{"id":1059539,"date":"2014-08-06T14:35:39","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T18:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2014.grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/?p=1059539"},"modified":"2014-08-08T14:55:59","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T18:55:59","slug":"chad-warner-speaker-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/chad-warner-speaker-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Chad Warner Speaker Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ChadChad Warner runs OptimWise, a web design company in Holland, Michigan<\/a>. He’s into small business, WordPress, hiking, reading, and Tolkien.<\/p>\n

Chad’s a co-organizer of the WordPress Grand Rapids meetup group<\/a> and WordCamp Grand Rapids.<\/p>\n

Chad will be presenting\u00a0Website Mistakes Small Businesses Make, and How to Fix Them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interview<\/h2>\n

Why do you use WordPress?<\/h3>\n

It’s a great way to empower small businesses. We can create effective websites for clients, then train them to manage their own content.<\/p>\n

When and how did you start using WordPress?<\/h3>\n

In 2009, my church asked me to take over their website. I spent hours researching and playing with Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress. I found that WordPress was easiest to learn and had the most helpful community.<\/p>\n

What tips or resources would you recommend to a new WordPress user?<\/h3>\n

Rely on WordPress experts, because they\u2019ll save you a lot of time you\u2019d spend researching and breaking your site. I have a post with resources that I recommend to my clients: The WordPress Admin Area: learning resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give someone who\u2019s building a business around WordPress design or development?<\/h3>\n

Build a team (partners, subcontractors, or employees) so that each person does what they do best. Choose a niche and establish your expertise in it. Charge what you\u2019re worth and seek clients who are willing to pay it.<\/p>\n

How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc.)?<\/h3>\n

WordPress podcasts<\/a>, Twitter, WordPress.tv<\/a>, Lynda<\/a>, OSTraining<\/a>, Slocum Studio<\/a>, our WordPress Grand Rapids meetup group<\/a> (in person and online).<\/p>\n

What’s a cool WordPress-based site you\u2019ve seen recently?<\/h3>\n

Boagworld.com<\/a> has excellent content and fantastic design, and it’s easy to navigate and use.<\/p>\n

What do you like most about WordCamps?<\/h3>\n

The high-energy learning and conversations. You can almost see the light bulbs popping on above people\u2019s heads as they enthusiastically discuss what they do and aspire to do with WordPress. It\u2019s also great to meet in person the people that you follow online.<\/p>\n

Where can we find you online?<\/h3>\n

OptimWise.com<\/a>
\n@warnerchad<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chad Warner runs OptimWise, a web design company in Holland, Michigan. He’s into small business, WordPress, hiking, reading, and Tolkien. Chad’s a co-organizer of the WordPress Grand Rapids meetup group and WordCamp Grand Rapids. Chad will be presenting\u00a0Website Mistakes Small Businesses Make, and How to Fix Them. Interview Why do you use WordPress? It’s a … Continue reading Chad Warner Speaker Interview<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6250429,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[116624],"class_list":["post-1059539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speakers","tag-interview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6250429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1059539"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1059637,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059539\/revisions\/1059637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1059539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1059539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandrapids.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1059539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}