In this article, we will explore the reasons why you should be monetising your blog, the different ways you can do this, and discover tips for launching a popular podcast that draws in new listeners every month, along with examples of effective podcast monetisation strategies.
Sound good? Grab a coffee and let’s get to it…
Monetizing is not only about obtaining podcast sponsors. You can earn money through podcasting by selling premium content, promoting affiliates, creating products and services, promoting your business, accepting donations or crowdfunding, or in other ways. Here are compelling reasons for monetising your podcast:
There are a number of ways in which you can make money through podcasting. So if you have a passion for podcasting, you may as well consider these ways of monetizing your podcast. But make sure to start your podcast the right way.
A podcast serves as a very potent lead generation tool. It can be leveraged to educate your customers regarding new services and products and attract traffic to your website. Moreover, through podcasting you can create a personal connection with people, which is not possible through any other promotional medium.
When your podcast is downloaded, people are spending time, maybe minutes or hours, with your voice sounding in their ears. Through this listening activity, a bond is created. This bond brings with it a kind of trust that written words often fails to do. This trust you can convert into leading your audience to buying recommended products or services for which you take a commission.
Sponsorships offer you one of the easiest ways of earning money because you simply get paid for promotion. Sponsors are not interested in your audience size, but the level of engagement of your audience, and how likely it is that they would act on the sponsors. The majority of podcast sponsorships pay off on the basis of the number of thousand impressions you receive, and the number of actions taken or they may also consider a flat rate.
The most significant aspect of any sponsorship style is the relevance it has to the audience. For instance, Audiobooks.com and Audible.com have achieved great success due to the appeal that their audiobooks have to anyone.
Prior to approaching a sponsor, remember that the presentation, production and content of your podcast should be of high quality. Moreover, you must understand your audience.
Apart from directly monetizing your podcast, you can leverage the platform for building relationships with people who can be outstanding affiliates. A considerable amount of rapport can be created by spending some time (say, one hour) for an interview. Through nurturing relationships with those whom you interview, you may rope in a number of excellent affiliates.
If an organization has no affiliate program as such, a coupon code can be negotiated with them. In this way, you may get a part of all the orders through that particular coupon code. A promo code is a good option since it acts as a great incentive.
You may try to earn 4 to 8 per cent from other sites, but it would be great if you can resell yourself. Through reselling, the same items could help you get as much as 50%. This procedure is known as ‘drop shipping’. If you are unable to beat the price, consider beating the value. This extra value could be made through recording some secrets, a video showing the procedure of any setup or any other thing, which your audience might not get elsewhere.
This is one of the most effective ways of making money. Once you invest the resources and time for making a product, 100% of the profits would come to you. It has been seen that the most profitable podcasters are leveraging their courses or products for generating income. For instance, Cliff Ravencraft is podcasting digital products and A to Z while Lou Mongello is podcasting unofficial Disney products.
When you are creating your first product, it is advisable to promise less and deliver more. If you start off small, you can also gain long-term success as people are gradually exposed to your value creation. Remember that 80% of the audience will opt for freebies, but the remaining 20% would generate 80% of the income.
You may have expertise in consulting and coaching on a one-to-one basis. It is true that a number of people would derive more benefit from this personalized coaching instead of a group one. You will have to start off with a small value, but the same will grow as you become experienced and gather a reputation.
If you feel that you do not have so much expertise as a teacher, you might offer some service. For instance, you might get hired on an hourly basis to teach somebody a particular subject. Or else, you may also get hired to do something for someone that involves your area of expertise. People would be more eager to pay for solutions rather than pay for time.
Once you have a podcast, making money through donations will only be possible once you have a loyal and passionate fan following. Once you get donations, do not forget to thank the audience for the support that they have rendered. This will make them feel that they are a part of the show. For a more successful campaign, make your supporters feel that they are exclusive. You may do some funny activity for them or especially thank them in your episodes.
This was one of the very sought models in the early podcasting days, but a lot of podcasters are using this even today with great success. If your audience pays for a subscription, you can give them premium content in the form of exclusive community, exclusive episodes, back-catalog for episodes and lots more.
This model might not suit everyone because some podcasters are unwilling to sell their previous episodes since every episode is a promotion of their expertise.
When people listen to your podcast topic and are interested in it, it is an indication for your audience to like your content and their preference to hear more about this particular topic. Your job is to create a mastermind of similar minded people who are interested in learning more regarding the topic of your show. After this, you may consider obtaining individual support.
Selling ebooks is a difficult task. With each passing day, an increasing number of authors are trying their luck at Amazon Kindle. Given this, if you build a solid relationship with the book and ebook readers through the medium of podcasting, your job becomes easier as you get an opportunity to stand apart from others.
There are, in fact, many, who have succeeded over Kindle, although starting off from scratch, through interaction and consistent communication with their book readers. Podcasting is, in fact, a great way for the cultivation of a relationship and creation of a loyal fan following of people who wish to purchase your books.
