.Wed, 06 May 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/agentic-software-crm-no-ui/https://chrislema.com/agentic-software-crm-no-ui/I built a CRM this weekend with no UI. Just tools an AI agent can call. Here's why agentic software is the next decade of building.Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/vibe-coded-something-that-works-now-what/https://chrislema.com/vibe-coded-something-that-works-now-what/Vibe coding tools get you to a working draft in an afternoon. The next pass has a name and a shape. Five layers your AI can add for you.Sat, 02 May 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-can-design-wordpress-site-doesnt-know-where-design-lives/https://chrislema.com/ai-can-design-wordpress-site-doesnt-know-where-design-lives/WordPress 7's AI features are real and they're going to help. But the hardest problem in WordPress isn't content. It's design. And it's an architecture problem, not a feature gap. Here's the two companies actually solving it for two very different users.Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/slop-isnt-coming-from-the-robot/https://chrislema.com/slop-isnt-coming-from-the-robot/Critics are right that most AI content is slop. They're wrong about where it comes from. The slop isn't the model. It's people typing one sentence into a blank chat window and pasting whatever falls out. Here's what separates the two camps, and the test you can run on anyone claiming to use AI well.Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/non-developers-guide-building-website-with-claude/https://chrislema.com/non-developers-guide-building-website-with-claude/A 24-step walkthrough for non-technical readers — how to build, edit, and deploy a free website using Claude Cowork, GitHub, and Cloudflare Pages, without writing a single line of code.Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/two-bets-every-ai-team/https://chrislema.com/two-bets-every-ai-team/Most AI teams celebrate the technical bet (prototype on the edge of working) without making the cultural bet that makes it survivable. You need both.Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-agents-one-job-each/https://chrislema.com/ai-agents-one-job-each/Most multi-agent systems fail for the same architectural reason: LLMs get wired into four positions when they only belong in three. Here's the rule that fixes it.Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/claude-skills-apify-ai-intern/https://chrislema.com/claude-skills-apify-ai-intern/A Claude Skill paired with Apify doesn't feel like AI — it feels like hiring a research-capable intern who hands you a finished dossier the night before a meeting.Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/4-part-loop-eliminates-ai-slop/https://chrislema.com/4-part-loop-eliminates-ai-slop/If your AI output keeps hitting a ceiling, the fix isn't better prompting, it's a scoring loop with an independent judge. Here's the 4-part pattern, with the prompt I use.Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-use-claude-code-skills/https://chrislema.com/how-to-use-claude-code-skills/Someone shared Claude Code skills on X. You clicked the GitHub link. Now what? Here's how to use, personalize, and write your own.Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-debating-which-llm-to-use/https://chrislema.com/stop-debating-which-llm-to-use/Swapping LLMs is easy. Swapping your organizational memory isn't. The real AI lock-in isn't the model — it's where your expertise, instructions, and institutional knowledge live. Keep it portable or lose your freedom.Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/process-mining-to-ai-automation/https://chrislema.com/process-mining-to-ai-automation/Your ticket system already records every escalation, every reopen, every bottleneck — with timestamps. Process mining turns that data into a map of exactly where AI automation will have the most impact. No interviews. No opinions. Just the data.Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/automate-operations-not-replace-saas/https://chrislema.com/automate-operations-not-replace-saas/Companies are being told to ditch SaaS and build AI replacements. That's the wrong move. The real opportunity is automating operations, and tools like Twin.so make it possible without writing code.Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-i-never-let-ai-grade-its-own-work/https://chrislema.com/why-i-never-let-ai-grade-its-own-work/Most people accept their first AI draft because it exceeded their expectations. But your expectations of AI aren't your standards. Here's what happened when I made Claude Code and Codex evaluate each other using my own voice profile and audience segments as the rubric.Sat, 04 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-adoption-pattern/https://chrislema.com/ai-adoption-pattern/Every company follows the same AI adoption pattern. Seven phases from scattered experiments through knowledge extraction to compound results where skills, artifacts, and outputs compound.Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-hardest-thing-in-ai-right-now-isnt-ai/https://chrislema.com/the-hardest-thing-in-ai-right-now-isnt-ai/AI feedback loops can't improve without rubrics and quality criteria extracted from human expertise. The real bottleneck isn't technical.Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-prototyping-before-requirements/https://chrislema.com/ai-prototyping-before-requirements/After 20 drafts of our core product over more than a year, I've learned the most valuable requirements come from building — not planning. Here's what negative specification taught me about product development with AI.Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/prompt-engineering-isnt-dead/https://chrislema.com/prompt-engineering-isnt-dead/Everyone's declaring prompt engineering dead. They're wrong. The part that died was managing the LLM. The part that matters, articulating your unique requirements, just got promoted.Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/claude-code-skills-for-video-editing/https://chrislema.com/claude-code-skills-for-video-editing/I built a video post-production pipeline using Claude Code skills. Eight markdown files that automate silence removal, dynamic zoom, color correction, audio mastering, and captions.Sun, 22 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-should-your-strategy-change-when-coding-costs-shrink-to-nothing/https://chrislema.com/how-should-your-strategy-change-when-coding-costs-shrink-to-nothing/When coding costs shrink to nothing, the smart strategy isn't perfecting one version. It's generating many and synthesizing the best.Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-adopt-ai-coding-without-creating-technical-debt/https://chrislema.com/how-to-adopt-ai-coding-without-creating-technical-debt/Five steps to AI code quality that compounds over time — from repeatable process and reviewable decisions to encoded engineering judgment.Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/adaptive-ai-does-what-openclaw-promises/https://chrislema.com/adaptive-ai-does-what-openclaw-promises/I needed GSC and GA4 data inside an AI tool. Adaptive.ai's agent figured out the authentication, the integration, and the workarounds. No API keys. No configuration. Here's why that matters more than most people think.Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-agent-systems/https://chrislema.com/ai-agent-systems/Most developers treat the LLM as the agent. That's the mistake. The Jido Framework flips the model: the agent is the actor, the LLM is a tool it picks up when it needs to reason. Here's why that changes everything.Sat, 14 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-dont-need-a-platform-to-sell-your-expertise-you-need-a-skill-graph/https://chrislema.com/you-dont-need-a-platform-to-sell-your-expertise-you-need-a-skill-graph/There's a new product category emerging called skill graphs. Not SaaS, not courses, not templates. Portable markdown files that teach an LLM how to think about a domain. The buyer owns them. And the real value is in the connections.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/when-everyone-can-build-building-stops-mattering/https://chrislema.com/when-everyone-can-build-building-stops-mattering/AI made building easy. But when everyone can build, the filter moves downstream. Trust, retention, and behavioral signals become the new gatekeepers.Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-dont-know-astro-i-dont-know-payload-cms-my-new-site-is-live-anyway/https://chrislema.com/i-dont-know-astro-i-dont-know-payload-cms-my-new-site-is-live-anyway/I can’t write CSS. I can’t create Cloudflare Workers. But I can test them. The gap between ‘I don’t know how’ and ‘this is done’ has never been smaller.Sat, 07 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/moving-from-wordpress-to-astro-payload/https://chrislema.com/moving-from-wordpress-to-astro-payload/After 20 years on WordPress, I'm rebuilding for AI agents—not because WordPress failed, but because I want to play.Thu, 05 Mar 2026 16:01:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-can-write-it-just-cant-think/https://chrislema.com/ai-can-write-it-just-cant-think/AI can write fast, but it can’t think strategically. Four portable markdown products teach your AI how you sound, who you’re writing to, what to create, and where to publish.Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-tool-is-no-longer-the-interface-the-conversation-is/https://chrislema.com/the-tool-is-no-longer-the-interface-the-conversation-is/The overhead baked into how your team manages your website was always invisible. AI just made it optional.Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-actually-put-ai-to-work-its-not-what-you-think/https://chrislema.com/how-to-actually-put-ai-to-work-its-not-what-you-think/Most people either waste AI on emails or assume it can't touch their real work. Both are wrong. Here's a five-step process that starts with what you already do.Fri, 27 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-best-thing-about-ai-isnt-productivity-its-permission/https://chrislema.com/the-best-thing-about-ai-isnt-productivity-its-permission/AI gives you permission, not just productivity. Permission means you can explore paths you never would have walked down.Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-im-building-products-for-ai-instead-of-humans/https://chrislema.com/why-im-building-products-for-ai-instead-of-humans/I’ve been building products for AI more than for humans recently, and here’s why I think that’s important. Plus the key skill you need.Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-last-prompt-you-need-when-building-software-with-ai/https://chrislema.com/the-last-prompt-you-need-when-building-software-with-ai/If you’re building software with AI, there’s a ton of exciting stuff going on. But don’t ignore this last prompt. You’ll need it.Sat, 21 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-ai-has-three-brains-it-just-doesnt-know-it-yet/https://chrislema.com/your-ai-has-three-brains-it-just-doesnt-know-it-yet/Your AI tries to think, remember, and stay available all at once — and fails at two. Three emerging projects finally split the problem into composable layers.Thu, 19 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-estimating-changes-in-an-ai-world/https://chrislema.com/how-estimating-changes-in-an-ai-world/Here's an interactive way to see how estimating changes in an AI world. Put in your own data and see the results.Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:28:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/there-are-two-kinds-of-ai-work-what-if-youre-missing-one/https://chrislema.com/there-are-two-kinds-of-ai-work-what-if-youre-missing-one/There are two kinds of AI work — design-time and runtime. Most people throw everything at runtime, making it slow and expensive.Sun, 15 Feb 2026 13:16:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/im-not-a-data-scientist-but-i-just-published-a-leadership-study/https://chrislema.com/im-not-a-data-scientist-but-i-just-published-a-leadership-study/I'm not a data scientist, but I used AI to discover what actually drives 467 corporate leaders. It did what I couldn't do alone.Fri, 13 Feb 2026 10:29:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/technology-transitions-why-you-should-embrace-ai/https://chrislema.com/technology-transitions-why-you-should-embrace-ai/The history of technology transitions is telling for us right now as AI is transforming everything all at once.Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:00:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-context-failures-nine-ways-your-ai-agent-breaks/https://chrislema.com/ai-context-failures-nine-ways-your-ai-agent-breaks/Your AI agent has the right data but still gets it wrong. Learn the nine ai context failures that break reasoning, not retrieval, and how to diagnose each one.Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:41:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-spent-a-month-talking-to-ai-before-writing-a-single-line-of-code/https://chrislema.com/i-spent-a-month-talking-to-ai-before-writing-a-single-line-of-code/Conversations with LLMs aren't delays, they can be product development. If you do it right.Sat, 07 Feb 2026 20:41:56 GMThttps://chrislema.com/in-todays-ai-the-difference-between-amateurs-and-experimenters-is-orchestration/https://chrislema.com/in-todays-ai-the-difference-between-amateurs-and-experimenters-is-orchestration/Instead of hiding where you're using AI, embrace it by highlighting your role in the orchestration. Putting in the work is worth showcasing.Thu, 05 Feb 2026 15:56:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-question-that-changes-how-you-adopt-ai-on-your-team/https://chrislema.com/the-question-that-changes-how-you-adopt-ai-on-your-team/Instead of asking \"what tasks take time,\" have teams identify \"what decisions do we make repeatedly\" as a way to adopt AI more effectively.Tue, 03 Feb 2026 15:45:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-four-levels-of-ai-work/https://chrislema.com/the-four-levels-of-ai-work/There's a progression that actually matters: four levels that determine whether AI stays a novelty or becomes a force multiplier.Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:00:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-ai-memory-solution-we-all-need-no-its-not-openclaw/https://chrislema.com/the-ai-memory-solution-we-all-need-no-its-not-openclaw/I haven't worried about context windows in months. Here's the AI Memory solution that we all need - and it isn't OpenClaw.Fri, 30 Jan 2026 15:58:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-trying-to-write-the-perfect-prompt/https://chrislema.com/stop-trying-to-write-the-perfect-prompt/The best AI results I've gotten didn't come from better prompts. They came from treating Claude and ChatGPT the way I'd treat a brilliant new hire on day one: someone with real expertise, but zero context about my business, my standards, or my voice. Most content creators keep hunting for the magical prompt that will...Tue, 27 Jan 2026 21:27:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-for-consultants-pattern-recognition/https://chrislema.com/ai-for-consultants-pattern-recognition/Most consultants will be replaced by AI. The ones who won't are the ones who see patterns. And build frameworks from them.Fri, 23 Jan 2026 14:12:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-ai-strategy-is-overkill/https://chrislema.com/why-ai-strategy-is-overkill/AI for small business doesn't require a strategy doc. It requires a little help automating the grunt work that makes everyone more efficient.Wed, 21 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/get-insights-with-claude-cowork/https://chrislema.com/get-insights-with-claude-cowork/Most executives hear about Claude and think \"cooler search engine.\" Ask it questions. Get answers. Maybe it writes emails faster. That's like buying a Tesla and only using it to charge your phone. Last week I pointed Claude Cowork at a folder with 400+ executive motivation reports. I asked it to do something no search...Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-context-loss-impossible/https://chrislema.com/make-context-loss-impossible/Every time Claude Code compacts, you feel it. That sinking moment when you realize half your project context just evaporated. The agent that was making brilliant connections five minutes ago now needs everything re-explained. Here's the thing: the good news is that Claude Code now clears context at the end of planning mode to give...Sat, 17 Jan 2026 18:53:13 GMThttps://chrislema.com/competitive-intelligence-the-claude-way/https://chrislema.com/competitive-intelligence-the-claude-way/The exact steps to produce a Skill with Claude - to do competitive intelligence.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 12:00:05 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-never-controlled-your-code-ai-just-made-that-obvious/https://chrislema.com/you-never-controlled-your-code-ai-just-made-that-obvious/A little more than twenty years ago, I was giving a talk in Orlando. We had built a code generation platform, and I was showing it off at an industry event. Someone in the audience raised their hand. \"Are you worried about giving up control? You're letting the computer generate code for you.\" I told...Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:02:14 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-adoption/https://chrislema.com/ai-adoption/No ant has a blueprint of the colony. No ant knows the master plan. Yet somehow, every ant colony in the world solves the same spatial optimization problem: food storage, waste disposal, and cemetery, all positioned as far apart as physically possible within the colony's architecture. Nobody taught them this. Nobody designed it. It emerged....Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:17:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/most-multi-agent-ai-collaboration-is-faking-it/https://chrislema.com/most-multi-agent-ai-collaboration-is-faking-it/I remember the first time I did a job interview with a panel. It was intense. Each person was reacting from their own perspective, looking from their own background, either nodding in agreement or tilting their head with a pending question. No one was waiting their turn. No one asked permission to observe. They were...Fri, 09 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/when-coding-takes-no-time-who-loses-power/https://chrislema.com/when-coding-takes-no-time-who-loses-power/I sat with a Fortune 100 architect in 2003 who told me idea-to-prototype took 24 months. Today it takes an hour. But the real disruption isn't speed. It's what happens to the people whose power depends on timelines being long.Wed, 07 Jan 2026 12:25:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-ai-knows-the-rules-it-doesnt-know-why-they-exist/https://chrislema.com/your-ai-knows-the-rules-it-doesnt-know-why-they-exist/Rule engines capture what you decided. AI agents need to know why. A story about how perfect rule execution cost one company millions in lost revenue.Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:08:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-use-ai-as-your-editor-without-losing-your-voice/https://chrislema.com/how-to-use-ai-as-your-editor-without-losing-your-voice/Use AI as your Editor without the stress of losing your voice.Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:02:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ai-better-prompts-decision-making/https://chrislema.com/ai-better-prompts-decision-making/I stopped writing better prompts for Claude Code. Instead, I wrote down how I make decisions.Thu, 01 Jan 2026 16:37:14 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-hired-an-engineering-manager-architect-developer-designer-and-qa-engineer-none-of-them-are-human/https://chrislema.com/i-hired-an-engineering-manager-architect-developer-designer-and-qa-engineer-none-of-them-are-human/I've been building new web applications every week. Not prototypes. Not MVPs that embarrass me. Real applications that work. And I did it by hiring a team I never have to manage. Here's what I know after years of building software with human teams: the code is rarely the hard part. It's the coordination. The...Mon, 22 Dec 2025 18:00:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-prompting-ai-for-every-task-thats-not-automation-thats-just-faster-manual-labor/https://chrislema.com/stop-prompting-ai-for-every-task-thats-not-automation-thats-just-faster-manual-labor/Most people use AI like a faster typewriter. They prompt, AI outputs, they clean it up. Repeat. Every single time. But here's what I've realized after watching hundreds of founders try to \"leverage AI for productivity\": you're still the bottleneck. You're still required for every task. You haven't automated anything—you've just sped up your own...Sun, 21 Dec 2025 17:05:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-great-leaders-focus-on-destinations-not-directions/https://chrislema.com/why-great-leaders-focus-on-destinations-not-directions/Do you find yourself micromanaging your team's every move? Are you frustrated when people don't follow your exact instructions? Do you wonder why brilliant employees seem disengaged when given detailed step-by-step procedures? If you've experienced any of these situations, you're likely falling into a common leadership trap: confusing the destination with the journey. The Destination...Mon, 05 May 2025 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/when-different-people-do-the-same-job-magic-happens/https://chrislema.com/when-different-people-do-the-same-job-magic-happens/Your Best Performers Don't Look Alike for a Reason Every organization has them – those standout performers who consistently deliver exceptional results but approach their work in completely different ways. Like musicians covering the same song, they hit all the required notes but express them through their unique style. What if these differences aren't problems...Wed, 30 Apr 2025 09:45:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hosting-woocommerce-stores-with-unexpected-high-traffic/https://chrislema.com/hosting-woocommerce-stores-with-unexpected-high-traffic/What do you already know about hosting WooCommerce stores? When it comes to hosting WooCommerce stores, you may have already read some of my articles on choosing a WordPress host, or how to think about WooCommerce already. But maybe you haven't. Or maybe you read the super sharp article by Carl Alexander on using a...Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keeping-your-top-talent-engaged/https://chrislema.com/keeping-your-top-talent-engaged/Keeping high performers engaged at work not only maximizes productivity, but also drives revenue up. I won't bore you with the research, but studies show that a single top achiever can deliver as much productivity as up to four average employees. In the heart of every small business, there are standout stars - the...Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-creator-economy-goes-global/https://chrislema.com/the-creator-economy-goes-global/How do you create compelling presentations that wow your colleagues and impress your managers?Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-use-ghost-and-metafi-together/https://chrislema.com/how-to-use-ghost-and-metafi-together/Are you running a membership site on Ghost? If so, integrating Metafi directly with your Ghost site can streamline…Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-metafi-builds-interactive-docs-slack/https://chrislema.com/how-metafi-builds-interactive-docs-slack/Delivering a good user experience without compromising the authoring experience required us to rethink how content is modeled and rendered.Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-startup-valuations-matter-for-investment-returns/https://chrislema.com/do-startup-valuations-matter-for-investment-returns/The argument that prices should matter for returns is simple: if a seed round is more expensive, then that…Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/automate-workflow-with-metafi-zapier-integration/https://chrislema.com/automate-workflow-with-metafi-zapier-integration/Delivering a good user experience without compromising the authoring experience required us to offer sensible, secure automation surfaces.Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-dynamic-back-office-is-the-new-business/https://chrislema.com/a-dynamic-back-office-is-the-new-business/The back office has become an important strategic lever. We’re adding new features to our revenue and finance automation suite that make it easier for businesses to grow revenue and streamline operations.Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-comprehensive-guide-on-importing-customers/https://chrislema.com/a-comprehensive-guide-on-importing-customers/Delivering a good user experience without compromising the authoring experience required us to rethink data onboarding.Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-you-know-your-focus-toggle/https://chrislema.com/do-you-know-your-focus-toggle/I couldn't get my camera to focus by pressing the shutter button down half-way. It has always worked in the past. I didn't understand what had happened. I started with checking the modes - was I in a different mode than normal? Nope. Then I went to the settings. I set the focus setting correctly.Tue, 10 Oct 2023 12:01:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learning-something-new/https://chrislema.com/learning-something-new/I graduated college 30 years ago. Email wasn't a big thing, and the web (and YouTube) didn't really exist. So imagine what it took, how much work was involved, to learn something new. I'm not saying I walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways. But learning something new meant either finding a mentor...Tue, 29 Aug 2023 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choosing-pricing-strategy/https://chrislema.com/choosing-pricing-strategy/This week I'm headed to WordCamp US (#WCUS) and will see folks that I haven't seen in a couple of years. I stepped away from a full time focus on WordPress about 18 months ago, and I'm excited to circle back and see so many friends in a single event. I'm not speaking, sponsoring, or...Sun, 20 Aug 2023 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/understanding-your-unit-economics/https://chrislema.com/understanding-your-unit-economics/In the world of business, understanding unit economics is crucial for achieving scalability, profitability, and maintaining overall business health. It provides valuable insights into the financial performance of a company, allowing entrepreneurs and managers to make informed decisions about resource allocation, pricing, and profitability. I spend a decent amount of time talking about this in...Thu, 17 Aug 2023 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/motivational-segmentation/https://chrislema.com/motivational-segmentation/The other day I wrote an ebook about motivational segmentation. It wasn't called that, because, seriously, who would choose to read something with that title. Instead, I called the eBook, Grow Your Coaching Practice 8X With One Single Sales Strategy. But what I shared in that free eBook isn't just for coaches. I would submit...Sun, 14 May 2023 14:26:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/grow-profits-in-2023/https://chrislema.com/grow-profits-in-2023/If you're looking to grow profits next year, you've likely already made your plans for the new year. I get that. And it's the last days of this year, so you've stopped reading blogs. I get that too. But there's a good chance that while you've used one or a couple of the strategies below...Mon, 26 Dec 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/navigate-lean-years-recession/https://chrislema.com/navigate-lean-years-recession/Things are Going to Get Tough Instead of writing a post about the upcoming (or already here) recession, I thought I would go a bit broader and talk about how to navigate the lean years. Businesses of all sorts go into this time under a lot of stress. Let's be honest, I'm not an economist. I...Wed, 30 Nov 2022 08:46:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/premature-optimization-timing-mistake/https://chrislema.com/premature-optimization-timing-mistake/In the end, your success or failure is a combination of what you control (your decision making) and what you don't (timing). Most people aren't really great at decision making. But that's something you can get better at. So let's move to the harder dynamic that we can't control - and that's timing. Everything in...Tue, 15 Nov 2022 10:12:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/forget-quiet-quitting/https://chrislema.com/forget-quiet-quitting/The Trend of Quiet Quitting You've likely heard of quiet quitting - the dynamic where people don't actually leave your company. Instead, they simply stop working as hard. They skate. They put in the absolutely minimum amount of work to feel good about collecting their pay. Suddenly, this summer, everyone was talking about it. Guess...Mon, 07 Nov 2022 09:36:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pruning/https://chrislema.com/pruning/There are two things I know about pruning. Now, you should know that I actually shouldn't use the word \"know\" as if I'm a master gardener. I'm not. It's probably more accurate to say that I read this on Wikipedia and learned two things. But the reason I was able to grasp them so quickly...Mon, 31 Oct 2022 10:16:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-you-need-a-coach/https://chrislema.com/do-you-need-a-coach/Business coaching is a great way to accelerate past predictable challenges you may not be able to see. It's also a fantastic way to get the accountability you need to help drive a culture of execution.Fri, 23 Sep 2022 19:34:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-a-how-to-work-with-me-guide/https://chrislema.com/creating-a-how-to-work-with-me-guide/Not Everyone Knows How To Work With You When you're adding new people to your team, they're stepping into a team dynamic and starting to work with a bunch of people they have no history with. In other words, they don't know how to work with you in the best way possible. Consider creating a...Wed, 21 Sep 2022 09:11:31 GMThttps://chrislema.com/self-service-is-the-name-of-the-game/https://chrislema.com/self-service-is-the-name-of-the-game/A Guy Walks into a Fast-Food Joint… Sometime in the early 1990's I walked into a fast-food restaurant (Taco Bell) to see an ordering kiosk. This is long before we saw these kinds of touchscreens in fast-food chains (Taco Bell, McDonalds, etc.) in the last five years. It was a test back then. But it...Tue, 31 May 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/want-different-results-change-the-game/https://chrislema.com/want-different-results-change-the-game/A couple of years ago, a group of us decided to co-work together in San Diego - a house on the beach. It was an idea my friend Justin created, called BeachPress. We rented a house with tons of rooms, right on the sand, and invited everyone to just keep working on what they'd been...Tue, 26 Apr 2022 09:31:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/changing-things-up/https://chrislema.com/changing-things-up/Life is a Series of Choices The last job I had before graduating from college was at the fourth largest YMCA in the country. After I graduated, I went to work full time at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, a government-funded research lab. It's where I started working on web technologies in 1994. Not even a year...Wed, 20 Apr 2022 09:29:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-do-customers-really-want/https://chrislema.com/what-do-customers-really-want/We Want Bags of Cash, Right? My buddy Shawn, of WP101 fame, likes to tell a story about what customers really want. It starts with this idea that you're interviewing someone about what they want, and they say they want bags of cash. Don't we all? But if you push in further, and ask what...Sat, 26 Feb 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-block-themes-with-full-site-editing/https://chrislema.com/creating-block-themes-with-full-site-editing/By now, if you've been paying attention to the world of WordPress, you've likely heard of full site editing (FSE) or at least seen the reference to it. Even if you don't know what it is, you've likely seen chatter about it, and maybe wondered what it would mean for you. There's good news for...Thu, 24 Feb 2022 13:24:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-best-hosting-for-learndash/https://chrislema.com/the-best-hosting-for-learndash/How do you decide the best hosting for LearnDash? There are a lot of folks who wonder how to find the best hosting for LearnDash websites. I wrote about this before, where I explained PHP Workers. But today I want to give you the four things you should consider, and the hosting options that are...Mon, 07 Feb 2022 20:15:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/enhancing-woocommerce-to-work-better-with-learndash/https://chrislema.com/enhancing-woocommerce-to-work-better-with-learndash/Don't Let People Lie To You Today I heard about a LearnDash client who was told they should use a different LMS because it works better with WooCommerce. It was a ridiculous claim that was completely false and used broken logic to make the case. Suggesting that LearnDash doesn't work great with WooCommerce is insane...Wed, 02 Feb 2022 19:33:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/fluentcrm-conditional-checks/https://chrislema.com/fluentcrm-conditional-checks/Did you miss me? I wrote daily all of last year. And this year I started writing the first two weeks of the year but then I took the rest of January off. Did you notice? The issue wasn't that I didn't know what to write. The issue was answering the question what I was...Tue, 01 Feb 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/new-courses-are-available/https://chrislema.com/new-courses-are-available/Having worked with hundreds of teams building and marketing new products, there are patterns of mistakes I see all the time. The crazy thing is that every one of these mistakes is completely avoidable - without a PhD or ten years of experience. But the mistakes are common because of our belief systems. How we...Sun, 16 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/doing-sales-sequences-right/https://chrislema.com/doing-sales-sequences-right/It won't surprise you that I woke up today with emails in my inbox from some company whose form I filled out a few days ago. It likely won't surprise you either that in that same inbox were emails from vendors whose forms I filled out months ago. Short sales sequences and long sales sequences...Sat, 15 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comparing-online-learning-saas-products/https://chrislema.com/comparing-online-learning-saas-products/Later this month I'll be talking about all the choices you have when it comes to online courses. In that talk, I'll show you why you might want to use a WordPress plugin (like LearnDash), or when you might consider an online learning SaaS (like Kajabi). Today I'm not going to spoil that entire discussion...Wed, 12 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/add-a-monthly-connection-to-your-online-course/https://chrislema.com/add-a-monthly-connection-to-your-online-course/One More Tip For Your Online Courses Over the last few days I've written about selling your course and adding team licenses to your courses to help you generate more revenue. So it makes sense that I would bring this last tip for those of you getting ready to launch online courses this year. It's...Mon, 10 Jan 2022 19:50:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embracing-segmentation/https://chrislema.com/embracing-segmentation/What is Customer Segmentation? Customer segmentation is the opposite of treating everyone the same—which is how most companies that do mass marketing work. When I was growing up, everyone saw the same commercial for the same product and we all wanted the same things. In those days, communicating was expensive, and only available to the...Sun, 09 Jan 2022 21:38:05 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-more-money-selling-your-online-course/https://chrislema.com/make-more-money-selling-your-online-course/Making More Money Means More The other day I showed you how to sell your online course. That was a long post about your landing page and the 20 different sections to strongly consider including. But if you want to make more money, there's a strategy I didn't discuss. So I'm sharing it now. How...Sat, 08 Jan 2022 23:49:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-anti-pitch/https://chrislema.com/the-anti-pitch/\"Dad, you're crazy.\" My daughter is a high school senior and interested in more than one boy. One appeared today and they had a chat. Tonight at dinner I asked if she was going to text him and maybe set up time to hang out tomorrow. The look I got told me that she knows...Fri, 07 Jan 2022 20:41:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/great-introductions/https://chrislema.com/great-introductions/The Art of a Great Introduction The other day I wrote a tweet about generosity. A way to be generous without spending a penny. It was all about networking and great introductions...Thu, 06 Jan 2022 23:35:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/mini-habits-repetition/https://chrislema.com/mini-habits-repetition/The first time my wife walked into my office crying, I knew two things. First, I knew something bad had happened (like she'd made some mistake she felt awful about). Second, I knew that adding my own emotions wouldn't help anything. So I told myself, repeating over and over in my head, \"stay calm.\" That's...Wed, 05 Jan 2022 12:53:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wp-membership-sites-without-a-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/wp-membership-sites-without-a-membership-plugin/The Question Was Simple Last week I got an email with a simple question. Can a person who already has a WordPress website protect content via a membership site without a membership plugin? While the question was simple - no words in it were confusing or anything - it did make me scratch my head...Tue, 04 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-fluentcrm-with-uncanny-automator/https://chrislema.com/using-fluentcrm-with-uncanny-automator/There are multiple WordPress CRM solutions out there (Autonami, Groundhogg, Jetpack CRM, and FluentCRM). The two I like for their visual automation platforms are Autonami and FluentCRM, and as you've seen lately, I've been digging deeper into FluentCRM. Today I worked on an automation where I was bringing FluentCRM with Uncanny Automator to make some...Mon, 03 Jan 2022 20:48:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-your-online-course/https://chrislema.com/selling-your-online-course/Have You Built Your Sales Page Yet? If you are focused on selling your online course one of the final things you have to do before launch is create your sales page. Late last year I discovered a sales page that I liked and never had the time to circle back and break it down...Sun, 02 Jan 2022 18:30:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-courses-with-learndash-and-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/selling-courses-with-learndash-and-woocommerce/It's the First Day of the New Year Did you rest and relax? I hope so. I did too, but I also have a goal to release three new mini-courses by Monday (and that doesn't include the course I created for WP101 on being a better blogger). So I was relaxing while doing the work...Sat, 01 Jan 2022 20:24:16 GMThttps://chrislema.com/365-days-of-consistency/https://chrislema.com/365-days-of-consistency/When I was a kid I was told that I had to get good grades in high school to get into a good college. And then I would have to do well in college to get a good first job. And so on. I'm sure part of that was true. But in a world where...Fri, 31 Dec 2021 09:06:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/planning-your-next-year-right/https://chrislema.com/planning-your-next-year-right/Are You Planning Your Next Year? We're just a couple of days from the new year. And if you're like me, you can't wait for a new year to start so we can get past what's been two very long years. But if you're planning your next year right now, I want you to press...Thu, 30 Dec 2021 09:03:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-zipmessage-fluentcrm-together/https://chrislema.com/using-zipmessage-fluentcrm-together/Learning New Stuff Every Day I am so excited to show you this thing I figured out yesterday and I don't normally go into all the details of how these things work mostly because I think they're somewhat technical and somewhat boring but this is so awesome that I thought I gotta show you. I figured...Wed, 29 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/when-is-it-time-to-quit-or-move-on/https://chrislema.com/when-is-it-time-to-quit-or-move-on/First, I'm Not Quitting Sometimes when you blog about something, on your personal blog, people infer that it's an indirect (or really direct) reflection of what's going on in life. That may be the case for posts like yesterday's where I was working out a problem and solved it. But today's post isn't that. I'm...Tue, 28 Dec 2021 09:34:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/bonus-content-delivery/https://chrislema.com/bonus-content-delivery/Are You Like Me? If you watch a lot of movies, like I do, then I wonder if you're anything like me - hoping that they recorded and made available some bonus content to watch after the movie is over. Yes, after watching an entire movie, I just want more of it. I want the...Mon, 27 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-powerful-video-solution-for-courses/https://chrislema.com/a-powerful-video-solution-for-courses/If you have a blog, YouTube channel, an online website or any kind of presence online, there's a good chance you get bombarded with emails every day. Mostly spam. \"Dear sir, I have an excellent solution for your site.\" I wake up to tons of them every morning. Most of them get trashed immediately. But...Sun, 26 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-favorite-non-wordpress-recommendations-2022/https://chrislema.com/my-favorite-non-wordpress-recommendations-2022/Here Are My Favorite Non-WordPress Recommendations Yes, I know it's Christmas. But I'm hoping by now that you've finished your big meal and are waiting for the family movie time to start, or are in-between NBA basketball games. Either way, I'm still writing daily to hit the 365 day streak, so it's time to tell...Sat, 25 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-five-reasons-people-dont-convert/https://chrislema.com/the-five-reasons-people-dont-convert/It's the day before Christmas and I've finished up my outlining and work for the three courses that I'm launching in the new year. I'll likely record them in the next couple days and get them on this site next week some time. Yet, even as I'm working on this, I have - like many...Fri, 24 Dec 2021 15:06:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wrapping-up-the-year-its-time-for-rest/https://chrislema.com/wrapping-up-the-year-its-time-for-rest/Most of us, at the end of the year, take some time for rest. Time to slow down, to think about and plan for the next year. But here's what I know - one or even two weeks off to break from your day job won't restore you if you're completely exhausted.Thu, 23 Dec 2021 20:54:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/2022-planning-the-five-things-you-can-do-now/https://chrislema.com/2022-planning-the-five-things-you-can-do-now/Five Things To Think About If you're starting to think about your next year, and focused on your 2022 planning, may I give you five things to think about? 1. More Revenue Streams Everyone wants their business to grow. But most of the time what I find people doing is doubling down on the existing...Wed, 22 Dec 2021 10:06:56 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learning-gaps-online-courses/https://chrislema.com/learning-gaps-online-courses/You Can Build More Than Skill Courses I just got off a quick call about online courses and the paradigm that they were working under this notion that the only kind of course that you could create is a course that is solving a skill gap. You know those courses. It's all those \"how to\"...Tue, 21 Dec 2021 12:45:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-habits-that-will-make-you-smarter/https://chrislema.com/five-habits-that-will-make-you-smarter/Blogging daily is a discipline. It's not as hard as it looks. You sit at the computer and you don't get up until your post is published. Sure there are little tricks, but that's not the hard part. The hard part is trying to be helpful. And even that isn't the hardest part. The hardest...Mon, 20 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-and-web3/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-and-web3/There's a Lot I Don't Know When it comes to WordPress and Web3, there's a lot I don't know. I mean a ton. So how can I write about something I don't know? Easy, I can take you on the journey with me. Let me give you a bit of background on how I got...Sun, 19 Dec 2021 22:15:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/new-wordpress-plugins/https://chrislema.com/new-wordpress-plugins/Two Problems I've Faced While Blogging Daily If you've just discovered this blog via this post, you're coming in on a streak of 352 days of daily blogging. I started the last day of last year and have been writing and publishing every day this year. Using Gutenberg and loving it. But it has driven...Sat, 18 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world/https://chrislema.com/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-world/There Are Two Kinds of People You've likely seen the tweet that says something like, \"If you bought something that's normally $1,000 and you paid $750, you didn't save $250, you spent $750.\" Now maybe you wouldn't spend the $750. But if we change the numbers, you might get caught. Because most of us see...Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:51:20 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-2-wordpress-blog/https://chrislema.com/the-2-wordpress-blog/See The WP Weekly Awards? Today the WP Weekly awards announced their winners on several categories. And this blog came in second place - the Silver medal, if you will. Remember this ad from Avis? It's how I felt taking the second spot. There's no way anyone beats WP Beginner. I'm pretty sure we all...Thu, 16 Dec 2021 12:30:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-gutenberg-daily/https://chrislema.com/using-gutenberg-daily/We're deep into this Gutenberg phase of WordPress. It's hard to believe it's been three years since its introduction. It's come a long way and I know - I've been using Gutenberg daily on this blog. Here are the five observations I have about Gutenberg after 349 daily blog posts. 1. Core Blocks Can Do...Wed, 15 Dec 2021 20:49:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/content-collaboration-in-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/content-collaboration-in-wordpress/Gutenberg Has Given Us Many Things Three years ago when Gutenberg first showed up, many people worried about it and about adoption. Was it ready to roll into WordPress? Many people were unsure (including me). But what was clear, even back then, was that if Gutenberg worked, we'd be able to do lots of things...Tue, 14 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/having-difficult-conversations/https://chrislema.com/having-difficult-conversations/Difficult Conversations Aren't About The Words I don't know about you, but difficult conversations make me sweat. They stress me out. And yet over the years I've navigated enough of them to know three things: They're going to happen. They're never about the thing being discussed. You can actually get better at them.Mon, 13 Dec 2021 22:17:06 GMThttps://chrislema.com/melissa-lema-is-amazing/https://chrislema.com/melissa-lema-is-amazing/Hey, it's my blog, right? So if I want to tell you how amazing my wife is, I get to do that. And you can skip today's post, but I suggest you don't because there's a lesson in here for you (beyond the fact that Melissa Lema is amazing). Because deep down inside, I think...Sun, 12 Dec 2021 21:05:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/perseverance-creates-luck/https://chrislema.com/perseverance-creates-luck/Steve Martin, in his Masterclass course on comedy says, \"When it's your turn to be picked, you have to be within pointing distance.\" If we're friends or you've read my posts, you've likely heard me say, \"All things being equal, people like to buy from their friends. So first, make all things equal, and then...Sat, 11 Dec 2021 23:30:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-six-best-wordpress-popup-plugins/https://chrislema.com/the-six-best-wordpress-popup-plugins/Everyone Hates WordPress Popup Plugins, But They Work We hate WordPress popup plugins. But mostly because they're implemented poorly. Not because something that slides into our peripheral view is a horrible idea. If a popup shows up at the right time, with the right offer, I don't hate it. So it's not the popup that...Fri, 10 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/thinking-about-learning-all-wrong/https://chrislema.com/thinking-about-learning-all-wrong/In the Lema house, we have a high value for learning and education My wife was a teacher in school districts for almost two decades and then spent time home schooling our two kids until they got to high school. She has a masters degree in education. And while my masters is in leadership and...Thu, 09 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/running-shared-hosting-then-you-need-this/https://chrislema.com/running-shared-hosting-then-you-need-this/Is Your WordPress Site on Shared Hosting? If you're running a WordPress site on shared hosting, you likely think I'm going to tell you that it's time to move to Managed Hosting like the kind we offer at Nexcess. But I'm not. I want to talk to you today about a plugin that is, without...Wed, 08 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/publishing-sharing-product-roadmaps/https://chrislema.com/publishing-sharing-product-roadmaps/Have You Heard Me Talk About Product Roadmaps? Maybe you've been in a conversation with me where I've said I'll never publish a product roadmap. I was in a meeting today where I made the statement again. And you might come away thinking I hate roadmaps, but that's not true. You might also think that...Tue, 07 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/accelerative-add-ons/https://chrislema.com/accelerative-add-ons/Yesterday I mentioned accelerators as a way to leverage Shiny Object Syndrome. I also promised that I would talk more about what an accelerative add-on is. So let's get into it. But to do that (and you know this already), I'm going to tell you a story. The First Nice Couch I Bought The first...Mon, 06 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-shiny-object-syndrome/https://chrislema.com/the-shiny-object-syndrome/I Bet You've Experienced The Shiny Object Syndrome When I was a kid, I used to really (I mean really) like to build Lego stuff. It didn't matter if it was a specific model, or to create my own spaceship. As I got older, I shifted from being creative to wanting the next model to...Sun, 05 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-most-popular-posts-in-2021/https://chrislema.com/the-most-popular-posts-in-2021/Hundreds of Thousands of Visitors Have Spoken I've told you before that I use Fathom Analytics. So today I looked at the year in review, as I've written a blog post every day this year, to find which posts were the most viewed / most read. Here are the most popular posts on the blog...Sat, 04 Dec 2021 21:10:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-years-of-product-development-with-liquid-web/https://chrislema.com/five-years-of-product-development-with-liquid-web/5 Years with Liquid Web This week marks five years of designing and building products for Liquid Web. It's crazy how fast five years have gone by, while at the same time, it's easy to feel like I've been with a hosting company forever. In case you missed it, a couple of months ago we...Fri, 03 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/disable-repeat-purchases-on-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/disable-repeat-purchases-on-woocommerce/Can I Tell You a Story? I went to a website this last weekend - Black Friday Cyber Monday - and I bought a software license. One of those licenses that costs a good amount of money, but is worth it because they're offering a nice sale. Then I logged into \"My Account\" and what...Thu, 02 Dec 2021 13:53:06 GMThttps://chrislema.com/event-tracking-for-learndash/https://chrislema.com/event-tracking-for-learndash/What is Event Tracking? Every time you do something online, you're likely being tracked. Now, that can sound ominous, but it doesn't have to be. If someone is tracking you to sell that behavior to others, that's what I would consider bad. But if you're using event tracking for anonymous personalization, it might be considered...Wed, 01 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-wordpress-crm-feature-request/https://chrislema.com/a-wordpress-crm-feature-request/I've Been Testing WordPress CRMs You may recall that I wrote about the comparison criteria for WordPress CRMs a month ago. Today I want to share with them the one wish I have for them. Yes, this is an open letter to them. :) Specifically, I'm talking to: FluentCRM, Autonami, Groundhogg But I'll likely chat with Bento...Tue, 30 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/coming-up-with-product-ideas/https://chrislema.com/coming-up-with-product-ideas/Would You Like 5 Ways to Come Up With Product Ideas? I'm often asked for advice on product development. How do you come up with good ideas? How do you know if an idea is any good? How do you decide which ideas you'll pursue. If you've been building products for any period of time,...Mon, 29 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-the-perfect-membership-site-for-coaches/https://chrislema.com/creating-the-perfect-membership-site-for-coaches/Are You Providing Coaching for Clients? If you're providing any kind of online coaching for your clients, you've likely faced all the same challenges I have. So when a friend emailed me and asked how to build the perfect membership site for coaches, I thought, I know the answer to this. But the more I...Sun, 28 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-willing-to-suck/https://chrislema.com/are-you-willing-to-suck/I Turned 51 Today Today I begin my 52 year around the sun. That's just another way of saying I'm getting older and today was my birthday. I spent the day in Disney's California Adventure with my wife and two kids. Then at night, I had a casual dinner with one of my best friends...Sat, 27 Nov 2021 22:52:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/celebrating-whats-important/https://chrislema.com/celebrating-whats-important/Tomorrow I'll turn 51. Thankfully, I have all the gifts I could ever want. The friendships I've made have not only sustained me but been blessings in my life over the last pair of decades. But life wasn't always this good. In my twenties I was hungry - eager to make my mark on the...Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:45:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lifetime-discounts-for-gowp/https://chrislema.com/lifetime-discounts-for-gowp/Lifetime Discounts Are Amazing There are a lot of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals that are sitting in your inbox. I'm sure a few of them are going to be great. But there's one you may not have heard about. It's an offer for lifetime discounts for GoWP. When it comes to offers, most...Thu, 25 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/theres-power-in-empathy/https://chrislema.com/theres-power-in-empathy/Mirror Neurons Imagine a monkey that is angry. Now imagine you can monitor his brain. You see what fires and what doesn't. Ok, you've got it mapped. Now imagine that he sees another monkey who is upset. And before you know it, the same parts of the brain are firing off - as if the monkey...Wed, 24 Nov 2021 20:43:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/everyone-needs-zipmessage/https://chrislema.com/everyone-needs-zipmessage/Remember When I Told You About ZipMessage For Coaches? Back in May I told you about ZipMessage and how you could use it for your coaching business. And since then, if we've talked on a zoom call, or been at a conference together, I've told you about it. Today I'll tell you that every one...Tue, 23 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/automated-acceptance-testing-for-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/automated-acceptance-testing-for-woocommerce/How Do You Know Your WooCommerce Store Is Working? The merchant who sent me a text was confused and struggling. His store was still live (active) and wasn't offline. But orders weren't going thru. He was trying to figure out what was going on. And worse, it seemed like maybe it had been going on...Mon, 22 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/predicting-the-future/https://chrislema.com/predicting-the-future/Predicting the Future is Impossible Predicting the future is impossible and will only highlight how wrong you are. Right? I mean, I'm the guy who said, once on a podcast, that the only thing you could know for certain about what could and couldn't be sold online was mattresses. Boy was I wrong. There are...Sun, 21 Nov 2021 21:55:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/improve-your-products-sales-page-with-these-elements/https://chrislema.com/improve-your-products-sales-page-with-these-elements/Developers Aren't Marketers When it comes to building a sales page, product developers aren't marketers. And there's nothing wrong with that. But there's no developer I've ever met who hasn't wanted the cheat codes. Isn't there a simple list or guide of what goes on your sales page that we could read / follow? So...Sat, 20 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/struggling-to-be-fully-present-here-are-three-tips/https://chrislema.com/struggling-to-be-fully-present-here-are-three-tips/We've All Had That One Conversation If you've been to a conference or a networking event, you've likely been in a conversation when the person you're talking to is no longer looking at you. They're looking around the room. Is there someone more important that they should connect with? Can you remember how it felt?...Fri, 19 Nov 2021 11:47:16 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-membership-site-doesnt-have-to-protect-content/https://chrislema.com/your-membership-site-doesnt-have-to-protect-content/We've talked about Memberships & Subscriptions I've written about memberships and subscriptions before. In that post I told you about the difference between belonging and recurring payments. They're not remotely the same thing! But when we talk about memberships, most people - especially in the WordPress space - think only about content protection. So today...Thu, 18 Nov 2021 13:19:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learndash-integrity/https://chrislema.com/learndash-integrity/Some Days You Get to Release Cool Stuff Today we released LearnDash 3.6 along with CourseGrid 2.0 and LearnDash Integrity. And while all the rest is so cool, and I told you already about Subscriptions, what I was most thrilled about was Integrity. I didn't build anything. The team did all the work. I just...Wed, 17 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/theres-a-new-ltd-for-fluent-support/https://chrislema.com/theres-a-new-ltd-for-fluent-support/Fluent Support Brings Help Desk Software to WordPress If you read yesterday's post, you likely caught the mention of Fluent Support in there. Well, it's live today, and I can't wait for you to check it out. It's incredibly powerful. In fact, I tell you the things I like most in my quick summary below....Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/running-multiple-wordpress-sites-for-one-business/https://chrislema.com/running-multiple-wordpress-sites-for-one-business/Remember When I Told You About Courses on a Subdomain? A bit ago I wrote about running your course on a subdomain and how to sell on one site, and then run the course on another. I used the power of Uncanny Automator to make the magic happen. Well now I'm thinking about another subdomain...Mon, 15 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/estimating-problem-we-all-face/https://chrislema.com/estimating-problem-we-all-face/Everyone Thinks Their Problems Are Unique If there's one thing I've learned by talking to product owners, agency owners, freelancers, and software developers over the last two decades - it's that we all know others must be experiencing what we are, but we feel like we're the only ones. The dissonance between our heads and...Sun, 14 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/improving-your-wordpress-sites-performance/https://chrislema.com/improving-your-wordpress-sites-performance/Let's Say You Wanted to Lose Weight We're going to talk about your WordPress Site's performance, but first let me walk you thru a thought exercise. Imagine you wanted to lose weight. Would you believe someone if they told you that the trick was bananas? Or eggs? Or any single item? Probably not, right? Losing...Sat, 13 Nov 2021 20:41:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learndash-subscriptions/https://chrislema.com/learndash-subscriptions/If you had asked me last week about selling LearnDash courses via subscriptions, I would have told you that the best way was to install WooCommerce and then add the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension and go from there. But that will change next week when we roll out a new feature in our 3.6 release -...Fri, 12 Nov 2021 21:22:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-the-pagely-sale-is-good-for-everyone/https://chrislema.com/why-the-pagely-sale-is-good-for-everyone/This is one of those \"insider baseball\" posts so if you're not into WordPress ecosystem posts, skip this one and come back tomorrow. Another Big & Success Company Just Sold Just a few months ago Yoast sold to Bluehost. I know, you're going to tell me it sold to Newfold Digital. But we never heard...Thu, 11 Nov 2021 21:55:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-adding-a-new-feature-really-the-right-move/https://chrislema.com/is-adding-a-new-feature-really-the-right-move/I Bet This Story Sounds Familiar Earlier this year I was working on adding a new feature for this site. It's the table of contents on the right sidebar of this post (and all my blog posts). I looked at a lot of table of contents plugins before deciding on LuckyWP Table of Contents. It...Wed, 10 Nov 2021 21:49:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/networking-is-your-secret-weapon/https://chrislema.com/networking-is-your-secret-weapon/We're Always Busy. That's Not Changing. In the WordPress ecosystem, where I spend a good amount of time, there is never enough time to get everything done. There's also a long list (that never gets shorter) of things you should be doing to help your business grow. Even companies that are doing well never seem...Tue, 09 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/food-ordering-on-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/food-ordering-on-woocommerce/Not All Food Ordering Systems Work the Way I Like Can I be honest with you? I'm from California and I don't like Avocados. If you know me, you also know I'm not much for salads or vegetables. But I love Bacon. So when I go to order a BLT, I really want a BMT...Mon, 08 Nov 2021 09:13:37 GMThttps://chrislema.com/want-to-close-more-dealsthe-single-story-you-have-to-tell/https://chrislema.com/want-to-close-more-dealsthe-single-story-you-have-to-tell/There are a Million Growth Strategies Out There... If you want to close more deals the challenge is figuring out which strategies to follow and which to ignore. Today I want to share with you the single story that you have to get right, and include in everything you do. What I mean by that...Sun, 07 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-bfcm-promotion-tips/https://chrislema.com/three-bfcm-promotion-tips/Are You Offering BFCM Discounts This Year? If you're doing a BFCM promotion this year, and trust me just about everyone is, I thought I would jot down three BFCM promotion tips that might help you. Why? Because I think most people just post wild offers and hope it pays off. That kind of hope...Sat, 06 Nov 2021 19:31:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-market-is-never-too-crowded/https://chrislema.com/the-market-is-never-too-crowded/The first time I took copy and placed it into a design for a printed document, I used Adobe Illustrator. I didn't know any other design solution. So I designed the document and then took the text and placed it onto the design. Then I learned Aldus Pagemaker and did multi-page layouts using it. This...Fri, 05 Nov 2021 21:52:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/recruiting-new-employees/https://chrislema.com/recruiting-new-employees/I've spent the last few weeks recruiting new employees. That's what happens when one of your key folks gets a great offer elsewhere. And when you buy a company and decide you're going to grow the marketing and development teams. It's late tonight, so this post won't be super long. But I just wanted to...Thu, 04 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-wordpress-funnel-game-continues-to-grow/https://chrislema.com/the-wordpress-funnel-game-continues-to-grow/There are several WordPress Funnel solutions - most of them targeted at WooCommerce. I've written about several of them, recently listing these options: WooFunnels, CartFlows, Smart Offers, LaunchFlows, MakeWebBetter. They each do several things well. And over the next year or two, we'll likely see consolidation...Wed, 03 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-your-site-working-for-you/https://chrislema.com/is-your-site-working-for-you/Today I delivered a talk as part of Jennifer Bourn's Content Camp (Website Copy Edition). My session was on your offer pages, and the follow-up to the talk is a working session where we get to have a discussion and answer questions. In that conversation I got to connect with a lot of folks that...Tue, 02 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-pages-for-micro-segments/https://chrislema.com/building-pages-for-micro-segments/Remember When I Wrote about Micro-Segments? The other day I wrote about ConvertKit and Monday.com and how they crafted different offer pages based on micro-segments. Did you catch that post? I told you it wasn't enough to define a segment. You had to be more precise because it makes building pages for micro-segments so much...Mon, 01 Nov 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-choose-the-right-wordpress-crm/https://chrislema.com/how-to-choose-the-right-wordpress-crm/A Real Comparison Starts with Comparison Criteria. I want to help you choose the right WordPress CRM but in this post I won't be telling you which one is right for you. The focus of this article is to simply discuss the comparison criteria. In a follow-up post, I'll grade several plugins against this criteria...Sun, 31 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/introducing-slingblocks-keep-a-eye-on-woofunnels/https://chrislema.com/introducing-slingblocks-keep-a-eye-on-woofunnels/You know those movies where the ocean water recedes and fish are flopping on the sand? And the people nearby are amazed and curious and walk out onto the sand that was previously underwater? If you're like me, you think, \"How can you not see what's coming??!!??