This event takes place on Friday, January 27, 2017.
Lunch will be provided.
There will be two tracks running simultaneously with seven sessions per track, for a total of 14 possible sessions from which to choose.
You are welcome to arrive just in time for the official start of the event at 8:45 AM, however, the 8:00 AM “Intro to WordPress” session is an optional bonus session.
Schedule
| Time | Room 1 | Room 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 am | Registration, Networking & Coffee | |
| 8:00 am | ||
| 8:45 am | Opening Remarks | |
| 9:00 am | ||
| 10:00 am | ||
| 11:00 am | ||
| 12:00 pm | Lunch | |
| 1:00 pm | ||
| 2:00 pm | ||
| 3:00 pm | ||
| 4:00 pm | ||
| 5:00 pm | Closing Remarks | |
Sessions
So, You Want To Sell Online?
So, You Want To Sell Online? Or, A Brief Treatise on the Complexities, Pitfalls, Processes, Patterns, Thoughts and Dreams of a Modern eTailer – And Some Tech, Too.
Ah, the allure of running an eCommerce business. Sipping drinks on the beach while a third party logistics company, or Amazon, does all the work. Living the dream, right?
Maybe. Eventually. The reality is that it takes putting a lot of pieces in place in the right way while juggling your financial stability to start and sustain a modern eTailer, just like any other business. Competition is everywhere. Knockoffs are rampant. Trademarks are harder than ever to defend. You have to wear a lot of hats. Inventor, technologist, marketer, social media manager, customer whisperer, warehouse manager, shipping guru, packaging expert… the list goes on!
In this session, we’re going to take a 50,000 foot look at the systems, tools and knowledge needed to launch a successful eCommerce store in 2017. There’s no way we can cover it all, but you’ll leave ready to conquer your corner of the eCommerce world!
Finding Balance: Navigating a Flexible Schedule
Tools, tips, and strategies for entrepreneurs and freelancers to organize your workflow when you can work any time from anywhere.
One Site, Two Site, Red Site, Blue Site: Lessons on the Web from Dr. Seuss
From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere… Sit back and relax for story time as we learn lessons on the web from Dr. Seuss. Every website is different and every visitor to your site is different although they are the same in some ways too. We will take Dr. Seuss’s parables and apply them to the world of the web and how to effectively reach your audience and ensure your website is an effective and enjoyable experience.
Managing Your Online Reputation
Word-of-mouth advertising – and a good reputation among customers – is still your most valuable marketing and public relations asset in the digital age. The only difference is that now people aren’t talking at cafés or bus stops; they’re tweeting about your company and leaving reviews on the Internet.
That means a positive reputation can take you farther than ever… and that a few bad reviews can sink your sales overnight.
Unfortunately, most business owners and marketers don’t know what it takes to establish and grow a positive online reputation. In this short workshop, we will discuss why you should care what others on the Internet are saying about you, and the best ways to cultivate a positive image.
A/B Testing – Which Way Does Your Duck Face?
Do you know that if you have a picture of a duck having it face left or right can increase your conversions by 40%?
Think this sounds silly? It is, but backed by research. Spend some time to learn about what a/b testing is, what things to test, testing methodology and the best tools to use for your Joomla site.
Everyone will get a handout of the very same checklist I use when A/B testing our client’s sites. One of our clients, an insurance company, increased leads by making just a small 2px change.
Want YOUR site to be tested live? Please tweet me your URL @MPMIKE with the hashtag #TESTME. Selected sites will get live feedback and examples.
When you launch a website, you are guessing. Sure the guesses are educated based on experience and data, but you can maximize your ROI with good A/B testing.
Brand-building with Social Media
Branding is more than just your business name, logo, and color scheme; it’s your company’s DNA. Branding is built around your core values, what you believe, and why you exist. Once you’ve identified your brand, social media is a great way to build and promote it. But how can you do that without getting lost in all the noise and clutter? Learn strategies and tips on how to make your business stand out on your preferred social platform(s).
Persuasive Web Design: The Subtle Clues That Drive Conversions
A solid design and some general understanding about human psychology can go a long way to helping increase the performance of your website. In this session we’ll go over some subtle and not so subtle methods you can try on your site, to see better results.