You may offer free classes on your podcast. In association with that, you can sell an app and earn some bucks. For instance, say you are a yoga instructor providing free yoga classes through your iPhone. Through the app, you can enable people to get anytime access to your yoga classes and also sell material depicting the sequence of your classes.
Decide upon the category of people whom you would like to attract to your events. You can go then for the creation of content where you would get a response from them. In the podcast, declare the events (whether offline or online) you will be hosting.
If you are thinking of monetizing your podcast, you must ensure that it is of high quality. Here are some valuable tips to help you launch a great podcast.
There are many people who are not even aware of what podcasting is, leave alone subscribing to a podcast. Hence, it would be great if, once each episode of your podcast ends; you can offer clear-cut direction regarding subscription to your show. Your listeners or viewers would copy-paste them for future use.
A number of people can be interviewed on your podcast. Once the interview is over, some might send you traffic by linking to the interview while others might not. You can convince these people to link to you from their social media accounts and websites, by doing the actual job on their behalf. You may create some social media posts (say for Google Plus, Facebook, etc.) for them and write a thank you mail asking them to share the same.
Reviews may help you in getting a good podcast ranking in iTunes. But it is quite difficult to get people to write reviews. You need to offer something to people in exchange for positive reviews. For instance, if you are offering an online course, you might give out some lessons for free for those who write reviews for you.
There is a prominent display segment in iTunes for podcasts that are ‘New and Noteworthy’. Once your show is launched, your podcast will be highlighted in this area for a portion of the initial 8 weeks. Once the first 8 weeks are over, you would not be visible in this area. These 8 weeks are very crucial for you, and you must use them in the best manner possible.
So far as iTunes is concerned, there is country-wise separation. This implies that if you are from the US and somebody from Canada writes a review for your podcast, people in the US will not be able to see it. To overcome this issue, download CommentCast. This is a free software enabling all the reviews to be viewed from around the world. You should be aware of reviews coming from other countries since this gives you the whole picture.
The artwork representing your show is visible on iTunes, along with the creator and the name of the show. In fact, users browse through a display of thumbnails for choosing a new show. Quality artwork has a major role to play in the success or failure of a show.
Reading negative reviews of other podcasts belonging to the same industry will give you an idea of what mistakes you should avoid. Also, if you carefully read the negative reviews, you will also come to know about ways in which you can impress your listeners.
If you do not include segments, your podcast narration will ramble. By inclusion of segments in the show, you can make the content more useful and keep the produce more structured. Segments do away with the rambling leading you as you proceed. Examples of segments include recommended resources or products, listener questions, listener feedback for previous shows, book reviews, interviews with industry experts, as well as news.
Podcast listeners have two short pieces of text, the name of the creator and the title of the show, at their disposal through which they have to determine which show is worth lending an ear to. If you select a generic name, it would more clearly reveal to your listeners that your show revolves around their area of interest. For instance, for a show dealing with email marketing, the name ‘The Email Marketing Show’ is preferable to the name ‘Email Buzz’.
John Lee Dumas is the host and founder of Entrepreneur On Fire (EOF), a podcast that is based on interviewing top entrepreneurs. The show runs for the whole week. This has been one of the most successful cases of podcast monetizing, with EOF receiving the Best of iTunes award in 2013, for its commitment to sharing valuable insights that give due guidance on entrepreneurship.
One of the most positive aspects of the show is its structured content. The first story shared on EOF is the biggest setback of the guest and the lessons learned from that. The second story revolves around that groundbreaking moment and how things took a turn from there. In the concluding finale, guests are asked a rapid-fire question, through which they share their experience and wisdom.
The podcast has been very popular amongst the audience. As per the monthly income report of December 2014, the gross income generated was $298, 146, with a net profit of $199,451. The income sources were coaching, sponsorship, masterminds, books, affiliate relationships and more.
Profitcast had a hangout with Daniel J. Lewis of the Audacity to Podcast fame. In this show, something unique happened- instead of one person interviewing another, two podcasters co-hosted this specific Profitcast episode. The episode dealt with brilliant monetization strategies that have made some podcasters successful.
This was the lengthiest episode of Profitcast, wherein a lot of strategies were discussed, including the manner in which these strategies work, what would suit you, and how you can get started by leveraging these strategies.
There are a number of podcasters who are successfully earning millions of dollars from their shows. Once you get a fan following, it becomes easier to monetize your podcast and succeed in the long run. There are numerous opportunities, it is up to you to identify the right path and go ahead with your show.
The lead generation business is booming online right now.
At its core, all a lead gen business does is generate leads for a specific business or company. These businesses may be anything from an international college or vocational school to your local chiropractor or dentist.
Your job in this business is to find your client business qualified leads that they can turn into customers.
Lead gen sites can vary, but generally, you earn money for every lead you generate for one of your client companies. It is important to note here that no sale is being made in this process. The lead has not bought anything; rather, they have merely provided some information, or they have picked up the phone and called your client’s business.
