From my presentation at WordCamp Toronto 2011, the piece was on how to make a living supporting and working with WordPress, a free website building tool.

1. Make Money by
Giving it Away for Free
How to make a living with WordPress
WordCamp Toronto, 2011
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 1

2. About Christopher
thisismyurl.com
@thisismyurl
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 2

3. About Christopher
WordPress developer since 2006
Web developer since 1996
Software developer since 1986
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 3

4. About Christopher
No formal training in software development
Studied political communications at university
Went back to school for business, not computers
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 4

5. About Christopher
WordPress developer for Canada’s largest news company
25 plugins in the WordPress repository
Travels the country consulting on WordPress websites
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 5

6. About Christopher
Free is not a business model
Pray for help but swim for shore
The best things in life really are free.
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 6

7. What are we
going to cover?
How to make a living with WordPress
WordCamp Toronto, 2011
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 7

8. Today’s talk is about ...
Money and what’s really important to get from WordPress
How to make a living from WordPress
How to profit from WordPress
Learning from (and giving to) the community
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 8

9. What are you
doing wrong?
The fundamental misunderstanding of
most WordPress developers.
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10. You are your own brand.
Build your knowledge base, build your community
Build your community, build your authority
Build your authority, increase your opportunities
Build your opportunities, achieve your goals
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 10

11. Money isn’t enough.
There’s more to building a living than money alone.
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 11

12. Let’s talk about sex.
Indulgence is about things you want, not things you need
Travel opportunities, eating in nice restaurants, etc.
Good WordPress developers can indulge in life
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13. “Two years ago, I spent two months in
Europe and my income didn’t suffer”
Bill Ericson
@billericson
http://billericson.com
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 13

14. Let’s talk about money.
Security is about having the things you need in life
Knowing your mortgage is paid, food is on the table
Good WordPress developers can count on a pay cheque
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 14

15. “I tell my wife, we live in a home
that WordPress built.”
Chris Bavota
@bavotasan
http://bavotasan.com
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 15

16. Pressworks with Brendan Sera-Shriar
12pm in room 303
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 16

17. Let’s talk about power.
Authority is about influence and the respect of your peers
Being confident isn’t being arrogant
Good WordPress developers can work from anywhere
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18. “There’s always more to learn, even as a
core developer.”
Andrea Rennick
@andrea_r
http:/ronandandrea.com
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 18

19. WordPress Multisite with Ron and Andrea
2pm in room 302
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 19

20. “I had 3,000 views a day. I was shocked.”
Samuel Wood
@otto42
http://ottopress.com
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 20

21. How to Make a Living
with WordPress
Five ways to make a living with WordPress
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 21

22. “20,000 people make a living
from WordPress”
Matt Mullenweg
@photomatt
http:/ma.tt
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 22

23. Work for the man.
Full time work as a WordPress developer
Startups, media and small firms often use WordPress
Offers steady income and security
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24. Consulting is cool.
Consultants work as hired guns, not employees
Often work remotely from their own location
Bill 2x or 3x standard rate, but give up security
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25. 19% of Alexa’s top 100,000
sites are on WordPress.
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26. 65,000,000 websites
run on WordPress.org
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27. 32,500,000 websites
run WordPress 3.2
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28. 32.5 million websites at $50/upgrade?
$1,625,000,000
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 28

29. Publish your expertise.
Write free tutorials to create authority and drive traffic
Build an audience, help them learn to use WordPress
Offer free support in the WordPress.org forums
Publish paid PDF or video content to generate revenue
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 29

30. Q: What would you consider to be your most
valuable contribution to WordPress?
A: Helping in the support forums.
Mika A. Epstein
@ipstenu
ipstenu.org
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 30

31. Sell your solutions.
Build free themes and plugins for WordPress.org
35% of traffic to thisismyurl.com comes from plugins
Create custom plugins as a consultant
Sell commercial themes and plugins as residual revenue
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32. Create content for a living
Write tutorials on your blog, sell paid tutorials
Contribute to the Codex to raise your authority
Sell your technical writing to online magazines and papers
Design icons, themes and artwork for other bloggers
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33. Advertise on your website.
Advertising with CPC or CPM models
Use affiliate links to promote suitable content
Advertise yourself, or at least know your market
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34. AdSence Makes no sense.
1 in 1,000 users click ads on my website
Google pays me approximately $1.25 per click.
Generating $1.25 in ad sales per 1,000 visits
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 34

35. AdSence Makes no sense.
1 in 1,000 users click ads on my website
Bluehost pays me $65 per signup.
1 in 3 clicks from my site to Bluehost signup
Generating me $21.67 in affiliate sales per 1,000 visits
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 35

36. “Know well what holds you back, and
what moves you forward”
The Buddha
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 36

37. Work Directly for WordPress
Become a core developer on WordPress
Work for WordPress.com and Automattic
Work for Matt Mullenweg, Audrey Capital etc.
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38. Manage your Wordflow with Mo Jangda.
2pm in room 302
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 38

39. The Community
How to make a living with WordPress
WordCamp Toronto, 2011
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 39

40. The Secret to Success
Help edit the Codex, write great content for users
Volunteer in the forums, build strong relationships
Write free plugins and submit them to WordPress.org
Create themes for WordPress.org
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 40

41. Three Easy Ways to Fail
Focus on selling yourself instead of helping others
Create conflict instead of creating great websites
Forget that WordPress is about the GPL
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 41

42. Thank you, any questions?
@thisismyurl
Wednesday, 9 November, 11 42