I have a new course on LinkedIn Learning called “PHP for Non-Programmers” and I’m real excited to see it launch!
While I have a few other PHP courses in the library, this one takes the approach of teaching someone who has never even seen code before. It was a fun challenge to try to re-explain concepts I’ve known for nearly 20 years to someone who knows absolutely nothing about programming, and it was one of my favorite courses to develop.
I have a piece up on The Podcast Host today noting some recent news about how CPM has increased for podcasts. And while that’s great, if you’re getting less than 1,000 downloads (or less than 100), it may not mean much.
Head over to The Podcast Host to learn: how CPM works, what this means for you and how you could benefit, and if CPM is even right for you.
Over on the Crocoblock Blog, I have an article on answering an important question: do you really need a podcast plugin for WordPress? From the piece:
The most significant thing podcast plugins do is create a valid RSS feed specifically for your podcast. This is the feed you will submit to Apple Podcasts and other directories, with some requirements. It needs tags for: title, description, author, artwork, category (which must map to an Apple Podcast category), and if the show is explicit or not.
Plus, podcast apps have many podcaster-friendly features you want to take advantage of. Things like donation links, where people can go to send you money or join your membership, transcripts, and feed locking.
My friend Jennifer Bourn has launched her new podcast, Seeking Satisfaction. Seeking Satisfaction looks at the systems that power successful businesses and fulfilled lives, going behind the scenes with entrepreneurs, freelancers, and professionals to discover how they juggle work and life, manage clients and kids, handle stress, and tackle unexpected challenges. Here’s a little teaser from our interview:
I Just want to reinforce one point really quick, and that is that I had this network already and I provided value to these people. Right. I wasn’t just tapping them for work. I think that’s probably if you take one thing away from this conversation, it’s the importance of building a good network of relationships with people because that’s what has helped me the most. And that’s, long-term too — I just had my best month income-wise and I didn’t do any outreach for it. It was just people who had a budget for creators.
It was a delightful chat about the pressures of full-time content creation, monetizing podcasts, anxiety, therapy, and getting help. Be sure to listen and subscribe!
I had the pleasure of talking to Karl of Dig to Fly, about a number of topics I usually don’t get to talk about, including my inner voice, journaling, patience, and parenting. I also open up about mental health and why I sought therapy to make me a better dad.
Kinsta has launched its own free academy of courses, ebooks, and other resources. I had the honor and great pleasure of developing one of the inaugural courses: How to Speed Up Your WordPress Website:
Learn actionable advice and tools to improve your website’s load time and performance. Understand the basics of website speed, including what affects your page load time, to enhance your knowledge about improving your site. And once you get the gist of it, follow our tried-and-tested techniques to get the very best performance from your site.
I’m proud to stand alongside Allie Nimmons and Andrea Zoellner to help launch the first 3 courses in the library.
Nathan Wrigley invited me on Jukebox by WP Tavern and it was a real treat. We got to talk all about podcasting, and then how WordPress fits into launching a running a podcast. Here’s my favorite bit from the interview:
It goes back to that first question you asked me…why shouldn’t somebody start a podcast? If you’re just doing it for the money and the glory, you’re in for a long, frustrating ride. But if you’re doing it because you want to tell the world about this thing that you’re super passionate about, then yeah, it’s a grind, but it’s a grind where you get to talk about this thing that you love. And that is what’s going to make an audience connect with you, and that is what’s going to get your podcast to grow.
Check out the whole interview here.
My latest LinkedIn Learning course is out now, and it’s all about how to troubleshoot and repair your WordPress site. You can think of it as the owner’s manual for when something breaks! From the description:
…Owning your platform also comes with a few drawbacks—mainly, if something breaks, you’re on the hook to find a fix yourself. In this course, WordPress expert Joe Casabona shares his repair manual for addressing problems with your site. He starts with preventative measures you should take before trouble strikes, and explains some tried-and-true troubleshooting methods. Of course, something will eventually need fixing, and Joe addresses some of the most common WordPress issues you’re likely to run into.
Check it out and be sure to bookmark it for reference when disaster strikes!
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Last week I told you about my must-use tools for my WordPress freelance toolkit. But that’s not the end of the WordPress toolkit story. There are thousands, maybe millions, of plugins and features out there. And today I want to give you the rest of the best, as well as some honorable mentions for tools to add to your WordPress freelance toolkit.
Brought to you by GoDaddy Pro . Get all of the show notes, and a written to be read article over at https://wp-review.castos.com/46
We talk about the value of finding community, being a teacher and having empathy for your students, the importance of content and how business owners can learn from Walt Disney, and much more! From the show:
I will pick this lesson from the Pantheon of, of Walt Disney lessons. Walt Disney insisted that all of their animations from a certain time on, especially all of their movies were done in color and he got pushback from other people saying, no one has color TVs, this technology isn’t around yet. Walt understood that there would be that technology. And if they didn’t do it now, then they’d have to go back and redo it or be, you know, behind the times. And so Walt was very forward-thinking there, but the lesson that I would want people to take is if you are going to do something, do it well.
One of my clients asked how I run 3 podcasts with 3 kids at home. The answer: my processes and automations. And now, you can get those templates, completely for free.
Get Instant Access using the form below!
“Joe helped me realize a great system to batch record solos. After struggling to podcast consistently, I’m happy to share that my podcast is back in action!”