Some companies will only qualify someone as a lead if they fill out two forms. Others will only qualify a lead if that lead picked up the phone and had at least a 30-second conversation.
While every lead gen program differs wildly, the premise remains the same. For every qualified lead you send to the business, they will give you a finder’s fee for that lead generation.
The lead gen business model can be lucrative, but it can also be very passive if you are using organic traffic sources, especially similar to those found with AdSense or Amazon affiliate sites.
One of the intriguing things about the lead gen business model is that, unlike other affiliate sites, the lead gen site does not need to follow the affiliate model if you don’t want it to. You could simply set up a deal with local business owners in your area or even outside of your area in other cities.
Many of these business owners will pay you either a monthly retainer fee to keep this lead gen website referring customers to them, or on a purely pay-per-lead basis.
If you operate in a niche where the lead rate is higher than the potential commission on a sale, there is certainly room to earn more money through lead generation vs affiliate marketing. Some of these niches include insurance, legal services, medical services, and finance.
If you do want to go the affiliate route, there are a slew of affiliate programs you can find that are all about pay per lead offers, such as:
Quinstreet and Campus Explorer both qualify their leads by having the leads fill out forms, but Ring Partner is a bit different. Instead of the normal pay-per-lead model, Ring Partner does pay-per-call.
All three of them have dozens of different offers you can use if you decide you would rather go the affiliate route over the direct route of finding business owners who want to pay you per lead.
If you ever plan on selling your lead gen model website, the affiliate model is typically going to be an easier migration process, though, there are obvious benefits to going it on your own, as your payouts will be higher. The downside to this is that your payment system will potentially be less streamlined.
As you can tell, the lead gen model is pretty fantastic.
If you do decide to avoid affiliate networks and go direct, the lead gen model holds some more advantages over a client-based business.
In a client-based business, a client might not pay you even after all of your search engine optimization (SEO) work has been applied to their website. Compare this scenario with the same one in a lead gen business: if the client does not pay you for the leads or your monthly retainer fee, you can just switch the website over to a new tenant (usually their competition) and give them the leads instead.
Despite this being a fantastic business model, there are also some drawbacks.
While targeted traffic is important in any business model, it is especially important for a lead gen business model. If your lead gen offer is for a carpet cleaning service in St. Louis, Missouri, but you are offering that to traffic that is looking for carpet cleaning in Anchorage, Alaska, your offer won’t convert.
This is why it is very important to target local keywords, even hyperlocal keywords where you break up a city into smaller suburbs. Your traffic will be lower, but the conversions will be much higher.
If you decide to ditch the affiliate route and go direct, you also run the real risk of clients failing to pay. This is not merely annoying. It could also be catastrophic for your website’s earnings if you can’t find anyone else to start paying for the leads in this very specific area or very specific offering.
Moreover, unlike affiliates like AdSense, which have basically unlimited offers, and Amazon, with millions of offers, there are just not that many lead gen offers out there.
This gives you fewer options, especially when targeting hyperlocal traffic with your offers.
As mentioned above, you need to be aware that the traffic coming to a lead gen site needs to be extremely targeted in order to convert on these offers. If the offer doesn’t exist in the area that the traffic is coming from, that traffic is worthless.
For this reason, many of these sites operate in a local to hyperlocal context. This means you have some extra SEO benefits that normally do not exist for other business models.
For instance, you can take advantage of getting listed in Google Maps’ 3-Pack. The Google Map’s 3-Pack appears above the main organic search results for local keywords. Often people will click on these listings before any other listings to either get directions to the business or to give the business a call to create an appointment.
If you’re unfamiliar with what the 3-Pack looks like, here is a quick example for dentists in Anchorage, Alaska:
There are several ways to get a lead gen website into the 3-Pack. I would recommend Mark Luckenbaugh’s guide on the subject over at Local Client Takeover, which you can find here.
One of the nice benefits of targeting local searches with lead gen offers is that the competition is going to be less fierce than if you were building a normal affiliate website.
It also makes every town, city, and locale a unique niche for your specific offer, which is pretty cool.
When it comes to scaling lead gen websites, there are several different strategies you can use to grow them.
Similar to the uniqueness of local SEO, you have a unique opportunity here to run local paid traffic. It will often have less competition, especially in less competitive cities and smaller towns.
This can be a huge opportunity for the right buyer who is looking to master the paid traffic learning curve.
Since most lead gen websites are not covering every single area that the offer is available in, someone wanting to grow their lead gen site significantly just needs to find all of the locations where their specific offers are available and build those pages.
Depending on the affiliate offers or the direct partnerships, there could be literally thousands of new locations in which lead gen website owners can grow.
Some lead gen websites become so big that they convert over to becoming a directory in and of themselves. This is especially true for those who are monetizing the lead gen website with direct clients versus affiliate offers.
It is unlikely a website has expanded into every local area with their offer. Even if they have, they could want to add a second offer. In any case, this is a great growth strategy for most lead gen websites.