\" That's how I was feeling today when I...Sat, 30 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/employees-are-waiting/https://chrislema.com/employees-are-waiting/When employees were asked if they could answer positively that they felt like their job provided them a regular opportunity to work from their strengths (and passions), only 2 out of 10 could agree. Twenty percent. The other eighty percent of our employees are waiting to be challenged or inspired. That feels depressing, right? It...Fri, 29 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hosting-for-online-courses/https://chrislema.com/hosting-for-online-courses/How do You Pick the Right Hosting for Online Courses? I'm not going to tell you which host you should use for your online course. You'd likely think I was lying or being biased if I told you we designed Nexcess specifically for courses, memberships and stores. So let's skip past specific recommendations and talk...Thu, 28 Oct 2021 20:57:20 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reviewing-gridbuilder/https://chrislema.com/reviewing-gridbuilder/Why I'm Reviewing Gridbuilder. So over the last few days, our team at LearnDash has been talking about our new version of CourseGrid that we'll be releasing soon. One of the dynamics that happens when you're building software is that you end up telling yourself that you know who the customer is. But it's not...Wed, 27 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/testing-with-sample-data/https://chrislema.com/testing-with-sample-data/How do you decide which plugin will work best for you? Some people just read the marketing text on each site, and that's a fast way to burn thru cash. Others may just get a recommendation. For me, I like to do some testing with sample data. I'm working on a comparison of WordPress CRM...Tue, 26 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/order-bumps-or-upsells/https://chrislema.com/order-bumps-or-upsells/Which grows your revenue faster? Order bumps or Upsells? The other day I saw someone ask which was more useful in driving order value up - order bumps or upsells? You know how important I think these are. And I've written a lot about post-purchase upsells, including a recent look at WooFunnels. I haven't written...Mon, 25 Oct 2021 19:33:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-your-uniqueness/https://chrislema.com/embrace-your-uniqueness/I don't write a lot of posts like this one, where my focus is to point you to stuff I've already written, but there's a reason this is top of mind. My daughter is applying to college this weekend. She wants to stand apart from everyone else. She wants to get accepted. And she's heard...Sun, 24 Oct 2021 17:35:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-do-you-do-after-you-segment-your-market/https://chrislema.com/what-do-you-do-after-you-segment-your-market/Segmentation is everything. I mentioned it yesterday. And segmenting your market is so important that I write a lot about it. The old way of pitching products - \"we're for everyone\" - just doesn't work anymore. I've spent time talking about behavioral segmentation for anonymous personalization with Bento, and using it for a first party...Sat, 23 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/repeating-our-mistakes/https://chrislema.com/repeating-our-mistakes/Let's Stop Repeating Our Mistakes. I had several product-related conversations today. And in each, it felt like I was repeating lessons that we all knew. The problem isn't knowledge. It's the mental shortcuts we make that put us in a situation where we find ourselves repeating our mistakes. Bobby Bowden was a football coach at...Fri, 22 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ed-sheeran-creativity/https://chrislema.com/ed-sheeran-creativity/I don't know if you know Ed Sheeran but I'm guessing you've heard one of his songs, with him singing, or something he's authored for someone else. There's no question he knows how to write songs - even if you don't like any of them. Is there something, when it comes to creativity, that we...Thu, 21 Oct 2021 21:24:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/easy-to-say-hard-to-do-eliminate-friction/https://chrislema.com/easy-to-say-hard-to-do-eliminate-friction/It doesn't matter if you're designing a new product or service, it takes a lot of work to get the new offering right. I'm in the middle of working on a new offering right now, and even though I've done this for years (and years), the work that it requires never gets smaller or easier...Wed, 20 Oct 2021 19:50:14 GMThttps://chrislema.com/uncanny-codes-for-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/uncanny-codes-for-wordpress/Recently my friend Veena offered a lifetime deal on Appsumo for Smart Quiz Builder. One of the things I thought was pretty cool was her ability to create all those \"stackable codes\" for Appsumo customers so that they could get SQB for more than one site. She explained how she did it (because she has...Tue, 19 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/retaining-your-top-talent/https://chrislema.com/retaining-your-top-talent/It's Crazy Out There. It's never been harder to hire talented staff right now. Every person I know who is looking for work is finding work. And often multiple offers. Even crazier is that they're getting offers that are incredible - mostly because even those hiring companies are struggling to find and hire top talent...Mon, 18 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-disposable-software/https://chrislema.com/building-disposable-software/Disposable Software - The Concept. Most of us, when building software, try to make it support or handle just about anything that it might face. We read bug reports, even for tiny edge cases, and we work to fix our products so that they're work for everyone, forever. But what if we're looking at this...Sun, 17 Oct 2021 20:38:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-most-valuable-skill/https://chrislema.com/your-most-valuable-skill/I grew up in what would be considered the center of middle class. We never had a problem getting food or paying the house payment. We always had a new outfit when school started. And there were two cars in the driveway. It only took a trip to Mexico (not far from my Southern California...Sat, 16 Oct 2021 11:36:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-dont-need-another-course/https://chrislema.com/you-dont-need-another-course/I know this is a crazy post to write - right as I'm getting ready to publish 9 courses on this site. But if you've been reading on this site long enough you know this is a pretty big pitch-free zone for my own products. And today I want to challenge you a bit, after...Fri, 15 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-one-wants-to-set-up-your-plugin/https://chrislema.com/no-one-wants-to-set-up-your-plugin/This is not as negative a post as the title may suggest. But it is true. Especially for feature-rich solution-oriented plugins - like membership, courses, or eCommerce plugins. No one wants to set up your plugin. They want it to work. They want the results. But they don't know what every checkbox means. They don't...Thu, 14 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-are-not-the-customer/https://chrislema.com/you-are-not-the-customer/Your marketing team worked really hard to investigate your target customer. They worked on segments and did customer interviews. They spend tons of time and money and crafted personas. Maybe they even gave them names (though I prefer roles). The introduced the personas to everyone - from sales to support, from product to engineering. And...Wed, 13 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/team-discounts-using-uncanny-automator/https://chrislema.com/team-discounts-using-uncanny-automator/Imagine you wanted to create an online course that you were going to sell with WooCommerce. This is a request I get all the time. But then you get a more nuanced request - how do I sell team access, in fixed amounts. What they mean is selling a product that is a 5-seat license,...Tue, 12 Oct 2021 20:25:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/have-you-tried-woofunnels/https://chrislema.com/have-you-tried-woofunnels/When it comes to WooCommerce & funnels, there's a good chance you've heard of CartFlows - one of the earliest players working to bring ClickFunnel-like solutions to the WordPress ecosystem. But maybe you haven't heard about WooFunnels - an incredibly powerful solution that is worth knowing about. I've written before about post-purchase offers. Last week...Mon, 11 Oct 2021 19:36:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-utility-features/https://chrislema.com/pricing-utility-features/Pricing is Hard. Normally I don't put a period after my headlines. But pricing is hard - period. You know what I mean? It's challenging to figure out the right spot where you and customers both agree that the value exchange is worth it. You know what is even harder? Pricing utility features. Wait, what...Sun, 10 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-ladders-what-people-want/https://chrislema.com/product-ladders-what-people-want/Like I told you the other day, I'm working on bringing all my courses from different locations all to this site. And the moment I started building out the course catalog, I realized I was going to need to create some bundles. After all, people won't want to buy every single course separately. But that...Sat, 09 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choose-the-right-plugin/https://chrislema.com/choose-the-right-plugin/How do you know if the plugin you want to use is the right one? If you're like me, then you have felt the pain and frustration of adding a plugin to your WordPress site, only to see the whole site break, fall apart, or slow down dramatically. And if you're not technical, good luck....Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-use-presto-player-with-learndash/https://chrislema.com/how-to-use-presto-player-with-learndash/You may not know this but I've been offering courses for years and years. But most of the time it's not been on my main site. I've used Teachery, Teachable, Thinkific, and most recently Podia. But today I started to move my storytelling course to my own site (in a subdomain). Today I thought I...Thu, 07 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/related-post-plugins-handcuffed/https://chrislema.com/related-post-plugins-handcuffed/Related Post Plugins are great. They present a set of posts that your readers may enjoy. And that keeps them on your site longer and keeps your bounce rate lower. All of that is great. But related post plugins can really hurt you at the same time - because of the performance hit that they...Wed, 06 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-the-blocksy-theme-with-learndash/https://chrislema.com/using-the-blocksy-theme-with-learndash/Blocksy Surprised Me I've told you before that this site is powered by the Blocksy Theme. I even showed you one of the coolest features (dynamic blocks) before showing you how to do it with other plugins. But today I was surprised by Blocksy (again). I am moving my online courses to a sub-domain of...Tue, 05 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-coupons-and-automatic-discounts/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-coupons-and-automatic-discounts/A friend of mine is getting ready to do a product launch. He's using WooCommerce so it made sense for us to chat and the topic I focused on was coupons and automatic discounts. You see that yellow banner at the top of the page? That's what we're going to talk about. But before we...Mon, 04 Oct 2021 20:30:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-lot-of-people-only-run-a-single-site/https://chrislema.com/a-lot-of-people-only-run-a-single-site/If you follow me on social media, you've likely seen all the images to know that I spent last week running my conference in Cabo, called CaboPress. While there, one topic came up often among product owners - pricing. The default approach that many plugin owners take, when it comes to pricing, is to create...Sun, 03 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring-a-new-employee-5-truths-they-must-believe/https://chrislema.com/hiring-a-new-employee-5-truths-they-must-believe/I have another blog where I write about leadership, but sometimes I write about hiring here. And with so many WordPress-oriented companies looking to hire, I wanted to make sure you didn't make all the same mistakes I've made in the past. So if you're hiring a new employee, there are five truths that you...Sat, 02 Oct 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-making-premature-announcements/https://chrislema.com/stop-making-premature-announcements/This isn't a political post even if I'm using a political example of premature announcements and celebrations. But do you remember this moment in history when we collectively announced \"mission accomplished\" before the mission was accomplished? Want to have some fun? Check out this video. Those were crazy moments in sports, right? So what...Fri, 01 Oct 2021 19:47:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/challenge-lessons-learned/https://chrislema.com/challenge-lessons-learned/Are \"Lessons Learned\" Real? I've spent the week talking with business owners at CaboPress. One of the things that constantly surprises me is how much we know collectively that we don't apply to our own, or each others' situations. It makes you wonder if lessons learned are really learned at all. How many times have...Thu, 30 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-product-managers-can-learn-from-ray-ban-stories/https://chrislema.com/what-product-managers-can-learn-from-ray-ban-stories/What Are Ray-Ban Stories? Ray-Ban Stories are the first smart glasses by Ray-Ban. In other words, they're a pair of sunglasses that come in a couple different styles and colors but look just like the normal Ray-Bans you've come to love. But unlike your normal sunglasses, these allow you to take photos and videos, listen...Wed, 29 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/focus-on-the-big-idea/https://chrislema.com/focus-on-the-big-idea/Let's Talk About This Camel Imagine this camel wanted to be known for her ability to walk far without taking a sip. Is that what you see when you see her? (I don't know if she is a she, but go with me here.) Imagine this camel wanted to be known for how tall she...Tue, 28 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/be-the-same-you-everywhere/https://chrislema.com/be-the-same-you-everywhere/We Started CaboPress Tonight... You know I publish daily. You know that each post is meant to help you - whether you're an eCommerce merchant, an online learning or membership person, a product developer, an agency owner, or just looking for business advice. Most posts are 800-1200 words and share a single bit of advice....Mon, 27 Sep 2021 23:07:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/peer-to-peer-fundraising-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/peer-to-peer-fundraising-with-wordpress/What is Peer-to-Peer Fundraising? You've heard of crowdfunding, right? So what is peer-to-peer fundraising? It's like that but on steroids. In other words, Peer-to-Peer fundraising is a type of crowdfunding fundraising that lets tons of people create their own campaigns but aggregates all the funding to a single cause. If that sounds powerful to you,...Sun, 26 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-long-is-a-lifetime/https://chrislema.com/how-long-is-a-lifetime/The other day I wrote about lifetime licenses. In the software world, and specifically in the world of WordPress, sometimes a plugin author will offer a lifetime license. And that's when you wonder, \"How long is a lifetime?\" There are several ways to answer this question. Technically, how long is a lifetime? The technical answer,...Sat, 25 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/improve-your-product/https://chrislema.com/improve-your-product/How To Improve Your Product The research that Clay Christensen did, the milkshake work that lead to the \"Jobs to Be Done\" framework is pretty famous by now. But when you want to improve your product, it's worth looking at it again. Most of us know why we're doing what we're doing, right? So this...Fri, 24 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-lessons-non-technical-founders/https://chrislema.com/three-lessons-non-technical-founders/Non-Technical founders can navigate the initial challenges of a startup as much as anyone else but it's never easy - so here are three tips to help re-orient what you think you know.Thu, 23 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hire-right/https://chrislema.com/hire-right/The Truth in Technology Hiring right now is crazy. I'm not talking about people who don't want to work, or anything like that. I'm talking about the fact, in technology, that it's crazy to try to find talented folks right now because everyone's looking and the competition is hot! But sometimes we look the wrong...Wed, 22 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-theme-bloggers/https://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-theme-bloggers/Confession #1: I'm Picky On this site I don't sell you a lot of stuff. Sure you can buy an eBook, or fill out forms for my coaching or public speaking, but the thing most people spend time doing on this site is reading my blog. So I'm perfectly happy writing about the best WordPress...Tue, 21 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/changing-hats/https://chrislema.com/changing-hats/The other day I wrote about the changing dynamics in the online learning and LMS space. I've been watching and working in that space since 1995, when we called it Computer Based Training (CBT). The Good Old Days Back then, and I'n not joking here, if you wanted a corporate training solution, you would hire...Mon, 20 Sep 2021 06:49:13 GMThttps://chrislema.com/can-a-solo-developer-exist-in-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/can-a-solo-developer-exist-in-wordpress/There's been a lot of talk about companies, hosting companies specifically, buying up plugins. With all the consolidation, people have started wondering, out loud, if a solo developer can still exist in the WordPress ecosystem of today. They note that there's no formal method for such a solo developer to monetize their efforts. And how...Sun, 19 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/explain-everything/https://chrislema.com/explain-everything/Watch this video. It's less than 5 minutes long. What was your response? Ok, I'm not talking about how expensive all that gear was. Think about the video you just watched another way. Answer this question. Would you rather: Hire him to set up things for you Go buy all the things and set it up yourself...Sat, 18 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/plugin-developers-dont-ignore-this-growth-strategy/https://chrislema.com/plugin-developers-dont-ignore-this-growth-strategy/There's this riddle / puzzle that I heard as a kid. A guy is standing at the window of his office, in a 24 story building. He decides he's done and jumps. Halfway down, he hears a phone ring and immediately regrets his decision. The guy who shared the riddle with me asked why. I...Fri, 17 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-are-you-doing-content-research/https://chrislema.com/how-are-you-doing-content-research/The Blank Page is Intimidating When you open up WordPress (or any CMS) to write a post, it can feel stressful to stare at a blank page. It's true even if you write daily. So today I thought I would introduce you to a tool I just discovered for content research. It's pretty amazing. The...Thu, 16 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/customer-meetings/https://chrislema.com/customer-meetings/Digital Agencies Live & Die by Their Customer Meetings If you run an agency, there are several kinds of people that you invite to customer meetings. Today I want to focus on those \"update\" meetings where you're getting everyone on the same page for a project. A status meeting, if you will. In those meetings...Wed, 15 Sep 2021 19:29:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-product-photos-made-me-buy-it/https://chrislema.com/the-product-photos-made-me-buy-it/I Try Not to Shop at Night A few years ago a box arrived on my doorstep. It was big. And inside it was a special pancake printer. My only problem? I didn't remember ordering it. I spent days looking in every email account for a receipt. It was only a few weeks later -...Tue, 14 Sep 2021 19:24:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-perfect-woocommerce-chatbot/https://chrislema.com/the-perfect-woocommerce-chatbot/I've been on a Quest for the Perfect WooCommerce Chatbot If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may remember my post in April about my efforts to find the right chatbot for WooCommerce. I shared with you my efforts and, ultimately, my disappointment as I had yet to find the perfect WooCommerce...Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/analyzing-the-competition/https://chrislema.com/analyzing-the-competition/Why is is important to analyze the competition? Anytime I hear someone say, \"we don't have any competition,\" I know two things. First, they are defining competition incorrectly. Second, they're in for trouble when it comes to growth. It's why I think it's critical to spend consistent and continued effort analyzing the competition. But why...Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keep-learning-keep-trying/https://chrislema.com/keep-learning-keep-trying/The Age of Punch Cards When I was a kid I would go with my dad to his work at night sometimes. The room - something like 1500 square feet - was filled with cabinets that were computers. We're talking the early 1970's and he could only run the programs at night when the rest...Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:47:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/managing-courses-on-a-subdomain/https://chrislema.com/managing-courses-on-a-subdomain/The other day I got a question that I'm pretty sure every LMS plugin or platform provider has gotten. \"Should I run my courses on a subdomain?\" But there was a twist to the version of the question I got. So let's jump in and I'll not only answer the question, but show you how...Fri, 10 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/when-automation-goes-too-far/https://chrislema.com/when-automation-goes-too-far/Some of my posts are longer and detailed and show you how to do things, like this recent one on building a membership site. Other posts are shorter - but still useful - like this one about one-click checkouts and my Hollywood debut. But some, like today's, are short as they're written on the WordPress...Thu, 09 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/theres-a-shift-in-elearning/https://chrislema.com/theres-a-shift-in-elearning/A Ton Has Changed in Online Learning Phase One - When the first online courses were produced, I'm talking about the ones we heard about, they were Universities that were pushing course content online. I remember being amazed at what was happening in public while I was working on online courseware for Berkeley Lab. But...Wed, 08 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-building-a-community-around-your-business/https://chrislema.com/are-you-building-a-community-around-your-business/Sometimes You Don't Even Notice It... It took me several events to notice a dynamic that existed. My friend Jennifer runs several events and I almost didn't catch it. But after participating in two or three, I started realizing that I was seeing some of the same people at each event. The same thing happened...Tue, 07 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-a-better-woocommerce-follow-up-experience/https://chrislema.com/creating-a-better-woocommerce-follow-up-experience/Customer Dashboards are Helpful You might recall when I wrote about customer dashboards for membership sites. As I told you then, customer dashboards are incredibly helpful. Today, like all Mondays, I write about WooCommerce. So I'm going to share a single insight today about how you can create a better WooCommerce follow up experience by...Mon, 06 Sep 2021 12:14:13 GMThttps://chrislema.com/day-249-of-daily-blogging/https://chrislema.com/day-249-of-daily-blogging/Can You Believe It's Day 249? On December 31 of 2020 I decided to start hitting the blue \"Publish\" button again. It's not like I hadn't blogged at all in 2020. But I had written 28 posts in the whole year. And I'm pretty sure that was better than 2019. So I decided to go...Sun, 05 Sep 2021 10:08:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-create-a-membership-site-with-wordpress-in-10-steps/https://chrislema.com/how-to-create-a-membership-site-with-wordpress-in-10-steps/Introduction There's never been a better time to create a membership site than right now. We saw the big jump in both membership sites and online courses in 2020 from COVID and the trends suggest this will continue this year and into the next. And while there are many platforms to choose from (SaaS and...Sat, 04 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-frictionless-ecommerce-with-one-click-checkout/https://chrislema.com/embrace-frictionless-ecommerce-with-one-click-checkout/We All Know That Cart Abandonment Is A Thing If you have ever gone shopping online, there's a good chance you've left something in a cart without actually checking out. It's not your fault, there are a lot of reasons for it. But it's called cart abandonment and it's a thing. Merchants know it. Shoppers...Fri, 03 Sep 2021 20:41:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/there-is-no-perfect-moment/https://chrislema.com/there-is-no-perfect-moment/Can we talk about products, product launches, entering a market and all that? I'm someone who likes to plan. I have spreadsheets. I'm not Tony Perez (the guy who says forget the plan, let's just do this!). But after years of planning, I'm come to one conclusion: there's no perfect moment. Deregulation & Pacific Bell...Thu, 02 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-much-should-a-woocommerce-store-cost/https://chrislema.com/how-much-should-a-woocommerce-store-cost/A few years ago I wrote a blog post for WooCommerce where I shared an approach for agencies on how to price the work of building a WooCommerce store. In that post I didn't give anyone an answer. I was giving teams a way to think about things. In the years since, I've had a...Wed, 01 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-learning-the-wrong-lesson/https://chrislema.com/are-you-learning-the-wrong-lesson/That Time I Got Caught Shoplifting I had a tiny allowance growing up. It's not like I needed the money for anything. I'm talking about pre-driving age. So the money was just for fun stuff and snacks. But I felt like it wasn't enough. The first time I stole something, I walked into a supermarket...Tue, 31 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sms-marketing-automation-woocommerce-omnisend/https://chrislema.com/sms-marketing-automation-woocommerce-omnisend/We all get text messages all the time. The same is true with email. The difference is that we open text messages more often. So today I wanted to write a bit about SMS marketing automation and how to leverage it with your WooCommerce store. As I told you the other day, this is the...Mon, 30 Aug 2021 22:13:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-little-tweaks-to-convert-more-customers/https://chrislema.com/three-little-tweaks-to-convert-more-customers/When you want to convert more customers sometimes you need a big, brand new strategy. But what if you could drive greater conversions with a few little tweaks? Today I want to share three little tweaks that will convert more folks. Create Dedicated Pages for Specific Kinds of Customers The first trick is to stop...Sun, 29 Aug 2021 10:21:31 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-write-a-comparison-post/https://chrislema.com/how-to-write-a-comparison-post/Writing a Comparison Post A bit ago I told you there were some pages missing from your website - especially if you were selling products. These \"VS\" pages are the comparisons between your product and all the rest out there that people are considering. I told you how to think about those pages. Today I...Sat, 28 Aug 2021 11:39:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-your-own-event/https://chrislema.com/creating-your-own-event/In 2013 I Created CaboPress A few years ago I wrote about the strategy behind my CaboPress conference. And then I reviewed the results of these strategies. Tonight I got home from running the first version of the Skip the Grind conference, and I thought I would share some thoughts on why I am in...Fri, 27 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/on-lifetime-licenses/https://chrislema.com/on-lifetime-licenses/Today I bought a lifetime license to Infinity. If you use Asana, Trello, Notion, or Airtable, then Infinity will likely feel somewhat similar. One of the differences is that I could buy a lifetime license for 15 people for a single price of $349. But this isn't a post about Infinity. It's a post about...Thu, 26 Aug 2021 18:54:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/six-different-platforms-for-your-next-online-course/https://chrislema.com/six-different-platforms-for-your-next-online-course/Let's assume that you've decided to create your next online course and are looking to choose the right platform. If you haven't read my 8 part series on online courses, you'd likely want to start there. Who should build an online course, How do come up with an idea for your online course, How to structure your...Wed, 25 Aug 2021 20:18:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/brainstorming-the-right-way/https://chrislema.com/brainstorming-the-right-way/I'm running a new conference this week, called Skip the Grind. It's a specific kind of conference, called a brainstorming conference. I've wanted to do it for years but finally set it up for 2020 and then had to push it back to this week. The concept of a brainstorming conference came to me after...Tue, 24 Aug 2021 18:21:07 GMThttps://chrislema.com/thinking-about-woocommerce-checkout-pages/https://chrislema.com/thinking-about-woocommerce-checkout-pages/There are a ton of ways to improve your WooCommerce checkout pages. I've mentioned several before when talking about checkout solutions, payment solutions and even post-purchase solutions. You can adjust the fields in your checkout: Checkout Field Editor, Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce, WooCommerce Checkout Manager, Flux Checkout for WooCommerce, CheckoutWC You can speed up your checkout with external...Mon, 23 Aug 2021 18:51:33 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-much-is-your-business-worth/https://chrislema.com/how-much-is-your-business-worth/How Much Is Your Business Worth? The simple answer to this question is, as much as the right buyer will pay. But asking how much is your business worth is a complicated answer with a ton of different (and applicable) answers, depending on the context. It will depend on what industry you're in, what stage...Sun, 22 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-steps-to-a-90-pagespeed-score/https://chrislema.com/four-steps-to-a-90-pagespeed-score/As I was walking upstairs to pick a topic to write about tonight, I couldn't help but think about the conversations that I've been having with folks inside Nexcess and outside, on an almost daily-basis. Everything is about performance. Site speed. So I thought I would share a four step approach to a 90+ PageSpeed...Sat, 21 Aug 2021 15:40:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/picking-wordpress-hosting-partner/https://chrislema.com/picking-wordpress-hosting-partner/Picking the right hosting provider for your Wordpress site is completely driven by you. Knowing what motivates you will help you make the right choice.Fri, 20 Aug 2021 21:44:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/storytelling-skills-for-business/https://chrislema.com/storytelling-skills-for-business/Let's face it, most presentations aren't on stage. If you think about how many times you try to convince your co-workers of something, or how many times you're presenting a decision to your boss, or how many times you are trying to get coworkers to join you on a project or cause—most of your presentations don't happen...Thu, 19 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/free-with-purchase-discount-rules-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/free-with-purchase-discount-rules-woocommerce/Have you ever received a Free Gift with Purchase? I don't know if you grew up going to the mall with your mom, but I did. And we always walked into the mall via Nordstrom, one of its anchor tenants. The one thing I knew was that we were going to stop in the makeup...Wed, 18 Aug 2021 18:12:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-who-why-how/https://chrislema.com/what-who-why-how/Helping You Message Better. I have written a lot, over the last few months, on how to help you message effectively. It's about how you articulate your domain expertise. It's about learning to tell stories effectively. I have shared with you how to stand out, stand apart, and generate more leads. For product companies, I...Tue, 17 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/preparing-your-woocommerce-store-for-the-holiday-season/https://chrislema.com/preparing-your-woocommerce-store-for-the-holiday-season/The 7 Things To Think About As You Prepare. Today's post is a video. I walk you thru the 7 things you need to think about as you and your team are preparing your WooCommerce store for the holiday season. Thing it's too early to prepare? It's not. More importantly, it's the conversations you need...Mon, 16 Aug 2021 18:43:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/securing-wordpress-sites/https://chrislema.com/securing-wordpress-sites/You've seen bon qui qui on MadTV, right? She's known for a lot of things but I like her most because of her commitment to calling security. Unlike the video, you can call security as often as you need when your WordPress site gets hacked.Sun, 15 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hosting-performance-cause-effect/https://chrislema.com/hosting-performance-cause-effect/The State of Managed WordPress Hosting. It was almost five years ago when I joined a hosting company called Liquid Web. I can't believe it's been that long. When I joined, I was aware of 10 major Managed WordPress hosting companies. Today there are even more. The question that was on my mind, our team's...Sat, 14 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/closing-the-deal-a-pricing-trick-that-helps/https://chrislema.com/closing-the-deal-a-pricing-trick-that-helps/This Pricing Trick Isn't For Everyone. Not every pricing trick will be perfect for every agency. I get that. So if your average project costs less than $10,000 or more than $100,000, this may not help you when closing the deal. But if you're normally putting out quotes in the $10,000 - $100,000 range (which...Fri, 13 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/designing-products-constraints/https://chrislema.com/designing-products-constraints/What if you could create an information product (you know, like an eBook) in a single sitting? Crazy, isn't it? But I just recently watched a webinar where the presenter explained how he did it. His rationale? Once he got up from the desk, he was likely to get distracted and that would immediately reduce...Thu, 12 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/life-is-poker-not-chess/https://chrislema.com/life-is-poker-not-chess/Life is Poker not Chess. The entire day today I've had this sentence running thru my head. \"Life is poker, not chess.\" It's because I'm reading Annie Duke's Thinking in Bets again. I read it when it first came out, and I'm going thru it again because she put to words a framing I use...Wed, 11 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/on-perfectionism/https://chrislema.com/on-perfectionism/I don't know when it happened. Or rather, I don't know when things changed. I clearly remember a time when the internal monologue in my head was negative every time I failed. And I clearly recognize that today that voice doesn't make its way into my stream of consciousness. So at some point it went...Tue, 10 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-a-pick-and-mix-solution-with-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/building-a-pick-and-mix-solution-with-woocommerce/In the eCommerce space, there are always puzzles. The other day a person asked a question in one of the Facebook Groups focused on WooCommerce. I don't recall the whole question, but at its core was a question about building a pick and mix solution and how to do it with WooCommerce. If you've never...Mon, 09 Aug 2021 19:43:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/content-that-drives-engagement/https://chrislema.com/content-that-drives-engagement/Wouldn't it be great if every single thing you wrote ended up with tons of replies, likes and people taking action? I write daily. I then put links to these posts on Facebook, Twitter, and sometimes even LinkedIn. And that gets these posts visibility. Plus there's the traffic Google sends my way. But we're talking...Sun, 08 Aug 2021 14:33:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/allyson-felix-sets-two-records-at-the-tokyo-olympics/https://chrislema.com/allyson-felix-sets-two-records-at-the-tokyo-olympics/\"Write Something For Me\" My daughter, 15 years old and getting ready to start her senior year in high school, said, \"write something for me to read today, dad.\" So I thought it would be helpful to tell her, and you, about Allyson Felix, the Olympian who set a record as the Track & Field...Sat, 07 Aug 2021 14:40:51 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-most-important-copywriting-formula-for-wordpress-plugin-companies/https://chrislema.com/the-most-important-copywriting-formula-for-wordpress-plugin-companies/Writing Copy that Converts Isn't Easy Have you ever gotten an email from an old friend who tells you about a moment that, for you, was pretty ordinary, but to them was transformational? I got one this week. This one conversation, years ago, about a copywriting formula for his WordPress product had been pivotal. Writing...Fri, 06 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-discount-membership-prices-based-on-team-size/https://chrislema.com/how-to-discount-membership-prices-based-on-team-size/Sometimes You Want to Discount Your Pricing Based on Team Size I help people build eCommerce stores, online courses, and membership site solutions, all using WordPress. One of the most interesting projects is when you need all three together - a membership site that gives people access to protected courses that they have to purchase...Thu, 05 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-mistake-too-many-plugin-developers-make/https://chrislema.com/the-mistake-too-many-plugin-developers-make/Have you ever painted your home? About a year ago we moved into our new home in Houston. The house was great but had three different colors on the walls. The first thing we did was to pick a color and have folks paint all the walls - one singular color. Have you ever painted...Wed, 04 Aug 2021 18:55:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-wordpress-without-writing-any-code/https://chrislema.com/using-wordpress-without-writing-any-code/What's the best No-Code platform out there today for creators? When it comes to building apps today, you no longer have to be a developer. The No-Code movement has spawned tons of platforms out there that support creators as they have fresh ideas for apps, building products without writing any code. I'm speaking at an...Tue, 03 Aug 2021 19:45:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/our-instincts-are-wrong/https://chrislema.com/our-instincts-are-wrong/Are Your Instincts Serving You? Imagine that you and I are sitting in the living room, hanging out. And suddenly you hear a small sound - a knocking of sorts. Then it's a bit of a sliding sound. I...Mon, 02 Aug 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-value-of-domain-expertise/https://chrislema.com/the-value-of-domain-expertise/My first startup (and what we got wrong) I was recruited to my first startup (a small San Francisco-based company) from Berkeley Lab. Happy building some very early web applications without any thou...Sun, 01 Aug 2021 14:59:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-landing-pages-with-the-block-editor-gutenberg/https://chrislema.com/building-landing-pages-with-the-block-editor-gutenberg/Landing pages used to be owned by the Page Builders The power of WordPress page builders, like my favorite Beaver Builder, were most brilliantly demonstrated on landing pages. Building landing pages...Sat, 31 Jul 2021 15:27:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-art-of-telling-stories/https://chrislema.com/the-art-of-telling-stories/Have you seen the \"Land of Land Rovers\" commercial? Tonight we're going to talk about the art of telling stories, but there's no better way to do that than to show you a great example. I don't kno...Fri, 30 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-overshoot/https://chrislema.com/product-overshoot/Have you ever owned a Swiss Army Knife? Tonight I want to talk about product overshoot. But to do that I have to start with a question: have you ever owned a Swiss Army Knife? If you've ever stepp...Thu, 29 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-woocommerce-hosting-mistakes-youre-likely-making/https://chrislema.com/three-woocommerce-hosting-mistakes-youre-likely-making/Traffic Creates Issues Every now and then I jump into a WooCommerce facebook group. And not surprisingly, there's someone in there asking about WooCommerce hosting. Who should I use? What do you th...Wed, 28 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-art-of-lead-generation-what-top-business-owners-do-differently/https://chrislema.com/the-art-of-lead-generation-what-top-business-owners-do-differently/The art of lead generation I talk to business owners every single day. Sometimes they own product companies. Other times they run agencies. But they fall into two categories. The first want to keep...Tue, 27 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/driving-woocommerce-conversions/https://chrislema.com/driving-woocommerce-conversions/So I'm thinking out loud today. Ok? It's Monday. So that means we're talking about eCommerce and, more specifically, WooCommerce. This post is my external processing about driving WooCommerce conve...Mon, 26 Jul 2021 19:25:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/5-strategies-for-using-images-in-your-presentations/https://chrislema.com/5-strategies-for-using-images-in-your-presentations/You may be creating presentations again Depending on what you do for a living, and how your state or country is doing with Covid, there's a chance you're going to start creating slide decks again f...Sun, 25 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/on-giving-and-getting-advice/https://chrislema.com/on-giving-and-getting-advice/Today marks 17 years that I've been married to Melissa Lema - an incredible woman. In fact, friends of mine - upon meeting her - quietly let both of us know that were we to separate, they'd all (1...Sat, 24 Jul 2021 16:21:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-you-have-a-first-party-data-strategy/https://chrislema.com/do-you-have-a-first-party-data-strategy/You've likely heard that third party cookies are going to die, right? Look, I know it's Friday night. I'm already at a resort for this weekend because it's my 17th anniversary with my wife. So what am I doing writing a blog post right now? Well, I write daily. That's why. But why such a...Fri, 23 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-is-someone-paying-you/https://chrislema.com/why-is-someone-paying-you/Have I ever told you about my first job? When I was in high school, maybe the summer after my freshman year, I got a job at Temp Power. It was one of those jobs not exactly designed for high schoolers. But a mentor hooked me up with the job, so I was excited to...Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:34:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reusable-blocks-in-wordpress-another-gutenberg-win/https://chrislema.com/reusable-blocks-in-wordpress-another-gutenberg-win/We're six months into me using Gutenberg daily I can't tell you how much of a fan I am of Gutenberg these days. It's crazy, as I keep finding things I really enjoy. Today I want to tell you about reusable blocks in WordPress because it's so cool. WordPress writes about it, but it's more...Wed, 21 Jul 2021 19:22:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/quiz-creation-in-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/quiz-creation-in-wordpress/Can't I just use a form builder? Most people, when we're talking about building a WordPress quiz, just tell me they'll do the work in whatever form builder they already own. And you know that the modern form builders for WordPress are powerful. There are a ton of WordPress form plugins that can do a...Tue, 20 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-woocommerce-for-agencies-accepting-deposits/https://chrislema.com/using-woocommerce-for-agencies-accepting-deposits/He made two fantastic offers! The conversation I was in the other day was fantastic. The goal of our conversation was just to meet and introduce ourselves to each other. But in the course of 30 minutes I was impressed enough that I asked for his pitch. I was interested in buying. And when he...Mon, 19 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/multiple-price-points/https://chrislema.com/multiple-price-points/The challenge with talking about pricing (and especially multiple price points) is that the conversation comes in the middle of a much larger discussion on product design. By the time you've built a new feature and want to know how much more to charge for it (if you're even willing to adjust pricing), we're already...Sun, 18 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-sites-the-myth-of-passive-income/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-sites-the-myth-of-passive-income/If you've been told that WordPress membership sites are an easy avenue for recurring revenue, somebody lied to you. They take work.Sat, 17 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/if-i-wanted-a-new-house-tips-for-product-owners/https://chrislema.com/if-i-wanted-a-new-house-tips-for-product-owners/Everyone wants more leads and sales, including product owners Today I wanted to share some tips for product owners who are looking for more leads and more sales. That really should be every product owner out there, right? To do that, I want to invite you to step into a metaphor with me for a...Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:47:39 GMThttps://chrislema.com/experience-betrays-us/https://chrislema.com/experience-betrays-us/Can we talk about expertise for a second? In fact, more specifically, I'd like to talk about the problem with expertise. There is some great research by Gary Klein, which he shares in his book The Power of Intuition. It's not unlike what you may have read already in books like Blink and others that...Thu, 15 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-a-product/https://chrislema.com/building-a-product/The conversation that was really hard to have The developer walked up to me at a technical conference and wanted to pitch me on their new product idea. If you're building a product, especially in the WordPress space, I'm happy to have this conversation with you. But this conversation got really hard, really fast. The...Wed, 14 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-recurring-billing/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-recurring-billing/You want to charge people money, over and over? You have options. Years ago I worked with a client to transform his offline business into an online business. It was a subscription business...Tue, 13 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-product-and-the-offer-are-two-different-things/https://chrislema.com/the-product-and-the-offer-are-two-different-things/Let's step into a supermarket When you step into a grocery store, you're going to buy crackers. Or milk. And the product has a price. It's very straightforward. The product and the offer are...Mon, 12 Jul 2021 16:58:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-a-lightweight-flexible-video-course/https://chrislema.com/creating-a-lightweight-flexible-video-course/WordPress is the ultimate No Code Platform Sometimes, when talking with people about online courses and the platforms out there, I hear that they don't want to choose WordPress because they don...Sun, 11 Jul 2021 19:10:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/4-clues-that-your-prospective-client-may-not-be-a-great-fit/https://chrislema.com/4-clues-that-your-prospective-client-may-not-be-a-great-fit/Not every prospective client will be a great fit The other day I was talking to an agency owner who had a tough year last year. Not shocking given how tough things were for everyone last year...Sat, 10 Jul 2021 22:35:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-membership-site-tip-expiration-dates/https://chrislema.com/a-membership-site-tip-expiration-dates/Membership site tips are specific I know before I start that when you read this, you're going to say, great - thanks for this membership site tip when it works with a specific plugin, but what...Fri, 09 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-walt-disney-didnt-do/https://chrislema.com/what-walt-disney-didnt-do/I want to tell you a quick story for all of you building products out there. As someone who has been building products for more than two decades some lessons need repeating. This is one of them...Thu, 08 Jul 2021 15:19:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/understanding-static-headless-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/understanding-static-headless-wordpress/What's the difference between Static & Headless WordPress? If you watch this video (below), I'll explain and show you an example of each - both a static site using WordPress and a headless store...Wed, 07 Jul 2021 18:33:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/combine-automations-in-autonami/https://chrislema.com/combine-automations-in-autonami/Autonami is a powerful WooCommerce CRM You'll recall the other day when I shared 4 special deals, I mentioned WooFunnels (the folks behind Autonami). Then, in a follow up post on automations, I...Tue, 06 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-build-an-employee-swag-store-with-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/how-to-build-an-employee-swag-store-with-woocommerce/Objective: WooCommerce swag store Early in the year we launched a WooCommerce product called StoreBuilder. It's an easy and fast way to get a WooCommerce store started. At launch I wanted to...Mon, 05 Jul 2021 12:54:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-is-your-brand-essence/https://chrislema.com/what-is-your-brand-essence/If you had to distill your reason for doing what you do down to two or three words, could you? Every day I work with individuals who think brand management is only for the big corporations...Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-secret-to-blogging-daily/https://chrislema.com/the-secret-to-blogging-daily/Want to write more consistently? Years ago I wrote a post with 5 tips for blogging more and better. I can't believe that was 2014 - 7 years ago! Today I want to dig deeper into the tactics of how to set yourself up for success if you want to publish a new post more...Sat, 03 Jul 2021 09:07:20 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-take-time-off-the-right-way/https://chrislema.com/how-to-take-time-off-the-right-way/I took today off work. And two weeks ago, I took a week off. I'm not going to say I'm an expert at taking time off, but I wouldn't argue with you if you surmised that I have mastered the art of how to take time off the right way. How to take time off...Fri, 02 Jul 2021 18:35:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/paying-attention-to-competition/https://chrislema.com/paying-attention-to-competition/Right now, if I asked you, could you name 10 competitors? Could you rattle them off with ease? Because you've been paying attention to the competition? Here's another way to ask the same question. If I asked you to tell me how your competition has been changing their pricing or their marketing messages over the...Thu, 01 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/scarce-resource/https://chrislema.com/scarce-resource/We can all earn more money... When my daughter was just five years old, she asked for some toy that I wasn't interested in buying her. The conversation was completely predictable. \"No way kiddo, that costs a lot of money.\"\"Why not daddy?\"\"I don't have the money.\"\"Then let's go to the bank.\"\"The money won't be there...Wed, 30 Jun 2021 13:25:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/autonami-is-a-woocommerce-marketing-automation-crm/https://chrislema.com/autonami-is-a-woocommerce-marketing-automation-crm/Have you heard of Autonami? There's a chance that you haven't heard of Autonami, brought to you by the same folks as WooFunnels, which I told you about the other day (and their special offer). I've written before about marketing automation, and about CRMs. But today I want to tell you about a WooCommerce marketing...Tue, 29 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-a-woocommerce-subscriptions-store/https://chrislema.com/building-a-woocommerce-subscriptions-store/Why build a WooCommerce subscriptions store? On Mondays I write about WooCommerce. And as I looked over the things I'd written about over the last few months, I realized there was one topic I had completely missed: subscription stores. It's crazy to me that I spend more time on those than anything else but hadn't...Mon, 28 Jun 2021 20:18:20 GMThttps://chrislema.com/6-business-models-for-your-blog/https://chrislema.com/6-business-models-for-your-blog/Once you start publishing... I know you know this, but the habit of writing is just the start of multiple ways that you can generate income online. Today I want to walk you thru 6 business models for your blog, assuming you have already started doing the work of publishing regularly. As you'll soon notice,...Sun, 27 Jun 2021 13:08:35 GMThttps://chrislema.com/content-visibility-for-gutenberg/https://chrislema.com/content-visibility-for-gutenberg/Block visibility is powerful A while ago I wrote (and created a video) about how I was creating and using dynamic content with Gutenberg. But it was based on Blocksy, the theme I use on this site. That's great if you're also using Blocksy. But what if you're not? The good news is that there...Sat, 26 Jun 2021 15:02:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-wordpress-lifetime-deals/https://chrislema.com/four-wordpress-lifetime-deals/This post is being written on June 25th at 10:45 pm (central time). It is time-sensitive, and by the time you read it, these deals may not be available. That's not my fault. It's not anyone's fault. I just don't want you circling back to me telling me these deals aren't available anymore. I almost...Fri, 25 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-drives-your-roadmap/https://chrislema.com/what-drives-your-roadmap/A couple weeks ago I wrote about product roadmap themes. If you haven't read that, I strongly recommend it. I say that because today's post relates to that, and is a general warning to small product teams. It directly applies to the WordPress ecosystem where I spend most of my time, but this warning will...Thu, 24 Jun 2021 21:19:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/nonintuitive-lessons/https://chrislema.com/nonintuitive-lessons/I spent today in an all-day meeting With some very smart people, we worked on planning for the second half of the year, and did a lot of work to identify themes, areas of effort, strategies for prioritization, and more. And while we met, while we discussed things, it was clear to me that the...Wed, 23 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/gutenberg-lets-you-copy-and-paste-layouts/https://chrislema.com/gutenberg-lets-you-copy-and-paste-layouts/Ok, let's just say that today I figured something out that is bound to help me a bunch, and I didn't even realize it was possible. Did I know that Gutenberg saves stuff as comments in the text itself? Yes.Did I know that Gutenberg layouts are made up of blocks? Absolutely.Did I know that Gutenberg...Tue, 22 Jun 2021 20:32:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/designing-the-product-page/https://chrislema.com/designing-the-product-page/Designing a product page is part art, part science A while ago I wrote you about a conversion problem. Conversions are always about trust. But when it comes to eCommerce, we're never done optimizing conversions, right? That's why I wrote and delivered a talk on designing the product page back in 2019. I must have...Mon, 21 Jun 2021 20:39:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-success-of-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/the-success-of-wordpress/I want to share with you some insights (or my take) on the future of the success of WordPress, but to do that, I think I need to tell you three stories first. These stories shape my perspective and will help you get where I'm going. A story about my first skateboard When I was...Sun, 20 Jun 2021 19:05:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reflections-on-a-wordpress-acquisition-marketplace/https://chrislema.com/reflections-on-a-wordpress-acquisition-marketplace/There's a new WordPress acquisition marketplace: FlipWP The other day Iain Poulson sent me a DM on Twitter telling me about a new WordPress acquisition marketplace called FlipWP. You can see the announcement here: https://twitter.com/polevaultweb/status/1405133255372902400 Already there's been a good amount of buzz about it - mostly because of three things (in my opinion): The...Sat, 19 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-power-of-a-mini-course/https://chrislema.com/the-power-of-a-mini-course/Most people never finish the courses they buy I don't know if you're anything like me, but I've purchased courses that I have never actually started. More than one. And even when I have made recent buying choices, I've struggled to finish the courses I've bought. Sound familiar? I know I'm not alone because the...Fri, 18 Jun 2021 19:19:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/constant-discovery/https://chrislema.com/constant-discovery/Introducing You to New Products One of my favorite things is to introduce people to new companies and products that they don't know about. It is part of the way I feel like I can be helpful. But it often results in me having way too many tabs open. How do I do it? It's...Thu, 17 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-i-use-canva-to-create-featured-images/https://chrislema.com/how-i-use-canva-to-create-featured-images/Shifting from Adobe to Canva felt like betrayal The first time I used Abobe Photoshop or Illustrator was almost 30 years ago. And I used them every day for more than 20 years. But slowly over the years, I started needing them less (and using Excel far more). Nevertheless, when I discovered and started to...Wed, 16 Jun 2021 20:49:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embracing-gutenberg-completely/https://chrislema.com/embracing-gutenberg-completely/I've moved to Gutenberg completely In Mid-January I changed my theme to Blocksy and started the re-design of all my pages from my favorite page builder to Gutenberg. Before I get into the why and how of the transition, let me first say a few words about how much I still love Beaver Builder and...Tue, 15 Jun 2021 09:30:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/all-woocommerce-roads-lead-to-improved-checkout/https://chrislema.com/all-woocommerce-roads-lead-to-improved-checkout/You can't talk about WooCommerce without mentioning Shopify When people talk about eCommerce, Shopify is going to come up. You know it will because it's the dominant player that people talk about when they talk about eCommerce. One reason people point to Shopify is their improved checkout. Almost immediately, people started building WooCommerce checkout solutions...Mon, 14 Jun 2021 19:00:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creator-stand-out/https://chrislema.com/creator-stand-out/The work to stand out is harder than ever If you're just starting out as a creator - writing, blogging, shooting video, and posting on social - the real work is figuring out how you stand out. I wrote you the other day about standing out when you build products. But what does it mean...Sun, 13 Jun 2021 17:03:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lets-talk-about-wordpress-affiliate-marketing/https://chrislema.com/lets-talk-about-wordpress-affiliate-marketing/There are a lot of perspectives to consider when we're talking about WordPress affiliate marketing You can't really spend much time on Twitter, Facebook Groups, or reading some blogs to hear the strongly opinionated take that people doing WordPress affiliate marketing are biased. You hear them say all sorts of things: Affiliates suck! They're just...Sat, 12 Jun 2021 17:07:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-a-customer-dashboard-for-your-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/creating-a-customer-dashboard-for-your-membership-site/Every membership site needs a customer dashboard One of the things I love about WooCommerce is that long before other WordPress plugins did it, they created a default \"My Account\" customer dashboard page. When it comes to customer dashboards inside membership sites, I first experienced one with Wishlist Member (before WooCommerce was a thing). But...Fri, 11 Jun 2021 19:06:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/want-increase-chance-success/https://chrislema.com/want-increase-chance-success/I spent the last four days inside a hotel suite with 8 other folks. We had all-day meetings together. We ate together. It was exhausting - and I'm an extrovert. So today was the first day in 161 days where I almost thought I would skip writing a post. Because I am drop-dead tired. But...Thu, 10 Jun 2021 21:05:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/trying-to-sell-corporate-memberships/https://chrislema.com/trying-to-sell-corporate-memberships/Selling group memberships Years ago I helped a friend build their online business. He was selling an online course that really took off. After a great two-week launch, we wanted to plan for the next opening - and that's when we decided we wanted to support corporate memberships (or team memberships, or umbrella memberships). Turns...Wed, 09 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/recapture-io-abandoned-carts-for-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/recapture-io-abandoned-carts-for-wordpress/How much would you pay to solve abandoned carts for WordPress? If you're making money while using WordPress, there's a good chance you're using a solution like WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads. And if that's the case, you're likely also facing the challenge of abandoned carts for WordPress. Now, if you don't know what an...Tue, 08 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/plugins-woocommerce-catalog-mode/https://chrislema.com/plugins-woocommerce-catalog-mode/What does it mean to run WooCommerce Catalog Mode? When we first started creating the WooCommerce hosting plans, the thought was that we were creating a very specific solution for high traffic stores. then, after a few months we discovered something very interesting. A good number of stores were running their store in catalog mode....Mon, 07 Jun 2021 19:09:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/in-a-contested-market-build-stand-apart-features/https://chrislema.com/in-a-contested-market-build-stand-apart-features/There will always be competition Eleven years ago, when The Events Calendar was created, I'm pretty sure they didn't realize how many calendar plugins were going to be created. Plugins like Gravity Forms and Yoast SEO also probably didn't imagine today's landscape. But if you're stepping into the market today, you need to think about...Sun, 06 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/mentoring/https://chrislema.com/mentoring/Some assumptions about getting mentoring Let's start with some assumptions I'm making. Everyone is busy. Few people walk around with signs on them that say, \"I mentor.\"No one knows what you need. It's not like you walk around with your own sign.You won't ever get what you never ask for. I know that's a horribly...Sat, 05 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-your-product-roadmap-themes-complete/https://chrislema.com/are-your-product-roadmap-themes-complete/Whether you create a product roadmap or not is immaterial I know people who plan their products without anything written on paper. I know folks who use SaaS products, and others who use checklists. And these days the folks who do create plans often use roadmap themes instead of specific features to plan their work....Fri, 04 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/weekend-emails/https://chrislema.com/weekend-emails/We all get weekend emails We've all been there before, right? You're out, enjoying time with friends or family and then you check your phone. You know you shouldn't have. But you did. And what do you find? Clients have sent you a bunch of weekend emails. What do you do? After all, if you...Thu, 03 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/after-launching-wordpress-site/https://chrislema.com/after-launching-wordpress-site/Your website launch isn't the end of the journey, it's just the start. Here are the 14 things you can't forget to do after launching a new WordPress site. Your Post-Launch Strategy Most of us get super excited when it looks like we're close to launching a new WordPress site. After all, weeks or months...Wed, 02 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-favorite-pricing-table-example/https://chrislema.com/my-favorite-pricing-table-example/Pricing tables are a challenge I talk about pricing a lot with my coaching clients (and folks that reach out to me on clarity). So it won't surprise you that they often ask me to show them a pricing table example that I really like. I've told you already about the things I like about...Tue, 01 Jun 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-started-with-woocommerce-product-filters/https://chrislema.com/getting-started-with-woocommerce-product-filters/We all like product filters There's no chance you've not shopped at Amazon. The only question is whether you remember what you last bought there. But what has become commonplace in eCommerce is that left column of product filters. They help you narrow down the options to help you find what you want. So let's...Mon, 31 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-simplest-newsletter-plugin-for-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/the-simplest-newsletter-plugin-for-wordpress/Are you looking for a newsletter plugin for your WordPress site? Everyone is out there talking about newsletters. And if you have a blog already, you might be looking for a newsletter plugin for WordPress. In that case, I want to introduce you to a solution you might not have heard of. It's called Newsletter...Sun, 30 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/going-to-build-premium-wordpress-plugins-do-this-first/https://chrislema.com/going-to-build-premium-wordpress-plugins-do-this-first/Want to make money with premium WordPress plugins? WordPress powers more than 40% of the web - which is crazy! It's also 18 years old, which means you might think there's no more room left to grow. My math says otherwise. And if you've read that, maybe you're considering getting into the premium WordPress plugin...Sat, 29 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-emails-you-need-to-sell-coaching/https://chrislema.com/the-emails-you-need-to-sell-coaching/Are you starting to sell coaching services? In the last few weeks I've spoken to a couple of folks that are looking to sell coaching services. Additionally, I've discovered folks in the WordPress ecosystem that are adding coaching to what they do (that I didn't know about). All of that is great. I believe there's...Fri, 28 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-speed-up-wordpress-sites-not-an-ultimate-guide/https://chrislema.com/how-to-speed-up-wordpress-sites-not-an-ultimate-guide/One tip to speed up WordPress sites If you're read any of my posts, you know I don't write ultimate guides to anything. I don't enjoy reading 10,000 word posts (even if Google thinks they're better) and so I don't write them. So this isn't an ultimate guide on how to speed up WordPress sites....Thu, 27 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/perfect-product-faq/https://chrislema.com/perfect-product-faq/There's a lot of debate about a Product FAQ Some people will tell you that it's a must have (ahem, I'm in that crowd). But others will tell you that a Product FAQ is the wrong way to focus your efforts. So before I tell you how to create the perfect one, let's look at...Wed, 26 May 2021 20:04:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/thinking-about-getting-into-the-membership-business/https://chrislema.com/thinking-about-getting-into-the-membership-business/Can a slide deck be turned into a blog post? The other day I was invited to talk with a group of folks that were thinking about getting started in the membership space. They wanted to know what thoughts, tips, and insights I had about membership sites, and so I pulled these slides together for...Tue, 25 May 2021 17:06:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-woocommerce-membership-site-in-under-10-minutes/https://chrislema.com/a-woocommerce-membership-site-in-under-10-minutes/Building a WooCommerce membership site doesn't have to be tough I know that a lot of folks out there will tell you that building a WooCommerce membership site is not only tough work, but complex work. I disagree. Often, I think the issue is not the developer side of things. It's us. The end users.Mon, 24 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-bought-a-new-pair-of-headphones-why-should-you-care/https://chrislema.com/i-bought-a-new-pair-of-headphones-why-should-you-care/Sometimes my Sunday posts don't sound and feel like the rest... I write daily. And Sundays is always such a relaxing day that I think I'm in a different headspace than any of the other days of the week. But that doesn't mean I don't try to write something that will help you. Like today...Sun, 23 May 2021 19:04:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hate-marketing-sales-build-the-narrative-into-your-product/https://chrislema.com/hate-marketing-sales-build-the-narrative-into-your-product/I hear a lot of people saying they hate marketing & sales The other day I participated with a few folks on Twitter, talking about people who say they hate marketing & sales. If you don't follow Corey, Louis, and John, you really should. They lead swipefiles.co, SparkLoop, and Credo, respectively. I'm telling you who...Sat, 22 May 2021 14:49:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-chris-lema-uses-zipmessage-for-coaching/https://chrislema.com/how-chris-lema-uses-zipmessage-for-coaching/Coaches should use ZipMessage There are a lot of cool products that are getting developed every day. Most of them feel cool for other people. I look. I like. But then I don't do much with them because they don't actually fit into my workflow and make things easier for me. But ZipMessage doesn't fall...Fri, 21 May 2021 14:49:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/differentiation-needs-to-be-more-than-rent-vs-own/https://chrislema.com/differentiation-needs-to-be-more-than-rent-vs-own/Digital sharecropping is a thing. I get it. If you've never heard of the phrase, \"digital sharecropping\", then you should check out this 2015 article at Copyblogger by Sonia Simone. The short version is don't build your digital empire on someone else's land. Sometimes people talk about it as the comparison of getting a place...Thu, 20 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-trying-to-win-or-just-not-lose/https://chrislema.com/are-you-trying-to-win-or-just-not-lose/I used to run a yearly innovation conference Years ago I worked for a company where, every year, we invited the top 20-30 employees (from about 120 folks) to a conference center for an innovation conference. I would spend months planning the conference, from the talks we gave to the team challenges. Every year we...Wed, 19 May 2021 18:55:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/cant-afford-wordpress-plugin-want/https://chrislema.com/cant-afford-wordpress-plugin-want/Eventually we all hear this request If you visit a WordPress or WooCommerce facebook group, you're likely to hear a request for a plugin that does everything. My answer often disappoints them. It doesn't exist. And if it did, you still can't afford the WordPress plugin you want. Let's start with a request. See if...Tue, 18 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-interactive-video-the-new-normal-for-ecommerce/https://chrislema.com/is-interactive-video-the-new-normal-for-ecommerce/How do you make technology predictions? So I tell you that I think interactive video is going to be the new normal. How would I know anyway? Am I credible? Am I an expert in interactive video? No. But it begs the question - how does anyone make technology predictions. So let me tell you...Mon, 17 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/customizing-the-wordpress-dashboard-is-now-easy/https://chrislema.com/customizing-the-wordpress-dashboard-is-now-easy/Make WordPress more friendly for non-technical audiences I've been having a conversation with a few folks about the challenge that comes with building WordPress solutions for non-technical customers. And the conversation regularly goes back to customizing the WordPress dashboard. So over the last few weeks I've purchased licenses for several solutions that make this easy.Sun, 16 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-much-should-a-membership-site-cost/https://chrislema.com/how-much-should-a-membership-site-cost/Want a new membership site? I don't know if it was COVID or what, but with everyone locked up in their homes, more and more people started looking at building online businesses. And that drove people to online courses and membership sites - which I love! But with all these new projects getting started, there's...Sat, 15 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-onboarding-emails-for-your-online-course/https://chrislema.com/the-onboarding-emails-for-your-online-course/When writing your onboarding emails don't make this mistake I'm not an email expert. I'm telling you that up front so that you know I'm not going to give you a perfect set of templates for your onboarding emails. But I am good at making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. And I've launched a...Fri, 14 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-courses-evergreen-or-launch-model/https://chrislema.com/selling-courses-evergreen-or-launch-model/Which approach is better when you're selling courses? We're in part seven of my series on online courses and it's time to talk about how you go about selling courses. Should you use the Evergreen model? Or should you use a Product Launch approach? In case you've missed the first six parts, here they are:...Thu, 13 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-develop-curiosity/https://chrislema.com/how-to-develop-curiosity/One of the things that people often ask is whether I have a trick for writing daily. I have three tricks, and today I'll share all of them with you. Two of them will take no time at all. But the third will take some time, because it's about developing curiosity. What must you do...Wed, 12 May 2021 20:15:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-gear-for-recording-your-online-course-content/https://chrislema.com/the-gear-for-recording-your-online-course-content/Course creators, let's talk gear We're stepping into the gear part of course creation - what you'll need when it comes to recording your online course content. And if you've not read the first five parts of this series, here they are: Who should build an online courseHow do come up with an idea for...Tue, 11 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/7-reasons-to-make-your-woocommerce-store-fast/https://chrislema.com/7-reasons-to-make-your-woocommerce-store-fast/When you built your store, it wasn't a science experiment. You wanted to make sales. So you put in the work, got some help, and got your store online. And then you waited. Maybe you got a few sales. But nothing like what you wanted. And now you're wondering if this whole thing was a...Mon, 10 May 2021 19:11:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-build-your-personal-brand-to-attract-better-clients/https://chrislema.com/how-to-build-your-personal-brand-to-attract-better-clients/A personal brand isn't the same thing as being famous If you spend time googling, \"how to build your personal brand,\" you'll find a lot of examples in articles that have nothing to do with you or me. Using Michael Jordan, Koby Bryant, or Mark Cuban as an example is pretty much useless -as they...Sun, 09 May 2021 15:01:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-you-price-your-online-course/https://chrislema.com/how-do-you-price-your-online-course/Everyone has opinions about pricing your online course When it comes to pricing your online course, you'll find few topics more discussed online. I get it, and I know it. So I'm not going to try to give you a definitive answer to what you should charge. Instead, I want to share a couple of...Sat, 08 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/alternative-to-hubspot/https://chrislema.com/alternative-to-hubspot/When you have an inbound strategy, is there really an alternative to HubSpot? When people talk about HubSpot, it's almost like they have to say more than CRM. If they don't say \"inbound,\" are they really talking about HubSpot? In other words, when people are talking about driving growth, having an inbound strategy, focused on...Fri, 07 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/increase-membership-conversions/https://chrislema.com/increase-membership-conversions/Membership sites are all different I know it. You know it. No two membership sites are the same. But they all have a few things in common - like needing to convert prospects into buyers. And most of the membership sites I've worked with also have content in common - they're focused on selling access...Thu, 06 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/theres-a-voice-in-your-head/https://chrislema.com/theres-a-voice-in-your-head/Not my normal kind of post, but if you don't dig it, you can delete the email or skip reading it and I'll have another post that I hope is more helpful for you tomorrow. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. At 2 am. And I was awake until at...Wed, 05 May 2021 18:42:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/online-course-pre-requisites/https://chrislema.com/online-course-pre-requisites/You're not at the finish line yet - the online course pre-requisites We've made a lot of progress in our 2021 Online Course Series. But we're not ready to launch, and most of the time, once people have an outline and start recording content, they think they're close. That's why I want to pause you...Tue, 04 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/making-a-booking-calendar-available-only-to-members/https://chrislema.com/making-a-booking-calendar-available-only-to-members/Are you trying to make a booking calendar available to members? A couple months ago I was helping a friend with her new membership platform. We went over everything she was doing, as we migrated her site to WooCommerce. And then came the final request - to make a booking calendar available to members. Customers...Mon, 03 May 2021 16:38:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-structure-an-online-course/https://chrislema.com/how-to-structure-an-online-course/If you structure an online course well, you'll keep people engaged Have you ever sat in a lecture - clearly presented by an expert - only to discover that you're bored out of your mind and can't stay awake? In my series focused on online courses, we've covered who should create a course, and how...Sun, 02 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-come-up-with-an-idea-for-your-online-course/https://chrislema.com/how-to-come-up-with-an-idea-for-your-online-course/Yesterday we talked about who should create a course Yesterday I answered the question, \"Who should create an online course?\" Today I want to tackle your next question, which is likely how to come up with an idea for your online course. It's the place where a lot of people get stuck. Before we get...Sat, 01 May 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/who-should-create-an-online-course-and-why/https://chrislema.com/who-should-create-an-online-course-and-why/There are platforms for online courses everywhere It doesn't matter where you look, platforms for online courses are everywhere. When you visit some of these platforms - like Podia, Teachable, Thinkific and more - you discover that each of them have 20,000 - 50,000 customers. It begs the question - is everyone creating online courses....Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/allow-comments-on-my-blog/https://chrislema.com/allow-comments-on-my-blog/You've heard the debate about comments on blogs, right? The conversation comes up a lot about comments on blogs. I used to tell people that I really appreciate comments on blogs. But that was back in 2013. And things aren't exactly the same today. Today I no longer allow comments on my blog. My friend...Thu, 29 Apr 2021 20:53:37 GMThttps://chrislema.com/teaching-soft-skills/https://chrislema.com/teaching-soft-skills/What are soft skills and why are they important? Few things are harder than teaching soft skills - because there are no simple curriculums or solutions. But I have a framework that helps. Before I introduce you to it, let's agree on what skills I'm talking about. Do these skills look familiar? Are they important...Wed, 28 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/gravity-forms-new-release/https://chrislema.com/gravity-forms-new-release/Gravity Forms 2.5 is Live If you want to talk about the most powerful plugins that have made WordPress what it is today, I would tell you it's has been form plugins, membership plugins, eCommerce plugins and LMS plugins. The original form plugin for WordPress - the one that helped people understand you could make...Tue, 27 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/boost-your-average-order-value/https://chrislema.com/boost-your-average-order-value/When I was in college, a long time ago, I had to take a statistics class. I can't recall much from that class (other than I remember barely going, and sitting in the back when I did). But I did learn the difference between mean, mode, and median. Turns out, when it comes to increasing...Mon, 26 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/content-dripping/https://chrislema.com/content-dripping/We binge everything these days.... When Stephen King, in 1996, decided to publish a novel in 6 monthly installments - The Green Mile - it was like going backwards in time. Not just because the story was set in the 1930's but because serial stories were a thing of the nineteenth century. Have you seen...Sun, 25 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/build-a-great-product-team/https://chrislema.com/build-a-great-product-team/Want to build a great product team? There's no one formula. It's been a long time since I've written about hiring on this blog. So when someone asked the question about growing and building a great product team, I thought it was time to tackle it. When it comes to building a great product team,...Sat, 24 Apr 2021 17:54:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/video-testimonials/https://chrislema.com/video-testimonials/If a picture is worth a thousand words..... There's something so incredibly powerful when you're presented with video testimonials. Don't believe me? Check this out. It's a video testimonial for my coaching service by my friend Shawn, who runs WP101. How much more powerful is that compared to putting a simple text quote in front...Fri, 23 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/niching-down/https://chrislema.com/niching-down/Let's say we were getting into the eCommerce product space... Imagine I was getting into the eCommerce product space. The first advice I'd give myself would all be about niching down. Because, after all, it's the first advice I'd give you too. Let's go further and say we still wanted to stay in the WordPress...Thu, 22 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-value-of-flexible-thinking/https://chrislema.com/the-value-of-flexible-thinking/Have you heard of the Mann Gulch Fire? In the mountains of Montana there was a wild fire. In those days every fire was put out. Every fire was worked on. So naturally, firefighters were sent to put out the fire at Mann Gulch. The wind from the river and the intense heat created a...Wed, 21 Apr 2021 20:06:07 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-turn-your-blog-content-into-an-online-course/https://chrislema.com/how-to-turn-your-blog-content-into-an-online-course/Ready to turn your blog content into an online course? If you've been creating content for your blog, you've likely wondered how hard it would be to convert blog posts into course content. After all, everyone out there is creating courses, why can't you. Today I'm going to show you how I suggest you make...Tue, 20 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/chatbot-for-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/chatbot-for-woocommerce/Have you looked for a chatbot for WooCommerce yet? I remember telling folks about the power of using a chatbot for WooCommerce several years ago. I even worked on one with a client. But that was several years ago, and things were all early versions. By now I assumed it would be easy to find...Mon, 19 Apr 2021 20:26:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-experiments/https://chrislema.com/pricing-experiments/Yesterday I wrote about pricing pages. But I didn't address the elephant in the room - which is pricing. Pricing is hard. Thankfully, we don't have to do our own research to learn a ton from pricing experiments that have already been done. So today, let's look at what we can learn from some research...Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/people-arent-converting-pricing-page/https://chrislema.com/people-arent-converting-pricing-page/Do you have a pricing page that's converting? I can't tell you exactly how long I've been working on pricing pages but you can't escape it if your career has been in product development and product management. At minimum it's been twenty years. And the worst thing you can experience is doing all the hard...Sat, 17 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/roi-calculator-part-two/https://chrislema.com/roi-calculator-part-two/Remember Part One of Building an ROI Calculator? You'll recall the other day when I first introduced the notion of building an ROI calculator, right? In that post, I introduced you to the calculation but also a bit of the complexity of the formula. Then I told you that in part two I would show...Fri, 16 Apr 2021 16:05:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hide-menu-items/https://chrislema.com/hide-menu-items/Want to hide menu items on your membership site? I help a few companies with some coaching. In the course of doing that, I often introduce some of my frameworks. And it dawned on me that it would be easy and clean to create a spot on my website where coaching clients could log in...Thu, 15 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/effective-communication-my-four-filters/https://chrislema.com/effective-communication-my-four-filters/I'm going to introduce you to what I call \"my four filters\" because they help me be as strategic as possible with my goal being effective communication.Wed, 14 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-do-you-have-in-place-to-help-protect-your-customers-from-themselves/https://chrislema.com/what-do-you-have-in-place-to-help-protect-your-customers-from-themselves/They were all staring at her. I don't just mean the person directly in front of her that seriously was looking at her with tons of curiosity. I mean people who worked there were peeking out from behind walls to see who she was and what they could learn about her just by looking at...Tue, 13 Apr 2021 20:01:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/guaranteed-delivery-of-wordpress-mail/https://chrislema.com/guaranteed-delivery-of-wordpress-mail/How is your WordPress mail getting delivered? It's one of the most important things that people don't pay attention to. They do all the work to create forms on their site, or set up automations for their WooCommerce store - with post-purchase emails. And then they forget that guaranteed delivery of their WordPress mail is...Mon, 12 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-build-your-own-online-roi-calculator-part-one/https://chrislema.com/how-to-build-your-own-online-roi-calculator-part-one/Customers want value. It's our job to articulate it. I work with both product companies and digital agencies. The same holds true for everyone - the level of competition out there is crazy. And that means we need to be able to articulate our value clearly. One of the easiest ways to do that is...Sun, 11 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comparing-conditional-logic-wordpress-forms/https://chrislema.com/comparing-conditional-logic-wordpress-forms/Form Conditional Logic is Available Everywhere If you read the post I wrote the other day about choosing the right WordPress form plugin, you'll recall that I created a grid with all the features to compare. One of the features I compared was form conditional logic. Every plugin I compared had it marked as a...Sat, 10 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/focus-on-what-you-do-best/https://chrislema.com/focus-on-what-you-do-best/What's your one thing? Remember when I told you that success often meant taking a corner in someone's mind? I called it taking a corner. But I didn't exactly tell you how to do it, other than to focus on your one thing. I'm not Jack Palance, and maybe you've not seen City Slickers, but...Fri, 09 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/action-oriented-emails/https://chrislema.com/action-oriented-emails/Action-oriented emails help you get more done while doing less. More importantly, they empower your staff. Here's what they are and how they work.Thu, 08 Apr 2021 14:41:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/poor-communication/https://chrislema.com/poor-communication/Poor communication can be frustrating. But it can also be deadly. So be proactive when establishing how your teams communicate with each other.Wed, 07 Apr 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/quiz-based-recommendation-engine/https://chrislema.com/quiz-based-recommendation-engine/What is a recommendation engine? If you've been online and browsed the web much, you've interacted with recommendation engines. They might not all feel like recommendation engines, but that's what they are. To make sure we're on the same page, let's start with my definition of a recommendation engine. A recommendation engine is a system...Tue, 06 Apr 2021 02:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-quick-website-fix/https://chrislema.com/the-quick-website-fix/How many times have you needed a quick website fix? You need some text changed on your website. You call that a quick website fix. Doesn't everyone? But the more you go searching the web or Facebook for a recommendation of someone who will do the quick website tweak, the more frustrated you get. I...Sun, 04 Apr 2021 13:36:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-pages-missing-from-your-site/https://chrislema.com/the-pages-missing-from-your-site/You have most of the pages you need If you're a product company, I know you have a homepage, a pricing page and even a contact page. But I bet there are some pages missing from your site. That's what I want to address right now. And to be honest, they're the most important pages...Sat, 03 Apr 2021 21:07:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/everything-is-hard/https://chrislema.com/everything-is-hard/I have a daughter in her Junior year in high school. Do you remember that year? If you do, you likely remember that it was the hardest year in high school. It's like every teacher wants to give you tons and tons of homework. She is working hard but wishes it was easier. And you...Fri, 02 Apr 2021 19:58:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/replies-to-your-cold-outreach/https://chrislema.com/replies-to-your-cold-outreach/How do you feel about cold outreach? Necessary evil? Great strategy? What if you could write in a way to get replies to your cold outreach? Let's step back a second. Do you remember the old days of cold outreach? I don't know if you ever worked at a place with a fax machine, but...Thu, 01 Apr 2021 16:11:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-crm-for-small-teams/https://chrislema.com/best-crm-for-small-teams/It's a question that bounces around in your head If you're a freelancer, small digital agency, or run a small team selling a plugin or theme, you've likely wondered what's the best CRM for you - or if you need one at all. Maybe you've been fine with your email system and a help desk...Wed, 31 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-write-a-support-request/https://chrislema.com/how-to-write-a-support-request/I know. It's hard to imagine that anyone would need a lesson on how to write a support request - because most of us know how to ask for help. But sadly, the more that software eats the world, the more support tickets will exist. And the more tickets that exist, the more you'll discover...Tue, 30 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/online-marketplace/https://chrislema.com/online-marketplace/If you want to sell stuff, even physical stuff, you don't need to run to ETSY. Building an online marketplace has never been easier with WordPress.Mon, 29 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/two-kinds-of-customers/https://chrislema.com/two-kinds-of-customers/There are two kinds of customers out there, and here's why I pick the harder of the two...and why it works for me.Sun, 28 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-write-a-case-study/https://chrislema.com/how-to-write-a-case-study/You have to get good at telling your own story.... If we've talked, or you've spent enough time on this blog, you've likely come to the conclusion that I care about storytelling more than anything else. You wouldn't be wrong. One skill you have to learn, in the storytelling space, is how to write a...Sat, 27 Mar 2021 21:22:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-pricing/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-pricing/What if you wanted to change your WooCommerce product pricing based on the different countries that your customers come from? Years ago I had to do this for a client and it was a mess. Today I want to show you a really simple way to handle it. It requires two plugins - a free...Fri, 26 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-are-your-own-worst-enemy/https://chrislema.com/you-are-your-own-worst-enemy/I'm writing this letter to my wife, who has wrapped up 27 years as a teacher - first private and public schools, and then homeschooling our kids. She's now thinking about her next chapter. And these words are for her. But I'm guessing something in here might help you too. You have no idea how...Thu, 25 Mar 2021 14:51:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-you-tell-your-story-matters/https://chrislema.com/how-you-tell-your-story-matters/I'm not telling you anything new How you tell your story matters a lot. It's the difference between being remembered, and not. It's the difference between someone paying you money, and not. And most importantly, it's the difference between a customer sharing your story with their friends, and not. You have to take a corner.Wed, 24 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/differentiate-or-disappear/https://chrislema.com/differentiate-or-disappear/You thought I was going to say \"Die,\" right? That's the title of one of my favorite books by Jack Trout. Differentiate or Die is a great book and you should read it. But death would be too quick and painless. No, the reality is that it's worse than death if you can't differentiate in...Tue, 23 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-success-of-woocommerce-premium-extensions/https://chrislema.com/the-success-of-woocommerce-premium-extensions/It's hard to remember the world before WooCommerce premium extensions. If you've not been in the WordPress community for a long time, you might not remember when there were only two kinds of plugins - free and premium. No extensions at all. If you go back to the old days, there were plugins like Contact...Mon, 22 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-user-profiles/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-user-profiles/What is casual data collection? If you use WooCommerce, you know what WooCommerce User Profiles are. But don't think I spend my days making up phrases like \"casual data collection.\" I'm just not smart enough to figure out if someone else has coined a better phrase. So what is casual data collection? Here's my definition:...Sun, 21 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-enemys-gate-is-down/https://chrislema.com/the-enemys-gate-is-down/Have you read Ender's Game? Then you know, \"The enemy's gate is down.\" It's a statement about orientation and the need to change it in order to win.Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/identify-your-superpower-and-learn-to-leverage-it/https://chrislema.com/identify-your-superpower-and-learn-to-leverage-it/Have you already discovered your superpower? I was in third or fourth grade when I shocked my parents and got in trouble. I'd had a recent birthday and family had given me money - it might have been the first time I got money instead of toys. What I did was take that money and...Fri, 19 Mar 2021 17:05:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-add-subtitles-to-a-video-quickly-and-easily-for-free/https://chrislema.com/how-to-add-subtitles-to-a-video-quickly-and-easily-for-free/My iPhone is always muted We were sitting in a conference room when someone started getting SMS messages. That's what we called them before we called them \"texts.\" It was a long time ago. But the point was that every message that came in made their phone ding. And then ding again. From that day,...Thu, 18 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/taking-a-corner-be-known-for-something/https://chrislema.com/taking-a-corner-be-known-for-something/What do I mean when I say you should be taking a corner? When I help, coach, or provide strategy advice to a product company, one of the first things I mention is that they should actively, and regularly, be taking a corner. What I have realized is that I'm using a phrase that not...Wed, 17 Mar 2021 18:41:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-preventing-scope-creep/https://chrislema.com/stop-preventing-scope-creep/People always tell me they hate scope creep. Me? I love it. So here are three reasons you should stop preventing scope creep right away!Tue, 16 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/running-woocommerce-campaigns/https://chrislema.com/running-woocommerce-campaigns/Last week we talked about post-purchased offers. But what about pre-purchase offers? In other words, how do you make running WooCommerce campaigns easier? Let's start by making sure we're all clear on what I mean by a WooCommerce campaign. Assume we want to promote a product - like an iPhone case, a t-shirt, or your...Mon, 15 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ten-questions-before-building-new-plugins/https://chrislema.com/ten-questions-before-building-new-plugins/Here are the ten questions I ask folks before they embark on the effort to create a new theme or plugin (or any new product).Sun, 14 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/second-mover-advantage/https://chrislema.com/second-mover-advantage/The stress of not being a market pioneer Let's talk second-mover advantages. It comes up regularly when talking with people about new products. Especially in the WordPress ecosystem, people regularly ask the question. Are all the good product ideas already taken? The underlying assumption is that once a single product exists, or once a great...Sat, 13 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lots-of-woocommerce-announcements-whats-next/https://chrislema.com/lots-of-woocommerce-announcements-whats-next/There's been a lot of WooCommerce announcements recently. A few weeks ago GoDaddy announced a massive enhancement to their WooCommerce hosting, by offering loads of value via the SkyVerge extensions (via the acquisition of SkyVerge last year). This is the logical next steps for them after having started focusing on WooCommerce hosting more than a...Fri, 12 Mar 2021 19:14:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choosing-wordpress-form-plugin/https://chrislema.com/choosing-wordpress-form-plugin/How do you decide which WordPress form plugin is the right one? Especially between Gravity Forms, Formidable Pro, and Ninja Forms. Here's my take.Thu, 11 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-decisions/https://chrislema.com/make-decisions/In business everyone has an opinion I spent more than ten years starting and building software companies. It was such a different time that it barely holds any resemblance to today's environment of startups. But the one thing that hasn't changed, over the last 24 years, is that there's never a lack of opinions. Everyone...Wed, 10 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/not-lms-online-course/https://chrislema.com/not-lms-online-course/You're not really building an LMS Today I took a Clarity call with someone who was trying to replace several systems for their customer. They wanted to use WooCommerce, but had to deliver the features of at least three systems - Kajabi, Mighty Networks, and Shopify. It wasn't a long call because as we got...Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-post-purchase-offers/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-post-purchase-offers/In this past week I discovered another cart solution for WooCommerce that already comes with the ability to handle post-purchase offers. You'll recall that I have told you about FAST before. And I gave a presentation about CartFlows more than a year ago. But with the recent discovery of a new player, I knew that...Mon, 08 Mar 2021 20:17:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/power-of-networking/https://chrislema.com/power-of-networking/I saw this tweet today... https://twitter.com/louisnicholls_/status/1368628254656102402 If you've spent the last several years becoming an amazing product developer, first let me just say that you're awesome. There are very few people on the planet (by percentage) that can make a computer do what they want it to do. The lesson Louis is highlighting is critical!...Sun, 07 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/website-accessibility-is-so-much-easier-now/https://chrislema.com/website-accessibility-is-so-much-easier-now/Our websites need to be more accessible Like most people, I can be resistant to change because it means I have to change my mental models. I have to think about things in a different way, and consider things I've never considered before. Web accessibility has been one of those things. Don't get me wrong....Sat, 06 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/driving-revenue-growth-in-the-wordpress-ecosystem/https://chrislema.com/driving-revenue-growth-in-the-wordpress-ecosystem/My Version of the Story Starts in 2016 I left Crowd Favorite at the start of 2016. We'd just had a major health scare where my wife was bleeding internally and we had to rush to an ER (where things were so severe that we were rushed to the front of the line). My wife...Fri, 05 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-sites-wordpress-plugins-list/https://chrislema.com/my-sites-wordpress-plugins-list/A couple weeks ago I told you that I had changed my theme. One reader wrote back and said, essentially, that's nice but can you get us your WordPress plugins list? I had two immediate thoughts: Are there any extraneous plugins I should clear out before I write about the list?Am I going to create...Thu, 04 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-dont-care-about-the-feature-list-i-just-want-less-work/https://chrislema.com/i-dont-care-about-the-feature-list-i-just-want-less-work/This is an opinion. Just an opinion. If you don't want to hear it, come back tomorrow. More product, agency and business advice then. But this is advice I'm starting to give many of the product developers I'm talking to - specifically plugin folks in the WordPress ecosystem. Mind you, I'm not saying you should...Wed, 03 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/successive-experimentation-affordable-loss/https://chrislema.com/successive-experimentation-affordable-loss/Most people think about their new product development efforts by looking at what they could gain. Maybe you should look at your affordable loss.Tue, 02 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-godaddy-doubles-ecommerce-plugins-available/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-godaddy-doubles-ecommerce-plugins-available/GoDaddy doubles Ecommerce plugins available If you've worked with WooCommerce for any amount of time, you've likely purchased a WooCommerce extension from the SkyVerge team. The code is great. The team is great. The support is great. Last September you may have read the post by WPTavern, which reported that GoDaddy had acquired SkyVerge -...Mon, 01 Mar 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/six-product-marketing-mistakes-to-avoid/https://chrislema.com/six-product-marketing-mistakes-to-avoid/Learning on your own dime can get costly I will never know who deserves the credit for this quote, but it's one of my favorites: You must learn from the mistakes of others. You will never live long enough to make them all yourself. The reality is that most of us learn the hard way....Sun, 28 Feb 2021 12:14:35 GMThttps://chrislema.com/anonymous-personalization-creating-a-more-engaging-experience/https://chrislema.com/anonymous-personalization-creating-a-more-engaging-experience/Is anonymous personalization an oxymoron? Anonymous personalization sounds crazy. Most of our approach to personalization comes after we identify someone. So how can you do it when a website visitor is anonymous? Before I get into it, let me ask you if this has ever happened.... Have you ever visited a website, gone to their...Sat, 27 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-there-an-ideal-blog-post-frequency-that-drives-traffic/https://chrislema.com/is-there-an-ideal-blog-post-frequency-that-drives-traffic/How often should you blog? You know what people say, publish more often and your traffic goes up. But is there any research to suggest it's actually true? HubSpot, looking at more than 13,000 companies and their blogs, determined that, \"companies that published 16 blog posts or more a month received 3.5 times the traffic...Fri, 26 Feb 2021 17:43:56 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-i-use-gutenberg-blocks/https://chrislema.com/how-do-i-use-gutenberg-blocks/This is all I ever wanted from Gutenberg You may recall a few weeks ago when I wrote about dynamic content - using some conditional logic and a plugin (if-so). But then I told you about my holy grail of dynamic content - where I use Gutenberg blocks to create reuseable content. Now imagine that...Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:30:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/writing-difficult-emails/https://chrislema.com/writing-difficult-emails/Writing difficult emails is a skill worth developing. Sometimes it can feel like writing difficult emails is a full-time job. Every week it seems like I have an opportunity to write a difficult email. At least once. As I talked about it with a colleague, we realized that we had each learned tricks from mentors...Wed, 24 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-no-products-page/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-no-products-page/I knew I was going to use WooCommerce. The challenge I did have, however, was that the standard WooCommerce approach defaults initial routing to a classic Products Page - which, for my needs, was useless. Here's what I did.Tue, 23 Feb 2021 13:20:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-woocommerce-growth/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-woocommerce-growth/WooCommerce continues to Grow In the early years of WooCommerce, folks would characterize it as a solution for tiny stores. Great if you had a blog and wanted to add a store to it - since both your blog and store could run on WordPress. WooCommerce growth, however, has confounded a number of experts who...Mon, 22 Feb 2021 16:40:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comparing-wordpress-membership-plugins/https://chrislema.com/comparing-wordpress-membership-plugins/There are a lot of membership plugins for WordPress out there. How do you pick? Well, the answer depends on what you care most about.Sun, 21 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/memberships-and-subscriptions/https://chrislema.com/memberships-and-subscriptions/Whether you build a membership or subscription solution is up to you. But it's important to know the difference. Memberships and Subscriptions If you've ever wanted to buy pounds of quinoa at ridiculously low prices, you've likely considered a Costco membership. Costco membership isn't super expensive, but it gets you access to a warehouse full of...Sat, 20 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-you-productize-consulting-services/https://chrislema.com/how-do-you-productize-consulting-services/What is a productized service? When you build B2B SaaS products, your clients often come to you with the same requests, over and over. Each one, individually, sounds like professional services. But after hearing them often enough, I began to realize we could productize the service. What is a productized service? Think of it as...Fri, 19 Feb 2021 17:48:07 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-features-and-the-elusive-roi-calculation/https://chrislema.com/product-features-and-the-elusive-roi-calculation/Can you calculate your Feature ROI? We were sitting on the campus of the University of Miami several years ago. It was the perfect chance for me to ask the same question to something like 40 different product owners. It was a technology conference, one of the country's largest, focused on WordPress. The product owners...Thu, 18 Feb 2021 20:58:35 GMThttps://chrislema.com/can-jetpack-speed-up-your-wordpress-site/https://chrislema.com/can-jetpack-speed-up-your-wordpress-site/If you've heard of Jetpack, you either love it or hate it In the early days of Jetpack, many of the folks I know thought it could be helpful. Then, it got bigger and bulkier and most folks thought it would slow your site down. Initially I think it did, but then I remember when...Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-a-product-leverage-the-sunk-cost-fallacy/https://chrislema.com/selling-a-product-leverage-the-sunk-cost-fallacy/What is the Sunk Cost Fallacy? If you've never heard of the Sunk Cost Fallacy, you've surely lived it. Here's how behavioraleconomics.com talks about it, \"Individuals commit the sunk cost fallacy when they continue a behavior or endeavor as a result of previously invested resources (time, money or effort) (Arkes & Blumer, 1985).\" One way...Tue, 16 Feb 2021 19:02:39 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-the-challenge-with-theme-templates/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-the-challenge-with-theme-templates/Each week I tell you what's happened in the world of eCommerce - and specifically WooCommerce. Last week WooCommerce rolled out their latest (minor) release, 5.0 and you can read about the entire release on their blog. That's it. That's the big news of last week. Oh, but wait, something else happened last week.** A...Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:19:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/conversion-secrets-how-to-improve-your-website-copy/https://chrislema.com/conversion-secrets-how-to-improve-your-website-copy/Is anyone ever happy with their website copy? I knew, when I titled this article, that we could all start together in the same place. No one feels like their website copy is good enough. Right? But feeling cruddy or frustrated is just the start. It's not where we want to end up. If you...Sun, 14 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-i-determine-the-size-of-the-web-server/https://chrislema.com/how-do-i-determine-the-size-of-the-web-server/I hear this question weekly This past week I was on a call with a partner of ours and one of his clients. If you don't recall, I work as the VP of Products at Nexcess - a hosting company. We were talking about a pretty large site, and the client wanted to talk technology....Sat, 13 Feb 2021 20:09:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-i-chose-fathom-analytics/https://chrislema.com/why-i-chose-fathom-analytics/Have you heard of Fathom Analytics? Most folks have never heard of any website analytics solution other than Google. But you may have noticed, on this site, that I don't have to pop up any notice about GDPR or cookies. That's because I've switched from Google Analytics to Fathom Analytics. You've heard the saying, right?...Fri, 12 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/advanced-email-personalization/https://chrislema.com/advanced-email-personalization/Every now and then I read an article that I wish I wrote. The other day I read one on email personalization. It's not the words or even the ideas. It's the depth on such an important topic. I have known Brennan for years. There's no one better to write this article. So for today,...Thu, 11 Feb 2021 19:42:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-make-interactive-videos-quickly-easily/https://chrislema.com/how-to-make-interactive-videos-quickly-easily/It should be easy and inexpensive to create interactive videos If you were to google \"interactive videos\" right now, like I did the other day, you'd find a ton of options - platforms that help you make and host these videos, and articles that teach you how to make interactive videos. You know what you...Wed, 10 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-one-simple-strategy-to-generate-more-leads-that-most-folks-forget/https://chrislema.com/the-one-simple-strategy-to-generate-more-leads-that-most-folks-forget/There are a ton of lead generation strategies already out there If you want to generate more leads, there's no doubt you'll google the topic and get smart and useful articles like these: 7 Proven Lead Generation Ideas You Need to Try6 Fast and Easy Ways to Increase Lead Generation12 Lead Generation Strategies that will...Tue, 09 Feb 2021 20:28:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-the-power-of-an-api/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-the-power-of-an-api/The power of an API is what helps eCommerce platforms win Product Hunt is a website that helps people discover new technologies and apps. Last week I discovered a new solution called Rutter. It defines itself as one API for every eCommerce platform. This past week, a friend introduced a (new to me) solution called...Mon, 08 Feb 2021 21:18:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-your-emotions-serving-you/https://chrislema.com/are-your-emotions-serving-you/Did you watch The Last Dance? Even if you didn't watch The Last Dance, you must have heard about it, right? But here's to hoping you watched it. Even if you don't like basketball or Michael Jordan. The 10-part series is an amazing look into the world of high performance athletes. My favorite theme throughout...Sun, 07 Feb 2021 09:42:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-say-no-a-lot/https://chrislema.com/i-say-no-a-lot/Here's my single trick to make everything better: I say no a lot. It's the single best strategy I've ever learned to help me drive success.Sat, 06 Feb 2021 08:13:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-your-website-a-better-salesperson/https://chrislema.com/make-your-website-a-better-salesperson/Has this ever happened to you? You're talking to a friend and they suddenly name another person. But it's a name you've never heard of before. And suddenly you're wondering how you got so lost. Now the story doesn't make any sense. And you're still trying to work out who that other person is. Spouse?...Fri, 05 Feb 2021 19:08:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embracing-a-challenger-brand-strategy/https://chrislema.com/embracing-a-challenger-brand-strategy/Never heard of the Challenger Brand Strategy? No problem. There's a good chance you haven't heard of the challenger brand strategy, but I'm positive you've seen it at work. Time for a quick test to see which of these brands you recognize: Pepsi (instead of Coke)Ben & Jerry's (instead of Haagen-Daz)Apple (instead of Microsoft) It's...Thu, 04 Feb 2021 14:25:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-marketing-automation-fluentcrm/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-marketing-automation-fluentcrm/Not everyone can afford an external marketing automation platform Let me start by saying that when it comes to marketing automation platforms, I'm always ready to recommend several solutions. I've worked with a ton of them, and recently compared ConvertKit with ActiveCampaign. But there are a ton of great solutions out there, like Constant Contact,...Wed, 03 Feb 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/heres-how-to-position-yourself-in-the-market/https://chrislema.com/heres-how-to-position-yourself-in-the-market/For digital agencies, it's always a question of expertise I interact with a lot of digital agencies in the WordPress ecosystem. Whether they're micro-agencies (small teams under 5 full time employees) or mid-sized agencies (up to 200 employees), the conversations often circle back to how to position yourself in the market. For years, the only...Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:57:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-the-checkout-experience/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-the-checkout-experience/We were about to go on a vacation. The kind where I would be away from work for a week and I would mostly relax by a pool and listen to music on my iPod. The night before we headed to the airport I remember deciding that I needed some music. What happened next was...Mon, 01 Feb 2021 13:27:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ten-questions-to-ask-before-you-quote-your-next-ecommerce-project/https://chrislema.com/ten-questions-to-ask-before-you-quote-your-next-ecommerce-project/It can be hard to estimate store projects I'm not lying when I tell you that I once knew a team that sent a customer a quote for a project, only to discover the developer involved had only quoted half the project. Estimating is tough work, and estimating eCommerce projects is the roughest of all....Sun, 31 Jan 2021 15:40:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reusable-content-blocks-with-gutenberg-the-blocksy-theme/https://chrislema.com/reusable-content-blocks-with-gutenberg-the-blocksy-theme/The holy grail of Gutenberg for me has been Reusable Content Blocks What do I want? Reusable content blocks? When do I want them? The minute Gutenberg was announced (which was a bit ago). Initially I was confused by Gutenberg, but it's been a bit and this time my transition to using it (on this...Sat, 30 Jan 2021 13:22:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-past-your-insecurity-to-write-an-about-page-that-delivers-results/https://chrislema.com/getting-past-your-insecurity-to-write-an-about-page-that-delivers-results/If you are going to write an about page, get ready for stress There are few things harder, when it comes to managing your own website, than the work that to write an about page that actually works. It seems like the moment you start writing, every voice in your head joins together to stop...Fri, 29 Jan 2021 20:44:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/when-did-you-last-look-at-the-dap-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/when-did-you-last-look-at-the-dap-membership-plugin/The more things change... In late November of 2020 I turned 50 and a few of my friends got together and bought be an incredible gift - a new MoFi Studiodeck Turntable. I haven't owned a record player (or records) since I was a kid. If you know me, the next sentence won't surprise you....Thu, 28 Jan 2021 13:53:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-best-ways-to-request-a-testimonial/https://chrislema.com/the-best-ways-to-request-a-testimonial/Why should you ask for a testimonial? As I transition my website from a pagebuilder to using Gutenberg, I'm re-doing my site's pages. If you didn't catch it, I added a new page, which is called \"Ask me a Question.\" The page ends with the easy way to ask me a question using Clarity, the...Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:50:31 GMThttps://chrislema.com/designing-for-conversion/https://chrislema.com/designing-for-conversion/You have a problem. But it's not traffic. Yesterday I highlighted that everyone wants more traffic. But let's be honest, that's not what you really want. Right? You want to convert that traffic. You want the results of that traffic visiting your site and buying from you. You want the cash. So now we need...Tue, 26 Jan 2021 20:12:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/driving-traffic-to-your-store/https://chrislema.com/driving-traffic-to-your-store/Everyone wants to drive traffic Whether you're a freelance store builder, or work with an agency, you likely know that once an online store is built, the project isn't over. It may feel like the work is done, but in reality, the work is just getting started. Building a store is a pre-requisite for earning...Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:31:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-you-come-up-with-blog-topics/https://chrislema.com/how-do-you-come-up-with-blog-topics/Do you already have a list of blog topics? Today is 25 days of blogging in a row. Yesterday, after my longer post on the size of the WordPress market for premium plugins, a ready hit reply (to the newsletter) and asked the question, \"Do you already have a list of bog topics or are...Sun, 24 Jan 2021 16:19:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/market-size-premium-plugin-2021/https://chrislema.com/market-size-premium-plugin-2021/Want to enter the world of WordPress premium plugins? Think that it's too late to create a premium plugin? Most people in the space might agree with you. After all, there's a plugin for everything. Right? Well, hold on a second. If you've been paying attention to the world of WordPress, you have likely seen someone...Sat, 23 Jan 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/this-site-now-runs-on-the-blocksy-theme/https://chrislema.com/this-site-now-runs-on-the-blocksy-theme/The Blocksy theme is one of four really fast themes The other day I told you about several themes I was checking out as I start to move from a pagebuilder-based site to Gutenberg. That list, if you recall, included the following four themes that are all really clean and load really quickly (alpha order):...Fri, 22 Jan 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-watching-elasticsearch/https://chrislema.com/are-you-watching-elasticsearch/There's a ton that I don't know. Let's start with that. There's a software solution out there that isn't just about search. It's called Elasticsearch by a company called Elastic. And they recently announced a change to their licensing. It's a powerful piece of software that is used in a lot of places. And it's...Thu, 21 Jan 2021 21:53:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-favorite-appointment-scheduling-software/https://chrislema.com/my-favorite-appointment-scheduling-software/Does your appointment scheduling software end up rewarding bad behavior? I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but it happens on a weekly basis to me. And it's so incredibly annoying. Yes, I'm about to rant about appointment scheduling software. It's a silly thing. But it's not the software that bothers me....Wed, 20 Jan 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/software-licensing-for-wordpress-plugins/https://chrislema.com/software-licensing-for-wordpress-plugins/Need license keys for your WordPress plugin or theme? If you've ever wanted to monetize the code you've written, especially (but not uniquely) in the WordPress ecosystem, you've likely thought about how you'd go about protecting it. After all, giving away a version of your code may make sense from a marketing perspective, but eventually...Tue, 19 Jan 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-woocommerce-reviews/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-woocommerce-reviews/WooCommerce Reviews are Powerful Every week I share with you what's been going on in WooCommerce in the last week. This past week the latest version (4.9) was released. They made some things faster (including the API), and they worked on the dashboard. All good things. But my favorite is whenever they work on WooCommerce...Mon, 18 Jan 2021 16:37:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/recurring-revenue-extending-your-team/https://chrislema.com/recurring-revenue-extending-your-team/Recurring Revenue is the Name of the Game If you're running a digital agency, creating recurring revenue is critical. But to do that, you likely have to extend your team. And just the other day, I told you that more resources aren't always the answer. But today I want to suggest an approach that lowers,...Sun, 17 Jan 2021 21:47:39 GMThttps://chrislema.com/endangering-ecosystem-flexibility/https://chrislema.com/endangering-ecosystem-flexibility/What made WordPress incredible (and helped it grow) If you were around in the old days, like 2005, there were a lot of different blogging platforms. You could find them using a variety of different programming languages (in case you wanted to make modifications), but each one came with some core features that made it...Sat, 16 Jan 2021 12:48:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/more-resources-wont-help/https://chrislema.com/more-resources-wont-help/I remember reading a story, when I was first managing people, about Bill Gates and his approach to resources at Microsoft. According to the story, he regularly rejected requests to add resources to the development teams. When I first heard it, I was managing a team of three software developers. I thought his rejection was...Fri, 15 Jan 2021 12:42:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/when-the-reciprocity-principle-goes-wrong/https://chrislema.com/when-the-reciprocity-principle-goes-wrong/What is the reciprocity principle? If you've never heard of the reciprocity principle, you've surely experienced it. If I say to you, \"thank you,\" what are you going to say back? If I pay you a compliment, like, \"I love your outfit,\" you'll likely figure out some way to return a compliment. In defining reciprocity,...Thu, 14 Jan 2021 21:49:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dealing-with-criticism/https://chrislema.com/dealing-with-criticism/Creating Free Content Comes with Criticism You likely have had the experience where you overhear people talking and you feel like you just have to jump into the conversation? That happened to me today. Normally, if it was in person, it would have been rude. But it was on Twitter, so responding about free content...Wed, 13 Jan 2021 20:39:06 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-sell-online-courses-from-your-own-website/https://chrislema.com/how-to-sell-online-courses-from-your-own-website/When Selling Online Courses, You Have Options When you're wondering how to sell online courses from your own website, the problem isn't really a \"how to do it\" problem. Instead, it's a \"which way is right\" and \"which way is wrong\" kind of challenge. Because no one wants to pick the wrong approach and then...Tue, 12 Jan 2021 20:28:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/headless-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/headless-woocommerce/What is Headless WooCommerce? Anytime someone says headless, it makes you worry a bit, right? I mean, it's a strange metaphor to use for anything good. But when it comes to headless WooCommerce, it's not a bad thing. It's a really good thing. And the reason it comes up today is a tweet (see below)...Mon, 11 Jan 2021 19:55:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/share-everything-you-know/https://chrislema.com/share-everything-you-know/For a period of three years I blogged daily. I missed a day here or there when I was sick or traveling, but it was more about the habit and pleasure I felt as I shared insights and reviews of products and services in the WordPress ecosystem. But that was a few years ago and...Sun, 10 Jan 2021 15:46:06 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-best-ways-to-learn-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/the-best-ways-to-learn-wordpress/WordPress adoption is increasing rapidly I don't know if you noticed but WordPress continues to grow - and in the last year, it's grown at a rapid pace. Adoption over the last few years has been good, but nothing like 2020. As we start the new year, W3Techs puts it at 39.6%. Now, more than...Sat, 09 Jan 2021 21:50:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-i-recommend-convertkit-vs-activecampaign/https://chrislema.com/why-i-recommend-convertkit-vs-activecampaign/Recommendations are a funny thing Everyone has an opinion, when it comes to the tools they use. And when someone asks me for my opinion, I give it to them. But the moment I do, something crazy happens. The debate and questioning starts. Did I think about this? Have I considered that? And in my...Fri, 08 Jan 2021 21:34:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/competition-is-good/https://chrislema.com/competition-is-good/Competition is Good In 1995 Kim Polese was the product manager who launched Java to the world, from Sun Microsystems. The next year she left Sun with Arthur van Hoff and started a company named Marimba. I know, that's a long time ago. But for us old folks, it was a heady time when the...Thu, 07 Jan 2021 21:36:41 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-a-membership-plugin-need-these-11-features/https://chrislema.com/building-a-membership-plugin-need-these-11-features/Speaking at WordFest Live 2021 Later this month I'll be speaking at WordFest Live 2021. My session is titled, \"Selling Access to Content: A Review of your Options.\" In my talk, I'm looking at membership and LMS plugins for WordPress. But anytime you compare products, you have to start somewhere else. You have to define...Wed, 06 Jan 2021 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-is-the-fastest-woocommerce-theme/https://chrislema.com/what-is-the-fastest-woocommerce-theme/Not all fast WooCommerce themes are all that fast There are a lot of themes for WooCommerce that tell you that they're fast. It's in all their marketing text, all over their page. That's because every merchant wants the fastest WooCommerce theme they can find. But when it comes to speed and WooCommerce, the trade-offs...Tue, 05 Jan 2021 20:29:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-oliverpos/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-oliverpos/Before we get into OliverPOS, let's look at normal POS solutions Before we talk about WooCommerce & OliverPOS, let's make sure we're all on the same page when it comes to POS solutions. I'm talking about Point of Sale systems. If you've ever walked into a retail shop, you've checked out at a cash register....Mon, 04 Jan 2021 18:32:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-dynamic-content/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-dynamic-content/What is dynamic content? Dynamic content is the opposite of static content. When you show the exact same content to every single person, and it never changes, that's static content. So dynamic content is content you can change based on different circumstances. The first time I stepped onto a car lot to buy my first...Sun, 03 Jan 2021 21:14:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-site-vs-online-course/https://chrislema.com/membership-site-vs-online-course/Building a Membership Site vs an Online Course - which is the right option for you (and your customers)? I'm often asked by people if they should build a membership site, or if they should focus on building an online course. A lot of times we get into the technology you need to create the...Sat, 02 Jan 2021 20:54:52 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-reduce-bias-in-decision-making-when-evaluating-new-projects-products/https://chrislema.com/how-to-reduce-bias-in-decision-making-when-evaluating-new-projects-products/We all have bias when we make decisions. It's not bad. The other day I saw this tweet. I don't know Louis Nicholls directly, but a quick look at his Twitter feed and site, and I can tell he's sharp. Also, I don't disagree with the emotion behind the tweet, because I see this dynamic...Fri, 01 Jan 2021 21:36:51 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-year-in-review-2020/https://chrislema.com/the-year-in-review-2020/As I was walking up the stairs to my home office, I fell. Not a little slip. A serious, everyone-in-the-house-freaked-out, fall. My arm, which I used to try and stabilize myself, felt pulled out of the socket and like I re-injured a shoulder that's been troubling me for the last few months. Everyone came to...Thu, 31 Dec 2020 18:47:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-security-reporting/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-security-reporting/Always Pay Attention to WooCommerce Security Whether you're a freelancer building WooCommerce stores, a merchant running a WooCommerce store, or an agency helping WooCommerce stores manage their stores - there's nothing that stresses you out as much as when you hear there's a new WooCommerce security issue at play. This past week we heard two...Mon, 28 Dec 2020 10:38:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-fastco/https://chrislema.com/last-week-in-woocommerce-fastco/The Biggest Problem in eCommerce The biggest problem in eCommerce is cart abandonment, with speed a close second. But the consequences of a slow site occur higher in the funnel. In other words, it's not clear that once you walk into a store that you're ready to purchase something. But if you put something in...Mon, 21 Dec 2020 14:11:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/copy-the-iphone-12-launch-to-help-your-store/https://chrislema.com/copy-the-iphone-12-launch-to-help-your-store/Here's why you should copy the iPhone 12 launch strategy I purchased a new iPhone 12 Pro. It's blue and it's great. But that's not what I want to talk to you about today. Because the purchase of a phone, regardless of who makes it, or what model it is, barely registers as an event...Wed, 28 Oct 2020 22:14:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-with-amazon-s3/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-with-amazon-s3/Speed is everything. So people will try anything. If you're anything like me, you've run at least one test on your own website to see how fast it loads. Whether it was Google's Page Speed Insights or GTMetrix, the point is, you don't want to own a slow site. It's today's version of being the...Tue, 27 Oct 2020 15:26:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/great-answer-wrong-question/https://chrislema.com/great-answer-wrong-question/I was a freshman in college when I failed my first test. Until then, throughout Jr and Sr high school I was an A student. I wasn't used to failing tests. At all. But in college I took a class that was for Juniors. As a freshman. And I loved it. But it was tough....Tue, 29 Sep 2020 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-questions-before-migrating-a-wordpress-site/https://chrislema.com/five-questions-before-migrating-a-wordpress-site/Migrating a WordPress Site Should be Straightforward If you've never migrated a WordPress site, from one host to another, it shouldn't be difficult. After all, WordPress has been around for a long time. So it's not like you're splitting apart an atom. This is stuff others have done before - a lot of times. It...Wed, 02 Sep 2020 11:21:37 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-more-leads/https://chrislema.com/getting-more-leads/Last weekend I had several Task Rabbit folks come to the house to do different odd jobs. And I noticed a very similar pattern. If getting more leads is what you're into (and who isn't), I think there is a lesson to be learned here. But let me back up and tell you what happened.Mon, 24 Aug 2020 10:44:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choosing-the-best-wordpress-hosting-for-you/https://chrislema.com/choosing-the-best-wordpress-hosting-for-you/How do you know which WordPress hosting is right for You? By now you've heard of WordPress and that it powers a massive number of websites across the globe. You've heard that it's pretty flexible and easy. And you may have heard that finding the best WordPress hosting is easy. After all, everyone offers WordPress hosting.Fri, 31 Jul 2020 15:07:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-second-half-of-the-year-3-trends-to-watch/https://chrislema.com/the-second-half-of-the-year-3-trends-to-watch/We're now in July. Way to go - we made it. But now that we're in the second half of the year, we may want to take a moment in time to reflect and consider some of the trends we're seeing and what they mean for each of us.Mon, 06 Jul 2020 16:02:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/6-home-office-upgrades-if-you-work-from-home/https://chrislema.com/6-home-office-upgrades-if-you-work-from-home/My Personal Home Office Upgrades If you have found yourself on constant video calls because you're now working from home, you've likely seen a lot of setups. Let's be honest - some are horrible. Others, on the other hand, look amazing. What have they done different? Here's a list of 6 home office upgrades you might consider.Sun, 07 Jun 2020 13:35:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/have-you-embraced-the-subscription-business-model-yet/https://chrislema.com/have-you-embraced-the-subscription-business-model-yet/Can we talk about the subscription business model for a bit? With millions of people out of work, tons of business closed down, and no clarity on what the new normal will be, the recent Subscription Impact Report by Zuora highlighted the good news that more than half have not seen an impact on their subscriber growth.Mon, 20 Apr 2020 20:47:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-a-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/building-a-membership-site/What is a Membership Site All About? If you're thinking about building a membership site, there's a good chance you already know what goes into one. But since so many people talk about membership sites in so many different ways, as synonyms for anything from eCourseware, to association sites, to content protection, it's worth being clear.Wed, 15 Apr 2020 01:08:41 GMThttps://chrislema.com/multiyear-contracts-that-make-sense/https://chrislema.com/multiyear-contracts-that-make-sense/Can we talk about multiyear contracts for a second? I learned about multiyear contracts in the context of SaaS products. But I believe they apply to service companies equally well. So today I wanted to talk about multiyear contracts.Tue, 07 Apr 2020 14:17:07 GMThttps://chrislema.com/mini-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/mini-membership-site/What is a Mini Membership Site? Think of a mini membership site as simply an area of your website that is password protected for specific content. It doesn't take over your whole site. It doesn't require that you change your theme or anything else.Fri, 03 Apr 2020 14:11:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-sell-in-hard-times/https://chrislema.com/how-to-sell-in-hard-times/How do you sell in a downturn? If you've never been in this situation before, I get it. It's stressful. It's confusing. And when you're worried that you'll come off tone deaf, it's a challenge to know how to sell in hard times. But I think you'll find that the formula isn't all that complicated.Thu, 02 Apr 2020 15:05:13 GMThttps://chrislema.com/7-tips-for-telling-stories-on-zoom/https://chrislema.com/7-tips-for-telling-stories-on-zoom/Everyone is Telling Stories Right Now...on Zoom. My team is on daily Zoom calls. My kids are on Zoom calls for school. My wife gathers with a group of women so they can drink wine on Zoom. So why shouldn't I be telling stories on zoom?Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:35:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-advice-online/https://chrislema.com/selling-advice-online/Run your own appointment booking service on your own site Want to talk about selling advice online? The other day I told you how you could increase your revenue by adding gift card service to your own site. Today I want to show you how you can create your own mini Clarity.fm service on your...Mon, 30 Mar 2020 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/now-your-website-is-your-business-card/https://chrislema.com/now-your-website-is-your-business-card/Let's go back to November or December.... If your life looked anything like mine, you were in meetings talking about the 2020 budget. Trying to figure out where to spend money and where not to spend it. Maybe, like me and my team, you decided to push for an event-based approach to the budget. We...Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:24:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/help-your-revenue-by-adding-online-gift-cards/https://chrislema.com/help-your-revenue-by-adding-online-gift-cards/Want to Offer Online Gift Cards? Now it's Easy! With everyone stuck in their homes, and companies making the shift to more effective use of their websites, the idea of offering online gift cards is coming up regularly. I've had four companies ask about it in the last two weeks. So here's how I would...Mon, 23 Mar 2020 11:29:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-a-simple-membership-site-with-restrict-content-pro/https://chrislema.com/creating-a-simple-membership-site-with-restrict-content-pro/What's the right plugin for a simple membership site? The other day I got an email that likely sounds familiar, if you've ever tried to create a simple membership site and realized there were a ton of plugins available to choose from. \"I'm trying to figure out which WordPress membership/subscription plugin is best for me...I'd...Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:06:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wishlist-member-why-its-becoming-one-of-the-best-membership-plugins-around/https://chrislema.com/wishlist-member-why-its-becoming-one-of-the-best-membership-plugins-around/Wishlist Member is the Ali of Membership Plugins Wishlist Member is one of the oldest membership plugins for WordPress, in fact, it was around when I built my first membership site with WordPress, back in May of 2006. But it's quickly becoming the Muhammad Ali of membership plugins for WordPress. What do I mean by...Mon, 24 Feb 2020 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reducing-options-can-drive-online-conversions/https://chrislema.com/reducing-options-can-drive-online-conversions/A case of too many options Something happened today, which I'll get to in a minute, that drove me to write about online conversions. Before I get to that, let's chat for a second about situations with tons of options. I don't know if you know this, but the Cheesecake Factory menus is as long...Thu, 20 Feb 2020 14:16:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/answering-the-question-is-that-your-best-price/https://chrislema.com/answering-the-question-is-that-your-best-price/Sending Out Proposals? If you're sending out proposals, you likely get back the question about whether what you've sent includes your best price. It's a way of asking, \"why are you so expensive compared to all the other quotes I've received.\" There are three things you have to know. First, you have to know that...Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:35:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comparing-caching-plugins-for-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/comparing-caching-plugins-for-wordpress/Before making a final selection, I always start with a comparison. So here's my evaluation after comparing caching plugins for WordPress. If you don't know what caching is or need a quick refresher, my buddy Mendel just published a post for you. The Candidates I decided that I wanted to look at more than just...Wed, 05 Feb 2020 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-best-woocommerce-hosting-in-2020/https://chrislema.com/the-best-woocommerce-hosting-in-2020/Choosing The Best WooCommerce Hosting Takes Work Want the best WooCommerce hosting available? First we need to talk about hotel choices. If you are looking for a hotel, and you want a place to sleep for a night, and it's a one night stay, you have to ask yourself: How much do I want to...Wed, 29 Jan 2020 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/planning-your-next-ecommerce-website-migration/https://chrislema.com/planning-your-next-ecommerce-website-migration/An eCommerce website migration isn't like a normal migration If you've ever moved a WordPress site from one host to another, you've likely used tools to help you do it. There are some amazing tools out there like BlogVault. I know because we use them (as do other hosting companies) at Liquid Web and Nexcess...Tue, 21 Jan 2020 23:20:30 GMThttps://chrislema.com/looking-for-gutenberg-blocks-try-qubely/https://chrislema.com/looking-for-gutenberg-blocks-try-qubely/The Goal of Gutenberg Blocks When people first started talking about Gutenberg blocks, the idea was that every element in the WordPress editor would be a block. Every paragraph. Every image. Every video. Every single thing would be a block. And with this approach, every block would have it's own controls - so you could...Wed, 15 Jan 2020 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-as-landing-page-software/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-as-landing-page-software/Evaluating Landing Page Software Options Whether you work in a startup or a corporate setting, landing pages are a key part of what you need to use to get your message out into the world. And that's when you start hearing about WordPress and all the other landing page software alternatives. You've likely heard of...Wed, 08 Jan 2020 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ecommerce-reviews-missing-feature/https://chrislema.com/ecommerce-reviews-missing-feature/We all use eCommerce Reviews I don't know about you but when I visit Amazon and look at a product, one of the first things I do is scroll down to the reviews. And I'm not going there to read the great reviews. No, instead, what I'm doing is reading the negative reviews. I'm asking...Tue, 11 Sep 2018 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-we-created-the-managed-woocommerce-beginner-plan/https://chrislema.com/why-we-created-the-managed-woocommerce-beginner-plan/Today we announced even cheaper Managed WooCommerce Plans for new stores! I can't tell you how many people just about lost their mind when we launched our initial plans for Managed WooCommerce Hosting. After all, our initial price was $250 a month. That's a lot of money. But you know who didn't complain? Store Owners....Wed, 05 Sep 2018 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-server-requirements/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-server-requirements/In this video I walk you thru the eight pieces of data you're going to need, the next time you're trying to figure out WooCommerce server requirements. The Data You Need Daily Traffic One of the things you're going to want to know is how much traffic you get on a daily basis. This...Wed, 04 Apr 2018 21:31:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/if-i-were-talking-about-gutenberg-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/if-i-were-talking-about-gutenberg-wordpress/The last time I wrote about Gutenberg, I told you I was confused. I don't think I'm confused anymore, but I am clear that I don't speak in any official capacity for WordPress, Automattic or anyone involved in the development of Gutenberg. So take these thoughts for what they are - my own personal take on what...Tue, 02 Jan 2018 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/customer-onboarding-process/https://chrislema.com/customer-onboarding-process/How do you learn? One of the conversations I enjoy the most is one I regularly have with freelancers about learning and mastery. The core of my question always comes down to this: \"How do you learn best?\" More often than not, the answer I get - and this may be because of the circles I run in...Tue, 01 Aug 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-an-online-course-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/building-an-online-course-woocommerce/You too can Build an Online Course I was going to sell this course. But then I published a post yesterday that said we should share everything we know. So today I decided I would share with you the exact steps you need to build an online course all on your own. I walk you...Mon, 26 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/misunderstanding-goal-gutenberg-writing-experience/https://chrislema.com/misunderstanding-goal-gutenberg-writing-experience/I checked out the Gutenberg plugin and new writing experience for WordPress - via an early plugin version. It's clear I missed the goal of this thing. I tried the new Gutenberg writing experience for WordPress today! Having read all the early reviews of the new Gutenberg plugin (which is still a very early release),...Thu, 22 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/private-content/https://chrislema.com/private-content/If you want private content for each different member of your site, this could be very helpful for you. Individualized Private Content This is one of those features I've wanted for just about every coaching or mentoring site I've worked on. While not every membership or course site needs it, when you do, it's often...Thu, 22 Jun 2017 00:47:33 GMThttps://chrislema.com/becoming-a-great-conversationalist/https://chrislema.com/becoming-a-great-conversationalist/Most of us aren't great at business conversations In a CNN poll run a few years ago, they asked people how well they could manage a business conversation. I'm sure that the people who responded (more than 3500 in a nationwide poll) crafted their own unique spin on the scenario they were imagining. Regardless,...Wed, 21 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ecommerce-trends-2017/https://chrislema.com/ecommerce-trends-2017/Sometimes it helps to raise your head up and look around. It's easy to get caught thinking you know what you know, only to have to spend some time checking out how things are changing. It's part of my job at Liquid Web, as their VP of Products, to do this kind of environmental scanning,...Mon, 19 Jun 2017 23:32:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-more-money-in-2017/https://chrislema.com/make-more-money-in-2017/If you want to make more money in 2017, you don't need 12, 37 or 101 new ways. You need this one trick. This one strategy. Check it out. Can I ask you a question? Over the last several weeks, I've ended up in several conversations about the WordPress ecosystem. Mostly we've been talking about...Sat, 17 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/managing-for-happiness/https://chrislema.com/managing-for-happiness/Do you know David Henzel? I met David several years ago, and he was already someone to pay attention to. We were in Las Vegas at a conference and was already a serial entrepreneur working on the latest business he'd help co-found, MaxCDN. Listening to him talk at dinner that night, I knew I wanted more...Fri, 16 Jun 2017 21:53:56 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-i-love-heap-analytics/https://chrislema.com/why-i-love-heap-analytics/Everything is different at scale. If I asked you to figure out how many people on your block (about 20 homes) had visited Disneyland in the last year, you might decide to go door-to-door and ask. But if I asked you how many people in your state had visited Disneyland in the last year, that...Thu, 15 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-economy-shrinking/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-economy-shrinking/Is the WordPress economy hurting? Shrinking? I don't know if you have heard this from folks, as you've been talking or thinking. Maybe you run an agency that focuses on WordPress websites and you're starting to hear folks talk about, \"We're getting less leads. There's less folks who are asking for our work.\" You wonder,...Wed, 14 Jun 2017 11:58:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/becoming-a-better-blogger/https://chrislema.com/becoming-a-better-blogger/Becoming a better blogger is just like becoming a better guitarist There's no way you become a great (or even decent) guitarist without picking up a guitar, grabbing a music book, learning where the notes and positions are, and this is the most important part, practicing the guitar. You don't play the song the right...Mon, 12 Jun 2017 22:49:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choose-vulnerability/https://chrislema.com/choose-vulnerability/The expert vs. the experienced learner... Let's say you're about to teach something to an audience. You step on the stage. And in that moment, you have to determine your tone. Will the tone be of an expert who's there to articulate and share information that ought to be trusted because of your experience and...Thu, 08 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/inside-out-vs-outside-in-marketing/https://chrislema.com/inside-out-vs-outside-in-marketing/For the last few years I've been coaching and working with companies to help them - from a marketing perspective or from a product development perspective - shift the defaults of their thinking. The shift is one I felt like I had made several years ago and was now ready to systematize it in both...Wed, 07 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blog-post-into-video/https://chrislema.com/blog-post-into-video/Have you seen videos like these? The other day I clicked a link on Twitter to an article that was on CNN. When I got to the post, I noticed there was a video at the top of the page. It may have even auto-started, but that wasn't what surprised me. And I'll be honest,...Mon, 05 Jun 2017 23:42:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-lms-plugins/https://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-lms-plugins/How do you choose from the best WordPress LMS plugins? A few years ago I decided to watch a show that I'd never heard about. It was called The Wire. I simply found it, decided to watch it, and then loved it. Like most people who discover something amazing, I rushed to recommend the series to some...Sun, 04 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/email-gating-videos-convertplayer/https://chrislema.com/email-gating-videos-convertplayer/Do you remember LeadPlayer? Long before there was the company and product Leadpages, there was another product that I purchased called LeadPlayer. It was a product developed by Clay (from Leadpages) and his lead developer, Simon Payne. It was the first product I purchased from those guys and I loved it because it made email gating...Sat, 03 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/work-smarter-not-harder/https://chrislema.com/work-smarter-not-harder/There's never enough time. If you're like me, you know that there's always more things to learn. More stuff to master. Our jobs don't get easier they get more expansive. And while it's a wonderful thing if you're ready for it, most of us aren't ready for it. Remember when you were excited to just...Fri, 02 Jun 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/price-or-cost/https://chrislema.com/price-or-cost/Can I tell you a story about a refrigerator? Years ago I went to a store to help a friend buy a refrigerator. It was, as you might expect, a pretty boring trip. When you compare refrigerators, you look at the features, the capacity and the price. That's about it. The reason I remember it...Wed, 31 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hubspot-stripe-integration/https://chrislema.com/hubspot-stripe-integration/Are you using a CRM? A while ago I wrote an article covering the best CRMs for small teams. Some freelancers and agencies wrote me and told me their favorites. But others told me they didn't really want to spend any money on a CRM when it was just them and their clients. They had...Tue, 30 May 2017 23:04:20 GMThttps://chrislema.com/get-free-users-to-subscribe/https://chrislema.com/get-free-users-to-subscribe/How do I get free users to subscribe? It's a question I hear a lot. Just about every time I get into a conversation about membership sites. But before we get into the answer to that, we need to back up just a bit. Increasing your conversion rates is a fantastic topic. It's what we'll...Mon, 29 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-testimonials/https://chrislema.com/using-testimonials/Today I just want to ask you some simple questions. Questions that frankly I spent many years not asking myself. It's all about using testimonials. And in case that word is foreign to you, it simply means quotes from other people (normally clients) who brag about you. It's that bragging that often makes us uncomfortable....Sun, 28 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-an-online-course/https://chrislema.com/creating-an-online-course/Ever played Monopoly? I don't have a lot of pet peeves. One of them, however, is listening to someone poorly explain a game to someone who has never played it. I don't know why it bothers me so much but it gets under my skin enough that I have to leave a room or take...Sat, 27 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/linkedin-lead-generation-strategy/https://chrislema.com/linkedin-lead-generation-strategy/If you're not developing a LinkedIn lead generation strategy, but complaining about poor lead volume, this 6-step strategy may help you. When was the last time you looked at LinkedIn? If you're like a lot of my friends, you haven't looked at, or logged into, LinkedIn in years. Your only interactions have been dealing with...Fri, 26 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-is-managed-hosting/https://chrislema.com/what-is-managed-hosting/If you've heard terms like VPS, Dedicated, Shared, Managed, and more, you might have wondered what they all mean and which one is right for you. Let's see if I can explain it in a way that doesn't immediately drop us into low-level technical details. Remember in your youth when you maybe shared an apartment with...Thu, 25 May 2017 22:33:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/write-a-services-page/https://chrislema.com/write-a-services-page/Most website services pages suck. We can all agree that there are few things harder than writing about yourself, right? Whether it's your About Page, your Services Page, or anything else where you have to articulate your value, things get really hard, really fast. Right? The problem is that our deepest insecurities crawl out from...Wed, 24 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/grow-your-online-business/https://chrislema.com/grow-your-online-business/Want to grow your online business? If you talk to enough people today, when you want to grow your business, it almost sounds like there's a single strategy--Facebook ads. That just doesn't sound right, does it? But what do you do when you want to grow your online presence? What's the trick? Is there a...Mon, 22 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/scale-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/scale-woocommerce/One of the most common questions I hear a lot about WordPress and eCommerce revolves around the notion of WooCommerce and it's ability to scale. \"Can you scale WooCommerce?\" people ask me. And my answer is always yes. But it's never as simple as that, right? People want to know if you're just being nice,...Sun, 21 May 2017 22:01:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hire-amazing-people/https://chrislema.com/hire-amazing-people/I believe anyone can hire amazing people--recruiting takes time and effort but I don't think it's an exclusive skill that only few people have. How to Hire Amazing People In the last few months I've been recruiting and hiring a lot of really incredible people. If you don't know, last December I joined Liquid Web...Sat, 20 May 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/demonstrating-progress-website-projects/https://chrislema.com/demonstrating-progress-website-projects/Demonstrating progress was easy. In the old days, when I would work on a website project, there were some natural phases to the work I did. Your process may have been different, but mine went something like this. Phase One: Define project / Agree on Scope Phase Two: Create Thumbnails of Design Concepts Phase Three:...Fri, 19 May 2017 22:27:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pitching-new-business/https://chrislema.com/pitching-new-business/If you're a digital agency or freelancer, you're continually pitching new business. And there are tons of valuable tips that you'll hear from a lot of people. You'll hear advice like: Have a unique value proposition. If you're pitching website development like everyone else, it's hard to differentiate yourself. So you'll hear people talk to you about...Thu, 18 May 2017 22:09:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-timed-content/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-timed-content/If you talk to people about scheduling and managing timed access to content in WordPress, people will often talk to you about scheduled posts. It's the idea that you write something and then give it a date for when you want it published. Alternatively, sometimes people will talk to you about dripping content--the idea that...Wed, 17 May 2017 23:00:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/restrict-content-pro-worth-every-dollar/https://chrislema.com/restrict-content-pro-worth-every-dollar/If you don't know me, I'm the guy that's been saying plugins are priced too low. Today I was on the phone with a software engineer that works in a company where they're running a WordPress online store, but also a store powered by Oracle / ATG Dynamo. Somehow we got onto the topic of pricing...Thu, 02 Mar 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-gamification-lms-plugin/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-gamification-lms-plugin/The other day my son was working on math at our kitchen table. My wife incentivized his progress with skittles--one for each problem he got right. This, of course, did the trick and he was motivated to get his whole worksheet done. Maybe a bit too fast though. He made two or three mistakes and...Sun, 26 Feb 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-jetpack-plugin/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-jetpack-plugin/Other than which host to use, the only other question I hear most from both beginners and advanced users is whether using the WordPress Jetpack plugin will help or hurt their site. Should you use the WordPress Jetpack plugin? There's an old Chris Rock comedy sketch (Cheap Pete--not suitable for children) where Chris is trying to buy an Audi. The...Fri, 17 Feb 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiding-discount-field/https://chrislema.com/hiding-discount-field/Should you hide your discount field? Most online shopping carts, including WooCommerce, show a coupon code or discount code option in the shopping cart. It's so common that I almost never see a WooCommerce site without it. And yet, I wonder if the people who designed / developed the site have had extensive conversations with...Thu, 02 Feb 2017 15:07:37 GMThttps://chrislema.com/should-i-use-the-genesis-framework/https://chrislema.com/should-i-use-the-genesis-framework/It all started with a tweet... The other day I tweeted that I'd migrated a site over to Liquid Web. Someone saw the tweet, clicked the link, visited the site and noticed it was using the Genesis Framework by StudioPress. Their next question was similar to one many people have. Should I use the Genesis...Sun, 22 Jan 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/developing-a-wordpress-theme/https://chrislema.com/developing-a-wordpress-theme/This is an open letter to the developer who spent a year developing a WordPress theme and couldn't sell it anywhere. An Open Letter to Chris Dear Chris, My name is Chris too. And that's not the only thing we have in common. I've been in the exact same spot you've been in. And the...Mon, 09 Jan 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/new-wordpress-site/https://chrislema.com/new-wordpress-site/Are you looking to get a new WordPress site built? Have you seen the television show, The Wire? It's an incredible show - great visuals, great story, great everything. And it's intense. But mostly, what stood out to me when watching was that there was so much stuff that was regularly hidden from so many people. That...Tue, 03 Jan 2017 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choose-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/choose-woocommerce/Einstein once said, \"What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.\" Does this hold true for WooCommerce? Should you pick this popular WordPress eCommerce plugin? Every few days on Clarity, I am asked about eCommerce and WordPress. Can WordPress handle eCommerce? Will it scale? Isn't WordPress just for...Tue, 03 Jan 2017 00:33:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/network-effects/https://chrislema.com/network-effects/For more than eight years, I was lucky enough to work at a software company focused on vertical markets. I didn't step into the company with any expectation that it would be any different from any of the software companies where I'd worked before that. I was wrong. It was a software company, like many others. And...Wed, 28 Dec 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/new-year-planning/https://chrislema.com/new-year-planning/When it comes to new year planning, most people make resolutions. Resolutions that frankly fail within the first few weeks of the new year. So if you want to do new year planning the right way, I suggest you steer clear of resolutions and instead focus on these four things: Relationships Every year I create...Tue, 27 Dec 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/free-course-memberpress-beaver-builder/https://chrislema.com/free-course-memberpress-beaver-builder/Yes. A Free Course! If you are trying to build a membership site, then you know one of my favorite plugins is MemberPress. And if you want your site to look good, you know I recommend Beaver Builder. So I've created a free course - six parts - that walk you thru the exact steps to creating a membership...Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-apple-pay-integration/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-apple-pay-integration/WooCommerce Apple Pay integration is here! Christmas came early this year - especially if you're a store owner who has a majority of their customers arriving on iPhones. If you're one of the people waiting for WooCommerce Apple Pay integration, then your wait is basically over. As I was looking over the Stripe gateway for WooCommerce -...Wed, 21 Dec 2016 14:18:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/push-notification-automation/https://chrislema.com/push-notification-automation/Predicting eCommerce Trends We're just days away from the start of 2017, so it makes sense that we should start making guesses about what 2017 will bring with it, and nothing is more interesting than trying to predict trends in eCommerce. If you hadn't heard already, WooCommerce now powers 42% of all of the internet's online...Wed, 21 Dec 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/registering-a-new-domain/https://chrislema.com/registering-a-new-domain/If you are, then maybe you've been doing what I've been doing forever—using GoDaddy. For years I've been buying domains from GoDaddy. And before you start thinking about all the negative feelings you have about the company, you should know that I've rarely had any issues with their domain registration services. Additionally, I've gotten to...Sun, 18 Dec 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-online/https://chrislema.com/selling-online/There's a different kind of restaurant in San Francisco... If you've never heard of Opaque, it's kind of hard to imagine. The restaurant in San Francisco is open several nights a week in the city, and you get a multi-course meal. The food is fantastic, from what I hear. But what no one can tell...Sat, 17 Dec 2016 14:07:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-make-money-from-your-expertise/https://chrislema.com/how-to-make-money-from-your-expertise/The problem is not that you have no expertise. If you've been doing anything for any period of time, you probably have something you can teach. Sure, you won't necessarily be an \"expert\" the first time you try to share your insight, but most of the time the problem isn't a lack of insight. I...Fri, 16 Dec 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-next-move/https://chrislema.com/your-next-move/How do you decide your next move? When I left Emphasys a few years ago, I knew I was making a jump into the WordPress ecosystem full time, and I was unsure of what that would look like. Thankfully my friend Karim, CEO of Crowd Favorite, welcomed me into his company and the next year and...Wed, 30 Nov 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/onboarding-process-for-new-customers/https://chrislema.com/onboarding-process-for-new-customers/Long before there was SaaS (Software as a Service), there was ASP (Application Service Providers) and while they're not exactly the same, they've all been \"hosted products.\" Those are the kinds of products I've been working on since 1995. And in the last twenty years of doing this, no phrase has ever been more true than...Tue, 08 Nov 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/marketing-so-hard/https://chrislema.com/marketing-so-hard/The Problem isn't Quality I spend a lot of time with companies that have built amazing products, or that run incredible service offerings. The problem they have is rarely the quality of their work. Instead, the core issue they face is getting attention. And let's be honest, getting anyone's attention is tough work these days....Thu, 03 Nov 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/win-more-customers/https://chrislema.com/win-more-customers/For service companies, when prospects are evaluating you, there are three things they all care about. Do you understand the core problem? When you get on that first phone call or have the first meeting to talk about the business, one of the most important things you likely are already doing is making sure a...Sun, 16 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-comments/https://chrislema.com/no-comments/Do you have tons of posts without any comments on them? When I was first getting started with this blog, I would go for days (and sometimes weeks) without a comment. Then I would head to popular blogs and see posts that had 150 comments. Ugh. Why did they get all the comments and I...Thu, 13 Oct 2016 22:53:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lies-breaking-into-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/lies-breaking-into-wordpress/Tomorrow I'll be speaking at the Digital Commerce Summit—put on by Rainmaker Digital, the folks that created the Rainmaker Platform that hosts this site. My talk is titled, \"Breaking into WordPress.\" Have you thought about breaking into WordPress? When I set out to create this talk, I knew that my focus was going to be...Wed, 12 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/event-tickets-with-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/event-tickets-with-woocommerce/If you want to sell event tickets with WooCommerce—inside a membership site—here's your tutorial. Selling Event Tickets with WooCommerce One of the things I hear about a lot from people who are already running a membership site is how to monetize events. Over the last several years I've worked with several membership sites that want...Tue, 11 Oct 2016 23:25:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learning-leverage-insecurity/https://chrislema.com/learning-leverage-insecurity/Can we talk about insecurity for a second? What's the secret to your success? When I was speaking at the Double Your Freelancing Conference, I had lunch and dinner with several great freelancers. One of them, over the course of the meal, asked what my secret to success was. Now to be clear, I consider...Mon, 10 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/user-generated-content-wordpress-membership-sites/https://chrislema.com/user-generated-content-wordpress-membership-sites/How do you create a facility for user generated content that only members can create? That was the question that came to me this past week from a reader of the blog. It likely came from the post I wrote about using a form plugin to allow my son to create posts without logging into...Sun, 09 Oct 2016 15:47:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/top-wordpress-membership-plugins-2016/https://chrislema.com/top-wordpress-membership-plugins-2016/The Top WordPress Membership Plugins in 2016 Last year I looked at a ton of different membership plugins to pick the best one of 2015. Thirty plugins was a lot to review. The good news--many of them didn't change all that much, so I didn't need to write 30 more posts. Instead, I thought I...Thu, 06 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/styling-mailchimp-forms/https://chrislema.com/styling-mailchimp-forms/Everyone loves MailChimp. If you've been working on WordPress sites for any amount of time, and you've helped a client get an email list set up, then you've likely worked with MailChimp. It's not only a powerful solution, but it also starts off free. And people love free. So whether you're using MailChimp now or...Wed, 05 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/future-of-elearning/https://chrislema.com/future-of-elearning/Let me start with a really big caveat: I love all the eLearning solutions that are out there. I am just wrapping up a new course (\"My Rainmaker Secrets\") on the Rainmaker platform. I'm also working on a long comparison post of Teachery, the New Kajabi platform, JigSawBox, Teachable, Zippy Courses (the hosted model), and...Tue, 04 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/announce-pricing-changes/https://chrislema.com/announce-pricing-changes/Especially in the world of startups, the need to change business models is common. How you announce those pricing changes can help or kill your business. Five Tips on Announcing Pricing Changes It's no shock to you, if you've read some of my posts, that I think the need to tell the right story when...Mon, 03 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-membership-sites-payment-plans/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-membership-sites-payment-plans/If you're running a WooCommerce store, a membership site is a good idea. Now it can be a great idea! A year ago, I reviewed the WooCommerce Memberships extension by SkyVerge. The Memberships extension ($149) isn't inexpensive (especially when added to the Subscriptions extension), but it is completely and totally worth it. It was one...Sun, 02 Oct 2016 21:24:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choosing-a-wordpress-drag-and-drop-page-builder/https://chrislema.com/choosing-a-wordpress-drag-and-drop-page-builder/The other day I explained why we were going to keep seeing Page Builders everywhere. If you don't know what a page builder is, think of it as an easy solution for people to drag and drop various items onto a web page so that they can make their own sites and pages look how...Sat, 01 Oct 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sticking-with-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/sticking-with-rainmaker/Have you ever seen a house get built? If you've never been part of building a house, or watched a house or building get built, then the metaphor or illustration I am about to use won't make much sense. But if you've ever seen it or been part of a home-building project, you know that...Sat, 24 Sep 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/project-management-lessons-ikea/https://chrislema.com/project-management-lessons-ikea/This past weekend I walked into IKEA and within 60 minutes I was out the exit with less than I had planned to purchase, no extraneous purchases, and under budget. No small miracle. As I announced this on twitter last night, the responses ranged from a blog post to online course request. So here are...Mon, 19 Sep 2016 14:45:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/want-wordpress-page-builders/https://chrislema.com/want-wordpress-page-builders/Why do people want WordPress Page Builders? Before I get into this, I need to take you back several years ago. Make that a few hundred. It's likely you don't know much about how furniture was built in the 17th and 18th century. But you likely didn't come to this site to learn about woodworking...Sun, 18 Sep 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/user-submitted-posts/https://chrislema.com/user-submitted-posts/Have you seen the new Ninja Forms 3? The other day I highlighted that I didn't like the new Divi interface. And it has nothing to do with a) I'm dumb and don't know how to use the Internet, b) I harbor some special anger or frustration with the Divi, or c) I'm against all...Thu, 15 Sep 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/online-proposal-software/https://chrislema.com/online-proposal-software/Speed up your quoting process while also looking more professional. Maybe you should look at online proposal software. Are you creating custom proposals? When you start copying one proposal to use it for another, you realize a couple of things (I hope): Business is picking up and being busy is always good Re-using your proposals...Mon, 29 Aug 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/automate-website-testing/https://chrislema.com/automate-website-testing/Isn't it time to automate website testing? It doesn't matter who I talk to when it comes to building websites or software—there's never enough time to test everything. That's not to say that companies aren't testing software—because they are. But when you ask someone about coverage, that's when things start to change. Coverage is exactly what...Sat, 27 Aug 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/always-us-always/https://chrislema.com/always-us-always/Let me get this out of the way—this is a post about another post about a dynamic that may or may not exist within a community of people around an open source software project that is undefined because anyone is free to participate at any level they want. Even if you dig WordPress, this may not...Mon, 22 Aug 2016 23:01:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-gift-giving/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-gift-giving/This is part 12 of a 30 part series improving your WooCommerce Store. Have you thought of WooCommerce Gift Giving? Before I get started, you should know this post is part of a WooCommerce series of thirty posts I'm writing this summer. WooCommerce Product Comparisons WooCommerce Product URLs Wishlists for Guests Affiliate / Recommendation Programs Funnels...Wed, 17 Aug 2016 00:01:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/restrict-content-pro/https://chrislema.com/restrict-content-pro/I remember it like it was last weekend... A developer from out of town had reached out to let me know they'd be pretty close to where I lived and wondered if we could meet for breakfast. So we set up a time and I drove out to meet with him. We knew each other,...Mon, 15 Aug 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-and-zapier/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-and-zapier/If you're just arriving to this site for the first time, you should know this post is part of a WooCommerce series of thirty posts I'm writing this summer. Here are the first 10 posts. WooCommerce Product Comparisons WooCommerce Product URLs Wishlists for Guests Affiliate / Recommendation Programs Funnels & One-Time Offers WooCommerce Category Pages WooCommerce...Wed, 10 Aug 2016 22:00:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/get-more-traffic-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/get-more-traffic-woocommerce/This is part 10 of 30 in a series on improving your WooCommerce Store. If you're just arriving at this site for the first time, you should know this post is part of a WooCommerce series. Here are the first 9 posts to catch you up. WooCommerce Product Comparisons WooCommerce Product URLs Wishlists for Guests...Tue, 09 Aug 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/coding-a-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/coding-a-wordpress-plugin/Coding a WordPress plugin is hard I know that people like to say that everything in WordPress is easy. It's not true. Many things are difficult when it comes to WordPress. Developing a following who read your blog—that's hard.Getting your site to look like the original theme you bought—that's hard.Submitting your first patch and getting...Mon, 08 Aug 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hire-small-agencies/https://chrislema.com/hire-small-agencies/I can still remember one of the first times I sold enterprise software to an enterprise client. They were a very large and well-known financial organization and I was sitting in a meeting with their senior technical staff. I was young and nervous at the meeting until I asked a question and heard the answer. \"What's...Tue, 26 Jul 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-payment-gateways-pay-amazon/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-payment-gateways-pay-amazon/This is part 9 of 30 in a series on improving your WooCommerce Store. We've covered a lot of ground already, as we navigate all the different aspects of improving your WooCommerce store—and if you've you've missed the earlier posts, here are the first eight. WooCommerce Product Comparisons WooCommerce Product URLs Wishlists for Guests Affiliate...Sat, 09 Jul 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-reviews/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-reviews/Welcome to part eight of my 30-part series on improving your WooCommerce site. As I've said before, getting WooCommerce installed and configured, loaded with products, and launched is only the beginning of your journey. Then the real fun starts, if you want to build a site that is a business. After all, that's what you're...Fri, 08 Jul 2016 14:02:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-recommended-products/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-recommended-products/Improving your WooCommerce Store We're on tip 7 of a 30-part series on improving your online eCommerce store. It's a set of suggestions I'm making, regarding your WooCommerce site, because so many people do so much work just to get their store live and then stop enhancing it. Just get here? Here's what you may have missed already: WooCommerce...Thu, 07 Jul 2016 16:28:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-category-pages/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-category-pages/In case you haven't figured it out, you've landed on the 6th tip of a 30-part series on improving your online eCommerce store. It's a set of tips targeting your WooCommerce site because so many people do so much work just to get their store live and then stop enhancing it. So these tips are...Wed, 06 Jul 2016 20:05:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-funnels/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-funnels/If you just got here, this is part of a 30-part series on improving your WooCommerce store. The posts you might have missed focus on: Product Comparisons Product URLs Wishlists for guests Referral (affiliate) programs And today we're looking at your site's funnels and one-time offer features. But to do that, we need to make...Tue, 05 Jul 2016 21:20:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-affiliate-programs/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-affiliate-programs/Improving your WooCommerce Store We're in a 30-part series on improving your WooCommerce store. If you've missed any part, here are the first three posts: WooCommerce Product Comparisons WooCommerce Product URLs Wishlists for Guests In each of those posts we've talked about engaging your customers—either bringing them or keeping them at your site. Today I...Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:50:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-wishlists/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-wishlists/If you've been following along, we've covered two tips in this WooCommerce Help Guide series: Tip 1: Product Comparisons Tip 2: Product URLs Today we're going to talk about WooCommerce Wishlists for Guests. If you're wondering why I add the \"for guests\" part to it, you should know a lot of people use wishlists for...Sun, 03 Jul 2016 20:22:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-urls/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-urls/I'll be honest with you, this tip may not be the right one for you on day 2 of this 30 day series on improving your WooCommerce site, but it bothers me so much that I moved it up on the list. I hate WooCommerce product URLs. Because it doesn't ever feel natural to me....Sat, 02 Jul 2016 21:43:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-comparisons/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-comparisons/Let's spend a month improving your WooCommerce site. Over the last several years I've worked with independent, small and large businesses to improve their WooCommerce sites. I've written about some of these projects (sometimes on this site, other times in other spots)—from simple T-shirt stores to high-scale makeup stores. So this month I'd like to...Fri, 01 Jul 2016 18:36:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-auto-renewals/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-auto-renewals/Several years ago I sold my house to a friend. I did all the normal things you do when selling your home—from switching the water and gas to my friend to canceling services like cable. When my wife and I bought our new home, we did all the normal things you do when buying a...Tue, 28 Jun 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/build-stock-photo-subscription-site/https://chrislema.com/build-stock-photo-subscription-site/Have you ever wondered how to build a stock photo subscription site? It's possible to do with WordPress. One of the questions I got two weeks ago focused on the kinds of sites like Shutterstock—which I use all the time—and whether it was possible to build a site like that on WordPress. The answer is...Tue, 14 Jun 2016 01:10:39 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-cache-plugin-for-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/best-cache-plugin-for-wordpress/In my experience, there are three ways to determine how to recommend any plugin as the best for any particular area, including the best cache plugin for WordPress. The first is simply based on a proven track record. In other words, you use an organization's history to prove its product's future. The second is based on performance. In...Thu, 09 Jun 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/recommend-convertkit-infusionsoft/https://chrislema.com/recommend-convertkit-infusionsoft/Most of my conversations about Infusionsoft end up sounding exactly the same. And it's not the fault of InfusionSoft. Have you ever talked to someone about Infusionsoft? If you're anything like me, you now know that there are only two kinds of people in the world - people who haven't tried Infusionsoft yet, or people...Fri, 03 Jun 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/career-planning/https://chrislema.com/career-planning/I've been asked a lot recently about my next steps and what I'm pursuing. As I've answered the questions, I've seen a lot of eyebrows raise. I think it's mostly because of how I think about career planning. The best route to the most value Since leaving Crowd Favorite, no question has been asked of me more...Tue, 31 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/genesis-child-themes/https://chrislema.com/genesis-child-themes/If you've been paying attention in the last few weeks, I spun up a new site on leadership, and now I've started a new site for headphones. Soon I'll have another one on cigars. Each of these are dedicated sites that don't need a lot except for a way to present their content and do...Sun, 29 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/breaking-into-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/breaking-into-wordpress/Six months ago, a friend asked me a question that put a bug in my brain. \"What if you created a course on breaking into WordPress?\" He knew that I had coached and consulted with several companies who were trying to break into the ecosystem and thought it was a no-brainer. I kept thinking about...Tue, 24 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pluginize/https://chrislema.com/pluginize/My friend John joined WebDevStudios just a couple months ago and together they announced a new initiative to focus on products. As you know, if you and I have talked about service companies doing products, I've seen it fail way more than it's succeeded. So you'll see that I start my interview with that very question....Thu, 19 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/marketing-strategies-for-ecommerce-websites/https://chrislema.com/marketing-strategies-for-ecommerce-websites/Everyone worries about development—because they know it's hard work. Most people don't realize how hard marketing is. So you want marketing strategies for e-commerce websites... The other day I mentioned to some developers that if they had 90 days to launch a new product, assuming they weren't letting any of these reasons hold them back, I...Wed, 18 May 2016 23:30:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/launched-a-new-product/https://chrislema.com/launched-a-new-product/Everyone has ideas & plans. The difference between you and everyone else, I hope, is that you will act. You will create. You will go past the initial ideas and move towards the more critical part—the execution of the plans and the realization of the ideas. But if you haven't started yet, I'm going to guess why...Tue, 17 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/speaking-without-notes/https://chrislema.com/speaking-without-notes/People who present without notes are not magicians. They just know a few things others don't. The perceptions behind speaking without notes To get started, we should look at the reason why it might be worth speaking without notes. Here are three perceptions that are most important to me. There is the perception that the speaker is...Mon, 16 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/code-review-your-slow-site/https://chrislema.com/code-review-your-slow-site/Is your site running slowly? There are an incredible number of resources available to help you determine what's going on with your slow site. If you've never used any of them, or don't know what's available, here's a quick list. Pingdom Tools: This site will let you put in your domain name (chrislema.com) or any...Thu, 12 May 2016 13:06:35 GMThttps://chrislema.com/work-less-make-money/https://chrislema.com/work-less-make-money/I find this topic of pricing fascinating I didn't realize it until today as I was updating a couple of pricing posts, but this will be the 41st article I've written on pricing in the last few years. If you've never read any of them, you may want to check them out. Some have focused on product...Wed, 11 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/on-demand-products/https://chrislema.com/on-demand-products/Have you heard of Print on Demand? Last week I spent a few days at the Drew Estate Cigar Factory with my buddy Steve. While we were there, we met some great folks from Houston—all customers of my new favorite cigar store, Stogies. One of them had a great idea for a t-shirt and merchandise...Tue, 10 May 2016 21:56:51 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hosting-partnerships/https://chrislema.com/hosting-partnerships/Every week or two I get on a Clarity call with a product company that is sure they're a perfect match for a particular (or any) hosting company. On most of my calls they want advice on approaching these hosting companies. Sometimes they want me to do the introductions for them—as they're not known, and...Sat, 07 May 2016 17:52:30 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-high-performance-teams/https://chrislema.com/building-high-performance-teams/Are you focused on building high performance teams? For SWAT commanders, it's a life and death dynamic. Making the Team When it comes to SWAT, making the team is not easy. Maybe it's because there are tons of folks applying for a limited number of roles. But that's only part of it. The real challenge...Tue, 03 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-vs-easy-digital-downloads/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-vs-easy-digital-downloads/Both WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads turn WordPress into a powerful eCommerce application. How do you know when to choose which? Some people will tell you that the simple answer is to always go with WooCommerce since: It's really popular It's has massive market share (37%) It does it all But I don't think that...Mon, 02 May 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-wordpress-for-coaching/https://chrislema.com/using-wordpress-for-coaching/If you're using WordPress to run a coaching program of any kind, I want to know about you. What do you mean coach? A lot of coaches, trainers, and others putting content online (or creating courses) often need two different dynamics on their sites: Content that all their students can/should watch (like video content) Content...Fri, 29 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-slider/https://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-slider/How do you find the best WordPress slider? Compare 20 of them. In 2013 I reviewed slider plugins for performance. It's been a long time since I circled back because, after all, these are sliders and I'm not that much of a fan. But that doesn't mean clients don't ask about them. So I decided to...Thu, 28 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/managing-people-smarter/https://chrislema.com/managing-people-smarter/Do you know I have a younger brother? I grew up the older brother in my family. My younger brother was only 15 months younger because there had been a strong chance I wouldn't make it at birth and the doctors told my folks that if they wanted a healthy (and normal) child, they should...Tue, 26 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-zippy-courses-features/https://chrislema.com/three-zippy-courses-features/Have you been thinking about building an online course? I write a decent amount of articles on online course creation simply because more and more, it's the core questions I get on Clarity. It seems like every day people are looking to start an online business looking to share their insights-which I think is great.Mon, 25 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/load-testing-woocommerce-sites/https://chrislema.com/load-testing-woocommerce-sites/In a webinar I was on recently, I talked about load testing WooCommerce sites. Yesterday I was asked if I had written about it and so, today, I can say that I have. What is load testing? Load testing means you create a false demand of traffic on your site in advance of (potential) real...Thu, 21 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-onramps/https://chrislema.com/product-onramps/Eighteen months ago I discovered this plugin that was a page builder for WordPress-from a long list of solutions I'd tried. I was writing a comparison post in October of 2014 and frankly, I'd never heard of Beaver Builder. A month later, I was sitting in the offices of GoDaddy talking with one of their...Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/new-online-courses/https://chrislema.com/new-online-courses/Are you getting ready to build new online courses? An academy of sorts? If so, there's an order that you need to get right. When I answer calls on Clarity, normally what I hear from people is that they're using this order: Build the site and solve all the infrastructure issues Build the content Start...Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/power-of-storytelling/https://chrislema.com/power-of-storytelling/There's power in your story The other day I was interviewed by my friend Carrie Dils on her OfficeHoursFM Podcast. We talked all about the power of storytelling-in business. I'm hoping it was practical and useful, as I didn't spend a ton of time on theory and structure. Check out the interview. Critical takeaways:...Mon, 18 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/installment-plan-support/https://chrislema.com/installment-plan-support/If you're running a membership site or online course using WordPress, you've likely noticed that installment plan support is kind of missing... What are Installment Plans? If you've ever wanted to buy something that cost more than you could afford, you've likely interacted with or been offered a payment plan. It's a plan that lets...Sun, 17 Apr 2016 21:17:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learn-wordpress-plugins/https://chrislema.com/learn-wordpress-plugins/Before putting them into a project, you should learn WordPress plugins-what they do, how they do it, and what you can do with them. \"The Problem with Gravity Forms\" I answered a call on Clarity where the person was frustrated. They explained that there was a \"problem with Gravity Forms.\" When I asked what the...Sat, 16 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-is-predictive-lead-scoring/https://chrislema.com/what-is-predictive-lead-scoring/We've all walked into a store looking to buy something... You walk into a store and you tell the person who's in the store, let's say it's a Best Buy, you tell them what you're looking for. \"I'm looking for a television.\" Right off the bat they start asking you questions, \"Are you looking for...Fri, 15 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/problem-in-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/problem-in-wordpress/The problem in WordPress isn't what you think it is. It almost has nothing to do with code-and yet it's all tied up in code and software architecture. The Problem in WordPress Notice I didn't write, \"The problem with WordPress.\" I really like WordPress and all that comes with it. But I think there are two...Thu, 14 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/common-ecommerce-mistakes/https://chrislema.com/common-ecommerce-mistakes/When it comes to eCommerce, there are a lot of mistakes people make. But there's one that is really common and easy to fix that's not technical at all. eCommerce Mistakes People Make There are a lot of mistakes that people make when getting started on their eCommerce site. They choose the wrong host. They forget...Wed, 13 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/upcoming-conferences/https://chrislema.com/upcoming-conferences/Will we see each other? I just came back from two great conferences: MicroConf: for bootstrapping companies in Las Vegas WooConf: all things WooCommerce in Austin, Texas The video from my talk in Paris just got posted, which is great news too. I got to meet a lot of new readers out there. If we...Tue, 12 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/change-web-hosts/https://chrislema.com/change-web-hosts/Should you change web hosts? Let me try to make it easy. I'll give you a list. I'll be honest. I learned a long time ago that if you have nothing nice to say, you just shut up. And it's a rule that I follow-most of the time. But every now and then, I write...Tue, 12 Apr 2016 00:33:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/making-a-change/https://chrislema.com/making-a-change/I love WordPress. Nothing about that is changing. And I love all my friends at Crowd Favorite. That's not changing either. But professionally, it's time to make a course correction... Nineteen months ago I stepped full time into the world of WordPress. I joined my friends Karim and Jason at Crowd Favorite to help them...Mon, 11 Apr 2016 07:03:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-hosting/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-hosting/WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin. Together with WordPress, it powers over 35% of all the online stores on the internet. But it's unlike other plugins and you need to know that in order to select the right hosting partner. What makes WooCommerce Hosting different than regular hosting? I just spent the last few days talking...Sun, 10 Apr 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-build-a-membership-site-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/how-to-build-a-membership-site-rainmaker/I spent some time today talking to a non-profit about how well the Rainmaker Platform would do for them, and their membership needs. Maybe it will be a perfect fit for you too. Haven't you already written about Rainmaker? I've written about Rainmaker several times already: Reasons for Rainmaker Questions to ask yourself to see...Wed, 23 Mar 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-really-dreaded/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-really-dreaded/You've heard the story... You've likely heard the story of the student who works so hard on a research paper. They spend all sorts of time studying and creating an outline. They invest in tons of drafts and proofreading to make their report perfect. Then they turn it in and await the grade. The results...Mon, 21 Mar 2016 17:40:30 GMThttps://chrislema.com/interactive-content/https://chrislema.com/interactive-content/The Buyer's Journey When I think of eCommerce, I don't start at the website running WooCommerce or any other shopping platform. I think about people who are staring at Google. Yes, Google. Because half of the time, we don't know what exactly we're looking for. When mosquitos are biting you out at your hot tub,...Thu, 17 Mar 2016 17:46:06 GMThttps://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-wordpress-page-builder/https://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-wordpress-page-builder/Some context for the discussion A couple months ago I started work on a website that will soon launch. The reality is that much of the time on the project has been spent on discussion-determining the right solutions to the right problems and a design that will deliver the right results. Mind you, when I...Tue, 15 Mar 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wpforms-new-solution-wordpress-forms/https://chrislema.com/wpforms-new-solution-wordpress-forms/There's a new solution for WordPress forms. Who knows the exact back story on how WPForms came to be? (Now you can know it.) Maybe it was someone who was frustrated with the underlying code or performance of an existing solution. Maybe it was the manual that needed to be written for new customers who...Mon, 14 Mar 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/big-dreams-focus-small-iterations/https://chrislema.com/big-dreams-focus-small-iterations/Every couple of days I answer a call on Clarity-a service entrepreneurs use to ask others for advice. About a year ago a gentleman called to ask about a membership site he was building. Three days later, he called back. He had grand plans He was running a subscription service that was anchored with PDF...Thu, 10 Mar 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/rainmaker-platform-review-video/https://chrislema.com/rainmaker-platform-review-video/I realized, when someone asked the other day, how I felt about Rainmaker and how it was going, that I'd written a lot about its features without telling you what I felt about it. So here are my feelings.Tue, 08 Mar 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/collecting-video-testimonials/https://chrislema.com/collecting-video-testimonials/This is a lesson I've learned first hand The first time we held CaboPress I didn't even take a camera. I never thought about the marketing of the conference at all. I was just focused on making sure the folks that had travelled from the US to Baja (officially Mexico) got thru customs and reached...Tue, 01 Mar 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/raising-your-prices/https://chrislema.com/raising-your-prices/Years ago I was coaching a young entrepreneur that was just getting started with her business. As we talked about all the different things that go into running your first business, we landed on the topic of price. Her response to me was something I've since heard several more times. I can always raise my...Mon, 29 Feb 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/memorable-presentations/https://chrislema.com/memorable-presentations/Did you know most people forget what they hear within an hour? Make your words memorable. What we know today about how the brain works, and about how people process information, is so dramatically different than what we were taught in school, it's ridiculous.Sun, 31 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/subscription-site/https://chrislema.com/subscription-site/Subscription sites are awesome. I don't know about you, but I love Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and tons of other subscriptions I pay monthly for. I also enjoy subscriptions that I pay yearly for, like the United Club (formerly the Red Carpet Club, which sounded so much better).Wed, 27 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/managing-user-specific-content-wordpress-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/managing-user-specific-content-wordpress-membership-site/The Holy Grail: User Specific Content. Everyone asks for it. Most assume it's easy and totally possible. And yet, it's not something that comes with a lot of membership plugins in the WordPress space. Trust me, I reviewed over 30 of them.Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:40:13 GMThttps://chrislema.com/protecting-streaming-audio-wordpress-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/protecting-streaming-audio-wordpress-membership-site/As I mention in the video above, I got a clarity call asking me about protecting streaming audio. Their requirements were simple: They wanted to charge users monthly. They wanted to put those members on an email subscription list. They wanted to protect streaming audio files.Tue, 19 Jan 2016 23:13:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selecting-a-wordpress-hosting-provider/https://chrislema.com/selecting-a-wordpress-hosting-provider/It came into my inbox... I got an email today that was simple and straight to the point. They didn't want a recommendation. They had a simple question. \"What are the questions I should be asking the different companies I'm talking to for WordPress hosting?\"Tue, 12 Jan 2016 20:39:06 GMThttps://chrislema.com/run-out-of-blog-ideas-try-this/https://chrislema.com/run-out-of-blog-ideas-try-this/Everyone has it happen at some point, right? Running out of blog ideas? It's not that uncommon. No one has ideas all the time. So why should you be so lucky? The truth is that we all struggle sometimes to know what to write about.Fri, 08 Jan 2016 22:05:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/similar-looking-websites-cost-different-amounts/https://chrislema.com/similar-looking-websites-cost-different-amounts/\"Wait, How much is it going to cost?\" If you've ever asked someone what it would take to build you a website and then were shocked by the price, I'm going to try to explain it to you. Maybe you've even asked two different people (or companies) for quotes and got two numbers that were...Thu, 07 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/complex-membership-sites/https://chrislema.com/complex-membership-sites/Let's be honest--there are straightforward membership sites and complex ones. Straightforward membership sites don't have to be simple. I'm not saying that. Straightforward vs. Complex Membership Sites What I am saying is that if your focus is the following, I'd call that a straightforward membership site: Charge someone to join the membership site Put them into...Wed, 06 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-collisions/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-collisions/WordPress plugin collisions aren't fun What do you do when you have a stable website and then you want to install a new plugin? How do you know that it will all work? That the plugins won't destroy each other? It's not supposed to be that way. They're all running on top of WordPress...Tue, 05 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-hire-for-culture/https://chrislema.com/dont-hire-for-culture/The research is in. Employees perform more effectively--and this is a highly correlated finding--when they have someone at work that they call a best friend. In fact, Gallup found that having a best friend at work meant more than just employee engagement, it was also highly correlated with: employee retention customer metrics productivity profitability Don't...Mon, 04 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/website-ai-arrived/https://chrislema.com/website-ai-arrived/If you haven't heard of website artificial intelligence, the concept is not hard to grasp. Instead of a designer or developer building your website, software creates it. And it does so by leveraging all sorts of logic rules and best practices. Some might argue that these logic rules and best practices are what help great...Sun, 03 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-such-thing-100-uptime/https://chrislema.com/no-such-thing-100-uptime/I work for a software company where we develop websites and web applications for large companies. So the question of uptime is one I get a lot. And the notion is that if we work hard enough, test out the hosting companies enough, talk to enough people, and generally get smarter, we can find and...Sat, 02 Jan 2016 18:12:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-one-thing-well/https://chrislema.com/do-one-thing-well/I like products with \"all the things.\" For months before the first iPhone was released, I was sure that I wasn't going to get one. The rumors, and there were several, were constantly uninspiring. There was not going to be an easy way to have a favorites list It wasn't going to work with my...Fri, 01 Jan 2016 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/folks-to-watch-2016/https://chrislema.com/folks-to-watch-2016/We're just a day or two away from 2016, so I thought I would round up my predictions and some of the folks that I'm keeping a close eye on in 2016. The WordPress ecosystem continues to evolve Here's what I can tell you. Nothing is standing still. When I was a kid I would...Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/rainmaker-marketing-automation/https://chrislema.com/rainmaker-marketing-automation/This is a post in a series on Rainmaker--the platform created by the folks formerly known as Copyblogger. My family took another cruise! I was just on a cruise last week--spending an entire week in the Caribbean with my family. It was nothing short of amazing and incredible. We'd been on the same exact boat almost...Tue, 08 Dec 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-thing-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/best-thing-wordpress/Today I turn 45. The day after Thanksgiving. And I'm thankful for many things... WordPress powers 25% of the web If you missed it, the new data is out, and WordPress--the open-source software that makes it easy to build websites and blogs--powers 25% of the web. That's pretty awesome if you've been a part of...Fri, 27 Nov 2015 07:44:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-desktop-client/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-desktop-client/My Hope: A Windows Client for WordPress In late October I purchased Microsoft's new Surface Book. When I tell you it's awesome, I'm not lying. It's absolutely fantastic. Soon after that, I realized the one app that was missing - a simple way to author blog posts on Windows. On Mac, I've been pretty darn...Mon, 23 Nov 2015 21:04:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/high-performers-understand-sunk-cost/https://chrislema.com/high-performers-understand-sunk-cost/The leading cause of death among humans is human decision making. Early in my professional career, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Ralph Keeney, now research professor emeritus at Duke's business school. He's a world-renowned researcher, author, and professor of decision science. He's easily one of the smartest men I've ever had the privilege...Sun, 22 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/marketing-your-software-product/https://chrislema.com/marketing-your-software-product/What if there was a template to follow for marketing your software product? It would be nice, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, the people who are great at it don't tell you their secrets and the people who tell you their secrets aren't great at it. But every now and then I come across a jewel and...Sat, 21 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/rainmaker-worth-it/https://chrislema.com/rainmaker-worth-it/The World is Digital Years ago, when I was in high school, a girlfriend's dad explained to me that computers and software were permeating everything. They would soon take over controlling all sorts of things that weren't (at the time) technical. Honestly, I laughed. It sounded so futuristic. And I was a big computer guy...Sun, 15 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/market-share-for-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/market-share-for-wordpress/In May of this year (2015), something changed and almost no one talked about it. Chrome, the internet browser from Google, finally crossed over the 25% line for market share. This past week, WordPress did the same. And many folks wrote about it. Good articles. Interesting articles. And excitement to see it grow far past...Fri, 13 Nov 2015 07:07:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ipad-pro-surface-book-comparison/https://chrislema.com/ipad-pro-surface-book-comparison/I picked up an iPad Pro yesterday and thought I'd share my thoughts in comparison to the Surface Book. Yesterday was the big day! The iPad Pro was available and I immediately grabbed one. I remember on the day that Apple was making its announcements while I was in an airport lounge. I thought to...Thu, 12 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-developers/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-developers/Today I'm speaking at WordCamp Sacramento about the lessons I've learned while reviewing 30 membership plugins. While I get into product development, product marketing, writing review posts, and even membership details, I thought this quick review might help. Have you heard the story of a building that melted a car? There's a building in London,...Sat, 07 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-time-for-drama/https://chrislema.com/no-time-for-drama/The bad news: I've told a lot of folks, over a long time, in a lot of companies, that the majority of good things they want to work on are likely not going to take priority or get done. And I can most assuredly tell you that it's never a great message people want to...Wed, 04 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring-high-performers/https://chrislema.com/hiring-high-performers/Do you remember the A Team? I don't know if you watched the A Team like I did. I would rush home after school, finish my homework, and see if I could be done in time to enjoy an episode of the A Team. In our house, you had to be done with today's homework,...Tue, 03 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/subscription-fees/https://chrislema.com/subscription-fees/One of the most common questions I get about membership or subscription sites relates to not the price to charge but the interval to use for charging. Should someone charge monthly? Or should they charge annually? Of course, the logical answer is that it depends. But that makes for a pretty short and boring article....Mon, 02 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/high-performers-need-more/https://chrislema.com/high-performers-need-more/I love Dan Pink's Drive Dan Pink wrote a great book called Drive. It really is a fantastic read and I strongly recommend that you read it if you haven't. In the book, he highlights that engagement is often a by-product of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He's highlighting that everything we know about employment and...Sun, 01 Nov 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/recommend-beaver-builder/https://chrislema.com/recommend-beaver-builder/Yesterday I was the presenter at our local WordPress meetup It's a great group of folks that are developers, designers, site configurators, implementers and business owners. Basically, the group is diverse with a variety of skill sets. And my topic was how to manage the dynamic, which we've all lived thru before, of dealing with clients...Wed, 28 Oct 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/surface-book/https://chrislema.com/surface-book/If you read the title of this post and sang it to the tune of \"I kissed a girl and I liked it,\" you're totally doing everything right in life. Yes, I bought a Surface Book (but I hadn't planned to) A couple of weeks ago I was in Hawaii with one of my closest...Mon, 26 Oct 2015 21:10:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-value/https://chrislema.com/pricing-value/I hit a pipe with my drill... Have I told you about the time I tried to cut a hole in the wall, from a downstairs bedroom into the garage, that resulted in me drilling a hole in a water pipe that ended up pouring water (clean, thank God) into both the bedroom and my...Sun, 25 Oct 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordcamp-us-free/https://chrislema.com/wordcamp-us-free/Who doesn't like free stuff? Seriously. Who isn't for it? I know I love getting deals. And I love free. Free airplane upgrades are pretty close to the top of my list. But I'll be honest, free ice cream at the end of a meal, that's pretty nice too. But what about a free trip?...Tue, 20 Oct 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wont-help-anyone-youre-broke/https://chrislema.com/wont-help-anyone-youre-broke/The formula for profit is simple: make more than your costs. It's not hard to think about. Just like losing weight is pretty simple to think about: eat less than the calories you burn. Right? The math on both of these things is pretty simple. The formulas aren't the hard part When you look at...Tue, 20 Oct 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/share-landing-page-designs/https://chrislema.com/share-landing-page-designs/You've seen landing pages like this before A landing page that collects an email in exchange for a free eBook download isn't something new or really all that interesting. Tons of products can make this--from themes, to hosted solutions, to fancier solutions that manage funnels, and if you're super cool, you likely already use my...Fri, 16 Oct 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/limit-the-number-of-posts/https://chrislema.com/limit-the-number-of-posts/Why would you ever want to limit the number of posts a user can publish? I saw a question about limiting post creation for authors just the other day in our Advanced WordPress Facebook Group. Then, hours later, a client of mine asked about it for their own site. Then, yesterday someone else asked about...Thu, 15 Oct 2015 01:13:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ithemes-sync-infinitewp/https://chrislema.com/ithemes-sync-infinitewp/Two different products that sound the same when you read feature lists. But they're not. The challenge most WordPress products have Most WordPress products struggle in exactly the same way. Regardless of how well they're coded, regardless of how well they're supported, the folks behind most of the WordPress plugins that are premium (or commercial...Sun, 11 Oct 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/chargify-wordpress-integration/https://chrislema.com/chargify-wordpress-integration/The short answer is really short. It's not that complicated at all. But let me show you. Wait... what is Chargify? Chargify is a subscription management service. In other words, it helps you charge customers on a recurring basis. You know, like charging a customer every single month, for access to your protected content on...Tue, 06 Oct 2015 02:48:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/meet-syed-balkhi/https://chrislema.com/meet-syed-balkhi/Do you know my friend, Syed Balkhi? No? He doesn't pay me to be his PR. I'm just so impressed with him and how hard he works, and how generous he is with his knowledge, that I want to make sure you know him. He's the guy behind List25.com, WPBeginner.com, and tons of WordPress plugins....Fri, 02 Oct 2015 20:16:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin-2015/https://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin-2015/This summer I went on a search... The idea was simple. Thirty plugin reviews in 30 days. I would first have to see if there really were more than 30 membership plugins. Truth: there are. By my limited research, there were over 45 different membership plugins for WordPress. But some are really new. Others are...Thu, 01 Oct 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-own-story/https://chrislema.com/your-own-story/Do you know your own story? Have you learned how to tell it? A couple weeks ago in Dallas After three months at home, away from conferences, talks and events, I headed out to Austin and Dallas for meetings and a conference. While...Wed, 30 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dripped-content-notifications-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/dripped-content-notifications-wordpress/There was a time when very few WordPress products supported content dripping. Today many do. Yet, they still struggle. The Call was for Dripped Content Some time in 2010 I experienced three distinctly different dynamics with online information that changed my thinking on dripped content. The first was that I started selling my first eBook on...Wed, 30 Sep 2015 01:14:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/remembering-alex-king/https://chrislema.com/remembering-alex-king/Last night Alex King passed away. While very sad, his legacy will outreach what we're feeling today. The Name Alex King The name Alex King was the first one I learned in the WordPress community. To be clear, I didn't even know a community existed. It was 2005 and Google routed me to his website and...Mon, 28 Sep 2015 19:44:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/online-course/https://chrislema.com/online-course/\"We are like tea bags—we don't know our own strength until we're in hot water.\" Creating an Online Course... The challenge people have, when it comes to creating an online course, isn't normally the selection of a tool or platform. I spent the week with the guys from LifterLMS, and I can assure you their...Sun, 27 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/business-problem-men-dont-have/https://chrislema.com/business-problem-men-dont-have/Note, the issue below is not only a female thing. Men experience it too. The stories are illustrative, not proof. I've coached hundreds of folks—men and women—my opinion is based on that. Last week I was at BIF2015 This past week I was at BIF2015. It's a conference that's been going on for over a...Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/next-three-ebooks/https://chrislema.com/next-three-ebooks/The writing is almost done I'm excited to release, in the next couple of months, three new eBooks that I've been working on. Getting Started with Corporate Blogging A lot of times I hear people suggest to companies that they need to blog. But the advice stops there and most everyone I know gets stuck...Fri, 18 Sep 2015 06:16:39 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-reasons-entrepreneurs-consider-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/five-reasons-entrepreneurs-consider-wordpress/There are tons of cool technologies out there. Lots. But that doesn't make them the only option for entrepreneurs. WordPress brings a lot of benefits to Entrepreneurs I'm going to make the case that WordPress has a secure and central spot in the entrepreneurial landscape. See if you agree with me. 1. In the world...Thu, 17 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/online-courses/https://chrislema.com/online-courses/Unlike any time in history, people can now leverage their own experiences to create online courses for others without having to become a serious technologist. This isn't your grandpa's internet The first time I got into creating a computer-based training (CBT) course the solutions out there allowed me to take content, use software to turn...Wed, 16 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/365-days-crowd-favorite/https://chrislema.com/365-days-crowd-favorite/Today begins year number two with Crowd Favorite. It's hard to believe 365 days have passed since I joined the company. When I took the job... When I took the job I had hoped to travel less. The quarter of my first year didn't feel like less travel, but I only just started traveling again after...Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/downside-transparency-reports/https://chrislema.com/downside-transparency-reports/There are people who share their regular monthly revenues. Or others who do it yearly. And for some of those folks, I get it. It encourages their followers. It assures their audiences. It tells them that they're proof that the things they're selling can really work and make a difference. I get all that and...Mon, 14 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hacked-website/https://chrislema.com/hacked-website/I don't know if you know this, but websites get hacked every single day. It's big business for folks who use hacked sites to route traffic to the sites of their choosing. In case you didn't realize it, people do actually buy Viagra from websites that have Viagra ads all over them. Like I said,...Wed, 09 Sep 2015 23:02:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-things-about-godaddy/https://chrislema.com/five-things-about-godaddy/GoDaddy was on WPwatercooler Last week we had the GM of Hosting for GoDaddy and their evangelist both on the WPwatercooler show. If you don't know yet, WPwatercooler is the most watched YouTube show covering WordPress in a weekly 30-minute Google Hangout podcast. Over 4MM views on more than 150 shows isn't half bad, in...Tue, 08 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ithemes-exchange-membership-review/https://chrislema.com/ithemes-exchange-membership-review/Welcome to my iThemes Exchange Membership review. If you've never visited my site before, there are a few things I cover on this site regularly. One of them is WordPress membership sites. I look at plugins and review them so that you can make a good decision when picking from all the options you have....Sun, 06 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/write-about-your-product/https://chrislema.com/write-about-your-product/Every day, and I'm not joking when I write that, I get emails and people filling out my contact form with a simple note. Their request is pretty simple. I'd love it if you could share news about our new product on your website. The idea, I'm sure, is that if I write about it...Sat, 05 Sep 2015 21:26:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/working-from-home/https://chrislema.com/working-from-home/I starting working remotely in 1998 It's crazy to think that this month marks the 17th year of me working remotely, out of my own home. While there have been stretches in the last seventeen years where I've had to drive into an office for a few weeks or months at a time, the majority...Thu, 03 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-be-an-idiot/https://chrislema.com/dont-be-an-idiot/Sometimes you have no idea what you're doing. When I was six or seven, I stood next to my mom at the checkout stand of a retail clothing store. I said, \"Mom, are sure you can use that credit card?\" The result? The woman working the register asked us to hold on a second while...Thu, 03 Sep 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/14-reasons-for-firing-you/https://chrislema.com/14-reasons-for-firing-you/The truth is, there are a lot of reasons to be fired that have nothing to do with your age. The other day I read a post about 3 reasons millennials are being fired. From the discussions I've seen, read, and participated in about the article, people have anchored on the dynamic of the...Sat, 29 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/top-wordpress-business-folks-interviewed/https://chrislema.com/top-wordpress-business-folks-interviewed/Did you miss WordCamp Maui? Earlier this year I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with some incredible people and interview them. They had no advance notice of my questions They had no time to prepare They only knew the title of our session We had all the time in the world I'll tell...Thu, 27 Aug 2015 02:42:41 GMThttps://chrislema.com/beaver-builder-creating-homepage-video-background/https://chrislema.com/beaver-builder-creating-homepage-video-background/Create a Video Background in less than 10 minutes Creating a video background hero shot on your homepage doesn't have to be super difficult. The other day I received an email question about how to do it and I thought I would show you using Beaver Builder - an incredible solution for creating drag &...Tue, 25 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-upsells-and-cross-sells/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-upsells-and-cross-sells/Did I mention I love headphones? I do. I love them. I love them so much that I likely have a problem. But the first step is admitting that you have a problem and I've admitted it. In fact, I've been on step one of this journey for just over a decade. :) So as...Sun, 23 Aug 2015 01:34:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/who-needs-grace/https://chrislema.com/who-needs-grace/Remember when I said Embrace Grace? The other day I wrote about grace, from the perspective of dealing with drama in a community. My challenge to you was to assume the best in people, to live with the knowledge that you don't know the whole story, and to embrace grace. And you do that. I...Fri, 21 Aug 2015 16:28:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reviewing-woocommerce-memberships/https://chrislema.com/reviewing-woocommerce-memberships/WooCommerce Memberships: Sometimes you save the best for last For weeks people have been asking if I was going to review WooCommerce Memberships. The answer was a loud, \"Yes!\" But I had plans. Because you don't just throw in a review like this in the middle of the series. You bring it out towards the...Thu, 20 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/corporate-sites-dont-show-team/https://chrislema.com/corporate-sites-dont-show-team/I'm ok agreeing to disagree... I want to share with you why my corporate sites - I'm talking about any company where I'm one of the execs - won't ever show a \"the team\" page. It's not because I don't want to share the spotlight. I'll tell you a story about my experiences and see...Thu, 13 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/paid-memberships-pro-review/https://chrislema.com/paid-memberships-pro-review/Way back in 2012... My first email to Jason Coleman - the developer behind Paid Memberships Pro - was to request a particular feature. I had written a post about membership plugins and in early 2012 he had written me a note (and comment) about his plugin that he wanted to bring some attention to. Not...Wed, 12 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/work-life-balance/https://chrislema.com/work-life-balance/The Truth About Money If we're going to talk about the balance of family, relationships, work, and all that, it seems like it's pretty important to start with why people even feel like they have to make a choice. Why not just spend all your time with your family and friends and enjoy life? And...Mon, 10 Aug 2015 23:20:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/staging-environment/https://chrislema.com/staging-environment/Does this match your experience? You have a developer working on your website. Whether they're working on it locally (on their own computer), or on some hosting that they have set up for themselves, one thing thing is clear. They aren't coding it on your hosting account. You think nothing of it, because every time they show...Sun, 09 Aug 2015 21:40:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/memberium-wordpress-infusionsoft-membership/https://chrislema.com/memberium-wordpress-infusionsoft-membership/We're in the last legs of this 30-plugin review We're just five posts from the complete review of 30 membership solutions you can use with WordPress to build membership sites. Are there more that I didn't cover? The truth is, the answer is yes. There are even more.Sat, 08 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/can-build-membership-site-wp-ecommerce/https://chrislema.com/can-build-membership-site-wp-ecommerce/Have you heard of WP eCommerce? There's a good chance that if you've been around WordPress a while, you've heard of WP eCommerce. The reason is because it's the oldest, the original, eCommerce solution for WordPress. Years ago, when there was nothing else, I gave it a try and used it on a few sites. It...Fri, 07 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/rainmakers-membership-solution-rate/https://chrislema.com/rainmakers-membership-solution-rate/The project is wrapping up While it's true that some of the best membership plugins are left to review (MemberPress, iThemes Exchange, WooThemes Memberships & Paid Memberships Pro), we're really getting down to the last group here. If you've missed it, I've taken on the task of reviewing 30 membership plugins. I started back in July and...Thu, 06 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/know-friend-lisa/https://chrislema.com/know-friend-lisa/You can imagine what she heard when applying for jobs. You have probably felt it yourself if you're prone to insecurity or the impostor syndrome. \"You didn't finish high school?\" The kind of exterior you have to develop to navigate the world without a degree, much less a fancy degree, is one most of us...Wed, 05 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/little-secret-wp-engine/https://chrislema.com/little-secret-wp-engine/The Phone Call \"Should we keep WooCommerce?\" \"Should we stick with WP Engine?\" These were the questions I heard on the phone call I was on. If you don't know - I work for Crowd Favorite, an agency that delivers open source solutions to enterprises. So this call was coming from a serious client who had...Tue, 04 Aug 2015 12:10:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reviewing-wishlist-member-membership-sites/https://chrislema.com/reviewing-wishlist-member-membership-sites/The story behind Wishlist Member is a long one One of the first membership plugins I ever tried was Wishlist Member. That was so long ago it's hard to remember how far back - but something like 8 years or more. This was when I didn't know anything about the WordPress ecosystem. I just knew the...Mon, 03 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/custom-t-shirts-create-store-20-minutes/https://chrislema.com/custom-t-shirts-create-store-20-minutes/\"Where can I buy one?\" I was standing on a stage, getting roughly 300 people to repeat after me, \"Hope is not a strategy.\" And if you would have asked others that day if they believed I could get them to do it, most would have said no. But I had a cheat sheet for...Sun, 02 Aug 2015 17:10:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-magic-members/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-magic-members/We're not done yet! The month of July was supposed to be 31 days of membership posts. But I planned poorly. My wife had a surgery in July, we had a week vacation on the beach in July and I relaunched this site and migrated it to a new hosting platform (Rainmaker) in July. So...Sat, 01 Aug 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/redesign-overhaul-chris-lema/https://chrislema.com/redesign-overhaul-chris-lema/Stepping into a hat store A couple of weeks ago I stepped into a hat store in downtown San Diego. Not a cap store. A real, serious, hat store. I told the gal that I thought it might be time to make a shift from the daily caps I wear (baseball caps that are rarely...Thu, 30 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-dap/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-dap/It's feature rich but that doesn't mean I love and recommend it. But that's just me - maybe you'll fall in love with Digital Access Pass (DAP).Thu, 30 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-membermouse/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-membermouse/I've liked and used MemberMouse but I can't really recommend it to you because of it's take on hiding code from users.Mon, 27 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/married-up-have-you/https://chrislema.com/married-up-have-you/I could seriously go on for hours telling you how much better my life is than it was 11 years ago when we got married because my wife's amazing.Fri, 24 Jul 2015 01:53:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reviewing-s2member-pro/https://chrislema.com/reviewing-s2member-pro/I don't like S2 Member Pro. But I need to keep it in my list because so many people have used it. Over 40,000. So there's that.Thu, 23 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/page-security-and-membership-review/https://chrislema.com/page-security-and-membership-review/If you're building an intranet, you should take a look at the Page Security and Membership plugin by Contexture.Wed, 22 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reviewing-the-simple-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/reviewing-the-simple-membership-plugin/The name says it all - if you're building a simple membership site, you might really like the simple membership plugin.Tue, 21 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-memberwing-x/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-memberwing-x/If you've never heard of MemberWing-X, you might be missing out. It's a feature-rich plugin that you may find very interesting.Sat, 18 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/envatos-woocommerce-membership/https://chrislema.com/envatos-woocommerce-membership/This shouldn't be confused with the new memberships extension for WooCommerce. This is the WooCommerce Membership plugin that you find on Envato.Fri, 17 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-ultimate-member/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-ultimate-member/If you've heard of Ultimate Member it's likely because someone just discovered it and is telling you how awesome it is. Let me show you what they mean.Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-easy-quick-member/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-easy-quick-member/This is a really short review. The fastest ever. In short, you may (or may not) want to check out Easy Quick Member.Wed, 15 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/looking-at-zippy-courses-in-my-membership-plugin-review/https://chrislema.com/looking-at-zippy-courses-in-my-membership-plugin-review/It's not specifically a membership plugin but let's look at this from the purchaser's perspective for a second. I think you ought to consider Zippy Courses.Tue, 14 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-private-content/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-private-content/If you've never looked at Private Content, I'm going to show you the one reason you should. It's what everyone asks for.Mon, 13 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-strategy-for-navigating-the-wordpress-world/https://chrislema.com/my-strategy-for-navigating-the-wordpress-world/Over the last few weeks, we've seen a lot of things occur in the WordPress ecosystem that has people tweeting, hashtagging, commenting, posting, and talking about the state of where things are at and where we're going. What I find interesting, especially in an open-source world, is that the dialogue often sounds like there's some...Sat, 11 Jul 2015 22:00:16 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-cart66/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-cart66/We're looking at Cart66 today and I'm sure you'll agree it's a great product at a great price.Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-wp-membership/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-wp-membership/If you've never heard of WP Membership, that's ok. I think there are 2 things worth noting about it and 1 case where this is the right one for you.Fri, 10 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-members/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-members/Members by Justin Tadlock is a role management & content protection plugin. When you mix it with 2 other plugins, you can create a membership site quickly.Thu, 09 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-instamember/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-instamember/As I review membership plugins, InstaMember is one of them that I'm excited to share with you. If you're an internet marketer, you might really dig it.Tue, 07 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-memberful/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-memberful/In this membership plugin review I'm looking at Memberful and you should be looking at it too- because it's simple and very powerful.Mon, 06 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-fastmember/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-fastmember/The FastMember WordPress Plugin is the kind of all-in-one system you might want to skip or ignore, but it's pretty nice and worth a second look.Sun, 05 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-restrict-content-pro/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-restrict-content-pro/In my fourth review of this series, I take a look at Restrict Content Pro - a simple and clean solution for restricting content.Sat, 04 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-wp-members/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-review-wp-members/The right plugin for the right job is all that matters. That's the lesson when looking at the WP-Members plugin in this review.Fri, 03 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wp-emember-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/wp-emember-membership-plugin/If you've never heard of WP eMember, then I'm happy to share my insights with you. It may be the WordPress plugin you've been looking for.Thu, 02 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-reviews-wpmu-dev-membership-2/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugin-reviews-wpmu-dev-membership-2/In the first of 31 membership plugin reviews, I'll start with one of the newer products out there: wpmu dev membership 2. It's a feature-rich plugin.Wed, 01 Jul 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/heads-up-membership-plugins-review-coming/https://chrislema.com/heads-up-membership-plugins-review-coming/So for the month of July, I'll be reviewing a different membership plugin each day. Yes, there are over 30 different options out there for people.Tue, 30 Jun 2015 17:50:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ecommerce-solutions-for-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/ecommerce-solutions-for-wordpress/There are so many eCommerce solutions for WordPress that sometimes it's hard to choose. But maybe this new announcement will make things easier.Mon, 29 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hope-is-not-a-strategy/https://chrislema.com/hope-is-not-a-strategy/Maybe you've seen me wear the t-shirt or share the quote. Here's my YoastCon talk where the audience shared \"hope is not a strategy\" to all.Sun, 28 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-easiest-way-to-stand-out-as-a-freelancer/https://chrislema.com/the-easiest-way-to-stand-out-as-a-freelancer/The easiest way to stand out when you're a freelancer is so simple most people skip right past it. Here it is.Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/directory-of-members/https://chrislema.com/directory-of-members/I often get asked about the notion of creating a directory of members on a WordPress membership site. Here's one fast way to do it.Tue, 23 Jun 2015 23:02:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/this-is-why-you-dont-put-wordpress-in-a-domain-name/https://chrislema.com/this-is-why-you-dont-put-wordpress-in-a-domain-name/There is a reason you don't put WordPress in a domain name - because you don't have the money to support it. For reals.Mon, 22 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-i-create-an-ebook-without-a-lot-of-typing/https://chrislema.com/how-i-create-an-ebook-without-a-lot-of-typing/What if I told you that you could create an eBook without a lot of typing? Would you be interested? And I'm still taking about your own content. Here's how.Sun, 21 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/high-bounce-rate/https://chrislema.com/high-bounce-rate/A lot of people speak at conferences and write books and blog posts about lowering your high bounce rate. I am in the camp that doesn't mind a high rate.Fri, 19 Jun 2015 14:51:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/fire-a-customer/https://chrislema.com/fire-a-customer/If you've ever wondered how to fire a customer, here's my suggestion on how to do it without burning any bridges.Fri, 19 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/memberships-extension-for-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/memberships-extension-for-woocommerce/Have you heard about the new memberships extension for WooCommerce? It lets you build a membership site on WooCommerce easier than ever.Wed, 17 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/enterprise-wordpress-hosting/https://chrislema.com/enterprise-wordpress-hosting/If you're looking for enterprise WordPress hosting that isn't VIP, you really have three options to look at right now. Here they are.Tue, 16 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/nervous-presenter-mistake/https://chrislema.com/nervous-presenter-mistake/If there's one terrible mistake a nervous presenter makes, it's this one. And it's totally avoidable.Mon, 15 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-know-whos-holding-you-back-right/https://chrislema.com/you-know-whos-holding-you-back-right/Every now and then I sit across from someone and explain to them that they're not in a prison. Or rather, that they're in a prison of their own making. And that they can step out any time they like. I did that again last week. And as I did it, it dawned on me...Wed, 10 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hosting-videos-for-your-elearning-lms-course/https://chrislema.com/hosting-videos-for-your-elearning-lms-course/Are you hosting videos for your LMS (online course)? Here are some quick tips that might help.Tue, 09 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-developers-dilemma-efficiency-or-expertise/https://chrislema.com/the-developers-dilemma-efficiency-or-expertise/I think everyone faces the developer's dilemma if they've been working with WordPress for a while. Do you just get good with your tools? Or race after all the new stuff?Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/clickfunnels-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/clickfunnels-membership-site/If you want a simple way to do it, you may want to try to build a ClickFunnels membership site. Watch this 7 minute video.Thu, 04 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/https://chrislema.com/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/The customizer in WordPress was pretty cool when it first came out. The recent idea of putting the menu there suggests why we can't have nice things.Wed, 03 Jun 2015 22:14:39 GMThttps://chrislema.com/use-the-clock/https://chrislema.com/use-the-clock/High performers aren't scared by scarcity. Instead they use it. Learn what an emergency landing can teach you about high performers. They use the clock.Tue, 02 Jun 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/should-i-stop-blogging/https://chrislema.com/should-i-stop-blogging/You ask yourself this question all the time: should I stop blogging. My answer to you is pretty simple. No. Not now. Even if you're not seeing results yet.Mon, 01 Jun 2015 23:07:05 GMThttps://chrislema.com/email-automation/https://chrislema.com/email-automation/Email is an incredibly powerful tool, and when used correctly, can transform your business in ways you may not think possible.Wed, 27 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/running-a-subscription-service-dont-make-this-mistake/https://chrislema.com/running-a-subscription-service-dont-make-this-mistake/If you're building or running a subscription site and haven't paid attention to involuntary churn, you should start right away.Sat, 23 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-using-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/stop-using-wordpress/Today I read a new \"you should stop using WordPress\" post. It was silly, crazy, and so ridiculous that I decided to write about it.Thu, 21 May 2015 22:31:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/points-with-stories/https://chrislema.com/points-with-stories/Today I thought I would reveal why I use storytelling so much. Here are two reasons why I make my points with stories. And you can too!Thu, 21 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/words-that-convert/https://chrislema.com/words-that-convert/It's not enough to have great ideas. Or even great timing. You also need a design and words that convert. And that's why you need help.Wed, 20 May 2015 14:32:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-advice-for-freelancers/https://chrislema.com/pricing-advice-for-freelancers/Here is my 45 minute webinar replay with tons of pricing advice for freelancers. Watch it for free.Wed, 20 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/good-ideas/https://chrislema.com/good-ideas/It's not enough to have a good idea. Something else is required. Here's where I'll tell you the mistake most people make when it comes to good ideas.Mon, 18 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/practice-presentations-like-bob-marley/https://chrislema.com/practice-presentations-like-bob-marley/When you practice presentations like Bob Marley (the way he practiced performances), you'll discover you can handle just about anything that comes your way.Sun, 17 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-is-not-easy-but-its-good/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-is-not-easy-but-its-good/WordPress is not easy all the time but that doesn't mean you should look at alternatives just yet. Part of the issue is how we talk about it. We need to manage expectations better.Thu, 14 May 2015 20:52:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keep-your-head-up/https://chrislema.com/keep-your-head-up/There are days where maybe you just need an encouraging word. Here's my personal take on life optimization - keep your head up!Thu, 14 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-agency-or-freelancer/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-agency-or-freelancer/How do you choose between hiring a WordPress agency and hiring a WordPress freelancer? Let me tell you. Here's how I break it down.Wed, 13 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learning-curve/https://chrislema.com/learning-curve/For developers, a learning curve is a constant reality. There's literally no end. Here's why there's no reason to fear it.Mon, 11 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/finding-your-voice-as-a-writer/https://chrislema.com/finding-your-voice-as-a-writer/Here are four things to think about as you work on finding your voice as a writer.Sun, 10 May 2015 23:34:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/acceptance-testing-wordpress-codeception/https://chrislema.com/acceptance-testing-wordpress-codeception/Acceptance testing in WordPress isn't hard at all. Especially if you're using codeception!Fri, 08 May 2015 13:40:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/website-security/https://chrislema.com/website-security/This post isn't for security experts. It's for the rest of us who keep searching for the WordPress plugin that will deliver perfect website security.Sun, 03 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/presenters-resource-title-slide-layouts-in-powerpoint/https://chrislema.com/presenters-resource-title-slide-layouts-in-powerpoint/If you want a resource that will help you with your PowerPoint title slide layouts, this is it.Fri, 01 May 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/upgrade-your-500-website/https://chrislema.com/upgrade-your-500-website/The other day I told you that you could have a site for less than you thought. But when is it time to upgrade your $500 website? That's the question.Thu, 30 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ninja-forms-bundle/https://chrislema.com/ninja-forms-bundle/Here are three reasons that the upcoming Ninja Forms bundle makes perfect sense. For the right customers - it's a no brainer.Wed, 29 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/build-an-lms-using-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/build-an-lms-using-rainmaker/Rainmaker recently rolled out their Pro upgrade, which begs the question - can you build an LMS using Rainmaker? You'll read and watch (video) my answer.Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/build-a-membership-site-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/build-a-membership-site-with-wordpress/Is it time to build a membership site with WordPress? Are you ready? Have you decided it's too much technical work to get it done? Let me help.Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-business-is-not-your-baby-seriously/https://chrislema.com/your-business-is-not-your-baby-seriously/I hear the phrase, \"my business is my baby,\" and I know it's not meant literally. But I think it hides a real challenge from our everyday thinking.Fri, 24 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-site-with-infusionsoft/https://chrislema.com/membership-site-with-infusionsoft/One of the questions I've been getting lately is whether you can build a WordPress membership site with Infusionsoft. More importantly, is it easy?Thu, 23 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/forty-blogging-topics-for-wordpress-agencies/https://chrislema.com/forty-blogging-topics-for-wordpress-agencies/If you've been following along, I'm writing a series of posts with blogging topics for various folks. Today we're looking at WordPress agencies.Tue, 21 Apr 2015 00:34:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reason-for-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/reason-for-rainmaker/There's one reason for Rainmaker that no one wants to tell you. But I'm going to. Are you ready?Sun, 19 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-your-business-online/https://chrislema.com/getting-your-business-online/If you're just getting your business online, you might think you need to spend thousands of dollars to get your website coded. It's not true.Sun, 19 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-future-of-open-source-software-is-clear/https://chrislema.com/the-future-of-open-source-software-is-clear/If you were wondering about the future of open source software - particularly in corporations - no need to worry. Check out these statistics.Fri, 17 Apr 2015 17:44:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-12-inch-macbook-is-perfect-for-me/https://chrislema.com/the-12-inch-macbook-is-perfect-for-me/The new 12 inch MacBook is light. It doesn't get too hot. It has a gorgeous display. In short, the new MacBook is perfect for me.Fri, 17 Apr 2015 13:35:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-an-online-course-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/creating-an-online-course-with-wordpress/If you're thinking about creating an online course with WordPress, you have a lot of options.Thu, 16 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-perfect-client/https://chrislema.com/the-perfect-client/In the last of five emails to my team at Crowd Favorite, I cover the concept of the perfect client and how we go about finding them.Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/new-tendencies/https://chrislema.com/new-tendencies/In my fourth email to my developers at Crowd Favorite, I share with them the fact that we need new tendencies.Thu, 09 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blog-topics-for-entrepreneurs/https://chrislema.com/blog-topics-for-entrepreneurs/Yesterday I published a post on forty blog topics for WordPress freelancers. Now I'm giving you forty blog topics for entrepreneurs.Wed, 08 Apr 2015 23:56:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/developers-the-owner-is-you/https://chrislema.com/developers-the-owner-is-you/We now explore my team's role in complex environments. I use sports metaphors, but tell them something is different. \"The owner is you.\"Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/forty-blogging-topics-for-wordpress-freelancers/https://chrislema.com/forty-blogging-topics-for-wordpress-freelancers/If you feel stuck and don't know what to write about, here are 40 blogging topics for WordPress freelancers that might help.Tue, 07 Apr 2015 22:14:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/developers-travel-guides-or-explorers/https://chrislema.com/developers-travel-guides-or-explorers/Software developers like to think like engineers, but in the work we do, it's rarely engineering per se. It's more about being travel guides.Tue, 07 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/not-building-chairs-or-fixing-cars/https://chrislema.com/not-building-chairs-or-fixing-cars/Over the course of this week, I'll be writing daily emails to my team at Crowd Favorite (the developers). My hope is that they'll challenge my team while also giving them insights into how I think about things. The reality, however, is that these ideas aren't just for my team. I believe they're for any folks doing web development and project work.Mon, 06 Apr 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-choose-wordpress-hosting/https://chrislema.com/how-to-choose-wordpress-hosting/If you're wondering how to choose WordPress hosting, here's my quick guide - the 2015 edition.Sun, 05 Apr 2015 22:39:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-site-mistake/https://chrislema.com/membership-site-mistake/Too many people, excited to spin up their site, make this membership site mistake - and it costs them. Don't do it.Thu, 02 Apr 2015 21:32:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-using-the-word-just/https://chrislema.com/stop-using-the-word-just/Today marks a nice milestone for my personal blog. But for you the lesson is different. It's a simple request really. Stop using the word \"just.\"Tue, 31 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-you-name-your-product/https://chrislema.com/how-do-you-name-your-product/As I look at products in the WordPress space, I wonder if it's time to move past purely descriptive names. So I ask: How do you name your product?Fri, 27 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-challenge/https://chrislema.com/product-challenge/I know what most people think their product challenge is. And they have it all wrong. It's not what they think it is. In fact, it's really different.Wed, 25 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-you-do-for-a-living/https://chrislema.com/what-you-do-for-a-living/It's a question I get asked a lot. You probably do to. People want to know what you do for a living. Here's my question to you. Do you have a good answer?Mon, 23 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/check-out-css-hero/https://chrislema.com/check-out-css-hero/If you've not heard of CSS Hero, you need to know about it - right now! It's so cool. Here's a quick video for you.Sun, 22 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/right-way-to-sell-yourself/https://chrislema.com/right-way-to-sell-yourself/When people encourage you to blog, for you or your company, the question pops up? How often to pitch. Here's the right way to sell yourself, in my opinion.Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/progressive-profiling-2/https://chrislema.com/progressive-profiling-2/If you were thinking that progressive profiling was only for enterprise customers, then I want you to reconsider. I've just used it on my contact form. Here's how you can do it too!Fri, 20 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/segmentation-and-pricing/https://chrislema.com/segmentation-and-pricing/Two days ago I wrote about segmentation. Yesterday about value-based pricing. Today I'm bringing segmentation and pricing together.Thu, 19 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/not-definition-of-value-based-pricing/https://chrislema.com/not-definition-of-value-based-pricing/A lot of people talk about it, but from what I hear, they're getting the definition of value based pricing wrong.Tue, 17 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/need-segmentation/https://chrislema.com/need-segmentation/I'll be honest with you, too many people think they don't need segmentation homework. They want to work on other things. And they're wrong. Completely.Tue, 17 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/two-blogging-tricks/https://chrislema.com/two-blogging-tricks/Sometimes you get stuck staring at a blank screen. In that moment, you're looking for blogging tricks to get you going again. Well here are two that work!Mon, 16 Mar 2015 00:34:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sell-more-products/https://chrislema.com/sell-more-products/If you want to sell more products, here's a simple solution you should seriously consider. Because not doing it is just plain silly.Thu, 12 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/page-builder-themes-obox-wpmudev/https://chrislema.com/page-builder-themes-obox-wpmudev/If you have to choose between these two page builder themes, which should you choose? Layers or Upfront? I'll tell you my opinion.Wed, 11 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/match-membership-sites/https://chrislema.com/match-membership-sites/What does Match.com know about membership sites that you don't? I'll tell you right now.Tue, 10 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/overcome-impostor-syndrome-before-presentation/https://chrislema.com/overcome-impostor-syndrome-before-presentation/I have a trick that helps me overcome Impostor Syndrome for the 45 minutes before I get on stage to deliver a presentation. Here it is.Sun, 08 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/prestige-conference-review/https://chrislema.com/prestige-conference-review/I couldn't make the first Prestige Conference. I was out of town. But I just returned from the 2nd one and here's my review of the event.Sat, 07 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-you-need/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-you-need/If you're a blogger, here are 15 WordPress plugins you need. They're the must-have set.Fri, 06 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/information-hoarders/https://chrislema.com/information-hoarders/Did you ever see Hoarders? What if we're just as bad? But in a different way than on the show.Thu, 05 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/divi-page-builders/https://chrislema.com/divi-page-builders/No matter how many people, \"insiders\" complain, Divi and other page builders won't disappear from the WordPress ecosystem.Wed, 04 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/notifications-wordpress-powered-app/https://chrislema.com/notifications-wordpress-powered-app/If you're building a WordPress powered app, then this little plugin may help you solve a notifications issue quickly. It's a neat little find.Mon, 02 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-site-prices-too-high/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-site-prices-too-high/What happens when WordPress site prices get too high? Is that even possible? I think it is - because I'm a believer in value-based pricing. Here's my take.Sun, 01 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/procrastinate-strategically/https://chrislema.com/procrastinate-strategically/It's not about saying no to something. It's about saying not yet. That's what it means (to me) to procrastinate strategically.Fri, 27 Feb 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/time-management/https://chrislema.com/time-management/We each have 24 hours each day. So time management doesn't really exist. Time will keep passing. All the time. So here's what you can do.Thu, 26 Feb 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/high-performance-is-a-choice/https://chrislema.com/high-performance-is-a-choice/Much like going to a gym and hiring a trainer, the real work happens when you choose to do the workout. Similarly, high performance is a choice.Tue, 24 Feb 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lets-be-honest-about-our-contact-forms/https://chrislema.com/lets-be-honest-about-our-contact-forms/The biggest challenge with WordPress contact forms isn't technology. It's about helping people find a way to express their interests in a useful way.Mon, 23 Feb 2015 23:31:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-power-of-your-unique-voice/https://chrislema.com/the-power-of-your-unique-voice/This is the story of how I found a painting after years because of the unique style of an artist. It's your story too. We all need to find our unique voice.Sun, 22 Feb 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/as-the-world-changes/https://chrislema.com/as-the-world-changes/As the world changes, so will WordPress...and that has meaning for businesses. Developing a competency for working well within these countries will become critical.Tue, 17 Feb 2015 00:21:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/marketing-mistake-many-people-make/https://chrislema.com/marketing-mistake-many-people-make/I talk about this so much I'm surprised I haven't written about this classic marketing mistake. Here's my introduction to outside in marketing.Wed, 11 Feb 2015 17:44:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/truth-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/truth-wordpress/The truth about WordPress isn't hard to grasp, but it's critical to understand.Tue, 10 Feb 2015 23:50:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-someones-day/https://chrislema.com/make-someones-day/It's not everyday that I take a lesson from a Maroon 5 song, but today it is. Today I want to challenge you to make someone's day.Sun, 08 Feb 2015 10:36:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/project-managers/https://chrislema.com/project-managers/This is a series of videos for Project managers that I've been recording for some of my staff.Fri, 06 Feb 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blogging-tips/https://chrislema.com/blogging-tips/Here are a few blogging tips that may help you get started and use your time more effectively.Wed, 04 Feb 2015 19:04:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-places-try-work-wordpress-world/https://chrislema.com/five-places-try-work-wordpress-world/If I could be so bold as to suggest where you should try to work, here's my list of five places I highly recommend.Tue, 03 Feb 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/company-blogs-gone-wrong/https://chrislema.com/company-blogs-gone-wrong/There's a simple dynamic to watch for. If missed, the result for many are company blogs gone wrong. And no one want's that. Yet over and over, it happens.Mon, 02 Feb 2015 16:16:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/success-of-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/success-of-wordpress/Is the future success of WordPress tied to Jetpack, as Mullenweg stated last week? I'm going to tell you the reasons behind my answer.Fri, 30 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-calendar/https://chrislema.com/my-calendar/This year my calendar looks different than previous years. It's filled with events where I'm not speaking to a crowd that knows me. It's on purpose.Thu, 29 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-i-believe/https://chrislema.com/what-i-believe/When it comes to WordPress, there are several things I believe. But what you'll discover is that it's unimportant. What's critical is what you believe.Wed, 28 Jan 2015 17:31:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/join-the-club-post-status/https://chrislema.com/join-the-club-post-status/Here are five good reasons why you should join The Club at the newly re-launched Post Status, run by Brian Krogsgard. Plus a way to win a free membership.Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:30:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-mobile-ecommerce/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-mobile-ecommerce/I know it's not Christmas, but here's my wish list for WordPress mobile eCommerce sites and platforms.Mon, 26 Jan 2015 22:24:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choosing-the-right-ecommerce-platform/https://chrislema.com/choosing-the-right-ecommerce-platform/If you're building an eCommerce site on WordPress, then you may need help choosing the right eCommerce platform. After all, there are several to pick from.Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/odesk-wordpress-developer/https://chrislema.com/odesk-wordpress-developer/Are you looking for an oDesk WordPress developer? Here are some tips that may help protect you from making some classic mistakes.Tue, 20 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/buying-decisions/https://chrislema.com/buying-decisions/It's easy to confuse two different buying decisions. But one is a lot harder than another to make. So it helps to be clear on what we really want to ask.Sun, 18 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/plugin-support-costs/https://chrislema.com/plugin-support-costs/Are you spending a lot of time on plugin support? Are you tired of the costs of phone calls and emails? Would you spend $34 to reduce your burden?Wed, 14 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keep-circling-back/https://chrislema.com/keep-circling-back/It's a daily habit for me. It trains me to deal with the natural anchoring that happens in my brain. It's the habit of circling back. Here's why it's key.Tue, 13 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-things-done/https://chrislema.com/getting-things-done/As I'm finalizing my talk for Pressnomics, I thought I would share at least 1 of my getting things done tips for folks (including those who won't be there.)Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/power-of-fear/https://chrislema.com/power-of-fear/Among the top things I hate is the power of fear to stop you from all the things you could / should do. Don't give in to that power.Sat, 10 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/cost-plus-pricing/https://chrislema.com/cost-plus-pricing/On my short list of things I hate, here's one about pricing - cost-plus pricing. I hate it, mostly because it's selfish. There, I said it.Thu, 08 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/people-with-formulas/https://chrislema.com/people-with-formulas/In my second part of this four part series, I focus on people with formulas - the get rich, get thin, get (fill in the blank) quick kinds of formulas.Wed, 07 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/indirect-communication/https://chrislema.com/indirect-communication/Few things in the world are worse than service providers who (for some reason) embrace indirect communication. It's the first item in this freelance series.Tue, 06 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-membership-site-2/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-membership-site-2/If you've read my posts on creating a WooCommerce membership site, you'll need this one other piece of information.Mon, 05 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin-for-developers/https://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin-for-developers/Is there a good WordPress membership plugin that's right for developers? Yes, there are three. Here they are.Sun, 04 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-wordpress-community/https://chrislema.com/the-wordpress-community/Stepping into the WordPress community can be awesome or frustrating. Here's my take on how to do it well. Go slow!Fri, 02 Jan 2015 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choose-transparency-2/https://chrislema.com/choose-transparency-2/Everyone knows a bomb will blow up. That's not the exciting part. Let me tell you what's the exciting part, and what it suggests about your transparency.Thu, 01 Jan 2015 17:08:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-are-awesome-thanks/https://chrislema.com/you-are-awesome-thanks/I articulate specific thanks to 95 different people in our WordPress community, all because they are awesome and we had fun interactions this year.Wed, 31 Dec 2014 03:22:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/time-for-growth/https://chrislema.com/time-for-growth/Sometimes the time for growth is later. After you have better systems, accountability, and process in place - not before (which can drive new hires crazy).Thu, 25 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/headway-themes/https://chrislema.com/headway-themes/Sometimes we're looking for something new when there's something right in front of us. So tell me, when was the last time you looked at Headway Themes?Thu, 25 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/estimating-without-requirements/https://chrislema.com/estimating-without-requirements/Estimating without requirements isn't easy. It's even worse if you're using a 3-point approach incorrectly. Here's my approach, and how I use it to differentiate me from others (while reinforcing my experience).Tue, 23 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/should-i-use-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/should-i-use-rainmaker/In a call the other day, this simple question was asked of me, \"Should I use RainMaker or host my own platform?\" Here's my answer.Sun, 21 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/one-thing-you-need-to-know/https://chrislema.com/one-thing-you-need-to-know/A lot of people give business advice. A lot of people talk about winning. I've found there's one thing you need to know more than anything else.Sun, 21 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-reasons-why-high-performers-quit/https://chrislema.com/three-reasons-why-high-performers-quit/I thought I would share with you three reasons why high performers quit their jobs. And no it has nothing to do with the lack of cool t-shirts or free beer.Fri, 19 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-sites-vat/https://chrislema.com/membership-sites-vat/If you're hosting an online course, membership sites, or selling eBooks, VAT might apply to you, as it did to me. So here are a few tips and resources.Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-or-ecommerce-plugin/https://chrislema.com/membership-or-ecommerce-plugin/Do you need a membership plugin, or an eCommerce plugin? That's the question I'm tackling, so you don't have to stress about your upcoming decision.Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/vat/https://chrislema.com/vat/My site will be changing...all because of VAT - here are the details of changes that are to come.Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-right-software/https://chrislema.com/building-right-software/Building software the right way is not as important as building the right software.Fri, 12 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/articulating-your-value/https://chrislema.com/articulating-your-value/It's uncomfortable to talk about what you know and how much you know. I get it. But if you're not articulating your value, who is?Thu, 11 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/association-websites/https://chrislema.com/association-websites/WordPress can do things. But that doesn't mean it always should. I'm talking about association websites - which may be better built other ways.Wed, 10 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/start-blogging/https://chrislema.com/start-blogging/There are a million reasons you should or shouldn't blog. But what if I could tell you the one reason you should start blogging that you've never heard? It's worth hearing about, right? It has to do with your thinking. And you'll want to hear about it. Trust me.Tue, 09 Dec 2014 01:33:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/grass-is-always-greener/https://chrislema.com/grass-is-always-greener/You hear everyone talking about looking for a new job - mostly looking for a spot with greener grass. But the grass is always greener where you water it.Sun, 07 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/bet/https://chrislema.com/bet/Some decisions can't be made by getting advice. Some require you to make your own call. Will you bet on yourself? The answer should be obvious.Sat, 06 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/cant-epic-alone/https://chrislema.com/cant-epic-alone/Everyone wants to be epic. But here's the little secret. You can't do it alone.Wed, 03 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-are-awesome/https://chrislema.com/you-are-awesome/Your \"good enough\" is likely to be someone else's \"awesome.\" Your perspective betrays you. That's why I already think you are awesome.Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-your-services/https://chrislema.com/pricing-your-services/If you're a freelancer or service-oriented business that struggles with pricing your services, this tip from Best Buy might help you.Mon, 01 Dec 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blog-comments-policy/https://chrislema.com/blog-comments-policy/Over the last two years my thoughts on blog comments and a comments policy have shifted. Here's my latest policy.Sun, 30 Nov 2014 22:33:56 GMThttps://chrislema.com/subscription-system-shippable-products/https://chrislema.com/subscription-system-shippable-products/If you're building a subscription system for shippable products and want to deliver your products to multiple addresses, here's how.Sat, 29 Nov 2014 18:30:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/paying-for-your-time/https://chrislema.com/paying-for-your-time/A phone call where someone's paying for my time Today I got on a call using Clarity - the service where people schedule a call to talk to me and get answers and advice. I had an idea of what the guy was going to ask me about because he had put some notes in our...Sat, 29 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/amazing-things-come-from-anywhere/https://chrislema.com/amazing-things-come-from-anywhere/Can I tell you about someone I met in New York? She hesitated to even sign up for the singing competition. It was in a mall. And she knew they were looking for a voice that wasn't like hers. After all, she did opera. And she just knew they were looking for pop. As it...Thu, 27 Nov 2014 17:17:35 GMThttps://chrislema.com/unlimited-plans/https://chrislema.com/unlimited-plans/Sometimes lifetime or unlimited plans can make sense. But only sometimes. And it means you have to do some math homework to know if it's a good idea.Tue, 25 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-process/https://chrislema.com/your-process/I don't mean this in a way that makes you feel bad. I'm simply saying that your focus should be on something else - your prospect's decision criteria.Mon, 24 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/picking-wordpress-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/picking-wordpress-membership-plugin/Picking a WordPress membership plugin? You'll want to ask yourself the 6 questions I talk about in this video, presented at WordCamp New York.Sun, 23 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-first-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/your-first-wordpress-plugin/Building your first WordPress plugin can be scary. But it doesn't have to be. There are tons of resources to help. And here's the one thing no one tells you.Fri, 21 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wp-engine-innovating/https://chrislema.com/wp-engine-innovating/If you haven't heard yet, WP Engine is innovating again. This time they're focused on the enterprise.Thu, 20 Nov 2014 08:41:37 GMThttps://chrislema.com/8-weeks-at-crowd-favorite/https://chrislema.com/8-weeks-at-crowd-favorite/If you've been wondering what I've been up to at Crowd Favorite, here's an inside look at my last 8 weeks and the 8 principles that have driven my focus.Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:55:06 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-drag-drop-solutions-make-vs-carrington-build/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-drag-drop-solutions-make-vs-carrington-build/How do you choose between these two different drag and drop solutions: Make vs Carrington Build. Here's my take on the comparison.Tue, 18 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/google-fonts-tos/https://chrislema.com/google-fonts-tos/A lot of us use Google Fonts without thinking twice. We even do it on customer projects. But that may not be the right call - depending on who your client.Mon, 17 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-your-product/https://chrislema.com/building-your-product/I know you're thinking building your product is the most challenging thing ever. But it's not. It's only one item you need to think about. Here are others.Sat, 15 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-plugins/https://chrislema.com/membership-plugins/I get a lot of questions about membership plugins on my site. Sometimes I have to level set expectations about what they're meant to do.Fri, 14 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/killed-disqus-commenting/https://chrislema.com/killed-disqus-commenting/Things were going on that I didn't know. But I don't like them. And I wanted it to stop. So here's why I killed disqus commenting on my site just now.Thu, 13 Nov 2014 22:11:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/more-money/https://chrislema.com/more-money/If you're feeling strapped and wondering how to \"make it\" in life, and want more money, here are my tips for you.Thu, 13 Nov 2014 09:18:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/determine-value/https://chrislema.com/determine-value/Value is in the eye of the beholder. We all know that. But sometimes we're called to determine value. That time is now.Wed, 12 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/artificially-intelligent-ecommerce/https://chrislema.com/artificially-intelligent-ecommerce/What would the world look like with eCommerce that was artificially intelligent? What if the machines created the rules? Would you be interested?Tue, 11 Nov 2014 14:11:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/crafting-5-minute-talks/https://chrislema.com/crafting-5-minute-talks/Crafting 5 minute talks are hard. I created and delivered one tonight. Here was my approach.Mon, 10 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/seen-memberpress-lately/https://chrislema.com/seen-memberpress-lately/I don't know when you last looked at MemberPress but if you're looking for a WordPress membership plugin, don't skip past this one. Seriously.Sun, 09 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/work-life-balance-goal/https://chrislema.com/work-life-balance-goal/I know a lot of folks talk a lot about work life balance. My take may not make tons of sense but I decided to try to explain it here in a single post.Sat, 08 Nov 2014 20:47:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/zippy-courses-first-glance/https://chrislema.com/zippy-courses-first-glance/If you've heard of Zippy Courses, then you're likely wondering if it's the best online course solution out there. Here's my initial review.Fri, 07 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/new-rainmaker-right-for-me/https://chrislema.com/new-rainmaker-right-for-me/One of the questions I get a lot is how to know if the new Rainmaker platform is right for someone. Here's my answer.Thu, 06 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/people-want-building-ecommerce-site/https://chrislema.com/people-want-building-ecommerce-site/It may take you a second to get to the core of it, but what people want most when building an eCommerce site isn't tons of features. It's something else.Wed, 05 Nov 2014 08:05:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/better-presenting/https://chrislema.com/better-presenting/Better presenting skills are completely available to you, if you know a little something about your audience (and their brain).Sun, 02 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-video-courses-online/https://chrislema.com/selling-video-courses-online/If you've been thinking about selling video courses online and were looking for the right membership plugin, you can now stop. No need.Sat, 01 Nov 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-speaker-circuit/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-speaker-circuit/If you're wondering how to get on the WordPress speaker circuit, please read this post. Right now.Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/child-care-for-wordcamps/https://chrislema.com/child-care-for-wordcamps/It's something that only recently occurred to me. Why don't we have things like child care at WordCamps? I'm going to see if we can for WordCamp San Diego.Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-stupid-reasons-people-dont-blog/https://chrislema.com/four-stupid-reasons-people-dont-blog/There are four stupid reasons people don't blog. I'm not saying you have to blog. But if you don't blog, make sure it's not because of these lies.Wed, 29 Oct 2014 12:03:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/thinking-about-outsourcing/https://chrislema.com/thinking-about-outsourcing/If you've been thinking about outsourcing, then I suggest you consider asking any prospect these five questions.Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/presentations-without-anxiety/https://chrislema.com/presentations-without-anxiety/Wondering how to get past all the anxiety you have when you think about delivering presentations? Here's my trick.Mon, 27 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-your-brand/https://chrislema.com/building-your-brand/If you're wondering about building your brand with a blog, here are the six things to think about.Sun, 26 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-kinds-people/https://chrislema.com/three-kinds-people/When people ask you how things are going, it's easy to boast (and shape the truth.) Instead, I'll answer by saying there are three kinds of people.Fri, 24 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-email/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-email/If you're doing cool things with your eCommerce site, you're likely to want to send WooCommerce emails to folks. Here's an easy way to do it.Wed, 22 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-help/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-help/If you're looking for WooCommerce help, then here are some resources that may be perfect for you.Tue, 21 Oct 2014 18:28:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-ecommerce-renewal-fees/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-ecommerce-renewal-fees/I often hear people (building WordPress eCommerce sites) worry about the price of plugins & extensions. Especially the renewal fees. Don't.Mon, 20 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordcamp-talk-advice/https://chrislema.com/wordcamp-talk-advice/If you're giving a WordCamp presentation, you might want to consider a new approach to how you start and end your presentation.Fri, 17 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ballet-professional-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/ballet-professional-wordpress/Here were some of my thoughts on what it means to build professional WordPress organizations - my talk from WordCamp Europe 2014.Thu, 16 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/engaged/https://chrislema.com/engaged/Keeping people engaged on your blog can feel like a tricky challenge. Here's how I do it.Tue, 14 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-page-builders/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-page-builders/If you're going to be comparing drag and drop WordPress page builders then you'll likely want to start with this short list.Sun, 12 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pay-for-testing/https://chrislema.com/pay-for-testing/Everyone says that clients never want to pay for testing and for test routines to be developed. My sense is that the story we're telling is wrong.Thu, 09 Oct 2014 18:46:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-the-burn/https://chrislema.com/embrace-the-burn/I'm sitting here watching kids of all ages practice their Kung Fu. My daughter is just minutes away from helping test another student (so they can get their next sash). As I watch I'm reminded of a truth I shared with folks at WordCamp Tampa this past weekend. Things worth doing, good things, take time.Mon, 06 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/developing-skills/https://chrislema.com/developing-skills/Our community focuses on helping you develop your development skills. But are you developing ALL your skills?Sat, 04 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-is-old/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-is-old/It's true that WordPress is old. But so is Harrison Ford. And that doesn't stop us from watching his latest movies. Or checking out WordPress.Fri, 03 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-learning-management-system/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-learning-management-system/If you're looking to build a WordPress learning management system, then it's likely you'll need a question bank, and now you can, with key plugin support.Thu, 02 Oct 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/contribute-to-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/contribute-to-wordpress/Should you contribute to WordPress? Sure. Do you have to write code? Nope. Here are a variety of ways to do it.Wed, 01 Oct 2014 18:43:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/thing-love-hate-wordpress-community/https://chrislema.com/thing-love-hate-wordpress-community/There are things I love about the WordPress community. And there are things I hate. Here's my #1 issue.Fri, 26 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/looking-wordpress-hosting-four-options/https://chrislema.com/looking-wordpress-hosting-four-options/If you're looking for WordPress hosting, then you know there are several options for you. Here are four that I would invite you to check out.Thu, 25 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ebook-writing-secret/https://chrislema.com/ebook-writing-secret/Here's my eBook writing secret - it makes it fast and easy and I've used it for each of my eBooks.Wed, 24 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/elearning-on-wordpress-2-3/https://chrislema.com/elearning-on-wordpress-2-3/There's been tons of announcements recently that suggest eLearning on WordPress is getting better and better.Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/amazing-landing-pages/https://chrislema.com/amazing-landing-pages/It used to be hard. Not anymore. Now you can create amazing landing pages in WordPress with this new option.Mon, 22 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/finding-blogging-voice/https://chrislema.com/finding-blogging-voice/If you're worried about starting a blog, one place where you might need help is with finding your blogging voice. Here are my three tips.Sun, 21 Sep 2014 02:08:20 GMThttps://chrislema.com/radical/https://chrislema.com/radical/There are a lot of ways to measure how radical you are. Today I'll ask you about the level of your transparency. And show you someone who's radical!Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/testimonials-highlighting-credibility/https://chrislema.com/testimonials-highlighting-credibility/If you collect testimonials, you'll be in a better using them to bolster your credibility.Thu, 18 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/business-blogging-tip-leverage-email/https://chrislema.com/business-blogging-tip-leverage-email/If you're a business trying to figure out how to do \"business blogging\" here's a tip for you on how to leverage the emails you've already written.Wed, 17 Sep 2014 07:47:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/fear-2/https://chrislema.com/fear-2/Do you let fear stop you? I started a new job yesterday. Here's how I dealt with it.Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-take-on-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/my-take-on-wordpress/I'm stepping into the WordPress ecosystem full time, and have received questions about it. So here's my take on the ecosystem as a whole.Sun, 14 Sep 2014 21:49:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/which-wordpress-theme/https://chrislema.com/which-wordpress-theme/I hear it all the time: which WordPress theme should I use? And the answer is always, \"it depends.\" But here is my answer, and a new market entrant.Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blogging-for-your-business/https://chrislema.com/blogging-for-your-business/Everyone tells you that you need a blog. But what do you write? And how do you make blogging for your business an effective marketing tool?Fri, 12 Sep 2014 22:56:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-lessons-everywhere/https://chrislema.com/pricing-lessons-everywhere/You can step into a store, read the paper, play a videogame or more and you'll soon realize that you can see pricing lessons everywhere.Thu, 11 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/clients-bad-ideas-obey-or-say-no/https://chrislema.com/clients-bad-ideas-obey-or-say-no/Every client you know has bad ideas. But what do you do when you hear them? Obey? Reject? Here's what I do, and more importantly, here's why.Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/rainmaker-kajabi-wishlist-leadpages-optimizepress/https://chrislema.com/rainmaker-kajabi-wishlist-leadpages-optimizepress/Building membership sites? How do you choose? Rainmaker over all? Kajabi vs Wishlist? LeadPages vs OptimizePress? What should you use?Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/never-justify-business-plan-ever/https://chrislema.com/never-justify-business-plan-ever/People may ask questions. They may debate your model. But you should never feel like you need to justify your business plan to anyone. Ever.Mon, 08 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-tutorials/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-tutorials/If you want tutorials for creating WordPress membership sites, then here are a couple of walk-thrus.Sun, 07 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/can-i-get-a-discount/https://chrislema.com/can-i-get-a-discount/You hear the question all the time: Can I get a discount? Here's a fun video to help you think about that question.Fri, 05 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-businesses-saas/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-businesses-saas/Compared to other marketing automation solutions, this SaaS is a no-brainer if you have an online business.Thu, 04 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ridiculously-simple-way-help-site-produce-greater-results/https://chrislema.com/ridiculously-simple-way-help-site-produce-greater-results/If you want greater results, here's one simple and I mean super simple way to make that happen.Mon, 01 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-site-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/membership-site-rainmaker/If you want to run an online course or set up a membership site, you should check out the new Rainmaker platform.Mon, 01 Sep 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/contact-form-video-rant/https://chrislema.com/contact-form-video-rant/If you recently noticed a change to my contact form, here's the reason why. Note, this here's a bit of a rant.Sat, 30 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/important-public-speaking-tip/https://chrislema.com/important-public-speaking-tip/Tons of books have been written about public speaking. Most skip this one thing. So here's my most important tip.Fri, 29 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/plugin-developers-right-way/https://chrislema.com/plugin-developers-right-way/I hate saying it, but it's true - there's a right and wrong way to do things. Here's an example many plugin developers can learn from.Thu, 28 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/most-important-skill-to-learn/https://chrislema.com/most-important-skill-to-learn/If I had to pick the most important skill to learn to stay ahead in the WordPress world, this is what it would be.Wed, 27 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/see-todays-announcement-chose-crowd-favorite/https://chrislema.com/see-todays-announcement-chose-crowd-favorite/Crowd Favorite made an announcement today about a partnership with iThemes to collaborate on products for the Enterprise market. It also explains why I chose to work there.Tue, 26 Aug 2014 10:22:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/secret-writing-helpful-blog-content-daily-basis/https://chrislema.com/secret-writing-helpful-blog-content-daily-basis/Everyone says, \"Just write killer content\" and you're left scratching your head. Here are my secrets to writing helpful blog content daily.Mon, 25 Aug 2014 19:53:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/get-a-discount/https://chrislema.com/get-a-discount/In the WordPress world this is an all-too-common scenario: people hire poorly, waste money and then arrive asking if they can get a discount.Sun, 24 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/prorating-woocommerce-membership-charges/https://chrislema.com/prorating-woocommerce-membership-charges/If you've been holding back from a WooCommerce membership site because you couldn't prorate charges, now you can.Thu, 21 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/turning-around-godaddy/https://chrislema.com/turning-around-godaddy/It's hard to believe that it might be possible, but folks are working hard at turning around GoDaddy.Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/scarcity-wordpress-developers/https://chrislema.com/scarcity-wordpress-developers/There's a scarcity in the computing industry, that's for sure. But I don't think it revolves around quality WordPress developers. Or developers at all.Tue, 19 Aug 2014 16:46:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/time-management-tips/https://chrislema.com/time-management-tips/Are you struggling with your time management routines? Here are three of my tricks to help you.Mon, 18 Aug 2014 10:49:16 GMThttps://chrislema.com/im-alive-wife/https://chrislema.com/im-alive-wife/It's been ten years of being married to my best friend. She's given me more than a great marriage and two children. She's given me 10 years of life.Sun, 17 Aug 2014 12:18:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/did-you-miss-these-great-wordpress-articles/https://chrislema.com/did-you-miss-these-great-wordpress-articles/It's so easy, with so much great content being written all the time, to miss some of these great WordPress articles. So here's a quick list to check out.Sun, 17 Aug 2014 05:59:07 GMThttps://chrislema.com/seo-questions/https://chrislema.com/seo-questions/There are tons of SEO questions we all face (or hear) all the time. Here's my new favorite of them all, and why it should matter to you.Fri, 15 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/leadin-2-0/https://chrislema.com/leadin-2-0/Say hi to marketing automation with WordPress by checking out Leadin 2.0 the latest WordPress plugin your site totally needs!Thu, 14 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/trademarks-wordpress-carl-hancock/https://chrislema.com/trademarks-wordpress-carl-hancock/If you've thought about creating a WordPress product, you've wondered how to deal with your GPL code shared everywhere. My interview with Carl Hancock helps.Tue, 12 Aug 2014 13:50:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hire-the-best/https://chrislema.com/hire-the-best/I know a lot of folks say they want to hire the best staff they can find. My approach is different. Here's why.Mon, 11 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-say-no-a-lot-other-quick-lessons/https://chrislema.com/i-say-no-a-lot-other-quick-lessons/I found an old podcast that quickly shared 15 key things to think about (before starting projects, sites, or startups). They include my fav: I say no.Fri, 08 Aug 2014 21:27:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-security/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-security/We talk a lot about passwords and plugins. But our discussions about WordPress security should really change. Here's how.Thu, 07 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pressnomics-stay-on-sunday/https://chrislema.com/pressnomics-stay-on-sunday/Pressnomics, the business conference of the WordPress community, has its tickets on sale. Buy one. Then, stick around on Sunday.Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:44:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-change-your-life/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-change-your-life/You already know WordPress can change your life if you let it. Today's announcement is about how WordPress has changed me and mine.Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:44:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordcamp-talk-like-nacin/https://chrislema.com/wordcamp-talk-like-nacin/If you are looking to give a WordCamp talk, then why not learn from someone like Nacin - who knows WordPress and knows how to present.Mon, 04 Aug 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/many-stand-alone-membership-plugins-wont-work/https://chrislema.com/many-stand-alone-membership-plugins-wont-work/Every few weeks new WordPress membership plugins are announced. After all it's a growing space. But many won't work for you. Here's why.Thu, 31 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-blogging-lessons-wont-take-five-minutes-read/https://chrislema.com/five-blogging-lessons-wont-take-five-minutes-read/I've been at this for two years and if you break it down, here are the five blogging lessons I'd share with you if we only had five minutes.Thu, 31 Jul 2014 06:59:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ideal-clients/https://chrislema.com/ideal-clients/A lot of folks wonder how to find new prospects. A lot of folks complain about not finding ideal clients. My question for them is simple: are you prepared?Tue, 29 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/treated-like-a-vip/https://chrislema.com/treated-like-a-vip/I don't know about you but the feeling of being treated like a VIP is pretty special. Let me suggest one way you can feel it - for the first time or not.Mon, 28 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/switch-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/switch-wordpress-themes/I recently changed my theme here on chrislema.com and someone asked if it was easy. Yes, it was easy to switch WordPress themes. Very.Sun, 27 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/band-site-easy-digital-downloads/https://chrislema.com/band-site-easy-digital-downloads/In the next chapter of our Platform series, I show you how to build a band / musician site using Easy Digital Downloads and WordPress.Sun, 27 Jul 2014 02:42:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/author-site-ithemes-exchange/https://chrislema.com/author-site-ithemes-exchange/Next in our platform series is a walkthrough of how you'd go about building an author site with iThemes Exchange.Fri, 25 Jul 2014 23:26:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-your-platform-base-plugins/https://chrislema.com/building-your-platform-base-plugins/Our second step in building your platform on WordPress is to choose the base plugins that you'll likely use. And it's tough because there are good options. Like with everything, it all depends on what you're doing.Thu, 24 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/integrating-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/integrating-wordpress/If you're just getting started integrating WordPress with other APIs, here is a whole host of resources just for you.Tue, 22 Jul 2014 16:14:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-your-platform-wordpress-first-steps/https://chrislema.com/building-your-platform-wordpress-first-steps/If you're building your platform on WordPress, there are a few things you need to think about up front. Here are your first steps.Tue, 22 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-need-a-platform/https://chrislema.com/you-need-a-platform/If you keep adding to your site, a feature at a time, it may be time to realize you don't need a website. You need a platform.Mon, 21 Jul 2014 15:12:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reaktiv-studios/https://chrislema.com/reaktiv-studios/I have some great friends at Reaktiv Studios that I want to make sure you know.Sun, 20 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/preparing-for-presentations/https://chrislema.com/preparing-for-presentations/If you find yourself preparing for presentations, here are three posters that might help you remember some key prep points.Sat, 19 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/nobodys-a-nobody/https://chrislema.com/nobodys-a-nobody/There are a lot of truths in this life, but maybe none more important than this one: nobody's a nobody. Ever.Fri, 18 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/makes-wordpress-theme-beautiful/https://chrislema.com/makes-wordpress-theme-beautiful/If you're going to step into theme design, you likely want to ask yourself this question: What makes a WordPress theme beautiful? Here's my take.Thu, 17 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/two-minutes/https://chrislema.com/two-minutes/If you're presenting at a conference, the first two minutes are critical. So don't waste them by spending the whole time talking about yourself.Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/customize-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/customize-wordpress/If you're building a product that will allow users to customize WordPress, take a lesson from these two examples.Mon, 14 Jul 2014 21:01:33 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pay-per-view-documents/https://chrislema.com/pay-per-view-documents/If you want to build a system that lets you sell pay per view documents with WordPress, here are the four and a half steps to do it.Sun, 13 Jul 2014 19:10:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/whats-right-wordpress-plugin-wrong-question/https://chrislema.com/whats-right-wordpress-plugin-wrong-question/People always ask me to point them to the right WordPress plugin to help them build a site just like another famous one they know. It's the wrong question.Sat, 12 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/update-multiple-wordpress-sites/https://chrislema.com/update-multiple-wordpress-sites/If you use iThemes Sync, you can update multiple WordPress sites at once - from your iPhoneFri, 11 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/startup-fails/https://chrislema.com/startup-fails/I received an email via my website tonight. It came from a person facing failure. What do you do when your startup fails? His reaction was fantastic.Wed, 09 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/who-talk-to-developer-goes-awol/https://chrislema.com/who-talk-to-developer-goes-awol/If your developer goes AWOL, you better have a plan B. Here's a list of folks I have on speed dial if I need help. You might want to save this list too.Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-web-developer-went-awol/https://chrislema.com/your-web-developer-went-awol/Sometimes you have no idea until it's too late that the reason your web developer went AWOL was you. Here's the flawed logic you may be believing. If so, stop. Please.Mon, 07 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-change-lives/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-change-lives/It's something I never thought about when I first started using WordPress. But today I appreciate it more than ever. It's a tool that helps me change lives.Sat, 05 Jul 2014 23:44:14 GMThttps://chrislema.com/web-designer-goes-awol/https://chrislema.com/web-designer-goes-awol/If your developer or web designer goes AWOL, here are the five steps I recommend you take. After all, you don't want to repeat the situation again, right?Fri, 04 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/developers-going-awol/https://chrislema.com/developers-going-awol/The second post in my AWOL series gives you three tips that can help you (if you're worried about developers going AWOL), even before you start.Fri, 04 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/plan-before-you-write/https://chrislema.com/plan-before-you-write/\"Think before you speak.\" Another way to say the same thing, when it comes to blogging, is to plan before you write.Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-families/https://chrislema.com/product-families/We don't talk about it a lot but as the WordPress ecosystem matures, we should start thinking about product families. It will help everyone.Tue, 01 Jul 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/start-a-blog-that-matters/https://chrislema.com/start-a-blog-that-matters/I've been helping my daughter start a blog. It's led to many conversations - all with the same point. If you're going to do it, start a blog that matters.Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:46:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-branding-right/https://chrislema.com/getting-branding-right/It may take several conversations, but getting your branding right is worth it. Here's someone who's just walked thru a brand refresh.Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-tips-for-virtual-teams/https://chrislema.com/five-tips-for-virtual-teams/Here are five tips I shared with the folks at WordCamp Romania (#wcr14) about managing virtual teams.Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-themes-without-support/https://chrislema.com/selling-themes-without-support/If you're selling themes, you may have thought about trying to do it without support. Here's my take on why that will fail. Just my take.Thu, 26 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-you-want-to-build-a-website/https://chrislema.com/do-you-want-to-build-a-website/You've seen Frozen, right? Well, here's my take (for my little girl): Do you want to build a website?Thu, 26 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getclouder-2/https://chrislema.com/getclouder-2/There's a new option for web and application hosting called getclouder and it's pretty sweet. You may want to check it out.Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-mistakes-wordpress-theme-vendors-make/https://chrislema.com/four-mistakes-wordpress-theme-vendors-make/Continuing in this series, here are four mistakes WordPress theme vendors often make. Not you. Other people. But it may help to quickly review them. You know, just in case.Tue, 24 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-hard-work/https://chrislema.com/embrace-hard-work/People ask for shortcuts. Quick tips. Instead, we should encourage one another to embrace hard work.Mon, 23 Jun 2014 19:51:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-theme-vendors-sell/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-theme-vendors-sell/Sometimes it's easy to fall into selling things like everyone else. If you're a WordPress theme vendor, here's my suggestions for doing it right.Sun, 22 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/gpl-themes-plugins/https://chrislema.com/gpl-themes-plugins/I've suggested themes may end up costing more. But if these are GPL themes, shouldn't they be free? Here's my take.Sat, 21 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-theme-cost/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-theme-cost/We've been talking about themes a lot recently. So here's my take on the question of what should a WordPress theme cost. It's my take. An opinion.Fri, 20 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/evermore-2/https://chrislema.com/evermore-2/When you bring hosting, themes, curated plugins, and a solid pricing structure, you get a great small business WordPress platform: Evermore.Thu, 19 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-wordpress-themes-2/https://chrislema.com/pricing-wordpress-themes-2/There's been a lot of talk and question about WordPress themes and their prices. Here's my take on what happens if prices go up.Wed, 18 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/yearly-web-hosting/https://chrislema.com/yearly-web-hosting/They'll save you money, but yearly web hosting is more helpful to the host than to you. Here's why I don't go for it.Tue, 17 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-often-to-blog/https://chrislema.com/how-often-to-blog/It's a question I hear all the time: How often should I blog? And my answer, even as a daily blogger, may surprise you.Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:43:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/can-business-deal-anywhere/https://chrislema.com/can-business-deal-anywhere/When it comes to doing a business deal, the issue isn't where - it's with who, and why.Sat, 14 Jun 2014 12:41:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-mvp/https://chrislema.com/your-mvp/I spend a lot of time with startups in my evenings and weekends. often talking about MVPs. If your MVP is just a way to earn money, you're missing out.Sat, 14 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/talks-that-matter-2/https://chrislema.com/talks-that-matter-2/If you want some help preparing your next set of talks, Cory Miller and I are going to help you out on WP Sessions.Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-segmentio-customerio/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-segmentio-customerio/If you're doing some fun stuff with WooCommerce, Segment.io and Customer.io, here are two things you need to know.Wed, 11 Jun 2014 17:42:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/help-others/https://chrislema.com/help-others/In this post I present an audio recording that walks you thru how I think about my approach. I help others using my own experience as a guide.Wed, 11 Jun 2014 00:10:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/video-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/video-wordpress-plugin/You decide to shoot a quick video to showcase your WordPress plugin. Turns out it's not so easy. Here are two resources you should know about.Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-your-platform/https://chrislema.com/building-your-platform/If you want to start building your platform, you're going to want to start with a blog. Use it in the way I describe here, and you'll soon have an audience.Sun, 08 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/racism/https://chrislema.com/racism/BeachPress was awesome, even if someone (not there) accused the event of sexism & racism. Here are some of my thoughts on the topic or race and racism.Sat, 07 Jun 2014 00:36:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/employee-engagement/https://chrislema.com/employee-engagement/There's been recent talk about employee engagement tools. Here's the one you already have that is the most effective in engaging staff.Thu, 05 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hero-of-the-story/https://chrislema.com/hero-of-the-story/If you present, coach, speak or write, you want impact. So remember, the hero of the story isn't you.Wed, 04 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/reasons-for-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/reasons-for-rainmaker/All she wanted was a website. She didn't get it. Today I'd suggest Rainmaker and here are my reasons for Rainmaker.Tue, 03 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-scarcity/https://chrislema.com/embrace-scarcity/You may be thinking of quitting your job to start freelancing or product development. Here's five reasons to wait, and embrace scarcity.Mon, 02 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sponsor-the-development-of-wordpress-plugins/https://chrislema.com/sponsor-the-development-of-wordpress-plugins/Everyone can contribute in one way or another. Here's why I sponsor the development of WordPress plugins.Sun, 01 Jun 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/raise-rates/https://chrislema.com/raise-rates/We all have those old clients who've been with us so long that they're anchored to our old rates. Here's how I raise rates - even with them.Sat, 31 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-art-of-giving-an-estimate/https://chrislema.com/the-art-of-giving-an-estimate/People ask the question. They want it. They need it. But there's an art to giving an estimate that's helpful. Here's how I go about it.Fri, 30 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-say-no-promoting/https://chrislema.com/i-say-no-promoting/You hope I'll promote your unknown product. But you don't know me. If you did, you'd know I say no a lot. Like now.Thu, 29 May 2014 17:39:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/more-future-of-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/more-future-of-wordpress-themes/There's been a lot of talk of the commoditization of WordPress Themes. Here are some additional thoughts on the future of WordPress themes.Wed, 28 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/perspective-matters-pricing/https://chrislema.com/perspective-matters-pricing/Understanding different pricing models really helps when trying to figure out what to charge. The main shift is in perspective - from inside to outside.Mon, 26 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/interacting-with-support/https://chrislema.com/interacting-with-support/You can yell, get angry, and show them who's boss. But if you're interacting with support this way, you may not enjoy the result. Here are better ways.Sat, 24 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-2/https://chrislema.com/make-2/Make is a free WordPress drag & drop theme that you're really going to like.Thu, 22 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/guess-what-wordpress-companies-are-hiring/https://chrislema.com/guess-what-wordpress-companies-are-hiring/They all work on interesting projects with great clients. Their cultures are distinct but all are pretty great. Here are 4 companies that are hiring.Wed, 21 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/future-managed-wordpress-hosting/https://chrislema.com/future-managed-wordpress-hosting/Did Monty Python just help me make my case? Yes, yes he did. Here's my take on the future of Managed WordPress hosting.Tue, 20 May 2014 18:08:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/say-no-to-rip-offs/https://chrislema.com/say-no-to-rip-offs/Just say no to getting ripped off. Say no to people making money off you rather than with you.Mon, 19 May 2014 17:20:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/understanding-wp-cron/https://chrislema.com/understanding-wp-cron/If you're going to do something important with Cron, it's important to understand how WP-Cron works, and why I don't use it.Sun, 18 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/paying-someone-else/https://chrislema.com/paying-someone-else/Sometimes paying someone else to do something for you can help in more ways than one. Find out why I'm doing it.Sat, 17 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/preparing-for-a-talk/https://chrislema.com/preparing-for-a-talk/Preparing for a talk isn't quick. I spend a lot of time preparing for a 35 minute presentation. Here are my 3 tips.Fri, 16 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/future-of-wordpress-plugins/https://chrislema.com/future-of-wordpress-plugins/Wondering what the future of WordPress plugins will be? It's already here and with you, everywhere you go.Thu, 15 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-extensions/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-extensions/With the recent challenges at WooThemes, you might think I'm crazy. Here's why I put over $800 worth of WooCommerce extensions into my cart.Wed, 14 May 2014 10:18:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ecommerce-push/https://chrislema.com/ecommerce-push/Sometimes people need a little push to get their eCommerce dreams started. I'm going to help. Here's how.Tue, 13 May 2014 10:04:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-lessons-i-learned/https://chrislema.com/three-lessons-i-learned/People wonder if startups are worth it. Here are three lessons I learned that I couldn't have learned any other way.Wed, 07 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-bookings-best-wordpress-appointment-solution/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-bookings-best-wordpress-appointment-solution/For the last couple years, people have asked me about the best appointment booking solution for WordPress. My constant answer has been, \"Why are you adding the 'for WordPress' into your analysis?\" I've asked that because most of the solutions in the WordPress space have either been non-existent, or poor competitors to the services that...Tue, 06 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/better-wordpress-developer/https://chrislema.com/better-wordpress-developer/Here are the five things I would suggest - my \"one single thing\" and four other ways - to become a better WordPress developer.Tue, 06 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wasnt-always-fan-open-source-software/https://chrislema.com/wasnt-always-fan-open-source-software/Sometimes it takes a company's support and backing to help change minds. That's how it was for me and the open source movement. Will you help?Fri, 02 May 2014 13:16:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/still-a-market/https://chrislema.com/still-a-market/Even if you think your market is saturated, I want to tell you that there's still a market for what you want to do. It just takes a bit of innovation.Thu, 01 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/less-accessible/https://chrislema.com/less-accessible/Smart people have boundaries. That's why, if you want to find success, you should be less accessible, not more.Thu, 01 May 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-page-builders/https://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-page-builders/If you were thinking of using a drag and drop page builder, here's a dirty little secret few people talk about.Wed, 30 Apr 2014 00:22:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-design-your-site/https://chrislema.com/dont-design-your-site/You would never walk into the dealership and make a purchasing decision based solely on how a car looks right? So why are you making choices like that when you design your site?Mon, 28 Apr 2014 20:07:33 GMThttps://chrislema.com/never-eat-alone/https://chrislema.com/never-eat-alone/No, this isn't a book review. I'm not summarizing the book, Never Eat Alone. Instead, I'm talking about my conference strategy, as I lived it out in Austin.Mon, 28 Apr 2014 06:49:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learning-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/learning-wordpress/There's a lot that can be learned from learning to smoke cigars, if you're thinking about learning WordPress.Sun, 27 Apr 2014 00:03:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/charge-more-charge-sooner-charge-often/https://chrislema.com/charge-more-charge-sooner-charge-often/Insecurity can really mess with your pricing. Here's my suggestion: charge more, charge sooner, and charge often. Oh, and get some help with pricing. It's hard.Fri, 25 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/become-a-rainmaker/https://chrislema.com/become-a-rainmaker/If you're tired of answering technical questions and dealing with low level issues that distract you from being a rainmaker, then you'll want to read this.Thu, 24 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/premium-theme-business/https://chrislema.com/premium-theme-business/People have wondered if the premium theme business is dead - seeing DevPress & Press75 for sale, and others (iThemes, WooThemes) move to plugins. It's not.Wed, 23 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-dimensions/https://chrislema.com/product-dimensions/Once you start paying attention to all your product dimensions, you'll discover tons of ways to differentiate yourself while delighting customers.Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/8-membership-plugins/https://chrislema.com/8-membership-plugins/Once upon a time... A long time ago I used to have a huge key ring. It had keys to my apartment, multiple offices at work, some keys for lockers at the gym, and car keys. The key ring was big enough I would clip it to my belt instead of putting it in my...Mon, 21 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring/https://chrislema.com/hiring/If you're getting ready to start hiring another developer to your team, make sure you're not making these five mistakes.Sun, 20 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin-2014/https://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin-2014/It's hard to say that there's a best WordPress membership plugin. But check out this comparative analysis. You might be surprised to see who won.Sun, 20 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/innovation-group-activity/https://chrislema.com/innovation-group-activity/A few years ago there was a great video produced, based on the TED talk by Stephen Johnson, entitled, \"Where do good ideas come from?\" If you missed it, here it is again. Innovation requires collision What Johnson focuses on is the fact that for really great and innovative ideas to make it, they need...Fri, 18 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/build-your-own-crm/https://chrislema.com/build-your-own-crm/Think it might be great to build your own crm? I want to suggest you consider marketing automation alternatives.Wed, 16 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ask-for-a-refund/https://chrislema.com/ask-for-a-refund/It's a natural part of the purchasing process, where you get a product that doesn't work for you and it's time to ask for a refund. But not all situations are equal. Here are five tips for you when you're thinking about asking for a refund.Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-scratch-your-itch/https://chrislema.com/dont-scratch-your-itch/You hear it all the time, \"I just scratched a personal itch. I made it for me, because I knew I was passionate about it. I hoped others would be too.\" Here's why it's wrong.Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/developers-dont-burglars/https://chrislema.com/developers-dont-burglars/It's an extreme situation, but developers often find themselves shocked to see that we may be leaving ourselves open to charges of digital trespassing.Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-icons-in-your-wordpress-menu/https://chrislema.com/using-icons-in-your-wordpress-menu/If you want to add icons in your WordPress menu, it isn't very hard. You'll have a new menu in just minutes.Tue, 08 Apr 2014 00:14:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/business-tips-freelancers/https://chrislema.com/business-tips-freelancers/There's a story about blind men and an elephant. It provides the imagery for the five tips I'll share with you if you're a freelancer.Sun, 06 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dealing-with-competitors/https://chrislema.com/dealing-with-competitors/The question was simple enough, about dealing with competitors, but required more than 140 characters to answer.Sat, 05 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/maybe-real-benefit-themeforest/https://chrislema.com/maybe-real-benefit-themeforest/Themeforest - Maybe the real benefit is it's exposure to the concept of success. You know it. But you haven't felt it. And it can help you feel it.Fri, 04 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-membership-site-ithemes-exchange/https://chrislema.com/building-membership-site-ithemes-exchange/If you're building a membership site with Exchange, you may want to watch this video tutorial - which walks you thru exactly what you need and what to do.Thu, 03 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-next-wordpress-project/https://chrislema.com/pricing-next-wordpress-project/Pricing is tough. I always start there. But here are some resources (videos, posts, ebooks) that may help you out.Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/memories/https://chrislema.com/memories/Want to get ahead in business? These three skills are all critical - and will make you a master of memories.Mon, 31 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/non-paying-clients/https://chrislema.com/non-paying-clients/Here are five tips that I want to share with you about dealing with non-paying clients.Sun, 30 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-site-with-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/membership-site-with-woocommerce/If you're trying to build a membership site with WooCommerce, then this step by step video tutorial will help you. 25 minutes of free instruction.Sun, 30 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/grace/https://chrislema.com/grace/I've been the recipient of countless amounts of grace from others who weren't exacting in their evaluation of my performance.Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dmv-and-membership-plugins/https://chrislema.com/dmv-and-membership-plugins/When was the last time you were at the DMV? Even if you call in advance, or use the web to schedule an appointment at the DMV, it can be a really frustrating experience. You arrive, before your appointment time slot, and imagine that you'll just walk up and tell them, \"I'm here for my...Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/developing-expertise/https://chrislema.com/developing-expertise/Expertise and mastery require a set of steps. What's interesting to me is that we often get the order wrong. Here's the right order.Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-brand/https://chrislema.com/your-brand/It's important to find your voice. It's critical to hire great developers. But in-between, there's another step, related to your brand, that's just as key.Wed, 26 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-story/https://chrislema.com/your-story/You want to know your story? You want to find your voice? Here's the approach I suggest you take.Mon, 24 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring-your-next-web-developer/https://chrislema.com/hiring-your-next-web-developer/If you're planning on hiring your next web developer without any drama, here are some quick do's and don'ts that may help you.Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/business-help/https://chrislema.com/business-help/Need business help? Well, even if I can't help you, you're still in luck - because here are three great resources for you.Sat, 22 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/questionable-clients/https://chrislema.com/questionable-clients/How do you define questionable? What makes a questionable client? And how do you know you're not a questionable developer? Here's a strategy to help.Thu, 20 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/two-day-rule/https://chrislema.com/two-day-rule/It started as a simple question but has turned into a guide that impacts almost every aspect of software development on my teams: it's my two day rule.Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-risk/https://chrislema.com/pricing-risk/Of the many things you can do when dealing with projects full of unknowns, the first, in my opinion, is a skill all freelancers should have: pricing risk.Tue, 18 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/build-trust/https://chrislema.com/build-trust/You will logically be tempted to build more features. All the time. But don't. Build trust instead.Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/big-rocks-first/https://chrislema.com/big-rocks-first/The story goes like this. A professor walks to the front of the room with a large glass jar-the kind that you'd make iced tea in (and could serve a family for a couple of days). His students all watch him as he sets the stage for what will surely be an interesting lesson. And...Fri, 14 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/selling-wordpress-themes/It all ends where it starts. At least in my book. Here's my prediction on the future of selling WordPress themes.Thu, 13 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/minimum-viable-product-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/minimum-viable-product-wordpress/You don't have to spend a lot of money to test an idea. Using WordPress, creating minimum viable products is easy.Thu, 13 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wp-cruise/https://chrislema.com/wp-cruise/Join Chris Lema and his friends on a three day trip to Baja Mexico (Ensenada) for WP Cruise. It will be a blast!Tue, 11 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-a-dating-site-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/creating-a-dating-site-with-wordpress/Want an example of how to use AppPresser? Here's where I talk about creating a dating site with WordPress. And how I'd use AppPresser to make me some cash.Mon, 10 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-plugins-payment-gateways/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-plugins-payment-gateways/If you were trying to pick between WordPress membership plugins, you might not think about payment gateways, but it's important.Sun, 09 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/mental-models/https://chrislema.com/mental-models/If you want to create a product that will delight your customers first understand the mental models they already have.Sun, 09 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-wordpress-page-builders/https://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-wordpress-page-builders/As more and more drag and drop WordPress page builders show up on the market, what will our future be? And how do we stop it from turning into MySpace?Fri, 07 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-ways-to-learn-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/three-ways-to-learn-wordpress/Sure, you can use Google. Or ask a friend. But here are three ways to learn WordPress that may deliver much better results.Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:05:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/willing-to-learn/https://chrislema.com/willing-to-learn/My learning posture has changed over the years. These days I am willing to learn from just about anyone. But that wasn't always the case.Wed, 05 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-developers-add-ons-2/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-developers-add-ons-2/This is a blog post for WordPress developers. And it's not a post about pricing. But it does highlight how you may missing a golden opportunity.Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-sites/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-sites/If you've been thinking about starting a WordPress membership site, and wonder about all the things you need to consider, here are some resources.Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/where-to-find-wordpress-developers/https://chrislema.com/where-to-find-wordpress-developers/Do you know where to find WordPress developers that are agreeable (not jerks), affordable (not $150/hr), and available (not scheduling me 6 months out)?Sat, 01 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-need-wordpress-lms-plugin-online-course/https://chrislema.com/dont-need-wordpress-lms-plugin-online-course/Maybe what I need is a membership plugin more than a WordPress LMS plugin. Here's my take - for a specific kind of e-learning solution.Sat, 01 Mar 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/purchase-with-storytelling/https://chrislema.com/purchase-with-storytelling/Online selling is a lot easier with storytelling. Here's a few resources and tips that can help you do it well.Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/give-feedback/https://chrislema.com/give-feedback/It's a quick post, mostly just a video - with one main point: You don't need to make a splash to give feedback.Thu, 27 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/future-of-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/future-of-wordpress-themes/Theme Foundry has just rolled out a new theme: Oxford. But it's more than just a new theme - it's a portal into the future of WordPress themes - for us all.Wed, 26 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-e-commerce-offering/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-e-commerce-offering/WordPress.com just announced a new addition to their business offering - a new WordPress e-commerce offering. But is it right for you?Tue, 25 Feb 2014 18:17:41 GMThttps://chrislema.com/presence-of-fear/https://chrislema.com/presence-of-fear/There are many reasons that your billings may be low. Just don't let the presence of fear be one of them.Mon, 24 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/knowledge/https://chrislema.com/knowledge/You can hide something. You can hope to protect it. But eventually people stop looking because they don't know it exists. So share knowledge.Sun, 23 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/refund/https://chrislema.com/refund/You order something. It doesn't work the way you hoped. Try not to be a jerk about it. Stay polite, even as you ask for a refund. Don't be that guy!Sat, 22 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-and-youtube/https://chrislema.com/you-and-youtube/What if you and YouTube had different agendas? What if their platform wasn't exactly right for you? Let me introduce you to another option.Fri, 21 Feb 2014 16:33:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring-wordpress-developers/https://chrislema.com/hiring-wordpress-developers/Your site getting hacked with malware is not when you want to think about the process you used for hiring WordPress developers. Trust me.Thu, 20 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/products-that-dont-focus-on-profit/https://chrislema.com/products-that-dont-focus-on-profit/Is there ever a reason to create a product where the focus on profit is secondary? What if there is? Would it surprise you?Wed, 19 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embedding-pdfs-on-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/embedding-pdfs-on-wordpress/If you want to repurpose content - like embedding PDFs on WordPress - you'll enjoy this little trick that doesn't use Google Drive or DropBox.Tue, 18 Feb 2014 21:14:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/untrained-gut/https://chrislema.com/untrained-gut/Exposure and experience shape our intuition. It's not an automatic thing that you can trust your gut. Sometimes you have an untrained gut. Here's help.Mon, 17 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/delivering-a-great-keynote-address/https://chrislema.com/delivering-a-great-keynote-address/If your next talk includes delivering a great keynote, then here are five tips I hope will help you - with links to several other referenced articles.Mon, 17 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-elearning-plugins/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-elearning-plugins/If you develop, or are thinking of developing WordPress eLearning plugins, here's a tip for you - some valuable feedback from the field.Sun, 16 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/impostors/https://chrislema.com/impostors/Dealing with the impostor syndrome isn't fun - but it's important if you struggle with feeling like an impostor, faker, or poser.Fri, 14 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choose-a-wordpress-host/https://chrislema.com/choose-a-wordpress-host/Is there a right or wrong way to choose a WordPress host? Well, here are my suggestions for you. In summary - it depends. But you already knew that.Wed, 12 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-legacy/https://chrislema.com/your-legacy/When I think about what it takes to truly have an impact on the world around me, 20-30 years doesn't feel like a lot. What will your legacy be?Tue, 11 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/poor-performing-plugins/https://chrislema.com/poor-performing-plugins/If you need some code therapy (what Reaktiv Studios calls it), I know where to get it. After all, dealing with poor performing plugins isn't fun. Get help!Tue, 11 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/private-review-site/https://chrislema.com/private-review-site/This membership site concept earns money from content creators and readers alike. Check out how easy it is to create a private review site with Exchange.Sun, 09 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/tell-story-build-anticipation/https://chrislema.com/tell-story-build-anticipation/There's a great way to tell a story and lots of poor ways. Here's what some of the best storytellers do when they present: they build anticipation.Sat, 08 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-you-think/https://chrislema.com/how-you-think/I spoke at WordCamp Las Vegas (2013), delivering the keynote address. I made one point: How you think, about how you think, can change how you think.Fri, 07 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-best-wordpress-theme-for-your-business/https://chrislema.com/the-best-wordpress-theme-for-your-business/The best WordPress theme for your business may not be the one that looks the best in the demos. Here's another strategy for getting what you want.Thu, 06 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sell-selling-less/https://chrislema.com/sell-selling-less/Don't sell features. Don't sell benefits. Instead, sell destinations. As you do, you'll sell more by selling less.Wed, 05 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/nextgen-gallery-envira/https://chrislema.com/nextgen-gallery-envira/You may be surprised by my answer. Because in this comparison, NextGen Gallery doesn't compare well to Envira, a new WordPress plugin you should check out.Tue, 04 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/serving-your-clients-clients/https://chrislema.com/serving-your-clients-clients/Folks who cut hair get it. You liking your cut is great. But not enough. As a web professional, do you know it's not just about serving your clients?Mon, 03 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/business-models/https://chrislema.com/business-models/Having a hypothesis of how your business will run is a good thing. Calling them business models may make them sound scarier, but they don't have to be.Mon, 03 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comment-blog-post/https://chrislema.com/comment-blog-post/My flight from Toronto to San Francisco in First Class reminds me that there's a right and wrong way to comment on a blog post.Sat, 01 Feb 2014 18:41:30 GMThttps://chrislema.com/drag-drop-wordpress-options/https://chrislema.com/drag-drop-wordpress-options/It's likely that you've been out looking for drag & drop WordPress options, of which multiple exist. But here's a new one you may want to see.Sat, 01 Feb 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/public-speakers-nfl/https://chrislema.com/public-speakers-nfl/If you're anything like me, you can't stand to see yourself in video. But there's a lesson public speakers can take from the NFL that's worth noting.Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/trustworthy-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/trustworthy-wordpress-themes/If you're like me, you hear folks complain about Themeforest - so where can you find trustworthy WordPress themes? I'll tell you.Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/support-options/https://chrislema.com/support-options/Over time WordPress has become a bit more complicated than before. But that doesn't mean you need to become a WordPress expert. Now you have options.Wed, 29 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordcamp-drinking-harassment/https://chrislema.com/wordcamp-drinking-harassment/I'm not telling you that you shouldn't drink at WordCamp. But what you do will impact and influence what others think is ok. And harassment isn't ok. Ever.Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/envira-gallery/https://chrislema.com/envira-gallery/It's beautiful. It's amazing. It's fast. It's simple. It's Envira Gallery.Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/gravity-forms-and-mailchimp/https://chrislema.com/gravity-forms-and-mailchimp/I write daily. Some people have asked for a way to get my posts, but weekly instead of daily. So here's how I used Gravity Forms and MailChimp to do it.Sat, 25 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/my-year-of-events/https://chrislema.com/my-year-of-events/I decided to spend the same money I spent flying around the country to WordCamps in a different way. That's why 2014 will be my year of events. Join me?Fri, 24 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/growth-tips/https://chrislema.com/growth-tips/The other day I was working with a client, helping them think about growing their list and traffic to their site. When I was done writing it up, I realized these growth tips could help you too. So here they are.Fri, 24 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/write-blog-posts-faster/https://chrislema.com/write-blog-posts-faster/I don't think there are many different structures to posts. This little truth can help you write blog posts faster.Wed, 22 Jan 2014 07:59:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-other-peoples-products/https://chrislema.com/selling-other-peoples-products/It used to be difficult to create a marketplaces for selling other people's products, but today it's ridiculously easy because of Easy Digital Downloads.Mon, 20 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/purely-rational/https://chrislema.com/purely-rational/We aren't as purely rational in our decision making as we like to tell ourselves. Why? Because our senses - touch, smell, visual - impact our choices.Sun, 19 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/great-things-often-start-small/https://chrislema.com/great-things-often-start-small/Don't go swinging for the fences. Or at least don't make that your only strategy. Because sometimes the big things in life that you want start small.Fri, 17 Jan 2014 16:59:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/usefulness/https://chrislema.com/usefulness/When stuff is truly useful, when it's incredibly awesome and I can't help myself, I talk about it. Are you blowing people away with your usefulness?Thu, 16 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/best-wordpress-membership-plugin/Wondering how to decide which is the best WordPress membership plugin? Asking a more detailed and nuanced question will help you get an answer.Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/experimenting-different-take-wordpress-news/https://chrislema.com/experimenting-different-take-wordpress-news/This is a little experiment, but here's a new way to think about automated curation. It's a WordPress news solution built on tweets. Kind of fun.Sat, 11 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-telling-folks-to-fake-it/https://chrislema.com/stop-telling-folks-to-fake-it/If there's a phrase I hate more than \"Fake it until you make it,\" I can't think of it. But here's the reason why I'd love to remove it from our lexicon.Thu, 09 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-i-write-ebooks/https://chrislema.com/why-i-write-ebooks/It won't be the reason you think. But here's why I write ebooks.Wed, 08 Jan 2014 20:11:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/theres-always-room-compete-growing-market/https://chrislema.com/theres-always-room-compete-growing-market/This is the time, my friend, for you to ignore the little voice telling you the market is too crowded and that there's no place for you to compete.Tue, 07 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/great-interface-and-user-experience/https://chrislema.com/great-interface-and-user-experience/If you don't have a great interface and your user experience is complicated, you won't necessarily have to scale all that much. #justsayingMon, 06 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/coupons-for-membership-subscriptions/https://chrislema.com/coupons-for-membership-subscriptions/If you're looking to keep your WordPress membership site sticky, here's an idea: coupons for membership subscriptions. It'll keep them coming back!Sun, 05 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-blog-mistake/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-blog-mistake/There are so many things you can add to your WordPress blog, in terms of plugins and widgets to make your sidebars shine. But is there a downside to it all?Sat, 04 Jan 2014 11:56:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/post-titles-genesis-and-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/post-titles-genesis-and-wordpress/If you're using Genesis and WordPress, this quick tip may help get your titles to look better and have more impact.Fri, 03 Jan 2014 16:58:16 GMThttps://chrislema.com/genesis-website/https://chrislema.com/genesis-website/Non-technical Genesis website owners no longer need to learn CSS (or any code) to change their look and feel. You're going to love this!Fri, 03 Jan 2014 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blogging-thought-leadership/https://chrislema.com/blogging-thought-leadership/The real struggle I've heard from people about blogging is not finding time, not knowing what to write about, and how to deal with getting stuck. Try this.Wed, 01 Jan 2014 13:55:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-word-mantra/https://chrislema.com/three-word-mantra/The three world mantra is a phrase that helps me think through the trade-offs I face - it's a personal tool, not a corporate one.Tue, 31 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-welcoming-is-your-website/https://chrislema.com/how-welcoming-is-your-website/Sometimes we worry too much about our products and forget a critical question: How welcoming is your website? Check out how one company improved their site.Mon, 30 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learn-wordpress-this-year/https://chrislema.com/learn-wordpress-this-year/If you really want to learn WordPress this year, then it starts by learning about a baby giraffe. Seriously. And then I'll share some resources with you.Sun, 29 Dec 2013 23:34:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/discipline-wins/https://chrislema.com/discipline-wins/My year, 2013, has been incredible. Completely amazing. Even though I didn't have goals. Routines, yes. But no goals. Why? Because discipline wins.Sat, 28 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-ebook-store/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-ebook-store/Creating a WordPress eBook store may actually take a lot less than you might think. Here's how three people worked to make it happen in a few hours.Fri, 27 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-mirror/https://chrislema.com/pricing-mirror/Sometimes we use price in weird ways - to help us make non-pricing decisions. Yet we're still making a product selection decision. Just not the normal way.Thu, 26 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/easy-ecommerce-membership-sites-using-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/easy-ecommerce-membership-sites-using-wordpress/I get at least one to two emails a day asking how to build a combined ecommerce and membership site using WordPress. Here's my answer.Thu, 26 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/public-speakers-hire-a-photographer/https://chrislema.com/public-speakers-hire-a-photographer/There's a huge benefit of getting great photos (non-blurry, good contrast, well-lit) of you on stage - so hire a photographerTue, 24 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/expectations/https://chrislema.com/expectations/What does Christmas and Las Vegas have in common? Well, it has to do with expectations. My suggestion is simple, even if you won't love it.Tue, 24 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blog-1-million-pageviews/https://chrislema.com/blog-1-million-pageviews/Here are my secrets to getting to 1 million pageviews on my blog in 18 months without any tricks.Sun, 22 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/content-king-behavioral-analytics-aces/https://chrislema.com/content-king-behavioral-analytics-aces/We've all heard that content is king, right? Might there be something more important? Why create content if you don't know how it's being interacted with?Sat, 21 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/customer-happiness-report/https://chrislema.com/customer-happiness-report/Customer happiness reports share the current status of a business by publishing key metrics. Designing one of your own means making these five decisions.Fri, 20 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/does-my-startup-need-a-board-of-directors/https://chrislema.com/does-my-startup-need-a-board-of-directors/So does my startup need a board of directors? Yes. Even if you're bootstrapping. Why? Because you have blind spots and your focus can hurt you.Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-wordpress-addons-extensions/https://chrislema.com/pricing-wordpress-addons-extensions/Pricing is tough - I know I say that a lot. When you're pricing WordPress extensions or addons (dependent products), it's even harder.Tue, 17 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/generosity-comes-from-perspective/https://chrislema.com/generosity-comes-from-perspective/When you surprise someone with generosity it can be a wonderful thing. But what drives the giving? One answer is perspective.Fri, 13 Dec 2013 07:57:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/inline-editing-barley/https://chrislema.com/inline-editing-barley/If you've dreamed about inline editing, dream no longer - Barley is available and amazing. But what will the future look like for them?Thu, 12 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/unexpected-delight-wp-engine/https://chrislema.com/unexpected-delight-wp-engine/I've been hosting chrislema.com on WP Engine for 18 months and I'm still surprised by new features and services that delight me. Here's the latest.Tue, 10 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/generosity-networking/https://chrislema.com/generosity-networking/Generosity doesn't have to be extravagant or expensive. The second discipline is another question you ask yourself. Then watch how it changes you.Mon, 09 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/focus-on-your-strengths/https://chrislema.com/focus-on-your-strengths/With talk about being a unicorn (the mythical designer/developer combination), the question is - is it realistic? Or should you focus on your strengths?Sun, 08 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/generosity-abundance/https://chrislema.com/generosity-abundance/In the fifth article in my series on generosity, we step into actually giving - from a simple place, from the place of our abundance.Sat, 07 Dec 2013 23:02:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-consultants-tax-experts/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-consultants-tax-experts/You're a WooCommerce consultant working on a project. Great. But now you need to calculate taxes. What should you do?Fri, 06 Dec 2013 11:35:05 GMThttps://chrislema.com/generositys-first-discipline-listening/https://chrislema.com/generositys-first-discipline-listening/I don't believe generosity is something you're born doing well. But it is a habit that you can develop. And the first discipline shapes how you listen.Thu, 05 Dec 2013 22:02:41 GMThttps://chrislema.com/generosity-first-lesson/https://chrislema.com/generosity-first-lesson/People will suggest that the first lesson in learning generosity is to give a small amount. They're wrong. That's not generosity's first lesson. This is.Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:17:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/expectant-generosity/https://chrislema.com/expectant-generosity/People say you should give without any expectation at all. I disagree. I think you should step into generosity with a level of expectation. The right way.Tue, 03 Dec 2013 09:43:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/opposite-generosity/https://chrislema.com/opposite-generosity/A lot of people presume that the opposite of generosity is selfishness, but I don't think so. Come see what I think it is, and how to deal with it.Mon, 02 Dec 2013 08:20:30 GMThttps://chrislema.com/virtual-assistant/https://chrislema.com/virtual-assistant/Are you ready to focus on the things that you do better than anyone else? Then it's time to consider a virtual assistant. I know just the one for you.Sun, 01 Dec 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/place-to-belong/https://chrislema.com/place-to-belong/It will come as no shock that people want a place to belong. The real question is what you're doing about it. Will you be part of the solution?Sat, 30 Nov 2013 21:32:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/deals-for-developers/https://chrislema.com/deals-for-developers/Everyone's talking about deals for developers, designers, and bloggers today. But are they all worth it? Can you trust them all? Here are the ones I trust!Fri, 29 Nov 2013 10:39:13 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-appointments-bookings-using-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-appointments-bookings-using-woocommerce/If you've wondered how to do WordPress appointments or bookings on your site with a plugin, here are the details of how to use WooCommerce to pull it off.Thu, 28 Nov 2013 23:50:57 GMThttps://chrislema.com/team-market-idea-blind-spots/https://chrislema.com/team-market-idea-blind-spots/What's most important? The team? The idea? Or your market? What if I said it was something else? What if I told you it was all about your blind spots?Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/public-speakers/https://chrislema.com/public-speakers/What you thought you had, in terms of time, is changed on you at the last minute. Public speakers face this challenge regularly.Tue, 26 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/theres-wrong-way-give-plugin-feedback-wordpress-org/https://chrislema.com/theres-wrong-way-give-plugin-feedback-wordpress-org/There's a right way. And there's a wrong way. I'm talking about giving plugin feedback on WordPress.org for plugins in the repository.Mon, 25 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/resources-for-entrepreneurs/https://chrislema.com/resources-for-entrepreneurs/If you're an entrepreneur facing tough choices (and who isn't?), then here's my list of five resources for entrepreneurs just for you.Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/people-on-twitter/https://chrislema.com/people-on-twitter/I have a lot of amazing friends. Sure I know them in person, but you'll only meet them as people on twitter. Still...it's worth it!Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-take-easy-road-building-new-products/https://chrislema.com/dont-take-easy-road-building-new-products/If you're building new products, you'll find yourself tempted to take the easy road. Especially when you're tired. After all, it's MVP, right? Don't do it.Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/cart66-site-redesign/https://chrislema.com/cart66-site-redesign/If you've wondered what goes into a site redesign, here's the four paradigm shifts that drove Cart66's overhaul.Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:41:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-new-products/https://chrislema.com/building-new-products/I thought I would take a moment today to highlight the 20 things I believe about building new products. This isn't a manifesto, just a list. But who knows?Tue, 19 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-sites-consider-incremental-regret/https://chrislema.com/membership-sites-consider-incremental-regret/Trust me when I tell you that I've learned about incremental regret at a deep and personal level. Never take your customers for granted.Mon, 18 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/go-together/https://chrislema.com/go-together/If you want to go fast, go alone. But who wants that? Don't most of us want to go far? In that case, we have to go together.Fri, 15 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-start-learning-sass/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-start-learning-sass/Oh you can kick and scream like I do. It seems like learning never ends. But it's now time to start learning Sass, as it's being adopted in WordPress.Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordcamp-las-vegas-2/https://chrislema.com/wordcamp-las-vegas-2/This will be my last WordCamp this year, and what better one to end a year on than WordCamp Las Vegas? Join me, for free, by winning a free ticket.Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hunters-farmers-builders-operators/https://chrislema.com/hunters-farmers-builders-operators/When you know if you're a builder or operator, a hunter or a farmer, you'll be better able to collaborate with people who aren't like you.Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keep-watching-ithemes/https://chrislema.com/keep-watching-ithemes/Every time you can take something complex and make it easier, people will love you. That's why we all need to keep watching iThemes.Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:01:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/value-meeting-person/https://chrislema.com/value-meeting-person/I've been in South Africa for a week and the best part of it has been connecting with the WooThemes team - meeting in person.Fri, 08 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comments-on-my-site/https://chrislema.com/comments-on-my-site/When it comes to comments on a site, there's a lot of debate on whether you should or shouldn't have them. Here's my reasoning.Thu, 07 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/future-wordpress-plugin-development/https://chrislema.com/future-wordpress-plugin-development/Are we in a Gold Rush in the WordPress community? I don't think so. But we might get there. Here's what it means for plugin development.Wed, 06 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/approachable-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/approachable-wordpress/Every community has its superstars. The difference in the WordPress community is that ours are accessible. That's Approachable WordPress.Tue, 05 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/entire-post/https://chrislema.com/entire-post/You could send an excerpt to subscribers of your RSS feed. But I hate that. Here's why. And how to fix it by sending your entire post.Mon, 04 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blank-canvas/https://chrislema.com/blank-canvas/It can easily be stressful to stare at a blank canvas. But if you're a WordPress designer or developer, soon you may not need to worry.Sun, 03 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/monitoring-user-behavior/https://chrislema.com/monitoring-user-behavior/We can get so caught up with other things that we forget that we should be monitoring user behavior. So here's my reminder!Sat, 02 Nov 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-destruction/https://chrislema.com/embrace-destruction/We all get comfortable. It's natural. But to keep getting better and better, you need to learn to embrace destruction: the destruction of your comfort.Thu, 31 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/want-better-product/https://chrislema.com/want-better-product/Want to build a better product? It's really not as complicated as you might think. Embrace competition. Use it to challenge yourself.Wed, 30 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-challenges-raising-rates/https://chrislema.com/pricing-challenges-raising-rates/Pricing is tough. Sometimes you hear that raising rates until people start saying no is the way to go. While that is a strategy, it may not always work.Tue, 29 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ten-ways-to-ruin-your-resume/https://chrislema.com/ten-ways-to-ruin-your-resume/If I spend a day looking over a ton of resumes, I should at least redeem the day by giving you tips to avoid the chance you'll ruin your resume. Right?Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ithemes-builder-getting-past-shiny-stuff-syndrome/https://chrislema.com/ithemes-builder-getting-past-shiny-stuff-syndrome/Even if you're attracted to the next new thing, you may want to circle back to iThemes Builder. It's simple and easy as ever. And even a bit new.Sun, 27 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/unintended-consequences-of-freemium/https://chrislema.com/unintended-consequences-of-freemium/We've lost any sense of the real value of people working hard. That's the unintended consequences of freemium.Sat, 26 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-metrics/https://chrislema.com/three-metrics/I'd like to suggest three metrics that WordPress product companies should collect and monitor.Fri, 25 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-enterprise-software/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-enterprise-software/Today I read the suggestion that healthcare.gov should have used WordPress. When it comes to WordPress and enterprise software, I have some opinions.Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:48:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/mentor/https://chrislema.com/mentor/You can have an impact and help someone grow, even without a formal program to be a mentor. It's just a choice to have an influence. One only you can make.Wed, 23 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/one-touch-deployments-staging-environments/https://chrislema.com/one-touch-deployments-staging-environments/If you're looking for staging environments, check out WP Engine. But if you aren't going to use them, here's how to do it anyway.Tue, 22 Oct 2013 23:39:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pressnomics-good-bad-awesome/https://chrislema.com/pressnomics-good-bad-awesome/You knew I'd write one. Here's my summary of the good, the bad, and the awesome - of the second annual Pressnomics conference - the Business of WordPress.Mon, 21 Oct 2013 10:39:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring-high-performance-culture/https://chrislema.com/hiring-high-performance-culture/I could try to buy high performers onto my team and hope they stick. But I don't trust that approach. Instead, I build a high performance culture.Sun, 20 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embracing-impostor-syndrome/https://chrislema.com/embracing-impostor-syndrome/The impostor syndrome can get a bad rap. If you can use it to drive and fuel your growth, it can't be all bad, right?Fri, 18 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/direction-of-influence/https://chrislema.com/direction-of-influence/GoDaddy purchased Media Temple today. Here's a lesson we can learn about the direction of influence - which can help even our next hire.Tue, 15 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-wordpress-triberr/https://chrislema.com/a-wordpress-triberr/What if you could go one place and gather all the WordPress articles you wanted, to make sharing easy? It would be like a WordPress Triberr. Now it exists.Mon, 14 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-help-on-support-forums/https://chrislema.com/getting-help-on-support-forums/Getting help on support forums shouldn't be so hard. But what if we're the ones making it hard? Here are 5 tips to help you get the help you want.Sun, 13 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/influence-is-a-full-contact-sport/https://chrislema.com/influence-is-a-full-contact-sport/There are lots of different ways to influence. But the kind I want, and the kind I'm describing is different. In my book, influence is a full contact sport.Sat, 12 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/marriage-verb/https://chrislema.com/marriage-verb/I know you might want to debate me. But take a second to see what I'm talking about. Marriage is a verb. Trust me.Fri, 11 Oct 2013 10:30:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/to-win-take-risks/https://chrislema.com/to-win-take-risks/We all want to win. We all want success. But most of us get nervous about the potential downside. Here's truth: if you want to win, you have to take risks.Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/easiest-wordpress-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/easiest-wordpress-membership-plugin/Are there other WordPress membership plugins you should check out? Sure. Are there any that are easier to use? Nope. I don't think so.Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/infusionsoft-wordpress-integration/https://chrislema.com/infusionsoft-wordpress-integration/Integration projects are costly. I want to introduce you an alternative approach that may make that Infusionsoft WordPress Integration project disappear.Wed, 09 Oct 2013 01:09:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/great-power-great-responsibility/https://chrislema.com/great-power-great-responsibility/You've seen it in the movies and heard it said by so many: with great power comes great responsibility. See how one WordPress rockstar is having an impact!Mon, 07 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-branding-lessons-wp-engine/https://chrislema.com/five-branding-lessons-wp-engine/With their new site overhaul and brand refresh, here are five branding lessons we can learn from WP Engine.Sat, 05 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/events-calendar-pro-small-fast-and-easy/https://chrislema.com/events-calendar-pro-small-fast-and-easy/When you need a simple and easy to use events calendar for WordPress, there's really only one choice: Events Calendar Pro.Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/focus-2/https://chrislema.com/focus-2/Narrowing your focus doesn't have to mean negative consequences. Here are three ways shrinking your focus can help you!Thu, 03 Oct 2013 11:49:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/get-better-mastermind-meetup-membership/https://chrislema.com/get-better-mastermind-meetup-membership/What if you could combine a mastermind, meetup, and membership solution all in one? What if it was set up to help your WordPress business? Would you join?Wed, 02 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/just-dont-know-act-accordingly/https://chrislema.com/just-dont-know-act-accordingly/Events and conferences are places where my defaults betray me. I know this. I know better. So I have to act accordingly.Tue, 01 Oct 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keyword-not-provided/https://chrislema.com/keyword-not-provided/If you help folks with SEO, and they're starting to complain about the phrase \"keyword not provided\", here's my take.Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:08:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/slider-performance-soliloquy-vs-wooslider/https://chrislema.com/slider-performance-soliloquy-vs-wooslider/If you want to talk about slider performance, there's no better comparison than these two sliders for WordPress: Soliloquy vs WooSlider.Sun, 29 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/innovation-slow-down-and-collide/https://chrislema.com/innovation-slow-down-and-collide/Everyone is talking about the need for increased creativity. Want more innovation? Slow down and choose an alternative path: collision.Sat, 28 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-shopping-cart-plugin/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-shopping-cart-plugin/How do you pick from these 7 e-commerce plugins? Choosing the right WordPress shopping cart plugin can be tough. Here's my comparison and takeaways.Fri, 27 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keeping-wordcamps-classy-call-speaker-reviews/https://chrislema.com/keeping-wordcamps-classy-call-speaker-reviews/We all want to keep our WordCamps classy. Speaker reviews help everyone get better and protect us from certain kinds of presenters.Thu, 26 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/growing-email-list/https://chrislema.com/growing-email-list/If you want to grow your email list, you may want to check out one of these two services. See the difference (in real numbers) they make!Wed, 25 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/commoditization-intellect/https://chrislema.com/commoditization-intellect/As things get cheaper, easier and faster to accomplish, it might lead us to despair. But the commoditization of intellect doesn't need to.Wed, 25 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/this-is-not-your-story-2/https://chrislema.com/this-is-not-your-story-2/This story you find yourself in - It can't hold you. You're the one that decides. If you determine this is not your story, you can change it.Mon, 23 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/audience-engagement/https://chrislema.com/audience-engagement/Our brains are wired against engagement. They'll pay attention to save your life, but not for a presentation. So how do you improve audience engagement?Mon, 23 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-got-you-here/https://chrislema.com/what-got-you-here/Is it ok to just code? Or just be a business person? Sure. Because what got you here won't get you there. So it's time to develop your network.Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/saying-no-to-rfps/https://chrislema.com/saying-no-to-rfps/I am known for saying no a lot. So it's no surprise that you'll find me saying no to RFPs either. Join me in the NO series.Thu, 19 Sep 2013 14:13:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-overshoot/https://chrislema.com/no-overshoot/If you were building a chair, you'd want it to last forever. But you're not building a chair. So say no to overshoot.Wed, 18 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-you-learn-2/https://chrislema.com/how-do-you-learn-2/People learn in different ways. But we can all improve how we learn. Here are a couple of learning resources you may want to leverage.Tue, 17 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-worry-about-wearing-pants/https://chrislema.com/dont-worry-about-wearing-pants/Sure, you could worry about wearing pants. But you don't have to. Not in the new distributed workforce. Here's my review of Scott Berkun's latest book.Tue, 17 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/canvas-vs-genesis/https://chrislema.com/canvas-vs-genesis/There's a lot of great WordPress themes out there, but one of the debates I hear regularly is the \"Canvas vs Genesis\" one. Here's how I suggest you decide.Mon, 16 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-road-less-traveled/https://chrislema.com/a-road-less-traveled/Sometimes it's a path you don't find people on, but it can be wiser to choose the road less traveled.Sat, 14 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dont-lose-high-performers/https://chrislema.com/dont-lose-high-performers/You do all you can to hire right. But once you have your high performers, don't make these three mistakes, which will result in losing them.Fri, 13 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-our-growth-initiatives-fail/https://chrislema.com/why-our-growth-initiatives-fail/Come step into my world and see if any of these reasons match your experiences for why our growth initiatives often fail.Thu, 12 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/dealing-abandoned-carts-wordpress-e-commerce-sites/https://chrislema.com/dealing-abandoned-carts-wordpress-e-commerce-sites/If you run an e-commerce site on WordPress, then you'll soon deal with abandoned carts. Here are two plugins that might help.Thu, 12 Sep 2013 00:38:12 GMThttps://chrislema.com/worst-appliance-home-personal-development/https://chrislema.com/worst-appliance-home-personal-development/Apple announced the new iPhones and shared about the camera on it. It says more about us than Apple. Here's why and how it impacts our personal development.Tue, 10 Sep 2013 22:23:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wrong-ways-get-out-of-the-building/https://chrislema.com/wrong-ways-get-out-of-the-building/There's a right way. And there's a wrong way. What if we've been doing it wrong all along. If you're building new products, don't get out of the building in a wrong way.Mon, 09 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/to-win-you-have-to-play-2/https://chrislema.com/to-win-you-have-to-play-2/This weekend I ran a contest to win an iPad mini. To qualify, you had to take a photo. Over 15% of the contestants didn't take one. To win you have to play.Mon, 09 Sep 2013 00:33:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/protect-wordpress-membership-site-wp-bouncer/https://chrislema.com/protect-wordpress-membership-site-wp-bouncer/If you're tired of people sharing their login credentials to your WordPress membership site now you can put your trust in your very own WP Bouncer.Sat, 07 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stop-using-terms-like-expert/https://chrislema.com/stop-using-terms-like-expert/You can have experience and influence without calling yourself an expert. And if you keep using terms like expert, you'll quickly experience the downside.Fri, 06 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-ideas/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-ideas/If you have WordPress plugin ideas but don't know how to go about hiring some dev help, here are some quick tips.Wed, 04 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/changing-post-date-genesis-2-0-use-last-modified-date/https://chrislema.com/changing-post-date-genesis-2-0-use-last-modified-date/If you want to show the last modified date in Genesis 2.0, especially if you're using Dynamik as a child theme, here's how.Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ultimatum-drag-and-drop-wordpress-theme-premium-plugins/https://chrislema.com/ultimatum-drag-and-drop-wordpress-theme-premium-plugins/If you've been waiting for the new release of Ultimatum, it's finally here! They want to be your de facto drag and drop WordPress theme.Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/selling-more-all-about-perspective/https://chrislema.com/selling-more-all-about-perspective/Want to sell more themes and plugins? Then you need to make a shift in how you sell. It's all about perspective and you need a change: from the inside out.Sun, 01 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/need-learn-code/https://chrislema.com/need-learn-code/Kevin Hart says it best. But here's my take on why you don't need to learn to code.Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:19:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/want-impact-influence-remember-names/https://chrislema.com/want-impact-influence-remember-names/Want to have great impact and influence over the people you meet? It's really simple. Remember their names.Fri, 30 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-things-you-cant-learn-while-running-your-business/https://chrislema.com/four-things-you-cant-learn-while-running-your-business/Here are four things you can't learn while running your business - be it startup or freelance.Thu, 29 Aug 2013 21:08:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/more-to-the-story/https://chrislema.com/more-to-the-story/Ready to jump on the bandwagon and complain about something. Dig into the details first, because there's always more to the story.Thu, 29 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/building-a-job-board-website-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/building-a-job-board-website-with-wordpress/If you're building a job board website with WordPress, things just got a lot easier. You'll want to check out this particular combo of theme and plugin!Mon, 26 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blame-my-dad/https://chrislema.com/blame-my-dad/If you're thinking about blaming me for something - especially in business - don't do it. Instead, blame my dad.Mon, 26 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/be-choosy/https://chrislema.com/be-choosy/If you want to earn more money, you need to learn to be choosy. You can't just go saying yes to every offer than comes in. Trust me.Sat, 24 Aug 2013 22:53:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-you-need-a-community-manager/https://chrislema.com/do-you-need-a-community-manager/There are a lot of questions about the role of a community manager. Here are the three things I think they do best, that have a multiplying effect.Fri, 23 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/cart66-cloud-selling-products-services-on-your-e-commerce-site/https://chrislema.com/cart66-cloud-selling-products-services-on-your-e-commerce-site/If you want to mix products and services on your e-commerce site, then checking out cart66 cloud just makes logical sense. It's really easy to do.Thu, 22 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/motivated-by-a-mission/https://chrislema.com/motivated-by-a-mission/How do you engage your employees? What about your customers? At Emphasys we're motivated by a mission. I find it's really helpful. What about you?Tue, 20 Aug 2013 12:40:35 GMThttps://chrislema.com/performers-not-professors/https://chrislema.com/performers-not-professors/I wonder if we've been thinking about our presentations incorrectly. What if we thought about ourselves as performers not professors?Mon, 19 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sustainability-for-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/sustainability-for-wordpress-themes/Our pricing conversations aren't yet done. I'm looking at sustainability for WordPress themes, because I fear moving down the same path as plugin developers did.Sun, 18 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/elearning-on-wordpress-wp-courseware-learndash/https://chrislema.com/elearning-on-wordpress-wp-courseware-learndash/Every time I write about elearning on WordPress, people ask about LearnDash. Here's my comparison.Sat, 17 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-questions-e-commerce-projects/https://chrislema.com/five-questions-e-commerce-projects/E-commerce projects aren't easy. So before you get started, I suggest you ask your prospective client these five questions.Fri, 16 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wysiwyg-version-of-you/https://chrislema.com/wysiwyg-version-of-you/You being you. In every context. That's the WYSIWYG version of you. And that's what this post is all about.Thu, 15 Aug 2013 17:02:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-development/https://chrislema.com/product-development/Everyone approaches product development differently. Here are four default inclinations. Find yourself and see if this description (and advice) fits.Wed, 14 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/taking-calculated-risks/https://chrislema.com/taking-calculated-risks/The formula is simple. Hard work, hard work, hard work - and then LEAP. But that's what taking calculated risks is all about. Being prepared to take a jump.Tue, 13 Aug 2013 17:55:51 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-subscriptions-pausing-prorating-fees/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-subscriptions-pausing-prorating-fees/If you run a WordPress membership site, then you have likely run into the subscription pausing and resuming challenge, and proration issues too. Here's what I'd like to see supported by the major membership providers.Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/never-launch-on-fridays-2/https://chrislema.com/never-launch-on-fridays-2/Friday's the end of the work week. That's a wonderful thing for most everything - but not for a web site launch. Never launch on Friday. Here's why.Sun, 11 Aug 2013 07:30:16 GMThttps://chrislema.com/its-not-over-until-its-done-done/https://chrislema.com/its-not-over-until-its-done-done/I talk with folks a lot about done done. A friend sent me this video - which highlights the consequences of celebrating too early.Sat, 10 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/if-youre-explaining-features-youre-doing-it-wrong/https://chrislema.com/if-youre-explaining-features-youre-doing-it-wrong/When it comes to technology presentations, here's how you know you're doing it wrong - you end up explaining features. Don't do it.Fri, 09 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/owning-dogs-cars-web-sites/https://chrislema.com/owning-dogs-cars-web-sites/If we're talking about managing customer expectations, then it makes sense to start with owning dogs and cars. Here's my story and I'm sticking to it.Thu, 08 Aug 2013 09:42:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-sustainability/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-sustainability/I guess I had one last post in me about the recent WooThemes pricing change. So here's some thoughts on WordPress sustainability and software licensing.Wed, 07 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-site-account-have-multiple-logins/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-site-account-have-multiple-logins/It's a question associations pose a lot. Can one WordPress membership site account have multiple logins? And the answer is a definitive yes. Absolutely.Tue, 06 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/disagree-without-being-disagreeable/https://chrislema.com/disagree-without-being-disagreeable/Want to know how to do it? I'll walk you thru the three steps I take to disagree without being disagreeable.Mon, 05 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-your-website-working/https://chrislema.com/is-your-website-working/People come to your web site looking to hire it. So is your website working? Does it clearly tell the right story?Sun, 04 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/better-stories/https://chrislema.com/better-stories/Want to tell better stories? Is your content prepped? Then check out these other five ideas!Sun, 04 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-lies-we-tell-ourselves/https://chrislema.com/pricing-lies-we-tell-ourselves/We've been talking about WooThemes and their pricing changes all day. But I want to look at three pricing lies we tell ourselves.Thu, 01 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-choose-her-every-day/https://chrislema.com/i-choose-her-every-day/We all make decisions all the time. We all make sacrifices too. Mine don't feel as sacrificial because of what I'm choosing for. I choose her. Every day.Wed, 31 Jul 2013 22:48:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/staying-humble/https://chrislema.com/staying-humble/What would this guy have to say about humility? But don't confuse humility with modesty. I'm not modest. But that doesn't mean I'm not staying humble.Tue, 30 Jul 2013 12:29:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-for-the-enterprise/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-for-the-enterprise/I heard the 2013 State of WordPress talk thru a particular \"enterprise\" lens. And here were my suggestions for developing WordPress for the Enterprise.Mon, 29 Jul 2013 23:53:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embracing-rejection/https://chrislema.com/embracing-rejection/There are a lot of things we enjoy embracing. Embracing rejection isn't normally one of them. But Jia Jiang's story should challenge us all.Sun, 28 Jul 2013 20:29:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/torque-wordpress-news/https://chrislema.com/torque-wordpress-news/Is there enough news for more news sites? I don't know. But I think there's enough for a news magazine. I think that's what Torque is going for.Sat, 27 Jul 2013 08:30:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/saying-no-a-lot-takes-practice/https://chrislema.com/saying-no-a-lot-takes-practice/You know I want you to learn to say no. But it's no secret that it's not always natural. Saying no a lot takes practice.Fri, 26 Jul 2013 23:56:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/drag-and-drop-wordpress/Are you thinking about the latest drag and drop WordPress theme? Is it really the start of a revolution? I have the answers.Fri, 26 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-people-are-paying-you/https://chrislema.com/why-people-are-paying-you/If you're creating a new product, make sure you're clear about why people are paying you. That alignment can drive your success or completely kill you.Wed, 24 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/making-the-move-to-genesis-2/https://chrislema.com/making-the-move-to-genesis-2/My announcement lines up with a big one from Catalyst - that we're both making the move to Genesis.Tue, 23 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/personal-branding-what-bridge-have-you-crossed/https://chrislema.com/personal-branding-what-bridge-have-you-crossed/I don't plan to have you talk about your passions or write personal mission statements. This is personal branding done my way.Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-choose-a-woocommerce-consultant/https://chrislema.com/how-to-choose-a-woocommerce-consultant/Want to know how to select the right woocommerce consultant? Here are my five tips.Sun, 21 Jul 2013 18:35:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/project-management-wordpress-projects/https://chrislema.com/project-management-wordpress-projects/If there's a single line item missing on many invoices for WordPress projects, it's this: project management. Yet it's the most crucial of all.Sat, 20 Jul 2013 17:27:07 GMThttps://chrislema.com/present-better/https://chrislema.com/present-better/If you're just getting started in public speaking, I want to give you five tips to help you present better.Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wpwatercooler-2-million-views/https://chrislema.com/wpwatercooler-2-million-views/Want to hear how our show, WPwatercooler, amassed over 2.5 million views? I'm sharing all our secrets today.Thu, 18 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-we-all-suck-at-pricing/https://chrislema.com/why-we-all-suck-at-pricing/Let's be honest: we all suck at pricing. But why is that? Here;s my take on the two reasons why I think we all suck at pricing.Thu, 18 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/revolutionary-drag-drop-wordpress-theme/https://chrislema.com/revolutionary-drag-drop-wordpress-theme/I don't know if you've heard of the upcoming Drag & Drop WordPress revolution that's coming. Here's my take on it.Tue, 16 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-discounts-dont-work/https://chrislema.com/pricing-discounts-dont-work/I know we all love discounts - at least in the moment. But discounts don't work for me because of what happens later. In the end, I'm an unhappy customer.Mon, 15 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pressgram-2/https://chrislema.com/pressgram-2/Have you heard of Pressgram? It's a nifty mobile application like Instagram - except you own your photos and can publish them to a WordPress blog. Easily.Sun, 14 Jul 2013 22:42:51 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-offline-transactions/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-offline-transactions/Want to support offline transactions using an online system? It's not as hard as it sounds. Here's the five steps you'd have to take.Sat, 13 Jul 2013 16:38:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/projectblender/https://chrislema.com/projectblender/ProjectBlender is a new WordPress podcast that brings business owners and developers together. Hosted by Brandon Dove, John Hawkins & Chris Lema.Sat, 13 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/support-forums-ticket-systems/https://chrislema.com/support-forums-ticket-systems/When you hear someone announce they're moving from support forums to ticket systems, you can get worried. Here's why you shouldn't.Fri, 12 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed/https://chrislema.com/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed/If at first you don't succeed, quit. Oh wait. Maybe that's not how the phrase goes. Maybe you're supposed to try and try again. Right?Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:22:41 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blogging-what-i-learned-from-chris-brogan/https://chrislema.com/blogging-what-i-learned-from-chris-brogan/I have come to embrace blogging as a major mechanism for brand management - all because of the course I took with Chris Brogan.Tue, 09 Jul 2013 12:20:31 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-competition/https://chrislema.com/embrace-competition/You can like it, you can hate it, but the truth is, competition is good for you. So embrace competition and let it help you grow.Mon, 08 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/customers-and-users/https://chrislema.com/customers-and-users/Customers and users are two words we sometimes confuse. They're not the same. Customers pay. Users use.Sun, 07 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/embrace-execution/https://chrislema.com/embrace-execution/Sometimes passion just isn't enough. That's when it's time to embrace execution.Sat, 06 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-tips-2/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-tips-2/If you're setting up a WooCommerce site, then you're likely always looking for WooCommerce tips. So here are two more for your reading pleasure.Fri, 05 Jul 2013 23:50:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/greater-influence/https://chrislema.com/greater-influence/If you want to have greater influence, your self-orientation needs to be looked at. A little reflection can go a long way to earning the trust you need.Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:43:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wpsessions-a-virtual-classroom/https://chrislema.com/wpsessions-a-virtual-classroom/There's a new WordPress virtual classroom in town - and it's called WPSessions. I'll be on it live this month, with Cory Miller and Carl Hancock. Join us.Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:47:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/time-tracking-plugin/https://chrislema.com/time-tracking-plugin/It really doesn't get easier to do time tracking with your team. Here's a WordPress plugin worth looking at - Check out Time Tracker by 9seeds.Mon, 01 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/optimal-pricing/https://chrislema.com/optimal-pricing/How do you go about finding optimal pricing for your events? Here's some research you might find interesting.Mon, 01 Jul 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/smart-people-2/https://chrislema.com/smart-people-2/If there's one trick you should put in your arsenal to increase your business, revenue, and more - it's to surround yourself with smart people.Sun, 30 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-social-media/https://chrislema.com/using-social-media/It's a topic I don't write about a lot, because I'm no expert, but tonight I'm writing about it. I'm wondering how you're using Social Media for your goals?Fri, 28 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/create-a-paid-directory/https://chrislema.com/create-a-paid-directory/Create a paid directory with WordPress. Here's a ten step tutorial.Thu, 27 Jun 2013 18:39:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/virtual-teams-one-question/https://chrislema.com/virtual-teams-one-question/If you're managing a team, then there's one question you need to know about.Wed, 26 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-sites-keep-getting-better/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-membership-sites-keep-getting-better/WordPress membership sites keep getting better and better. Today I have two announcements you need to hear about!Tue, 25 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/programmer-developer-engineer/https://chrislema.com/programmer-developer-engineer/Have you heard the terms programmer, developer and engineer? Have you wondered what the difference was? Here's my take.Mon, 24 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-sites-new-metrics/https://chrislema.com/membership-sites-new-metrics/With the introduction of freemium pricing models for membership sites, particularly high performing ones, do we need to think about new metrics?Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/integrating-gravityforms/https://chrislema.com/integrating-gravityforms/Integrating Gravity Forms with web services (like BaseCamp) has just gotten much, much easier - because of a single service (Zapier) and a new add-on.Sat, 22 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/say-no-a-lot/https://chrislema.com/say-no-a-lot/Isn't it time you joined the movement? If you practice, and suit up, you can say no a lot, just like me. Here's how to get started.Sat, 22 Jun 2013 00:06:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/leaving-money-on-the-table/https://chrislema.com/leaving-money-on-the-table/If there's a secret to value-based pricing, it's that we often don't know how to determine value. If you're leaving money on the table, stop it now.Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/finding-the-best-membership-plugin-just-got-a-little-more-complicated-in-a-good-way/https://chrislema.com/finding-the-best-membership-plugin-just-got-a-little-more-complicated-in-a-good-way/Finding the Best Membership Plugin just got a little more complicated, but don't stress out. It's all good. The changing dynamics could be really good.Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/shaping-the-blog-post-youre-writing/https://chrislema.com/shaping-the-blog-post-youre-writing/She walked up to me right after I spoke at a WordCamp. I was stepping down off the stage and I assumed that she wanted to give me feedback or ask a question related to my just-finished talk. I was wrong. Her question was completely unrelated to the topic I'd spent forty minutes on. She...Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:45:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-do-you-choose-a-wordpress-theme-when-youre-not-a-programmer/https://chrislema.com/how-do-you-choose-a-wordpress-theme-when-youre-not-a-programmer/I get the question on my site all the time: how do you choose a WordPress theme when you're not a programmer? Which theme is the best?Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lessons-my-dad-taught-me/https://chrislema.com/lessons-my-dad-taught-me/It's father's day, and while it's easy to focus on my own kiddos and my role as a father - but I have to stop and appreciate the lessons my dad taught me.Sun, 16 Jun 2013 08:30:05 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-peoples-dreams/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-peoples-dreams/People have hopes & dreams. You know it and so do I. I also happen to know a little piece of technology that helps me help people with dreams. Here's how.Sat, 15 Jun 2013 23:37:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/high-performance-wordpress-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/high-performance-wordpress-membership-site/You know a WordPress membership site takes work. That's no surprise. But what happens when things start slowing down. Here are four options to consider.Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-doing-cohort-analysis/https://chrislema.com/are-you-doing-cohort-analysis/Sometimes I ask people to send me their numbers and I only get part of the data. If you're not doing cohort analysis, you may be missing some valuable info.Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/success-my-open-letter-to-22-year-olds/https://chrislema.com/success-my-open-letter-to-22-year-olds/I want you to look back on the two decades you've lived already. I want you to notice three themes for your success that you already know to be true.Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:15:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/guess-whos-back-cart66/https://chrislema.com/guess-whos-back-cart66/Guess who's back? No, it's not an Eminem song - it's Cart66. And they're playing for keeps!Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-pressnomics-worth-10-wordcamps/https://chrislema.com/is-pressnomics-worth-10-wordcamps/I saw the question today, \"Is Pressnomics worth 10 WordCamps?\" Here's my answer.Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring-new-employees-2/https://chrislema.com/hiring-new-employees-2/There are a few lessons we can learn from Steve Wynn, the billionaire behind Wynn Las Vegas - particularly when hiring new employees.Sat, 08 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/help-for-free/https://chrislema.com/help-for-free/You and I get the calls and emails all the time from folks who want help for free. Here's how I think about that dilemma.Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/timing-is-everything-2/https://chrislema.com/timing-is-everything-2/It doesn't matter if it's surfing or business, timing is everything. Make sure you get the help you need to know how to plan your launch.Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:52:35 GMThttps://chrislema.com/create-a-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/create-a-wordpress-plugin/The challenge with learning how to create a WordPress plugin is that WordPress has changed over the years and some top ranked posts are old. What to do?Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/puff-puff-pass/https://chrislema.com/puff-puff-pass/Now, I have never inhaled. I've never been high. But I know the rule: when you have something good, you share.Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:51:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/perspective/https://chrislema.com/perspective/I take a week each year to rest, relax and read. The reading part gives me perspective. And it's really helpful.Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordcamp-business-tracks/https://chrislema.com/wordcamp-business-tracks/Not everyone likes the trend of business tracks at WordCamps. Here's why I like them.Sun, 02 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/passive-income/https://chrislema.com/passive-income/Most passive income strategies aren't passive - which kind of defeats the purpose, right? If you're thinking membership sites are free money, think again.Sat, 01 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/more-thoughts-on-pricing/https://chrislema.com/more-thoughts-on-pricing/Because I had more to say about pricing, I decided to write another post on the topic.Thu, 30 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/secret-of-my-success/https://chrislema.com/secret-of-my-success/Want to know the secret of my success? Four words. But spoken in the right way, by the right people.Tue, 28 May 2013 09:59:31 GMThttps://chrislema.com/premium-wordpress-plugins/https://chrislema.com/premium-wordpress-plugins/Let's be honest - there are some cases where you shouldn't release premium WordPress plugins. Don't believe me? Let me tell you my story.Mon, 27 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/infinitewp-lifetime-offer/https://chrislema.com/infinitewp-lifetime-offer/They're at it again - even though this time the InfiniteWP lifetime offer is more expensive - it's still a great deal. I'm making it even better.Mon, 27 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/presentation-peaks-and-endings/https://chrislema.com/presentation-peaks-and-endings/Peaks and Endings are the most important factors in remembering anything. So that suggests you should learn to end your talk well. Here are 5 strategies.Sat, 25 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lucky/https://chrislema.com/lucky/Trust me when I tell you, you and I are lucky. What is possible now hasn't ever been possible. Sure I'm talking about software here, but we're still lucky!Fri, 24 May 2013 17:29:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/first-five-minutes/https://chrislema.com/first-five-minutes/When you spoke in public last, how were the first five minutes? When you get ready for next time, how are they? You know they're critical, let's see if I can...Fri, 24 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-prices/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugin-prices/Even if you were going to trade hours for dollars, which I don't recommend - you'd never pay that little! WordPress plugin prices are too low.Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-the-client-isnt-always-right/https://chrislema.com/no-the-client-isnt-always-right/No, your client isn't always right. That's the reality of the situation. Here's why and what you can do about it.Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/third-places/https://chrislema.com/third-places/Third places are critical in community development. Your site can be that third place for people, if you're strategic. Here are 5 of my strategies.Mon, 20 May 2013 20:42:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/being-intentional-with-people/https://chrislema.com/being-intentional-with-people/It may sound strange, but I find that being intentional is the most strategic thing you can do to prepare for conferences. That's how I approach WordCamps.Sun, 19 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-tips-pay-play-download/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-tips-pay-play-download/I regularly write WooCommerce Tips. Today the focus is on a way to let users pay, download a video file, and watch it online as well. All from one purchase.Sat, 18 May 2013 09:18:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-kinds-of-women/https://chrislema.com/four-kinds-of-women/There are only four kinds of women in the world. I'll tell you what they are, and introduce you to one of the amazing ones you may not know.Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-grid-hurting-conversion/https://chrislema.com/pricing-grid-hurting-conversion/Is your pricing grid hurting your conversion? Maybe you're making the same mistake I've been making.Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/high-performers-hire-coaches/https://chrislema.com/high-performers-hire-coaches/Here's what you need to know about getting help. High performers hire coaches. They do it not because they're lacking in some way. They do it to get better.Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/levels-wordpress-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/levels-wordpress-membership-site/Level design for your WordPress membership site can be boring stuff, but done right, it can pay huge dividends.Mon, 13 May 2013 13:44:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/coaching-using-woocommerce-subscriptions/https://chrislema.com/coaching-using-woocommerce-subscriptions/One of the things I hate most about business in general is billing. I don't mind talking about money - that's easy. I'm talking about the low-level details of paperwork. Recently I started working with Freshbooks and it's not bad. I like how it automates the routine and makes it easier to get invoices out. But...Sun, 12 May 2013 23:53:33 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sensei-why-you-might-not-need-a-wordpress-membership-site/https://chrislema.com/sensei-why-you-might-not-need-a-wordpress-membership-site/You may be able to get away without a WordPress membership site, if you use Sensei by WooThemes.Sat, 11 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-menu-trick-that-may-help-your-conversions/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-menu-trick-that-may-help-your-conversions/If you do this WordPress menu trick, you might see more people spending more time on your site. That's not necessarily a bad thing.Fri, 10 May 2013 01:12:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/not-my-target-market/https://chrislema.com/not-my-target-market/\"You're not my target market.\" You hear it. You don't like it. But you should respect it.Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pressnomics2/https://chrislema.com/pressnomics2/The dates are announced and I've created a little infographic to help you make your decision.Tue, 07 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-obesity/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-obesity/Themes are getting big boned. Heavy. Hefty. Thick. And we better do something about it before this case of WordPress obesity becomes mortal.Mon, 06 May 2013 18:14:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/guinea-worms-problem-solving/https://chrislema.com/guinea-worms-problem-solving/The story of the guinea worm has a lot to teach us about problem solving. Particularly, it helps us learn which problems to solve.Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-are-you-helping-beginners/https://chrislema.com/how-are-you-helping-beginners/How are you helping beginners? How are you coming along side the people who are just starting. 200 hours into 10,000 can be a discouraging time.Sat, 04 May 2013 23:13:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-your-startup-missing-these-two-roles/https://chrislema.com/is-your-startup-missing-these-two-roles/Is your startup missing the two roles you need to have an impact? Check out which roles I think you need to add - asap!Fri, 03 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wpmba/https://chrislema.com/wpmba/Imagine buying a WordCamp Orange County ticket and suddenly seeing it's value shoot way up. Well now it has. On Sunday we'll run a 3 hour wpMBA Q&A session.Thu, 02 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-i-dont-have-an-hourly-rate/https://chrislema.com/why-i-dont-have-an-hourly-rate/Want to know why I don't have an hourly rate? Because I don't think it makes sense. I think the model is broken & it doesn't answer the main question.Thu, 02 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-coming-to-wordcamp-orange-county/https://chrislema.com/are-you-coming-to-wordcamp-orange-county/This is a WordCamp you're not going to want to miss. Join me in Orange County.Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-conversion-question/https://chrislema.com/a-conversion-question/The question - do your customers need a web site - should challenge you to focus on the right thing: conversion.Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-resize-images-to-make-them-larger-without-losing-quality/https://chrislema.com/how-to-resize-images-to-make-them-larger-without-losing-quality/I have a lot of friends who are surprised that I can resize images (low res) so that they can print well. Well, here's my secret.Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:33:13 GMThttps://chrislema.com/newsletters-in-wordpress-use-sendgrid-or-mandrill/https://chrislema.com/newsletters-in-wordpress-use-sendgrid-or-mandrill/If you're pushing out newsletters in WordPress? Here are some delivery tips and a few plugins to check out.Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-security-or-why-im-sleeping-at-night/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-security-or-why-im-sleeping-at-night/There's been a lot of WordPress security discussions & posts lately. I hope you're not trusting all your content to a plugin with \"security\" in the name. Here's why I'm sleeping well at night.Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-is-overshoot/https://chrislema.com/what-is-overshoot/When you skip past all your profit, and watch it go down the drain, it may be because of overshoot. Here's the one thing you have to get right.Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/highlight-reels/https://chrislema.com/highlight-reels/If we want to succeed, we need to iterate, learn, and stop comparing our behind the scenes footage with others' highlight reels.Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:13:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-flaw-in-the-woocommerce-dynamic-pricing-extension/https://chrislema.com/the-flaw-in-the-woocommerce-dynamic-pricing-extension/There is a flaw in the WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing Plugin. All of the amazing dynamic pricing rules are applied in the cart, not on the product page.Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/tools-to-help-your-site/https://chrislema.com/tools-to-help-your-site/If you aren't using the right tools to help your site, then it's like your out on the paintball field playing with rented gear against the Fremont Police.Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:16:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/always-pay-for-lunch/https://chrislema.com/always-pay-for-lunch/I've been known to say \"always pay for lunch\" so today I thought I'd share with you my whys and hows.Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:03:47 GMThttps://chrislema.com/on-becoming-known/https://chrislema.com/on-becoming-known/Are you interested in becoming known? Here's the two things I think you need to master: consistency & segmentation.Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hiring-a-developer/https://chrislema.com/hiring-a-developer/Are you hiring a developer? Want some tips? Check out this video.Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/not-all-customers-are-equal-butterflies-barnacles/https://chrislema.com/not-all-customers-are-equal-butterflies-barnacles/Not all customers are equal. And the notion that the most loyal are the most profitable may not be true. Here's a way to think about loyalty that may help.Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-create-a-membership-site-using-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/why-create-a-membership-site-using-wordpress/Why create a membership site using WordPress? How about saving yourself $100-300 a month? Sound good?Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:20:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/social-media-tips-for-small-business/https://chrislema.com/social-media-tips-for-small-business/Let me start by saying, I'm not a social media expert. These are just common sense observations. But these social media tips for small business might help.Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-freelancers-2-metrics-2-equations/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-freelancers-2-metrics-2-equations/For my WordPress freelancer friends I want to suggest 2 metrics and 2 equations that I think will help them succeed.Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:52:51 GMThttps://chrislema.com/drag-drop-wordpress-without-theme-framework/https://chrislema.com/drag-drop-wordpress-without-theme-framework/Is it even possible to do drag & drop without a WordPress theme framework? Apparently so. Here's a quick review on Visual Composer.Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/coupon-codes-set-pricing-gravity-forms/https://chrislema.com/coupon-codes-set-pricing-gravity-forms/Want to use Gravity Forms to set your dynamic price? Now it's pretty easy to do.Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/get-started-speaking-at-wordcamps/https://chrislema.com/get-started-speaking-at-wordcamps/Want to get started speaking at a WordCamp. Here are some tips - on how I got started and what not to do.Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/changing-the-pricing-conversation-with-clients/https://chrislema.com/changing-the-pricing-conversation-with-clients/People get nervous when talking about pricing with customers. But there's no need. Talk about value instead.Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-heart-entrepreneurs/https://chrislema.com/i-heart-entrepreneurs/I love entrepreneurs. That's why I wrote this song, I mean, why I wrote this post...Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/discovering-products-rather-than-creating-them/https://chrislema.com/discovering-products-rather-than-creating-them/I don't create products. I discover them. But discovering products isn't easy - because it takes time, listening and most importantly - leaving my computer.Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/whered-all-my-content-go/https://chrislema.com/whered-all-my-content-go/Trust me. You don't want to have to answer the question, \"Where'd all my content go?\" - so make sure you have a backup solution in place.Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:12:04 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-tracking-your-time/https://chrislema.com/are-you-tracking-your-time/Are you debating whether it's worth tracking your time? Here are three reasons to get started soon.Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-emergency-is-not-my-emergency/https://chrislema.com/your-emergency-is-not-my-emergency/I had a conversation today where we touched on client emergencies. And I made the statement that some client emergencies are not my emergency. Here's why.Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/business-is-personal-be-choosy-in-business/https://chrislema.com/business-is-personal-be-choosy-in-business/Don't tell me \"it's just business, it's not personal.\" I don't buy it. Business is personal. So be choosy. As choosy as you'd be in your personal life.Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/must-have-premium-wordpress-plugins/https://chrislema.com/must-have-premium-wordpress-plugins/Which plugins are worth spending money on? Here are a list (less than 10) of my must-have premium WordPress plugins.Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/managed-wordpress-hosting-reasons/https://chrislema.com/managed-wordpress-hosting-reasons/If you have a WordPress site that you count on, you really need to look at Managed WordPress Hosting.Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/simple-products/https://chrislema.com/simple-products/Simple Products help you find a product-market match quickly and a low cost. Isn't that enough to build small products?Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-reach-amplified/https://chrislema.com/your-reach-amplified/If you want greater reach, especially online, then you'll want to read about the tool I use that makes it happen.Sun, 31 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/plugins-in-wordpress-multisite/https://chrislema.com/plugins-in-wordpress-multisite/Have you lost your plugins in WordPress multisite? Let me show you the three reasons why things could be making you crazy.Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:33:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/consultant-profitability/https://chrislema.com/consultant-profitability/You'll make more money if you learn the new M&A skills - mirroring and analysis.Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/speaking-at-a-conference-dont-forget-these-4-things/https://chrislema.com/speaking-at-a-conference-dont-forget-these-4-things/Will you be speaking at a conference soon? Use these four tools to help you communicate effectively.Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/want-more-minority-or-female-engineers-stop-what-youre-doing/https://chrislema.com/want-more-minority-or-female-engineers-stop-what-youre-doing/When our strategies focus on isolating minority or female engineers, we're doing something wrong. Instead, we need to encourage them by being honest.Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:00:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/use-amazon-s3-with-wordpress-to-host-private-videos/https://chrislema.com/use-amazon-s3-with-wordpress-to-host-private-videos/When you use Amazon s3 with WordPress you can keep your content private - which can mean the difference between profit and failure.Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/can-i-introduce-you-to-done-done/https://chrislema.com/can-i-introduce-you-to-done-done/I talk a lot about the concept of \"done done\" and I gave a talk this past weekend on it. You can now see it, & check out the 12 habits of high performers.Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-things-you-need-to-change-anything/https://chrislema.com/three-things-you-need-to-change-anything/If you want to change anything, you're going to need three things. Here's my take, as I share the WordCamp San Diego business track story.Sun, 24 Mar 2013 22:42:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-is-the-right-font-size-for-your-blog/https://chrislema.com/what-is-the-right-font-size-for-your-blog/What is the right font size for your blog? I'm going to tell you. You may not like it, or think I'm crazy, but I won't read your post if the font is tiny.Sat, 23 Mar 2013 10:16:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-if-youre-not-creative/https://chrislema.com/what-if-youre-not-creative/I meet with folks thinking about a startup. I hear the question. \"What if you're not creative?\" And I have an answer for them. Here it is.Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:18:33 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-dire-state-of-programmers-in-their-twenties/https://chrislema.com/the-dire-state-of-programmers-in-their-twenties/I read a post about the dire state of WordPress, written by a twenty-something programmer. So I replied with my own take.Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/writing-regularly/https://chrislema.com/writing-regularly/Are you someone who is writing regularly? Do you hit a wall? Here are 20 tricks to help move forward.Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:34:53 GMThttps://chrislema.com/say-it-with-me-recurring-revenue/https://chrislema.com/say-it-with-me-recurring-revenue/WordCamps need business tracks so that no one has to reinvent the wheel. Pricing models is but one example. It's all about recurring revenue!Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-anyone-interested/https://chrislema.com/is-anyone-interested/You're getting ready to roll out a new product or service. And you have that question: is anyone interested in it? Here are some tools to help you know.Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-technology-wont-solve-virtual-teams-challenges/https://chrislema.com/why-technology-wont-solve-virtual-teams-challenges/No technology out there will help virtual teams perform better. That's because the real issues to solve don't require technology. They require leadership.Sat, 16 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-time-to-practice-youre-doing-it-wrong/https://chrislema.com/no-time-to-practice-youre-doing-it-wrong/It's not about 100% utilization. It's about carving out some time to train, to practice and to learn. That's how you get truly excellent.Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:05:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/teaching-with-wordpress-sensei-wp-courseware-premise/https://chrislema.com/teaching-with-wordpress-sensei-wp-courseware-premise/Which is right for teaching an online course in WordPress? Sensei from WooThemes? WP Courseware by Fly Plugins, or Premise by CopyBlogger? I'll tell you.Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-say-no-to-rev-share-deals/https://chrislema.com/i-say-no-to-rev-share-deals/I say no to rev share deals because most often they don't make any sense. They're pitched as ways to ask me for free service with some hope on the back end. But we all know hope isn't a strategy.Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:31:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-market-fit-without-programming/https://chrislema.com/product-market-fit-without-programming/Finding a product-market fit can take some work, but now it doesn't have to include programming. Instead, check out TryCelery.comMon, 11 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-should-i-care-about-wordpress-frameworks/https://chrislema.com/why-should-i-care-about-wordpress-frameworks/What are WordPress Frameworks? And why should I care? Here are 5 reasons it's important to know a little something about them & 5 to check out.Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/crowdfunding-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/crowdfunding-with-wordpress/If you've ever wanted to do crowdfunding with WordPress, you're options are better than ever.Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/segmentation-tips-from-vegas/https://chrislema.com/segmentation-tips-from-vegas/If your business needs help generating revenue, you just need to take a trip to Vegas. They understand segmentation in Vegas.Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-mailchimp-to-send-my-blog-posts-to-your-inbox/https://chrislema.com/getting-mailchimp-to-send-my-blog-posts-to-your-inbox/If you've had trouble with setting up newsletters, here's the \"getting Mailchimp to send my blog posts to your inbox\" video tutorial. Trust me - it'll help.Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/gravity-forms-best-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/gravity-forms-best-wordpress-plugin/Gravity Forms continues to be the best WordPress plugin ever because it does what other high performers do - it keeps upping its game. It keeps improving. Check out my review of the upcoming 1.7 release.Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/another-catalyst-theme-tip-email-signups/https://chrislema.com/another-catalyst-theme-tip-email-signups/Want to improve email signups? Here's a tip if you're using the Catalyst Theme like I am. Using hooks has never been easier.Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-resources-bookmarked/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-resources-bookmarked/Do you already have these 20 WordPress resources bookmarked? If you don't, then you should. There's a lot of info out there, but here are my go-to 20!Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:01:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/use-a-popup-dont-do-this/https://chrislema.com/use-a-popup-dont-do-this/I know - the data says that popups work. But that's if they're used right. So if you're going to use a popup, at least make sure you're not doing this.Sun, 03 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-sell-digital-goods-on-a-shared-host-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/how-to-sell-digital-goods-on-a-shared-host-with-wordpress/Want to know how to sell digital goods on a shared host with WordPress? Here are a couple of options you might consider.Sat, 02 Mar 2013 14:17:54 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-say-no-to-the-request-not-the-person/https://chrislema.com/i-say-no-to-the-request-not-the-person/If you want to learn how to say no, here's what I do. I say no to the request, not the person.Fri, 01 Mar 2013 08:43:52 GMThttps://chrislema.com/hire-for-integrity/https://chrislema.com/hire-for-integrity/The consequences of poor hiring are well known. But what should you look for in a future employee? My take? Hire for Integrity.Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-2nd-annual-international-leadership-blogathon/https://chrislema.com/the-2nd-annual-international-leadership-blogathon/What do you get when you bring leadership folks from across the globe to participate in an International Leadership Blogathon? Pure wisdom. Check it out!Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:54:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/no-custom-designed-site-for-300-in-2-days/https://chrislema.com/no-custom-designed-site-for-300-in-2-days/When a developer found out the client wanted a rush custom job and only had $300 to spend, they knew it was \"no\" time.Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/email-marketing-still-works/https://chrislema.com/email-marketing-still-works/Everyone says email marketing is dead. Well contrary to popular belief, email marketing still works - better than social media. Here are four reasons why.Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/5-sure-fire-ways-to-get-a-software-refund/https://chrislema.com/5-sure-fire-ways-to-get-a-software-refund/Want to get a software refund? Here are the five simple things you need to do!Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/automating-woocommerce-order-status-changes/https://chrislema.com/automating-woocommerce-order-status-changes/Want to change the WooCommerce Order Status so it automatically says \"completed\" when the order payment is in? Here's some code to help you.Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:10:36 GMThttps://chrislema.com/genesis-and-thesis-comparison/https://chrislema.com/genesis-and-thesis-comparison/I've seen a handful of Genesis and Thesis comparison articles and I'm still scratching my head. There's no comparison.Sat, 23 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/effective-powerpoint-presentation-design-tips/https://chrislema.com/effective-powerpoint-presentation-design-tips/Want three effective PowerPoint presentation design tips? Here they are - and success awaits if you heed them.Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/if-youre-going-to-enter-a-vertical-market-enter-it/https://chrislema.com/if-youre-going-to-enter-a-vertical-market-enter-it/WordPress.com just announced that they were going vertical in education. Vertical markets rock, but you have to enter them correctly to be effective. Here are my three guidelines.Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-one-infographic-generator-ive-stopped-using/https://chrislema.com/the-one-infographic-generator-ive-stopped-using/I've written before about infographics and even infographic generators but now, with a v2 on the horizon, here's one I won't be using anymore.Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:00:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/make-your-blog-photos-pop/https://chrislema.com/make-your-blog-photos-pop/Here's a lightbox plugin for WordPress that is made up of pure awesome! See it in action as I show you my favorite place to write.Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:40:16 GMThttps://chrislema.com/simple-digital-transactions-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/simple-digital-transactions-wordpress/Not sure you're ready for a full e-commerce web site? Maybe you just need to support simple digital transactions? Now you can - even on WordPress.Mon, 18 Feb 2013 18:10:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/procrastinate-for-greater-productivity/https://chrislema.com/procrastinate-for-greater-productivity/Most people think that it's a poor choice to procrastinate. I disagree. In the right situations, letting time do the work is a great idea.Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/internet-famous/https://chrislema.com/internet-famous/To enjoy a happy life, you don't need to be internet famous. What you need is to be locally valued.Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:25:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-tools-for-virtual-teams/https://chrislema.com/five-tools-for-virtual-teams/Everyone who runs virtual teams knows the challenges of communication. Here are my five favorite tools for virtual teams.Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-wait-for-permission/https://chrislema.com/why-wait-for-permission/Why wait for permission? Bootstrappers get things done - they don't wait around for people to tell them their idea is ok, or that they're allowed to start.Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/san-diego-wordcamp-business-track/https://chrislema.com/san-diego-wordcamp-business-track/On March 23rd & 24th, San Diego will be hosting its annual two-day WordPress conference. But on the Sunday it will sport a WordCamp Business Track.Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/heres-a-quick-way-to-leverage-long-tail-keyword-research/https://chrislema.com/heres-a-quick-way-to-leverage-long-tail-keyword-research/Want to know how to quickly leverage long tail keyword research? Here's how I use HitTail to help my site perform better.Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:29:43 GMThttps://chrislema.com/programmers-look-deeper-learn-more/https://chrislema.com/programmers-look-deeper-learn-more/Programmers used to just have to know languages and tools. Today they have to understand architectures and networks.Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-zero-sum-thinking-sucks/https://chrislema.com/your-zero-sum-thinking-sucks/If you have to choose between being a professional and being a team player, walk away. That zero sum thinking sucks.Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/free-woocommerce-extension-github/https://chrislema.com/free-woocommerce-extension-github/Want to download free woocommerce extensions? Here's the background on why Sponsorship is now on Github.Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:31:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/need-expert-wordpress-support/https://chrislema.com/need-expert-wordpress-support/If you need expert WordPress support, I want to introduce you to my friend Shayne Sanderson and his company, Maintainn.Sat, 09 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/leading-is-easier-when-you-hire-the-right-employee/https://chrislema.com/leading-is-easier-when-you-hire-the-right-employee/Leading is a lot easier when you hire the right employee. Here is my three pronged interview approach that helps me find them.Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/what-post-formats-mean-for-you/https://chrislema.com/what-post-formats-mean-for-you/Post formats are going to get an upgrade in WordPress 3.6 - so here's what that means for you and me.Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:38:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/solve-the-right-problem/https://chrislema.com/solve-the-right-problem/Doing research when creating new products is critical. But sometimes we forget to ask a key question. This makes it hard to solve the right problem.Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-reasons-to-attend-pressnomics-this-year/https://chrislema.com/five-reasons-to-attend-pressnomics-this-year/Since I never wrote a recap of last year's Pressnomics, I thought I would just give you the quick skinny on why you should plan to attend this year.Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choosing-wordpress-membership-plugin/https://chrislema.com/choosing-wordpress-membership-plugin/How do you go about choosing a WordPress Membership Plugin? I wrote about this before, but now I've created my infographic guide.Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-wordpress-job-board-solutions-to-check-out/https://chrislema.com/five-wordpress-job-board-solutions-to-check-out/I've been sharing how WordPress can be used as an application framework. Here's 6 examples of WordPress job boards you'll want to check out.Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pitching-wordpress-as-an-application-framework/https://chrislema.com/pitching-wordpress-as-an-application-framework/In what now seems like a weekly conversation, I'm asked about how I use WordPress as an application framework. This week the question was around pitching.Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/automattic-vertical-market-orientation/https://chrislema.com/automattic-vertical-market-orientation/A vertical market orientation can go a long way to helping you close more business easier. So it's worth finding a few verticals that you can get into.Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try/https://chrislema.com/do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try/\"Do. Or do not. There is no try.\" Yoda's best advice & it applies to freelancers, small business folks, and web developers alike when it comes to blogging.Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:10:09 GMThttps://chrislema.com/status-and-pulse-calls-are-not-the-same/https://chrislema.com/status-and-pulse-calls-are-not-the-same/Status and pull calls are not the same thing. A status call worries itself with activity. A pulse call focuses on accomplishment.Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:55:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-use-email-templates-to-say-no-and-other-things/https://chrislema.com/i-use-email-templates-to-say-no-and-other-things/Let me introduce you to the power of an email template. It will make you consistent and keep you calm.Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:00:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/yearly-plugin-fees/https://chrislema.com/yearly-plugin-fees/Some people are bothered by the yearly license fees for some premium plugins. I'm not one of them.Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/not-to-do-list/https://chrislema.com/not-to-do-list/Everyone I know has to do lists. But do you have a not to do list? Because that's where you're wasting most of your time - doing things you shouldn't be.Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/drag-drop-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/drag-drop-wordpress-themes/Are you evaluating drag & drop WordPress themes? If so, I want to introduce you to another option. One you might really like.Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-buy-the-cow/https://chrislema.com/why-buy-the-cow/It's an age old question: Why buy the cow when the milk is free? It applies to freelancers as much as anyone else.Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-use-my-contact-form/https://chrislema.com/how-to-use-my-contact-form/I get a lot of email via my contact form. I thought I would give you some quick tips on how to best \"engage\" me.Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:26:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/friends-not-customers/https://chrislema.com/friends-not-customers/I don't have customers....I have friends. I interact differently with my friends. And it pays off.Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pressnomics-everywhere/https://chrislema.com/pressnomics-everywhere/What if Pressnomics wasn't just a conference once a year in Arizona. What if you could find Pressnomics everywhere?Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/north-county-san-diego-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/north-county-san-diego-wordpress/We have a new meetup group in North County. The San Diego WordPress community now has a new option for meeting in Escondido!Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:52:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/virtual-teams-the-wordcamp-edition/https://chrislema.com/virtual-teams-the-wordcamp-edition/I've presented this talk at two WordCamps in Los Angeles (2012) and Phoenix (2013). It's focused on how to help virtual teams work more effectively.Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/scaffolding-nothing-good-comes-easy/https://chrislema.com/scaffolding-nothing-good-comes-easy/High performers who pursue mastery do it by leveraging the art of scaffolding.Mon, 21 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/find-your-niche/https://chrislema.com/find-your-niche/There are a lot of ways to contribute to the WordPress community. Find your niche.Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choose-value-over-price/https://chrislema.com/choose-value-over-price/When you need to select a WordPress developer to help you get your site live, choose value over price. The lowest bidder isn't the way to go.Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-new-executive-order-go-check-out-memberpress/https://chrislema.com/a-new-executive-order-go-check-out-memberpress/Executive orders are getting signed, so I thought I'd issue one too: go check out memberpress right away. It's a new membership plugin for WordPress.Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-cant-handle-the-truth/https://chrislema.com/you-cant-handle-the-truth/Are you over-promising again? Want the truth? Chances are you can't handle the truth. You need others. Start learning to collaborate. Right now!Tue, 15 Jan 2013 23:54:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/above-and-below-the-fold-stop-talking-about-the-stinkin-fold/https://chrislema.com/above-and-below-the-fold-stop-talking-about-the-stinkin-fold/People are still talking about what belongs above and below the fold. Stop it.Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:12:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comparing-premium-sliders-for-wordpress-by-performance/https://chrislema.com/comparing-premium-sliders-for-wordpress-by-performance/If you were comparing premium sliders for WordPress by performance, which one would win? Which would load the fastest or make the least amount of calls?Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/you-need-productive-downtime/https://chrislema.com/you-need-productive-downtime/If you wan to be a high performer, you need to know when to get your rest. I call it my productive downtime and for me it's from 3-4 pm. When's yours?Sat, 12 Jan 2013 21:37:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-eventscalendarpro-wootickets/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-eventscalendarpro-wootickets/When you're putting on an event, the last thing you want to spend a lot of time on is your web ticketing system. Now don't - with WooTickets & WooCommerce.Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:12:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-developers-asking-the-wrong-questions/https://chrislema.com/product-developers-asking-the-wrong-questions/Do you find that your product launches aren't going smoothly? Maybe it's because as product developers, we're asking the wrong questions. Here's a new set.Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/removing-sort-by-price-option-woocommerce-questions/https://chrislema.com/removing-sort-by-price-option-woocommerce-questions/I get a lot of WooCommerce questions by email. None of them are long enough for their own post, so here are a bunch of quick answers.Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:56:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-landing-pages-catalyst-theme/https://chrislema.com/creating-landing-pages-catalyst-theme/Creating landing pages with the Catalyst Theme is seriously super easy. I walk you thru the 4 simple steps so that you can enjoy the same benefits I have.Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/if-content-is-king-then-design-is-queen/https://chrislema.com/if-content-is-king-then-design-is-queen/You've likely heard it said that content is king. That's absolutely correct but not enough. Design has to support it. They're a team. So design is queen.Sun, 06 Jan 2013 18:22:07 GMThttps://chrislema.com/invasion-of-the-lightweights/https://chrislema.com/invasion-of-the-lightweights/I first heard the term \"invasion of the lightweights\" back in the mid-90's. I heard it again in 2002. And now it feels like it needs to be re-introduced.Sat, 05 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-ninja-1400-days/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-ninja-1400-days/If someone has promised you that you could become a WordPress ninja in a week, a month, or a year - they lied to you. For reals.Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:57:11 GMThttps://chrislema.com/throw-away-your-new-years-resolutions/https://chrislema.com/throw-away-your-new-years-resolutions/Are you writing your New Year's resolutions? Stop. Throw them away. They didn't work last year, why would they work this year?Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:37:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/e-learning-gravity-forms-quizzes/https://chrislema.com/e-learning-gravity-forms-quizzes/The Gravity Forms quiz add-on is currently in beta, but this is something you're going to want to see. Here's my initial take on why it's so great.Wed, 02 Jan 2013 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/be-generous/https://chrislema.com/be-generous/Want to build the foundation for success in 2013? Here's the one thing to hold on to: Be Generous!Tue, 01 Jan 2013 14:22:18 GMThttps://chrislema.com/web-development-shops-prepare-yourselves/https://chrislema.com/web-development-shops-prepare-yourselves/If you're a web development shop, then I want to make a few suggestions about your focus areas for next year.Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/instructional-design-multi-channel-learning-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/instructional-design-multi-channel-learning-wordpress/I'm no expert in instructional design, but I know this: different people learn differently. So here's how to do multi channel learning in WordPress.Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-great-formidable-pro-gravity-forms-comparison/https://chrislema.com/the-great-formidable-pro-gravity-forms-comparison/If you've been on my site, you have heard about Formidable Pro as a worthy form builder. Here's my official evaluation with a Gravity Forms comparison.Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-e-commerce-developers-remember-compliance/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-e-commerce-developers-remember-compliance/When you're creating your next WordPress e-commerce solution, I want you thinking about liability and compliance, not just about technology.Fri, 28 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/managing-high-performers/https://chrislema.com/managing-high-performers/I know managing high performers isn't easy. Sometimes it feels so tough you wish you had a team of average folks. Well here are four mistakes to avoid.Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/site-owners-prepare-yourselves/https://chrislema.com/site-owners-prepare-yourselves/Site Owners: If you want to refresh your web site, and are looking for a designer or developer, do this first. Prepare yourselves.Wed, 26 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-something-from-nothing/https://chrislema.com/creating-something-from-nothing/Once you get past the meaningful relationships in life, there is nothing - and I mean nothing - that I love more than creating something from nothing.Tue, 25 Dec 2012 08:10:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sell-without-ssl-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/sell-without-ssl-wordpress/E-Commerce isn't easy. PCI compliance isn't something you casually do. So if you want to do e-commerce with WordPress, learn how I sell without SSL.Mon, 24 Dec 2012 14:00:21 GMThttps://chrislema.com/five-tips-for-product-managers/https://chrislema.com/five-tips-for-product-managers/After fifteen years of new product development, here are my five tips for product managers.Sun, 23 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/quick-pay-with-gravity-forms/https://chrislema.com/quick-pay-with-gravity-forms/Want to create a simple way to deliver digital files and pay with Gravity Forms? Here's a simple solution that might work.Sat, 22 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/learn-new-wordpress-theme-framework/https://chrislema.com/learn-new-wordpress-theme-framework/I walk you thru my ten step process for learning any new WordPress theme framework while I review the latest version of StartBox.Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sustainable-pace/https://chrislema.com/sustainable-pace/Divert Daily, Withdraw Weekly & Abandon Annually - that's my secret to a sustainable pace.Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:13:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blogging-like-a-rockstar/https://chrislema.com/blogging-like-a-rockstar/What to start blogging like a rockstar? I have an inside tip on how you can get help. Check it out!Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:19:14 GMThttps://chrislema.com/screw-up-product-rewrite/https://chrislema.com/screw-up-product-rewrite/Here are my five rules to protect you from screwing up a product rewrite.Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/success-in-2013-good-habits/https://chrislema.com/success-in-2013-good-habits/Want success in 2013? The trick is to develop good habits. But we know that. Do you know the three things that kill our efforts at developing new habits?Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:34:37 GMThttps://chrislema.com/strategies-for-picking-partners/https://chrislema.com/strategies-for-picking-partners/Want three strategies for picking partners in 2013? Here they are - along with a tip on a movie you can't miss (about a strategic partner picker).Sat, 15 Dec 2012 21:44:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/high-performers-mastery/https://chrislema.com/high-performers-mastery/High performers love personal mastery, but they don't approach things the way everyone else does. They know it's not about needing more knowledge.Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/slow-down-2-3/https://chrislema.com/slow-down-2-3/Want to have success next year? Here's the final installment in the series - and it's simple this: slow down.Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:58:42 GMThttps://chrislema.com/success-in-2013-stop-lying/https://chrislema.com/success-in-2013-stop-lying/Stop lying. Embrace truth. And put together a practical plan.Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:10:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/create-wordpress-pages-automatically-formidablepro/https://chrislema.com/create-wordpress-pages-automatically-formidablepro/Ever wondered how to create WordPress pages automatically? From form posts? Well, you can do it easily with FormidablePro. Here are the steps.Sun, 09 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/find-someone-to-tell-you-the-truth/https://chrislema.com/find-someone-to-tell-you-the-truth/What to know how to succeed in 2013 - here's my first tip: find someone to tell you the truth. Not once. Continually.Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:47:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-every-site-should-have/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-plugins-every-site-should-have/Are there some WordPress plugins every site should have? I think so. Here are my eight.Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/delivering-great-technology-presentations/https://chrislema.com/delivering-great-technology-presentations/If you want to deliver great technology presentations, here are five things you should consider.Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/telling-story-infographics-generator-easelly/https://chrislema.com/telling-story-infographics-generator-easelly/If you have a story to tell, and it's a good one, but you can't draw, don't let that stop you. Using infographics generators like easel.ly can really help.Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:21:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-is-not-free/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-is-not-free/A new version of WordPress is being released With the release of WordPress 3.5 we'll see two things: people falling in love with the media tools, and a fresh group of new WordPress users who catch the excitement and want to finally give it a try. If you visit WordPress.org, you'll see you can download...Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/curated-people/https://chrislema.com/curated-people/I don't want curated content. I want curated people.Sun, 02 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/where-is-your-focus/https://chrislema.com/where-is-your-focus/Where is your Focus? Is it on the wrong customers or the right ones? Good ones or bad ones? The ones paying? Or the ones complaining?Sat, 01 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/is-it-actionable/https://chrislema.com/is-it-actionable/Are you communicating in a way that engages others? Here are some quick tips to communicate in a way that's more actionable.Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-restaurant-tips/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-restaurant-tips/Are you building a site for an online ordering & delivery spot? Want to collect tips? Maybe these WooCommerce Restaurant Tips will help.Thu, 29 Nov 2012 08:17:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-to-create-an-ipad-app/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-to-create-an-ipad-app/People often ask if they can use wordpress to create an ipad app and the reality is that the answer is yes. There are several ways. Here are a few.Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blogging-secrets-visit-pageview-growth-of-over-500/https://chrislema.com/blogging-secrets-visit-pageview-growth-of-over-500/I increased pageviews and visits by over 500% on my blog in under 6 months. Here are my four blogging secrets.Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:48:46 GMThttps://chrislema.com/paid-memberships-pro-is-about-to-get-better/https://chrislema.com/paid-memberships-pro-is-about-to-get-better/Do you already know how much I like Paid Memberships Pro? Then it won't come as a surprise that it's getting better and I'm thrilled!Sun, 25 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/locking-down-an-entire-wordpress-site-with-restrict-content-pro/https://chrislema.com/locking-down-an-entire-wordpress-site-with-restrict-content-pro/Sometimes you want to lock down an entire site - so that only members can access its content. Here's how you do it with Restrict Content Pro for WordPress.Sat, 24 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/having-greater-impact-those-who-can-teach/https://chrislema.com/having-greater-impact-those-who-can-teach/People say things like \"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.\" They're wrong. Having greater impact is all about leverage. Teaching gives you that.Fri, 23 Nov 2012 22:50:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-frameworks-compared-on-performance/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-frameworks-compared-on-performance/There have been a lot of articles with WordPress Frameworks compared by feature, price or usability. So here is one that reviews them by their performance.Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/improving-the-woocommerce-add-to-cart-button/https://chrislema.com/improving-the-woocommerce-add-to-cart-button/The WooCommerce Add to Cart Button takes you right to your cart - if you use the setting and are on the single product page. But what if you're not? Here's the fix.Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:07:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/being-second-ignore-first-mover-advantage/https://chrislema.com/being-second-ignore-first-mover-advantage/Everyone wants to be first. Sometimes being second is better. Really. Here's why.Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:52:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/infographic-customer-engagement-research-and-the-wordpress-community/https://chrislema.com/infographic-customer-engagement-research-and-the-wordpress-community/The research on Customer Engagement is in, and the benefit of having it is that WordPress companies can leverage it to think about how they're working.Sun, 18 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/content-dripping-sequential-course-delivery-is-easy-with-premise/https://chrislema.com/content-dripping-sequential-course-delivery-is-easy-with-premise/How do you make sure people don't purchase your course, log in, download everything, and then ask for a refund? The answer is content dripping.Sat, 17 Nov 2012 10:37:14 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pick-the-perfect-image-for-your-blog-post-or-slide/https://chrislema.com/pick-the-perfect-image-for-your-blog-post-or-slide/You can't pick the perfect image for a blog or PowerPoint slide in seconds. It takes time and some selection strategy. Here are five strategies I use.Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/there-are-no-shortcuts-to-making-dad-proud/https://chrislema.com/there-are-no-shortcuts-to-making-dad-proud/I regularly meet with start-ups and I often hear \"What's the trick to...?\" And what they're really asking for are shortcuts. Guess what? There are none.Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:37:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/perspective-working-on-rather-than-in/https://chrislema.com/perspective-working-on-rather-than-in/You can't see patterns or ask great questions without perspective. Here's how to start thinking about your business differently and why it's critical.Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-compelling-offers-in-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/creating-compelling-offers-in-wordpress/Creating compelling offers in WordPress isn't just about magnetic copy. There are a few other tricks you can use - and personalized URLS (PURLs) are one.Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/stand-out/https://chrislema.com/stand-out/If you want to engage people you have to engage their brain - and there's no way to do that unless you surprise them. That's why it's critical to stand out.Sat, 10 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-community-face-to-face-meetings-are-critical/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-community-face-to-face-meetings-are-critical/There's nothing wrong with virtual relationships, but trust is developed when you meet face to face.Fri, 09 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/priming-our-brains-are-not-computers/https://chrislema.com/priming-our-brains-are-not-computers/Our brains are not computers as much as we wish they were. Here's a quick explanation on Priming and how you might be able to use it.Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/brand-management-taking-whats-given-to-you/https://chrislema.com/brand-management-taking-whats-given-to-you/Brand Management isn't easy, but I want to give you at least one simple tip that eludes most people.Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-most-destructive-thing-you-do-overshoot/https://chrislema.com/the-most-destructive-thing-you-do-overshoot/We all have opinions about the most destructive things we do, but rarely do we call the act of creation destructive. When you overshoot, you're destroying.Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:27:30 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ideas-are-free-execution-costs/https://chrislema.com/ideas-are-free-execution-costs/If you ask me to sign an NDA before you share with me your amazing idea, I will either laugh or sign. Doesn't matter to me. Ideas are free. Execution costs.Mon, 05 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-im-generous-with-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/how-im-generous-with-wordpress/Most people want to talk about \"why\" they give away some work for free, especially in the WordPress community. I want to share my strategies around \"how.\"Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:29:51 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-power-of-genesis-the-friendliness-of-catalyst/https://chrislema.com/the-power-of-genesis-the-friendliness-of-catalyst/If you love the Catalyst theme for WordPress but have heard great things about Genesis, from StudioPress, you don't have to choose anymore. Now use both.Sat, 03 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/ab-testing-done-wrong/https://chrislema.com/ab-testing-done-wrong/There are tons of ways to do A/B testing the right way, so you can ignore this if you're doing it right. But how do you know? Come find out if you're good.Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:58:45 GMThttps://chrislema.com/this-is-no-trick-its-all-treat-astrid-reminders/https://chrislema.com/this-is-no-trick-its-all-treat-astrid-reminders/If you want to engage customers once they've left your site, a call to action reminder is one of the most effective. There's a WordPress plugin for that.Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/e-learning-on-wordpress-made-easy/https://chrislema.com/e-learning-on-wordpress-made-easy/People have said that e-learning on WordPress is too difficult to do, and that you should look at other platforms. Here's how to do it in 20 steps.Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/designing-the-perfect-pitch-deck/https://chrislema.com/designing-the-perfect-pitch-deck/Everyone has their own take on the perfect pitch deck. This happens to be the way I think about it - from a sticky teaching perspective.Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/disagreement-as-an-expectations-management-technique/https://chrislema.com/disagreement-as-an-expectations-management-technique/You already know the trick to successful projects is expectations management. I agree, and raise you the notion of strategic disagreements.Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-innovation-strategies/https://chrislema.com/product-innovation-strategies/If you're stuck thinking about new product innovation, sometimes you just need a quick idea boost. Here's 4 strategies in 20 minutes that may help you.Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/first-page-mobile-a-phone-friendly-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/first-page-mobile-a-phone-friendly-wordpress-plugin/Responsive design is great, but here's a mobile phone-friendly WordPress plugin that gets to the point fast, in case your visitors are running out of juice.Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-twelve/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-twelve/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 12 of 12, I look at the last habit of high performers.Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/giving-away-10-free-copies-of-the-impact-equation/https://chrislema.com/giving-away-10-free-copies-of-the-impact-equation/I received the Impact Equation for free, and I\"m giving them away. Find out the details.Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:28:44 GMThttps://chrislema.com/done-done-infographic/https://chrislema.com/done-done-infographic/Developing a culture that attracts and keeps high performance staff engaged isn't simple. My upcoming eBook highlights how to create a Done Done culture.Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/5-woocommerce-extensions-you-may-have-missed/https://chrislema.com/5-woocommerce-extensions-you-may-have-missed/This week I had lunch with a group of WordPress guys in San Diego and one of the questions asked was whether WooCommerce supported affiliates. It was a great question and not the first time I heard it, so I decided to make sure you knew about three offerings for WooCommerce that exist for affiliate...Sun, 21 Oct 2012 14:15:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-eleven/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-eleven/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 11 of 12, I look at the eleventh habit of high performers.Sun, 21 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-ten/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-ten/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 10 of 12, I look at the tenth habit of high performers.Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/three-strategies-for-wordpress-project-quoting-to-protect-you/https://chrislema.com/three-strategies-for-wordpress-project-quoting-to-protect-you/I don't charge hourly. Here are three strategies I use to make sure I never lose my shirt - which is the core reason why people still like to charge hourly.Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/why-i-never-charge-hourly-for-wordpress-work/https://chrislema.com/why-i-never-charge-hourly-for-wordpress-work/Every now and then I hear questions about how people charge for web design, WordPress work, graphic design or photography. I don't charge hourly. Ever.Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/i-like-catalyst-theme-wordpress-wpengine/https://chrislema.com/i-like-catalyst-theme-wordpress-wpengine/One of the reasons I like the Catalyst Theme is because I can help someone else make their own adjustments even when they're not programmers. I love WP Engine because they offer a staging environment. Put them together and you have pure bliss!Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/duplicate-emails-feedburner-aweber-mailchimp/https://chrislema.com/duplicate-emails-feedburner-aweber-mailchimp/If Feedburner is closing down, I need to make the move. Here's what I did and why.Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-nine/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-nine/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 9 of 12, I look at the ninth habit of high performers.Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/launching-new-products/https://chrislema.com/launching-new-products/Launching new products is never easy. But if you want to do it well, they ought to be small and opinionated. At least that's my take. Here's the scoop.Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/5-steps-to-high-productivity/https://chrislema.com/5-steps-to-high-productivity/How do you get so much done? The answer to that question is that a) I don't sleep a lot, and b) I follow 5 simple steps. Here are my productivity tips.Sat, 13 Oct 2012 00:12:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-eight/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-eight/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 8 of 12, I look at the eighth habit of high performers.Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/thesis-2-0-review-4-reasons-why-im-not-a-convert/https://chrislema.com/thesis-2-0-review-4-reasons-why-im-not-a-convert/Since my Drag & Drop review came out right after Thesis 2.0 did, it was logical that people would start asking about it and how it compared. Here you go.Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/note-non-technical-founders-10-things-look-for-start-up/https://chrislema.com/note-non-technical-founders-10-things-look-for-start-up/If you're a non-technical founder & approach me with a fantastic start-up opportunity, know this. I'm not looking at 1 factor. I'm looking at 10. So go deeper than market potential.Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/comparing-drag-drop-wordpress-themes/https://chrislema.com/comparing-drag-drop-wordpress-themes/WordPress is known for being easy. Drag and Drop WordPress themes are trying to make it even easier to design without coding. Here's a comparison.Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-seven/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-seven/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 7 of 12, I look at the seventh habit of high performers.Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-six/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-six/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 6 of 12, I look at the sixth habit of high performers.Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-five/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-five/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 5 of 12, I look at the fifth habit of high performers.Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-four/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-four/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 4 of 12, I look at the fourth habit of high performers.Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-three/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-three/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 3 of 12, I look at the third habit of high performers.Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/save-time-and-money-with-woocommerce/https://chrislema.com/save-time-and-money-with-woocommerce/E-Commerce web sites are still work. They're complicated. They're costly. But WooCommerce can make things go faster and cost less than the alternatives.Tue, 25 Sep 2012 07:41:08 GMThttps://chrislema.com/cloning-wordpress-sites-in-a-multisite-network/https://chrislema.com/cloning-wordpress-sites-in-a-multisite-network/Cloning WordPress sites doesn't have to be impossible, even if you've been told it is. Here's a seven step process for making it happen on a multisite network.Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:45:01 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-two/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-two/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 2 of 12, I look at the second habit of high performers.Sun, 23 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/10000-hours-expertise/https://chrislema.com/10000-hours-expertise/I don't know if you've seen the video below, and I don't normally write posts that just share a video, but because I spend a lot of time in meetings, and because I've spent twenty years developing specific expertise around product development, this video cracked me up.Sun, 23 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-variable-pricing-one-size-doesnt-fit-all/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-variable-pricing-one-size-doesnt-fit-all/WooCommerce variable pricing is much easier than most people make it sound. Here are the 7 steps to get it configured for your e-commerce site.Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:25:26 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-configure-woocommerce-to-use-show-weight-dimensions/https://chrislema.com/how-to-configure-woocommerce-to-use-show-weight-dimensions/Are you trying to get WooCommerce to use/show a product's weight or it's dimensions? Maybe for shipping, or maybe just to display it? Here's how to do it.Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:51:23 GMThttps://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-one/https://chrislema.com/a-done-done-culture-habit-one/High performance folks understand what a \"Done Done\" culture is all about. In part 1 of 12, I look at the first habit of high performers.Thu, 20 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-and-why-i-left-paypal-and-started-using-stripe/https://chrislema.com/how-and-why-i-left-paypal-and-started-using-stripe/Have you used Paypal enough to know it's time to move on? Here's my story of why I left and how I started using Stripe instead. Trust me, you'd leave too if someone was stealing money out of your back pocket.Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:44:38 GMThttps://chrislema.com/success-in-distributed-contexts/https://chrislema.com/success-in-distributed-contexts/Sending work off-shore? Staff in multiple offices? If so, you've likely wondered how to have success in distributed contexts. Here's my take on getting the most from your virtual team.Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-shipping-as-a-profit-center/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-shipping-as-a-profit-center/How can you treat shipping as a profit center if people tell you to offer it for free? Here are some things to consider, and a way to move forward - using WooCommerce and one of its extensions.Thu, 13 Sep 2012 22:45:37 GMThttps://chrislema.com/infographics-made-easy/https://chrislema.com/infographics-made-easy/Infographics help you tell the story you want - and they do it in style. The good news? You don't need to be a designer to get an infographic done. Check out this presentation & the resources highlighted in them.Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:34:40 GMThttps://chrislema.com/does-your-powerpoint-suck-5-questions-to-ask-yourself/https://chrislema.com/does-your-powerpoint-suck-5-questions-to-ask-yourself/If you have a presentation coming up, how do you know if your PowerPoint sucks? Here are five questions that you need to ask yourself.Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:28:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/using-twilio-with-gravity-forms/https://chrislema.com/using-twilio-with-gravity-forms/If you don't need the \"keyword\" feature that TextMarks offers, you might just be fine with Twilio for all your SMS needs. Here are the 5 steps to using Twilio with Gravity Forms.Sat, 01 Sep 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-to-connect-gravityforms-textmarks-text-messaging/https://chrislema.com/how-to-connect-gravityforms-textmarks-text-messaging/Want to create a simple way to connect your WordPress site with text messaging? Gravity Forms and TextMarks can help. Here's the sample code.Thu, 30 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/speeding-development-wordpress-as-platform/https://chrislema.com/speeding-development-wordpress-as-platform/You can start a development project using whatever framework you like, from .net to ruby on rails, but few offer as much as using WordPress as a platform. Here's a story about one such project.Tue, 28 Aug 2012 17:18:14 GMThttps://chrislema.com/shared-hosting-bad-like-having-bad-roommates/https://chrislema.com/shared-hosting-bad-like-having-bad-roommates/Some people like cheap rent. So they get a roommate. Then they complain. Shared Hosting is like that when it comes to WordPress sites. Here's my take on why Shared Hosting is like having horrible roommates.Sat, 25 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sharing-your-work-history-as-infographic/https://chrislema.com/sharing-your-work-history-as-infographic/Want to share your work history as an infographic? Here's a tool that will get you there with little effort and without requiring any graphic design tools. Check out cvgram.me.Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:06:48 GMThttps://chrislema.com/eye-tracking-wrong-images-sites-presentations/https://chrislema.com/eye-tracking-wrong-images-sites-presentations/Even if you get quality images from a great source, they may still be the wrong ones, if they're working against you instead of with and for you. Here's how to know if you have the right images helping you.Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:50:05 GMThttps://chrislema.com/getting-great-images-staying-out-of-legal-trouble/https://chrislema.com/getting-great-images-staying-out-of-legal-trouble/Want to engage more readers? Use compelling photos. Want to get compelling photos? Stop downloading from Google. Have you stopped downloading from Google? Then you're wondering where to go to get great images. I'll tell you.Tue, 21 Aug 2012 07:37:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/social-media-public-sector/https://chrislema.com/social-media-public-sector/In a little over a week, I'll be speaking with Directors and other key staff that work in Public Housing Authorities all over the country. While many of the topics will be technical, one topic draws more attention than most - social media. And when it comes to social media topics, there's nothing more complicated...Sun, 12 Aug 2012 23:55:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/the-best-popup-wordpress-plugin-ever/https://chrislema.com/the-best-popup-wordpress-plugin-ever/Wondering which is the best popup WordPress plugin? I'm happy to tell you, after trying many different ones.Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/four-great-infographics-generators/https://chrislema.com/four-great-infographics-generators/You've seen those great infographics out there. Ever wanted to create your own? Now it's easy. Here are four great infographics generators you need to check out!Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:32:34 GMThttps://chrislema.com/changing-add-to-cart-in-woocommerce-and-other-quick-changes/https://chrislema.com/changing-add-to-cart-in-woocommerce-and-other-quick-changes/If you're looking for how to change the \"add to cart\" behavior, check out this newer post. Over the last several weeks I've gotten a lot of questions about customizing or working with WooCommerce, the free eCommerce plugin by WooThemes that lets you sell just about anything online. Part of the challenge is that people...Tue, 31 Jul 2012 23:45:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/must-have-free-wordpress-plugins-2012/https://chrislema.com/must-have-free-wordpress-plugins-2012/Everyone has their own list of must-have free plugins your WordPress site can't live without. With over 20,000, there are a lot to choose from. Here are mine in 7 categories.Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/keeping-content-sticky-understanding-brain-remembers/https://chrislema.com/keeping-content-sticky-understanding-brain-remembers/Whether you write blog articles or present powerpoint slides, you want your main points remembered. That's why it's critical that you learn how the brain remembers things and leverage it.Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sticky-closings-powerpoint-common-failure/https://chrislema.com/sticky-closings-powerpoint-common-failure/If you want a sticky closing, you have to plan for it. That means not making this one classic mistake.Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-page-without-shopping-cart/https://chrislema.com/woocommerce-product-page-without-shopping-cart/It started as a random post in a Facebook group and turned into a personal quest. Now I know how to create a WooCommerce product page without any accompanying commerce features. It's simple.Sat, 28 Jul 2012 16:42:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-mls-integration-real-estate/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-mls-integration-real-estate/In the WordPress world, it doesn't matter if you come from the programming or design side, real estate web sites will lure you in with their simplicity and then suck you into the depths of a black hole you never imagined - one called \"WordPress MLS integration\".Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:04:03 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pin-it-on-pinterest-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/pin-it-on-pinterest-wordpress-plugin/Pinterest may be the 3rd largest social media network, but here are three reasons why I'm ignoring the pin it on pinterest WordPress plugin for now. I'm sure you'll have your own take. Come share it with me...Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/preparing-powerpoint-presentation/https://chrislema.com/preparing-powerpoint-presentation/Before you even open up PowerPoint, there are some things you need to think about, to make sure your presentations have the kind of impact you want. Here's my ten things to think about as you prepare.Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:09:59 GMThttps://chrislema.com/infographics-dont-need-to-take-forever/https://chrislema.com/infographics-dont-need-to-take-forever/You've seen infographics on Pintrest, right? Want a behind the scenes look at how to create quick infographics, even if you're not a graphic designer?Thu, 19 Jul 2012 23:44:55 GMThttps://chrislema.com/free-sticky-teaching-poster/https://chrislema.com/free-sticky-teaching-poster/One of the most common requests was from teachers who wanted a poster to put it up in a resource location, or place like that. So I created this version of the poster. I was going to sell it, but I decided to give it away for free.Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sticky-teaching-for-presentations/https://chrislema.com/sticky-teaching-for-presentations/I regularly give presentations on giving presentations (I know, so meta). Today I'll be delivering a private webinar to a group of software professionals who will be presenting technical information next month at a conference. Here's the deck.Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:47:10 GMThttps://chrislema.com/seven-habits-from-covey/https://chrislema.com/seven-habits-from-covey/This morning Mr. Covey, of Seven Habits fame, passed away. Whether you liked him, his books, his management or organizational style or not, there's no question he had an impact with several of his books in the Seven Habits pack. So here's my take on the seven things I learned from Stephen Covey.Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:27:22 GMThttps://chrislema.com/better-presentations-3-tips-tour-guides/https://chrislema.com/better-presentations-3-tips-tour-guides/I think all tour guides should be vetted before being given 20-40 paying passengers. Why? Because some of them have truly sucked this week! So here are my three tips to tour guides and see if they don't apply to you when you give presentations (of any kind) as well.Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:54:52 GMThttps://chrislema.com/friends-dont-let-friends-have-janky-web-sites/https://chrislema.com/friends-dont-let-friends-have-janky-web-sites/You know the kind of site I'm talking about right? If it were a home, there'd be a car (on blocks) in the front yard. If it were an outfit, it's the one that ensures you won't stand next to your friend when they're wearing it. So why do you let your friends have sites...Sun, 08 Jul 2012 19:00:19 GMThttps://chrislema.com/misleading-fonts-the-results/https://chrislema.com/misleading-fonts-the-results/Almost every week I'm involved in creating a deck (PowerPoint set of slides) of some sort. Because I'm regularly cleaning up slides designed by others, it's not surprising that one of the first things I do is clean up the fonts. Normally, however, I don't explain why I'm doing what I'm doing. Here's why.Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:34:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/higgs-boson-related-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/higgs-boson-related-wordpress/It's likely you've heard about the recent buzz and potential announcement related to the Higgs Boson. Well, what you haven't heard is how it's related to WordPress. You can only get that here. So here they are - 5 ways they're relatedWed, 04 Jul 2012 21:58:17 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-hosting-decisions/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-hosting-decisions/How do you make a decision about where to host your WordPress site? If it's just about the money, you can always go for WordPress.com - where things start at $0. But over time you may decide it's right to move. So what's next? And does your site only move once?Sat, 23 Jun 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/your-outbound-marketing-sucks/https://chrislema.com/your-outbound-marketing-sucks/I've visited more than once. We've seen each other a few times. But let's be clear - we're not friends or family. I have no loyalty to you. So let's get one things straight: me getting a lot of emails from you doesn't constitute a relationship.Tue, 29 May 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-real-estate-single-theme-multisite/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-real-estate-single-theme-multisite/We created a real estate offering that not only uses WordPress, but uses a single theme and a single WordPress multisite instance.Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/wordpress-appcelerator-innovation-without-cash/https://chrislema.com/wordpress-appcelerator-innovation-without-cash/I just recently spoke at a WordCamp (San Diego) on how a small business or start up could use WordPress for more than just a blog or web site, and referenced one particular case of product innovation but didn't get into the details...so here they are. Not all innovation requires that you start from scratch.Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/membership-sites-easy-wordpress/https://chrislema.com/membership-sites-easy-wordpress/At least three times a month I'm on the phone with someone who thinks they need a membership site but doesn't have the time to make it work. I don't know if it's that they're looking to develop the world's best membership site, or if they just don't know how easy it is, but let me show you the three options you have to get something up and running quickly.Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/excitement-no-goals/https://chrislema.com/excitement-no-goals/I have recently noticed something - and maybe you have to. It's related to the work I do on the evenings and weekends which is different than the work I do during the day. During the day I manage creatives and developers to create software products for very targeted markets. I'm mostly solving tough technical problems, leading people, and spending time on phone calls.Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:50:58 GMThttps://chrislema.com/sticky-teaching/https://chrislema.com/sticky-teaching/In early March I'll be presenting some material to teachers who volunteer at North Coast Church. Coaching those who present information - in or outside the church - always comes back to what we now know about the brain. So I decided to create an infographic to help communicate some of the main information. I call it sticky teaching.Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/27-wordpress-plugins-choose/https://chrislema.com/27-wordpress-plugins-choose/The process of setting up a WordPress site isn't just about hosting and getting a great theme in place. It's not just about adding your own design elements and it's more than just writing great content. There's that one other bit, the glue, that you need in order to bring the whole site together.Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-development-lessons-opinionated/https://chrislema.com/product-development-lessons-opinionated/Remember that guy at school that always had an opinion about stuff and was quick to tell you about it? Remember the guy who never saw two sides of things or even the nuance and just kept repeating his position in the hopes that sheer exhaustion would bring you over to his side? Yeah, that...Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/where-hire-great-developers/https://chrislema.com/where-hire-great-developers/Have you visited http://www.authenticjobs.com/ yet? Unless you're hiring senior executive tech folks (using TheLadders), I'd head over to Authentic Jobs. Of course there's always your own network.Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/responsive-wordpress-plugin/https://chrislema.com/responsive-wordpress-plugin/Want to display videos on your WordPress site but still make sure they'll resize the right way? Then you need to check out this plugin that takes care of things for you. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/fitvids-for-wordpress/Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/creating-responsive-wordpress-mobile-site/https://chrislema.com/creating-responsive-wordpress-mobile-site/As you can imagine, I'm tired of hearing or using the word \"responsive\" already. It was a great word in the last part of 2011, but it's like those custom paint colors that today you look at and know immediately - that was so 1999. Right? So let's just skip past the responsive word and...Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:44:30 GMThttps://chrislema.com/godaddy/https://chrislema.com/godaddy/I know I spend a lot of time telling people not to host their WordPress sites on GoDaddy, but here are 5 things I love about GoDaddy.Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/choosing-wordpress-versions-org-or-com/https://chrislema.com/choosing-wordpress-versions-org-or-com/How do you know which option to choose when looking at the WordPress.com and WordPress.org solutions? Here are some questions to ask.Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:15:24 GMThttps://chrislema.com/product-launch-failures/https://chrislema.com/product-launch-failures/Focused on getting new products out the door? As you do, are you also focused on making sure the launch doesn't flop? Here are three reasons it might not go well, and what you can do about it.Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/powerpoint-images/https://chrislema.com/powerpoint-images/Do you know how the brain reacts to words and pictures in PowerPoint? Want to know which has more impact? It's not a secret. Pictures win!Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:14:28 GMThttps://chrislema.com/powerpoint-answer-questions/https://chrislema.com/powerpoint-answer-questions/What if you knew the three questions that needed to be answered in every presentation? Would you want to know them? Here's what they are...Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:11:15 GMThttps://chrislema.com/words-2/https://chrislema.com/words-2/What if the phrase you are using to inspire confidence is doing the very opposite? Would you want to know?Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:52:32 GMThttps://chrislema.com/pricing-revenue-strategies/https://chrislema.com/pricing-revenue-strategies/Pricing is something you set and hope your clients pay. Revenue is more - and holds all the assumptions of your business model. Plan wisely. And don't confuse them.Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/power-words/https://chrislema.com/power-words/Sticks and stones may never leave the legacy that words can - for better or worse. Here are some quick tips on how to leverage the power of words.Tue, 24 May 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/impossible/https://chrislema.com/impossible/What becomes possible, which may have felt impossible just moments before, because we respond to the needs around us?Wed, 18 May 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/lies-wordpress-launch/https://chrislema.com/lies-wordpress-launch/When you get started with a Wordpress blog or site, it's easy to get overwhelmed with all the choices in front of you, and you might be tempted to believe one of these five lies.Mon, 16 May 2011 05:39:29 GMThttps://chrislema.com/presentation-challenges-choose-passion/https://chrislema.com/presentation-challenges-choose-passion/As you are preparing presentations you normally think about all the info you want to pass along. Instead, ponder what fuels your passion.Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:15:02 GMThttps://chrislema.com/silence-power-pause/https://chrislema.com/silence-power-pause/I'm an extrovert. I like to talk. Silence isn't natural to me. I think my opinions and ideas are important. But this can really be a challenge or obstacle if you're selling. Now truth be told - I've never held a role with the title that has \"Sales\" in the name. But as a person...Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/peer-pressure/https://chrislema.com/peer-pressure/The statistics on high school peer pressure are crazy. In California, laws are getting written up against bullying because it's become such a problem. Among parents, any discussion can get focused pretty quickly on negative peer pressure if your children are the right age. But is all peer pressure negative? Or has it gotten a...Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:34:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/blame-team-productivity/https://chrislema.com/blame-team-productivity/Sometimes team productivity is less about hard work and more about context. These three books and three suggestions may help you out.Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/singing-or-speaking-without-notes/https://chrislema.com/singing-or-speaking-without-notes/It doesn't matter if you're singing the national anthem or speaking to 10 people, here are 3 reasons why you need to remember your words.Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:38:49 GMThttps://chrislema.com/3-reasons-killing-early-registration-pricing/https://chrislema.com/3-reasons-killing-early-registration-pricing/I just finished the early registration process at Google for the Google I/O conference and soon you'll hear how fast it closed up. Two years ago it took 90 days to fill up all the spots. Last year it took 50 days. This morning registration was closed in one hour. Yes, 59 minutes. The registration...Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/too-rich-for-faith/https://chrislema.com/too-rich-for-faith/Tonight, as my kids were watching a VeggieTales movie, I was in another room thinking and planning my family's future. Because we're in the middle of transition and are planning to move within the next several months, I've been working through a list of things to think about and strategize on. It's a move of...Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:04:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/are-you-in-the-strength-20/https://chrislema.com/are-you-in-the-strength-20/This isn't about performance. Instead it's about passion. Marcus Buckingham's research suggests that only 2 out of 10 people can agree with the statement, \"People recognize what I do well and push me to become better and better at it.\" Are you in the 20% that agree?Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/powerpoint-passion-knowledge/https://chrislema.com/powerpoint-passion-knowledge/Preparation is critical, but not if you're just going to gather and prepare facts. Preparing your heart is more critical.Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:56:50 GMThttps://chrislema.com/powerpoint-visual-appeal/https://chrislema.com/powerpoint-visual-appeal/Powerpoint isn't the reason your slides suck. Powerpoint is just a tool. How you use it is critical. The rule of thirds can help.Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/powerpoint-practice/https://chrislema.com/powerpoint-practice/There's a huge difference between practicing (which is essential) and talking about practicing (which is a waste of time).Tue, 26 Oct 2010 06:41:27 GMThttps://chrislema.com/engaging-your-audience-powerpoint/https://chrislema.com/engaging-your-audience-powerpoint/If it's important to you, it should come across that way, right? So what does it tell your audience when you're staring straight down at your notes?Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:37:25 GMThttps://chrislema.com/merging-lessons/https://chrislema.com/merging-lessons/As two churches have begun exploring a merger potential, I've been helping and taking notes.Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/how-many-stories-will-you-live-in/https://chrislema.com/how-many-stories-will-you-live-in/Some stories just don't belong together. And when you try to combine them, they get ruined. How many stories will you live in?Sun, 02 May 2010 21:08:41 GMThttps://chrislema.com/having-impact/https://chrislema.com/having-impact/More and more, people are ignoring the deluge of marketing that you may be investing in. What will you do about it?Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:00:00 GMThttps://chrislema.com/control-your-brand/https://chrislema.com/control-your-brand/Today, a person with a thousand followers on Twitter or Facebook can re-define your brand message in no time flat.Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:00:00 GMT