All Episodes

Closing out this miniseries on SEO is Lindsay Halsey. She’s the co-founder of Pathfinder SEO and in this episode we talk about how her product basically combines a lot of what we talks about over the past month – automated tools and stats, with a coaching component that can really help you up your SEO game for you or your clients. She has a really great analogy for it that I don’t want to spoil! Show NotesLindsayPathfinder SEOWebShineZeek InteractiveLanding Page School PodcastBe sure to check out the new shop: https://howibuilt.it/shop/ and the Facebook GroupSponsored by: Pantheon

So far this season we've looked at starting an SEO agency and an SEO product. But what we haven't looked at was a good strategy - especially when it comes to Pay per Click and the like. Well that changes this week with our guest, Pam Aungst. She's an SEO expert with her own agency that wants to make sure SEO is a personalized strategy. She tells us how in this episode. Show NotesPam AungstPam on TwitterStealthHallway ChatsEpisode 21: Liam Dempsey and WordPress MeetupsLighthouse for ChromeSponsored by: Traitware | Pantheon

John Doherty is the founder of Credo. I met John at CaboPress, an incredible business mastermind week, and we got to talking about the marketing and SEO side of things. Know I don’t know much about that, but Credo is definitely something that can help me in a unique way. In this episode we talk all about the importance of finding the right people to help you in your business. Show NotesJohn DohertyJohn on TwitterCredoCaboPressEpisode 12: Chris Lema and Beyond GoodJennifer Bourn and Profitable Project PlanEpisode 1: Jason Coleman and Paid Memberships ProQuestion of the week: Have you ever had a business coach or mentor? Let me know on Twitter at @jcasabona or email me, joe@howibuilt.it.Sponsored by: GravityView | Traitware | Pantheon

Jeremiah Smith is founder of SimpleTiger, an SEO company that focuses on SaaS companies. This episode is going to kick off a miniseries about SEO and I’m happy that Jeremiah is starting it off. He offers so much incredible advice about SEO and life in general. I love his story, and I think you will too. Show NotesJeremiah SmithSimpleTigerDanny Sullivan / SEO LandSara Dunn and Niching DownNick EubanksCheck out my new show, Creator Toolkit and join our Facebook community. Question of the week: What’s the best piece of SEO advice you’ve ever gotten? Let me know on Twitter at @jcasabona or email me, joe@howibuilt.it.Sponsored by: GravityView | Traitware | Pantheon

Today we’re talking to Zach Tirrell from Modern Tribe. We talk all about how they re-imagined that plug-in as Software as a Service called Loxi. We go over how they decided on which features to support, the importance of good design, and the tech stack, like using React. Speaking of React, We also talk a bit about Gutenberg. Show NotesZach TirrellModern TribeLoxiGutenbergGutenberg CoursesReact Article by SamCreator ToolkitSponsored by: Traitware | Pantheon

Bryce Adams is creator of one of my favorite tools, Metorik. Bryce tells us about the path the led him to making Metorik, his view on e-commerce, GDPR, and how he’s using some cutting edge tools. We also talk engagement and stats. Be sure to stick around until the end of the episode - I have a new show I want to tell you about! Show NotesBryce AdamsBryce on TwitterMetorikWooCommerceAnd be sure to check out my new show, Creator Toolkit, on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.Sponsored by: Creator Courses | Pantheon

Tessa Kriesel is a developer, community advocate, and educator. In this episode we get into our approaches to teaching, why it’s important, and the importance of giving opportunities to underserved areas and groups. We also discuss our “aha” moments – that time where programming suddenly clicked for us. Show NotesTessa KrieselPantheonOutspoken WomenCoders of TomorrowCoder DojoCodePenW3SchoolsJosh Koenig and PantheonSponsored by: The Events Calendar | Pantheon

Jennifer Bourn is the founder of Bourn Creative and creator of the Profitable Project Plan. She's also a freelancer who’s doing it right. She has worked out the perfect system to get and manage client projects; in this episode we're going to talk all about how she built it. Show NotesJennifer BournProfitable Project PlanBourn CreativeJen's A/V SetupBlair Williams and MemberPressEpisode 18: Pippin Williamson & Restrict Content ProDelightful DownloadsZoom WebinarsInfusionSoftRevVolt Heated SlippersSponsored by: Creator Courses | Pantheon

Abbey Perl started the Diverse Gaming Coalition to help combat online bullying through video games and modern pop culture. In this episode, I talk to her about why she started it, how she went about starting a non-profit organization, and much more. Show NotesAbbey PerlDiverse Gaming Coalition Twitch.TV@NinjaSponsored by: Creator Courses | Pantheon

Seth S. Scott's story is an interesting one. He up and moved to New York City to pursue a career in game development. He tool a game design boot camp and left with his first commercial  game, Membrane. In this episode we talk about risk and how he built a video game. Show NotesSeth S. ScottSeth on TwitterMEMBRANEMEMBRANE on TwitterUnitySponsored by: Creator Courses | Pantheon