If you can find an offer that is related to your offer or even adds value to the original offer, then you might be able to create new content around this offer in all of the local areas your website is already featuring.
Your related offer does not exactly need to be location-based, either.
For example, if you have a lead gen website that generates leads for colleges, you might also want to offer an affiliate link to online courses or other educational opportunities.
For many entrepreneurs, passive income options are the top choice. While they take time to set up, the amount of effort involved drops off once they’re up and running. Even so, for many passive income streams, such as information products, you have to start at zero each month and hope you sell enough to meet your goals.
The ideal online business involves both passive and recurring (continues regularly) income, and one of the best ways to have that is through a membership site.
Like gym memberships that require monthly fees, membership sites are places where people can join to get whatever it is you offer. Many membership sites offer articles or reports, video tutorials, webinars, checklists, templates, apps or software, and more.
Generally, people join membership sites because they help simplify their lives, speed up learning curves, and/or give them greater detail on how to do something than the general content offered online. For example, there are many online marketing membership sites that delve into specific topics, such as how to write a successful Facebook ad, how to maximize Instagram, and/or how to repurpose content across marketing platforms.
There are multiple pros and cons to starting these kinds of membership sites. Before getting started with one, it’s important to weigh the good with the bad.
Pros
Cons
Many companies, including Microsoft and Adobe, have begun to use membership or subscription models in their businesses because there are many benefits, including:
There are a few downsides to building a membership website you’ll want to consider before getting started:
One great thing about membership sites is that there are a variety of ways you can offer one. The basic types of membership sites include:
Content in membership sites can be offered in a variety of ways. One is through email. For example, a course can deliver each lesson by email once a week. A daily deal or industry insight might deliver content daily.
Many membership sites have an online members area, where they can access the information. In this case, you can have all your content posted so members can peruse and use at their convenience. You also can provide content on a schedule, such as a new PLR package, training, or webinar once a month.
The ideas for membership sites are endless. The key to success is to find an idea that involves lots of content and that others would pay to access. For example, if you can teach guitar lessons or cake decorating, can you set up enough lessons to make a full course and are there people who will buy it? It’s always best to consider ideas that benefit others, such as saving them time and money, or helping them lose weight or get healthy. Business-to-Business (B2B) membership sites are ideal because even in tough times, many businesses will join and/or maintain their memberships if they believe it will help their business.
Membership or subscription-based businesses have many moving parts during the setup, but essentially, here’s what you need to do:
Follow the 10 AdSense tips presented below and see your earnings increase without taking any risks or violating any AdSense guidelines.
AdSense is one of the most popular ways to make money online and perhaps among the easiest ways if you do things correctly.
By doing things correctly I mean following standards and practices that are in accordance with AdSense guidelines but at the same time can contribute in maximizing your revenue and earnings.
So, let’s see below the most important AdSense tips that will help you achieve that.
I have mentioned this 3 times so far in the article and we are only in the first AdSense tip but it’s very important that whatever you do to increase your earnings is not against these guidelines. You can read the full guidelines here but in general avoid:
Clicking on your own ads for any reason (even testing them)
We made several tests and all tests show (more details to be published in coming posts) that responsive websites with responsive AdSense units perform better than non-responsive websites.
If you have a responsive website then you can replace your ads with Responsive AdSense Units. This means that depending on the available ad space, AdSense will show the most appropriate ad (both in size and type).
Especially for mobile websites, you will soon realise that the 300×250 on mobile performs much better compared to the standard 320×50.
The position of the ads is very important and can make a big difference in clicks and earnings.
It’s always better to have the ads above the fold (that’s the area users see without scrolling) but if this is not possible then try to have the ads in the main content of the page instead of the sidebar.
Caution: Google punishes websites that have too many ads above the fold so if you choose to enter the ads in the main content do it at the end of the article.
Depending on the type of website, you may choose to publish content more often.
The idea is that frequent publishing will generate more visits to your website and more visits will naturally generate more AdSense clicks and revenue.
It is proven that faster websites lead to more ad clicks so if you optimize your website’s speed this will eventually increase your earnings too.
Avoid using too many graphics and remove any images that don’t add value to the user experience but slow down the site.
If you want to make more from AdSense then you can remove any other ad networks and run AdSense only.
This will not only make your website load faster but also will give more visibility to the AdSense ads which will lead to more clicks and revenue.
Certainly, many ads do not mean more revenue so it’s always better to stick to the 3 ads per page (even if you are not using AdSense).
When you connect your Google Analytics account with Google Adsense, you can go in Analytics and see which referrers generate your AdSense revenue. You can see that under Behaviour -> AdSense -> AdSense Referrers.
Maybe visits from Facebook or other social media networks generate AdSense revenue when they visit your website so it’s a good idea to work on those and improve your presence so as to get more traffic and revenue.
When setting up your ads use the sizes recommended by AdSense as being the most popular. These usually are 728×90, 336×280, 300×250 and 300×600. Other sizes may have less demand from advertisers and this will lead to lower earnings.
