For the past three-plus years, I’ve been producing a WordPress podcast called the Matt Report.
The show is a labor of love, a way to connect with other WordPress business owners and gather together to talk shop. It has served as an amazing way to connect with many of you around the WordPress community, and I’m very grateful for the doors it has opened for me.
It’s crazy the amount of opportunity I’ve been afforded by simply pressing the record button.
Owners consistently ask me if starting a podcast has a direct return on investment to the bottom line of my business, and the answer is, yes. Yes, most definitively. I’d recommend anyone looking to grow their business to think about some form of video or audio publishing alongside their blogging efforts. Whether it was a simple “thank you” tweet or someone high-fiving me at a WordCamp, it’s proven the stories shared on the Matt Report podcast have helped at least a few of you — mission accomplished.
However, there was always one caveat; the conversations I’m having on that show are for WordPress entrepreneurs, not for entrepreneurs using WordPress.
My client’s couldn’t directly benefit from the majority of the content I published, and I couldn’t really pitch what I was doing to common users. Especially when it came to local meetups or networking events, as I’m a big believer that you can take your digital presence and enhance it locally. Matt Report can’t effectively do that.
Even more so, many of my colleagues or listeners of the show want to know what types of tools or plugins I use for my agency or for client websites. That’s where PluginTut and Plugged-in Radio podcast fills the gap and why I’m excited to launch this new endeavor to provide these insights.
A place for WordPress users to learn
What I’m doing is nothing new: tune in here to learn how-to WordPress.
I’ve been running a WordPress digital agency for the last eight years while being neck-deep in interviewing other owners for the last three — it’s time to use some of that knowledge for a larger audience.
I plan to provide my own spin on WordPress plugin tutorials, overviews, and courses for this new audience.
The plan is to provide not only a great learning experience, but a trusted source for product owners to turn to. Sure, some call it affiliate marketing, others promotion, but I’m still not accepting just any products. Tutorials and courses will still need to pass the same bar I’ve set in my own business — the same evaluation process my customers trust me to do.
I feel there is an opportunity in this space, and that this content doesn’t have to drown in 1,000 Themes for May 2016 listicle headlines.
Aimed at readers desiring quality content, for quality products.
“Can you invite me on your podcast and talk about my plugin?”
If I actually got paid every time I heard that, I’d have a real busin … oh wait …
Matt Report isn’t just about business, it’s my voice, as small as it is, speaking out about WordPress. The community, the software, the open source project, the happenings, and so on. Mixing that with sponsored content didn’t feel right and, quite frankly, wasn’t the right context.
Like my friends, Carrie Dils, Bob Dunn, and Brian Krogsgard — I’m going to make a go at creating a business out of this new effort.
Will it work?
Like everything else I’ve tried, only time will tell. I once attempted a membership site on Matt Report, and while it was successful for almost a year, it couldn’t sustain itself. My sense for this go-round is that this will be a lot more manageable and while I don’t expect growth to be as fast, I do think it has a shot in scaling.
I’d love to hear what kind of content you’d like to see on the site. I do have a content roadmap prepared, but happy to work in some new ideas I’ve not yet thought of. If you’re willing to contribute to content, like your own twist on tutorials, contact me.
Stay tuned for PluggedIn Radio, this should be a fun series of podcasts!