Scott DeLuzio is a WordPress plugin developer who likes to scratch his own itch on some pretty heavy topics, and his latest is no exception. We talk about one of this summer’s hottest topics: GDPR. Scott and I spoke about this just days before the regulation took hold, so we were working through what it is, how it affects us, and of-course how his plugin can help. I should remind you that we are not lawyers. Show NotesScott DeLuzioPrivacyWPWhat is GDPR?How to Prepare for GDPRRian Kinney and TrademarksCARROT FitnessFightCampSponsored by: MailPoet | Pantheon

Rachel Cherry is a front end developer and lead organizer of WPCampus, a WordPress conference focused on Higher Education. In this episode, we talk about what goes into putting on this conference, from scouting a location to day-of logistics. Show NotesRachel CherryWPCampusChris Lema on How I Built ItLiam Dempsey on How I Built ItCrowdCastSponsored by: The Events Calendar | Pantheon

So we just wrapped up Season 4 a couple of weeks ago and it was my favorite episode for a lot of reasons. I got to talk to great people, the sponsors were fantastic, and we even had a miniseries on starting your own business. Plus, there were a lot of takeaways. I got a lot of immediately actionable advice from my guests. So hopefully you did too. Here’s some my favorites.  Sponsored by: WordSesh | Jilt | Liquid Web

Closing out Season 4 is Beka Rice, Head of Product at Jilt! After an entire season about hearing about Jilt, Beka and I dig deep into how it was built, how to be effective with your abandoned cart emails, GDPR, and much much more. It's a great way to close out the season and I'm very excited to have her on the show! Show NotesBeka RiceJiltSkyVergeProduct Cart TitlesMembershipsProspressGDPRSponsored by: WordSesh | Jilt | Liquid Web

Thomas Umstattd is a plugin and agency owner who's has great success in crowdfunding his products. His take is a fantastically interesting one and he offers lots of great advice - so much that we even have a bonus over on Patreon. This is definitely one of my favorite conversations - I learned a ton here that I was able to immediately apply to my own crowdfunding efforts. Show NotesThomas UmstattdAuthor MediaMy Book TableThomas' original KickstarterThe WordPress PhilosophyGet Part 2 of our interview with Thomas on PatreonSponsored by: WordSesh | Jilt | Liquid Web

Stacy Kvernmo is a UX/UI Developer at OddBird. I met Stacy on another podcast and was really excited to talk to her about a number of tools and views she has about creating good code while working on a team. We talk about process, UX, and more in this episode. She and here team are doing some really cool things in Frontend Development, and it was very interesting hearing about all of it. Show NotesStacy KvernmoStacy on TwitterOddBirdLunch with BradHerman | on GithubTrueEmbracing Code Reviews - WP Sessionsphoto creditSponsored by: WordSesh | Jilt | Liquid Web

Evan Calkins created Hoban Press & Hoban Cards after he bought his first letterpress machine. He's a master of his craft and I was really excited to talk to Evan because I'm very interested in that creaft. He creates fantastic looking business cards and sationary, and even did my cards! We'll talk about what it's like doing a highly specialized thing in the real world - a physical product, and hear some good stories along the way. Show NotesHoban CardsEvan on TwitterHoban PressBriar PressSupport the show on PatreonSponsored by: WordSesh | Jilt | Liquid Web

Nancy Hildebrandt has a lot of experience in documentation and software systems, starting back in the Sun/Java days. In this episode, we talk all about building out a good support system and what that process looks like. We also talk about the importance of creating good documentation, listening to your customers, and so much more. It's a great conversation, and one that everyone can benefit from, no matter what the role. Show NotesNancyBeaver Builder Knowledge BaseEpisode 54: The GiveWP TeamHelp ScoutHow I Built It PatreonSponsored by: Jilt | Liquid Web

Dejan Markovic and Tina Todorovic are two halves of the Social Web Suite dream team. They are some of the hardest working, passionate folks I know in the WordPress community and an absolutely joy to talk to. I love the tool and and hearing the evolution of the project and how they work was fantastic. Show NotesSocial Web Suite (use code JoeLoveSWS for a discount)Laravel SparkWordCamp TorontoSponsored by: Jilt | Liquid Web

Craig Hewitt is a guy who knows podcasting, so I was super excited to talk to him about his acquisition of Seriously Simple Podcasting. He took a relatively focused WordPress plugin and turned it into a SaaS, and that's what we talk about in this episode. Lots of great advice here! Show NotesCraig HewittCraig on TwitterCastosPodcast MotorInteractive Advertising Bureau (IBA) Podcast Guidelines LibsynSponsored by: Jilt | Liquid Web