Also, make sure that your ads are set to show both text and images as this will increase the number of advertisers competing for your ad spaces and will lead to better earnings per click.
One of the features of AdSense that is not well known to users is AdSense Experiments (found under My Ads in your AdSense account). With experiments, you can test different variations for the same ad spot and see which one performs better.
For example, you may test different link colours, border or no border etc. This feature is very easy to use and you can tell in a few days which of your ads are better performing.
AdSense is supposed to enhance the user experience (and it really does in most cases) by showing relevant ads that may interest the user.
That does not mean that your website should focus on the ads but still, your focus should be on the user experience and high-quality content.
AdSense is a way to monetize your content and not the reason for your website’s existence.
What else you can do to improve your AdSense earnings?
I still remember the day I launched my first website—a simple, alternative news blog where I shared all the motivational and quirky content I still love today. Little did I know, that single website would lead me into the expansive world of WordPress and web development, shaping the last 15 years of my life.
In this article, I’m going to outline a roadmap to becoming a WordPress developer. I’ll share some of my personal experiences as a new developer and all the tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way.
I’ve written this article for a select few people. If you find yourself in any of the categories below, make sure you read this article all the way through:
If you’re interested in learning how to become a freelance WordPress developer and work for yourself, you’ve come to the right place. So, grab yourself a cup of tea (yes, we drink a lot of tea in England) and let’s dive into the details that will help you become a successful WordPress developer and finally be your own boss.
Let’s get started.
THE PROFITABLE PATH TO BECOMING A FREELANCE WORDPRESS DEVELOPER
With over 1.8 billion websites online today, the demand for skilled web developers is at an all-time high. Organizations, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and businesses are all competing for an online presence and are willing to invest significantly in it.WordPress powers more than 40% of these websites, dominating the web development space. It’s free to download and use, making it accessible for anyone looking to create their own site.Combine WordPress with a theme builder like Elementor, and you have a perfect match. This powerful duo allows aspiring freelance WordPress developers to design stunning, modern websites without needing to write a single line of code.If the idea of earning money with WordPress and becoming your own boss intrigues you, then keep reading.
When I first discovered WordPress, I was captivated by its ability to cater to my novice skills while offering endless possibilities for growth. Unlike other platforms I had tried, WordPress felt like the perfect fit right from the start.
Imagine a canvas where you’re both the artist and the curator, where every stroke and shade reflects your vision. That’s WordPress for you. It combines flexibility without complexity, making it incredibly user-friendly. As I continue to explore its open-source nature and benefit from its supportive community, WordPress remains my go-to platform for its adaptability to the evolving digital landscape—and my own creative journey.
Navigating the WordPress dashboard for the first time was like exploring a vibrant city full of surprises. Today, let me walk you through its essential features:
Posts and Pages: These are the foundation of your website. ‘Posts’ are dynamic entries in your site’s ongoing narrative (like blogs or news), while ‘pages’ are stable landmarks—such as the about page or contact page. I once turned ‘posts’ into chapters for a novelist’s ongoing book—an example of limitless creativity.
Themes: A theme defines your website’s appearance and visual identity. Choosing a theme is like dressing up for a special occasion. I’ve experimented with themes like outfits before a party, finally settling on one that perfectly reflects the brand’s voice. #Elementor #HelloTheme #IfYouKnowYouKnow
Plugins: Plugins are like accessories—they add functionality, flair, and features to your site. There’s a plugin for nearly every need. From SEO optimization to creating contact forms, plugins are often essential. One memorable experience was integrating an automatic currency converter for an international e-commerce store in just a few hours—thanks to the right plugin.
Let’s delve into these elements together and unlock the full potential of your WordPress experience!
IMPORTANCE OF CHOOSING THE RIGHT HOSTING AND DOMAIN NAME
Your website, no matter how elegantly designed, needs a home on the internet, and that’s where hosting steps in. Think of it like the plot of land where your dream house (website) is built. During my initial days, I made the rookie mistake of opting for a cheap, shared hosting provider. The result? Sluggish load times and an unhappy client. It was a lesson learned the hard way: quality hosting is non-negotiable.
Disclaimer – avoid Hostgator at all costs…they are incredibly slow. You can see what hosting I recommend at the bottom of this article.
And then there’s the domain name, the address to your home. It’s what people type into their browsers to visit you. I’ve had brainstorming sessions that lasted hours just to pick the perfect domain name. It’s more than just an address; it’s your brand’s first handshake with the visitors.
I like to purchase my domain names from Namecheap.com. I find them to be the cheapest for purchasing domain names, and you get extra privacy added in for free, at no extra cost (which you don’t get from websites like Godaddy.com).
My advice? Shop around a few different websites and find the one that’s the cheapest 🙂
For me, building a website is like crafting a masterpiece. With WordPress as our canvas and Elementor as our brush, we’re all set to paint the digital world with our creativity. Let’s dive deeper, step by step, ensuring every pixel resonates with purpose.
