120 We ask Matt Medeiros, "Is It Getting Harder to Make Money in WordPress?"

Matt Medeiros from The Matt Report is our guest. Our main discussion point, "Is it getting more difficult to make money in WordPress?" Matt Medeiros knows many different facets of the WordPress ecosystem. He's the owner of Slocum Studios, a WordPress agency that specializes in higher education and publication websites. He also hosts one of the most popular WordPress podcasts, The Matt Report. Slocum Studios is also behind the Conductor plugin, which is a unique display building plugin for WordPress. He recently launched PluggedIn Radio, which is a podcast and video channel dedicated to WordPress plugin tutorials. Because of the diversity of WordPress products and services Matt is involved in, we felt he was the perfect person to ask, "Is it getting harder to make money in the WordPress sandbox?" Here's our 70 minute conversation with Matt, and his thoughts on the ecosystem. Show Table of Contents: 0:00 Intros 1:28 An underlying theme in Season 3 of the Matt Report? 2:00 Is it getting harder to make money in the WordPress space? 2:55 Season 2 was an experiment 3:25 Season 3 is back to examining where people are in their business 3:54 Plateau or GTFO? 4:10 There's a trend going on in digital marketing 4:53 Things are getting a little bit harder 5:50 Focusing down on a vertical or niche makes it easier to survive 6:30 It's not getting harder because of more competition (at least not with people) 7:20 Other platforms are competition 8:50 Everyone is told to use WordPress..and then they give up on it 9:30 Getting things pixel-perfect is tough to do quickly 10:30 Where people hit the wall with Wix or Squarespace 11:35 The long game is WordPress will eventually be easier? 12:10 Why higher pay-scale projects seem to have a love affair with Drupal 13:55 Misconceptions about WordPress are still widespread 15:19 Enterprise companies like slow iteration in a CMS 16:30 Acquia may be more aggressive with enterprise sales than WordPress VIP 17:40 ExpressionEngine as a CMS 18:25 Some agencies think WordPress is equivalent to ThemeForest 19:10 Successfully positioning WordPress for enterprise projects 20:47 Products and client services in the WordPress space 21:30 Differentiation in the WordPress ecosystem 22:35 Educating low-budget clients for the future 23:23 The client exodus from all-in-one agencies or IT companies to boutique agencies 24:37 Specialization and looking for what you can focus on as a smaller agency 25:38 Where are agencies weak? Adapting to the market, and marketing in general 25:50 The drawback to productized services or consulting 27:00 Don't sell your value short 27:30 Figuring out pricing 28:05 Running your business like a business 28:35 Pushing your boundaries on pricing 28:59 The customer experience is part of your value 30:10 Finding the right clients takes work 30:55 You can't fake it till you make it with higher value projects 32:10 They hire you for continuity. 33:00 Sustainability and reinvesting 34:01 Just be real with customers 34:48 I've heard there's a gold rush, but where's the gold? 35:24 Define what you want out get out of the business 36:40 Find the clients you relate to best 37:30 You've got to get out from behind your desk 38:05 Content marketing takes time 38:29 Find the too