Beth Soderberg is a self-taught Front End Developer and speaker, and in this episode I get to talk to her about how she learned her craft. It was fun exchanging stories of our different learning experiences. Beth offers truthful and encouraging words for if you want to start on your journey to web development. Show NotesBeth SoderbergI Learned to Code Through WordPress and So Can You (slides)DCFemTechJohn Duckett's Books: HTML & CSS | Javascript & jQueryJoe's HTML & CSS CourseJavascript30 by Wes BosLynda.comWeb Hosting for StudentsSponsored by: Jilt | Liquid Web

Brad Williams of WebDevStudios knows a thing or two about client relationships. In this episode, We start at the beginning with finding a client, the proposal process, and touch on things like having a Discovery phase. It puts a nice cap of what we've been talking about for the last 3 weeks - the importance of building relationships. Show NotesBrad WilliamsBrad on TwitterWebDevStudiosLunch with BradHow Much does a Website Cost?Check out Brad's bonus episode on PatreonSponsored by: Checkout for WooCommerce | Jilt | Liquid Web

Jen Jamar is a marketing strategist who currently works for Modern Tribe. Jen really knows her stuff, which I loved because I learned a ton. And the best part? We talk about a strategy for marketing that won’t cost you thousands of dollars in Facebook Ads! In this episode we cover all sorts of stuff like Field of Dreams marketing, how to properly connect with people, and establishing your authority online. Show NotesJen JamarJen on TwitterModern TribeRebecca Gill & DIY SEO CoursesFreemiusROI of WordCampsSponsored by: Checkout for WooCommerce | Jilt | Liquid Web

Nicole Kohler is a Growth Marketer at Automattic; most of her job revolves around building and publishing content for her team and her main product, Jetpack. So in this episode, I talk to Nicole about Content Strategy. This is something I struggle with, and usually just publish when I think of stuff. Nicole provides us with some great advice from her time at Automattic, working with both the Jetpack and the WooCommerce teams! Show NotesNicole KohlerNicole on TwitterJetpackWooCommerceBufferWP TavernNathan Ellering & CoScheduleSponsored by: Vast Conference | Jilt | Liquid Web

Rian Kinney is an intellectual property lawyer and today we talk about the legal side of starting a business She's been on Office Hours to discuss contracts so I wanted to talk about IP - copyright and trademark. How it works, what the process for getting a trademark is, what the right text for your footer is, and more! It was a very educational episode for me and I hope it is for you too! Show NotesThe Kinney FirmRian on TwitterSponsored by: Vast Conference | Jilt | Liquid Web

Continuing our series on How You Build a Business, today I get to talk to Sara Dunn about niching down. She’s been pretty public with her process, starting a YouTube channel to discuss her decision making. I loved chatting with her about this because it can be tough and scary to decide to limit your potential client pool, but I think Sara is doing it the right way. Show NotesSara DunnSara on Twitter | InstagramSara's YouTube ChannelSara Does SEOSara on Office HoursRebeca GilStudioPressCheck out our Patreon!Sponsored by: Beaver Builder | Jilt | Liquid Web

This is Part 1 of our mini series, "How You Build a Business" In today’s episode, I get to talk to Dr. Sherry Walling. She’s kicking off our miniseries on how to build a business and she helps us answer a very important question: “Am I ready to start my own business?” Sherry is a fantastic person to talk to and a wealth of knowledge. We talk self-publishing, self-knowledge, podcasting, and much more. Show NotesZen FounderZen Founder PodcastThe Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run YouZenTribesEpisode 34: Shawn HeskethCheck out our Patreon!Sponsored by: Beaver Builder | Jilt | Liquid Web

Josh Koenig is the founder of Pantheon. He is energetic, passionate, and knowledgable in his field. That’s a killer combination you love to see in company leaders. We talk all about the technologically cool stuff Pantheon is doing, so if you’re a developer, you don’t want to miss this one. Show NotesJosh KoenigPantheonMythical Man MonthThink with GoogleFastlyCourse: Hover & the DNSSponsored by: Beaver Builder | Jilt | Liquid Web

In today’s episode, I chat with Blair Williams, a WordPress veteran with lots of great plugins. We’ll talk specifically about MemberPress and what it’s like creating that, the decision making that went into their pricing, wp-cron, and lots more. Show Notes:MemberPressBlair's other pluginswp-cron()COBOL TutorialsPledge on PatreonSponsored by: Beaver Builder | Jilt | Liquid Web

Peter Hollens is an incredible artist and creator. You may have seen some of his videos on YouTube. Today we’re going to talk about what goes into making them, as well as his online courses at Hollens Creator Academy. Peter’s incredibly passionate about this project and it shows. I feel like we’re both cut from the same cloth (minus the singing - I wish!) so this is a great (albeit it slightly longer) episode. Show NotesPeter HollensHollens Creator AcademyPeter on YouTubeSponsored by: Event Espresso | Jilt | Liquid Web