During my early days in web development, I’d spend hours, sometimes even days and weeks, wrestling with code to bring my vision to life. It often felt like trying to paint with a calculator. Then, on a recommendation, I chanced upon Elementor, and my world shifted.
Pricing starts at $5 per month (billed annually), which is already cheaper than just one single, premium theme, yet it does soooo much more. Imagine being handed a magic wand in a world where you previously had to manually carve everything out of wood. Elementor is your magic wand, and its intuitiveness is what sets it apart.
It empowers you to design in real time, witnessing the transformation right before your eyes. No more back-and-forth previews. No more guessing games.
Cafe owner, Beth, discovered this firsthand herself, as we sat down over coffee and tweaked her web design in real time. After just a couple of hours, the website was no longer just a page; it was an experience we had crafted together for her visitors.
Beth was also one of my first students, where she went on to learn how to design and build websites for herself and was always able to keep on top of her own web design needs for her own business.
Let’s break down the 3 foundations of the Elementor page builder:
(N.B – Elementor is also experimenting with Flexbox and containers, which are great for responsive web design – which is due to be released soon)
But Elementor isn’t just about building; it’s about evolving:
Tapping into Elementor and all of its core functionality is like unlocking a treasure trove of creative freedom. It’s the bridge between what you envision and what you create. As you become more proficient with practice, you’ll realise that every click, drag, and drop shapes the digital tapestry of every website you build.
And this brings us swiftly to one of my favourite topics – design and user experience (UX).
I have eaten in highly regarded restaurants around the world that have looked completely unloved from the outside. Their exteriors can be unassuming, but step inside and you’ll be welcomed by a heartwarming ambience, award-winning customer service, and an aroma that will make you want to stay for hours. That’s exactly what good web design feels like – inviting, engaging, and delightful. A well-designed site can pull a visitor in, make them stay, and turn them into your biggest, most loyal fans.
However, it’s not just about aesthetics. Good design enhances user experience, navigating the visitor intuitively from one page to the next. And search engines? They also love it too.
An old client of mine once had a visually stunning website, but the navigation was a complete maze. I gave it a design overhaul, focusing on UX, and not only did the bounce rate drop, but its search rankings also shot up. The lesson? Search engine optimisation and web design are two sides of the same coin.
The same can be said for a solid internal linking strategy. Take Wikipedia as an example; you’ll notice that every page has many logical internal links to other related content. If you’re anything like me, you’ll notice you can spend hours clicking through and digesting all of the (sometimes pointless) information on the page. But maybe that’s just me. The point is, that search engines love this type of structure because it’s logical, it makes sense, and it’s great for ease of navigation for their visitors.
We’ve all been here before. You’re out of the house on a busy day and browsing the internet on your phone. You go to visit your favourite blog and as it loads, the design looks broken, or the text is too small, or things just don’t work on a small screen as you’d expect. Remember, in a world constantly on the move, mobile optimization isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.
Whether it’s someone checking a recipe on their tablet in the kitchen or a student browsing on their phone during a commute, your website should adapt seamlessly. With Elementor’s responsive design settings, I’ve turned websites from static pages to dynamic experiences, catering to every screen size. It’s a game-changer, especially when you consider that over half of the global web traffic comes from mobile devices.
As an aspiring freelance WordPress and Elementor developer, you should know that good design isn’t just about what’s pleasing to the eyes, but what resonates with the heart. It’s the silent storyteller of your website, whispering tales to every visitor. As you sculpt your websites, you should pledge to make each design decision a step towards creating a harmonious symphony of visuals and experiences.
I often liken my early days in web development to that of an artist’s humble beginnings. Each project, no matter how small, was another brushstroke on the canvas of my journey. But it isn’t enough to merely create; you need to showcase. A portfolio is to a web developer what a gallery is to an artist — a curated space of accomplishments and abilities where you can show off your biggest, baddest and boldest designs and all of their complexities.
In my early days, without my own portfolio site, my work would’ve been whispers in a bustling marketplace. But with it, my previous projects became compelling stories. Prospective clients could witness not just my skills, but my evolution. The very first major project I landed was through a client who, while browsing my portfolio, was particularly impressed by a non-profit site I had developed just a few months earlier. The portfolio became the bridge between my abilities and their vision.
Setting up your first portfolio site should be full of excitement and anticipation. With Elementor, the process isn’t just efficient but thoroughly enjoyable. Not sure how to build a portfolio website? You can learn to build a super creative agency website in my course ‘Advanced WordPress & Elementor – Build Dynamic Websites’. Want a discount? Use my Learn With Me page which has money-off coupons already applied.
Outside of that, how should you get things started?
Building a portfolio is more than just a compilation of work; it’s the chronicle of your journey and the testament of your growth. As you step into the vast realm of web development, remember…every project you undertake is a page waiting to be added to this chronicle. Craft it with care, passion, and a dash of your individual and unique flair.
