What I Learned from Asking, “How did you build that?”

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What I Learned from Asking, “How did you build that?” Joe Casabona casabona.org/wcmpls18 @jcasabona

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@jcasabona Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.

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@jcasabona Why Did I Start How I Built It? • In short, I was just asking. • Having Conversations asking folks this same question in preparation to launch my online course website • Saw great value • Wanted to make them public

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@jcasabona How I Built It • Interview product owners and developers • From Idea to Execution • ~100 Guests • 337,000 Downloads • https://howibuilt.it

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@jcasabona Tools of the Trade

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@jcasabona Tools for Automation • I’m a one-man band, so automation tools are important to me. • Chris Lema talked about using Zapier to “connect the dots.” He automated his sales funnel, and even mailers. • Rebecca Gill told me about Follow-Up Emails for WooCommerce, which keeps buyers engaged • Shawn Hesketh talked about engagements in LiferLMS • Beka Rice taught us about Jilt & automation to help with cart abandonment

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@jcasabona Lesson: Automations can lead to deeper personal interactions

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@jcasabona Tools for Development • My guests use Atom, VS Code, Local, Valet, and a whole host of dev tools. • Pippin Williamson talks about the beneﬁts of having a light development environment (which I love) • Both Joost De Valk and Daniel Bachhuber talked about using automated testing tools. Behat is a popular tool • Bryce Adams talked about how great learning Vue.js for Metorik was.

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@jcasabona Lesson: Use what you’re comfortable with!

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@jcasabona Recurring Tools • ConvertKit or some other newsletter program. Email is still the best form of marketing! • WooCommerce or EDD. Many guests used one of the other. WC if they wanted to do more than just digital products • Zapier for automation • Genesis for Theme Building • Help Scout for Support

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@jcasabona Great Advice

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@jcasabona Build an Audience Troy Dean, Justin Ferriman, Thomas Umstattd Jr.

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It’s easier to sell to current customers than new ones.

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Piggyback off of other audiences (or partner with other folks, to put it nicely)

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@jcasabona Scratch Your Own Itch…

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@jcasabona …but be mindful of your time.

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@jcasabona Listen to Your Customers Scott Bollinger, Give, Nancy / Beaver Builder