Protecting Your Clients’ Websites with a Strong Security Policy and Best Practices
Website Pricing 101: Don’t Be a Commodity
About the Topic
Pricing and positioning web services is hard. Let’s make it easier — and make your business more profitable in the process. In this talk about sales and finance, Geoff Myers will compare and analyze several different pricing models and strategies available to freelancers and agencies, including the following structures:
- Hourly / Daily / Weekly Rates
- Fixed Bid / Fixed Scope
- Monthly Retainers
- Value Based
- Commissions / Profit Sharing
- Equity / Partnerships
- And More!
About the Speaker
Geoff Myers has been involved in and excited about business, marketing, design, and technology since 2004, when he founded SimDex LLC at the age of 14 in his hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Although SimDex originally started as an IT consulting and support company, it evolved into a web design and development agency by 2008, and eventually matured into a full-service digital marketing consulting firm by 2016, specializing in custom WordPress web application development. For more than 13 years, Geoff has been designing and coding for the web while also growing his – and his clients’ – businesses through the application of strategic marketing technologies and the development of custom-built, user-focused web applications.
Geoff originally started out building static websites with Dreamweaver in HTML and CSS, but shifted to using the Joomla! content management system (CMS) by 2008, when version 1.5 was released. In 2010, he fell in love with – and became addicted to – WordPress and its community. Since then, Geoff has designed, developed, marketed, managed, and maintained over 60 WordPress-powered websites for a wide variety of clients in terms of industry, size, type, and location. Lately, Geoff has focused on building highly personalized web applications and integrations for WordPress using PHP and MySQL, the building blocks of WordPress itself.
Geoff Myers
President + CEO | SimDex LLC
Email | Website | LinkedIn
651.447.6247 | 414.455.6675
Tools to Automate & Elevate Your Marketing Efforts
Automation is a must in today’s fast-paced digital marketing world. The necessity to streamline key online business and marketing processes is continuously on the rise. During this session, we will uncover the top tools and plugins today’s marketers rely on to both automate and elevate results. From content marketing to SEO and analytics, these WordPress plugins will help you boost marketing efficiency, enhance effectiveness and help you generate marketing leads. Discover how to simplify and improve the way you carry out your marketing strategy in 2017.
A Freelancer’s Guide To Handling Difficult Clients
A new client contacts you about a project they want you to do. You quickly negotiate a price. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you get the feeling that something isn’t quite right. You are really excited to start the new project and make some money so you start right away. You get a couple days in and the client is adding all kinds of things to the project that they thought would be included. On Friday they remember that they never told you the project needs to be completed by Monday. Knowing that it is impossible to finish the project by Monday you get a sinking feeling. Meanwhile, the client thinks that what they are asking for is perfectly normal. After all this is their first website. Quickly you begin to curse the day you met the client and wish you never took on this project.
Having the skills to design and develop a website is only part of what you need to become a successful freelancer. Working with clients and managing expectations are essential skills to have as a freelancer. This session will be an open discussion about how to work with clients and manage projects.
Some of the topics discussed will be:
- How to make sure a client is a good fit before jumping into a project.
- How to set clear expectations for the client and the freelancer.
- How to make sure you get paid for your work.
Digital Marketing, Strategy and SEO
We will discuss a digital marketing strategy for business as it relates to on and off page SEO, content marketing, and conversion optimization. We will review how to plan, implement and analyze your strategic initiatives.
Intro to WordPress
This session is for those that have been considering creating their own WordPress Site. Bloggers, Marketing Professionals, Artists, Photographers and even Pastors are just a few of the groups that could benefit from learning to create their own site.
This presentation will introduce terms, ideas and concepts, but will not be hands-on. Next-Steps and suggested resources will be clearly provided.
Intended Audience: Absolute Beginners – content providers considering creating their own sites
How to See Through Your Business Blind Spots
The entrepreneurial journey is always uncertain and when we must pivot quickly, we hope only hope that we went in the right direction.
Join Rachel Magario as she shares from an interesting perspective regarding how to “listen” to your business when you can not see through your blind spots in order to make better decisions before pivoting, to create a better customer experience and to gain that edge you need in your market.
Website Redesign A to Z
Upgrading or re-platforming your company’s website will have implications across the enterprise and throughout your target audiences. Learn what to consider before, during and after a website rebuild. From Content Management System (CMS) options, design considerations, 3rd party functionality integrations, content publishing workflows, determining Key Performance Indicators(KPIs), traffic-building strategies and more, this interactive session will help you avoid ‘gotchas’ hidden in the project details and ensure a successful launch that makes you a digital rock star at your company.