I was always eager to take on any project that came my way. However, over time, I realized that in the vast sea of potential clients, there were certain fish I was particularly good at catching. Identifying a target market is akin to discovering your niche – it’s about understanding where your passion intersects with demand.
To hone in on my target market, I always:
Your online presence is your digital storefront. And just like my favourite coffee shop with its inviting aroma and visible signboard, your online presence should be welcoming and easily discoverable too.
Even if you don’t feel like the expert within your niche just yet, that’s fine. You need to fake it until you make it. You only have to know more than the person you are selling your services to, and they will perceive you as an industry expert.
Every prospective client is on a journey, and your sales funnel is the guide that directs them.
Acquiring clients is more than just a transaction; it’s the beginning of a partnership. By understanding your audience, creating a compelling digital presence, and guiding leads with care and authenticity, you pave the way for lasting collaborations.
One of the first large-scale projects I started spanned several weeks to complete. I was so excited to have won them over, that I jumped on board without a clear pricing structure and, by the project’s end, felt both overworked and underpaid. What should have been a fun and engaging project turned out to be a headache and a bucket load of stress. It was a wake-up call, emphasizing the need for a clear pricing strategy.
For anyone wondering how to be a freelance WordPress developer, you’ve most likely thought about how you would price the projects you’re going after. So let’s explore the 2 main choices you’ll likely be working with;
Per Project: This approach allowed me to estimate the overall scope, resources, and time the project would demand. For projects with clear boundaries and deliverables, like creating a landing page or an e-commerce site with a set number of product listings, this method proves effective. A lot of my clients actually preferred this method, stating it provided clarity and assurance on the investment they were making.
Hourly: For projects with a more fluid scope or those requiring ongoing maintenance, I adopt an hourly rate. It reflects the value of my time and expertise, as it should yours. An entrepreneur once approached me, wishing to continually tweak their website based on their user feedback (funny enough, they were also an online coach just as I am, only they didn’t have the same skillset as me). The hourly rate was perfect, ensuring fairness to both parties, and I would bill them solely on the hours I would work on their website for any given month.
An artfully crafted proposal is your foot in the door, while a robust contract is the foundation of a hassle-free collaboration.
Feedback is the bridge between your vision and the client’s expectations. It’s crucial, but can sometimes be a tightrope walk.
Pricing and proposals aren’t just about numbers and formalities. They reflect the value you offer and pave the way for transparent, respectful collaborations. Every negotiation, every feedback session, moulds you into a more astute and adept web developer. Embrace them as stepping stones in your expansive journey.
My introduction to Trello was a game-changer. Before that, my projects were managed through a medley of emails, notes, and calendar reminders. While this worked to an extent as a one man team, it wasn’t scalable as I brought in other freelancers on a per-project bais. As those projects grew in complexity, you too will need a more organized approach.
Trello: Think of Trello as a digital board filled with post-it notes (called cards). Each card represented a task. By categorizing them under lists like ‘To Do’, ‘In Progress’, and ‘Completed’, I could visualize the project’s flow. Sharing this board with clients provided them with real-time updates. I still remember one comment from a client saying that working with my team and Trello for their project felt like watching a live show of their website come to life!
Asana: Asana, on the other hand, is great for more intricate projects. With features to set dependencies, assign multiple team members, and even view tasks in a calendar or timeline format, it offers a huge amount of depth for scaling and complex teams.
Communication is the lifeblood of any collaboration. Over the years, I’ve found that clients appreciate transparency, even if it’s to convey a setback.
There’s an adage I always abide by: “Under-promise and over-deliver.” Meeting deadlines isn’t just professional; it builds trust.
Managing client projects is an art and science combined. It requires meticulous planning, agile adaptability, and above all, a commitment to delivering excellence. Through each project, you not only sculpt websites but also carve your reputation in the industry. Approach it with passion, precision, and a touch of personal flair.
Imagine crafting an exquisite timepiece; it’s elegant, functional, and the epitome of precision. Now, imagine handing it over without any guidance on upkeep. Websites, akin to these timepieces, require ongoing care to continue shining.
Any good freelance WordPress developer will tell you – the weeks following a website’s launch are absolutely critical. Users interact, traffic ebbs and flows, and the client begins to truly inhabit the digital space you’ve sculpted. It’s during this time that any glitches, no matter how minor, need swift rectification. My clients have often expressed profound gratitude for the proactive support during this phase, labelling it as the “safety net” that gave them the confidence to venture online. I would combine my own WordPress & Elementor video tutorials (much like what I teach to my students today, only more simplified) for basic updates and maintenance for clients, and they always loved it.
Over time, I realized that offering structured maintenance packages for those that wanted a complete ‘hands-off’ approach to their website, was beneficial for both my clients and for me and my team. It ensured a consistent revenue stream while providing clients with the assurance of ongoing support.
Once the website is live, real-world user interaction can offer insights that weren’t apparent during the development phase.
In the world of web development, launching a new, sparkly website is much like a ship’s maiden voyage. The real journey, filled with adventures and challenges, begins post-launch. Your commitment to after-sales service is the lighthouse guiding this ship, ensuring it sails smoothly, weathering all storms.
