Rebecca is founder and president of Web Savvy Marketing. She has as a well-rounded business background within SMB and enterprise organizations, as well as over fifteen years of experience in sales and online marketing. She provides one-on-one SEO coaching, teaches group on-site boot camps, and is an SEO instructor at diyseocourses.com and seobootcamp.com.
Rebecca is running our WordCamp Warm-up as well as presenting WordPress, SEO, and you at 10:15am on Saturday in the Amphitheatre.
Why do use WordPress?
I love the great ease of use that is combined with the expansion options for functionality. WordPress scales from bloggers who write about their dogs to enterprise level websites that support Fortune 500 businesses.
When and how did you start using WordPress?
My first encounter with WordPress was in 2008 when it was a blogging add-on for our corporate Joomla website. I quickly fell in love with it and saw the value it offered to bloggers and small businesses. It wasn’t until years later than I realized it was so much more and could manage complex websites.
Now I use WordPress as a foundation for our agency, as a LMS for my online courses, and as an e-commerce portal for our theme store. I cannot imagine marketing on the internet without it.
What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?
WordCamp is an opportunity to expand your WordPress knowledge, but more importantly, it offers a chance to meet like-minded people. My closest friends are now WordPress users and I’ve met them all at WordCamps.
Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.
I know the WordPress community is filled with a lot of introverted people. I also know that while many of us love and embrace WordCamps, there is a large group of folks that are fearful of attending their first camp.
I understand the idea of heading to a WordCamp can be overwhelming. Heck I felt that way the first time I ventured to a cross-country camp myself. But I pushed ahead and I went and I was so thankful I did.
And over the last year or so, I had forgotten that such events can be incredibly scary. But I was reminded of it recently at WordCamp US.
There I was standing in the hall and someone I know from Twitter came up to me. He said he was so happy to meet me in person and that he felt as though he was meeting a rock star. While I laughed at the statement, it really touched my heart. We talked then and again a few more times throughout the event.
Then this sweet person confessed that WordCamps are really hard for him. That he feels “socially awkward” and that attending an event was emotionally difficult and very draining. His raw honesty was heartwarming.
The interesting thing was this gentleman was doing just fine. I had watched him communicate with me and other WordCampers. He put himself out there and I think he was rewarded for it.
I was happy we finally met in person and I hope he felt the same.
If you’ve considered going to a WordPress event and have hesitated, I ask you to reconsider.
Your friends are sitting in a chair at a WordCamp listening to someone talk about code, design, or community. They are waiting for your arrival and would be thrilled to have you say hello.
What is your favorite part of WordCamps?
Meeting new friends and reconnecting with existing friends. Each and every WordCamp inspires me and energizes me.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Meet other WordPress attendees. You will be surprised at how much easier it is to grow the business when you have friends around you. We want to help you grow and we will do everything we can to help.
Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.
I’m a room reader and I like to ask people a lot of questions. I do so because I’m interested in the person and what is inside. It also helps compensate for my inability to remember names and tie them to faces.
Name someone in the WordPress community that inspires you.
Hands down Cory Miller. He is a close friend that truly wants to lift others up and help them excel.
Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you ___________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp.”
“have questions about SEO”
I’m happy to help!
What is your favorite WordPress related resource?
WP 101 videos. We load them on every custom WordPress website we build.