Treat post-launch support not as an obligation, but as an opportunity to fortify relationships, enhance your creations, and anchor your reputation in the industry.
There’s a reminiscent moment I often share with budding developers. I was swamped with projects, losing sleep, and yet barely meeting deadlines. Then, after way too many weeks that I would rather admit, I had a serious conversation with myself and asked: “Why am you trying to be a one-person orchestra?”.
You can (and absolutely should) bring in other developers to support you as you begin to scale. Without this support, you’ll end up losing sleep and you will burn yourself out as you begin to gain more clients.
Outsourcing isn’t about diluting quality; it’s about amplifying your capabilities. So how do you know when you need to start bringing in this much needed support?
N.B As you scale, you will want to focus on the ‘money tasks’ within your business. It is your job as the business owner to bring in new paying clients, so channel your time on moving the needles that bring in the most clients and money. The rest can often be outsourced.
So know we have answered the question “How do I become a freelance wordpress developer?”, we can start to explore additional monetisation opportunities you can implement as you begin to scale.
With a broader skill set, you can offer clients an all-encompassing digital package. It’s not just about the website’s aesthetics and functionality but its visibility and engagement. Below are additional services you might want to consider offering (or ‘bolt-on’ to the development side of the project as an extra);
The digital realm is dynamic, with innovations sprouting ceaselessly. Staying relevant is imperative.
Scaling is not just growth in volume but elevation in vision. It’s about recognizing opportunities, leveraging strengths, and continuously evolving to meet the ever-shifting demands of the digital landscape. With each new skill, each outsourced task, and each absorbed trend, you don’t just scale a business; you sculpt a legacy. Embrace the journey with an open mind, a keen eye, and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. That has been my approach to business since I left school at 18…and it pays in dividends.
As we draw towards the end of this article, I’ve found myself casually reminiscing about my initial days as a WordPress Developer — grappling with CSS, programming PHP, wrestling with designs, and feeling the heady exhilaration of my first few websites going live. The journey from there to here – from a fledgling developer to a successful mentor – has been nothing short of transformative.
The world of WordPress development isn’t just about building websites; it’s about crafting digital experiences. Each project – each challenge – has been a brick in the edifice of my professional journey. From midnight coffee-fueled coding sessions to the euphoria of client accolades, every moment has been a mosaic of learning, growth, and passion.
I still learn something new with almost every new project I take after all these years. This is what I love about what I do, and it is this that gets me excited with every new website I come to design and build.
In an industry as dynamic as ours, stagnation is the true antagonist. Technology evolves, design trends shift, and user expectations rise. In this maelstrom, the ability to adapt and evolve is our most potent tool. Whether it’s mastering a new plugin, understanding the nuances of emerging design philosophies, or even relearning fundamentals from a fresh perspective, staying inquisitive is the beacon that’ll guide you through the fog of obsolescence.
Subscribe to your favourite YouTube channels, blogs, and social media accounts, because staying at the forefront of all this tech and shifting trends without these can be a real challenge. The good news – if you’re even half the geek that I am when it comes to this, then staying ahead of the curve will actually be fun and you will feel like you will never have worked another day for the rest of your life.
To all the budding WordPress developers reading this, remember: every expert was once a beginner. The path ahead might seem strewn with challenges, but each obstacle is a stepping stone in disguise. Start with that first drop of a widget, your first line of CSS, that first design draft, or even that first client meeting. As the adage goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Don’t just dream of the destinations you wish to reach; revel in the journey. Every mistake, every success, every detour is a chapter in the epic saga of your growth. So, grab your tools, fuel your passion, and take that leap. The digital canvas awaits your masterpiece 🙂
Over the years, certain plugins have stood out, enhancing functionality, boosting performance, and elevating user experience. Here’s a handpicked selection:
Hosting accounts I currently use and recommend;
Embracing continuous learning has been pivotal for me when it comes to staying ahead of the curve. I always felt that if I wasn’t learning something new each month, then I would stagnate, and as I look back now, I can see that this mindset really served me well when it came to finding success with my online businesses and agency websites.
Almost everything that I have come to know today about web development, WordPress, SEO and digital marketing, has almost always started on Udemy. The platform and the instructors there really have taught me so much, and now that I am also a prominent instructor on the platform myself, I kind of feel like I get the chance to ‘give back’ to a platform that really done good for me…and I love it.
What I am trying to say in a long, roundabout way is that you should never stop learning either. Let’s say you have taken a handful of my WordPress courses already – you can always take a third one, a fourth one, and a fifth one and learn how to build a completely different kind of website, with completely different functionalities, or digital marketing strategies you had never even thought off before.
No, I am not trying to upsell you on my own additional courses. You can learn from any highly-rated instructor on the platform, and I also recommend that you do so that you get a different angle or viewpoint on how you can do things. This is what I did and I would recommend anyone else do the same.
Good luck!
Bolaji