The Least Genesisy Office Hours Yet, Episode #9

Dubbed the “least-Genesisy” Office Hours yet, this episode featured guests Brian “I’ve been to the South one time, so I’m good” Bourn, the developer half of Bourn Creative, and Adam “my lips aren’t synced to my audio” Clark, founder/developer at Bottlerocket Creative.

Okay, let’s dive in.

Sincerely,

Carrie “I can’t remember to say GOH instead of GHO” Dils.

A quick reminder to join the Genesis Office Hours community on Google+ if you haven’t already. You’ll get notices about each upcoming episode, ’cause I know you don’t want to miss!

What we talked about

Shooting the Bull

What is it like not being at Authority 2014? 😉
How did you get your start developing?
Carrie, where do you get your cool blog post featured images?!
How much money do you REALLY make in affiliate sales for genesis?

Development & Content

Can you use the genesis grid for multiple queries on the same page? E.g. to display posts from 1 category in the grid and then posts from another category in another grid?
Do you use lots of fancy jquery effects on your designs or it is best to keep it clean and simple?
How do you find the right people to test new themes?
One of my blog goals is to go to the studiopress forums and answer questions + use those questions as starting points for creating my own content.
For mac, what is a good screenshot app that helps you get a good starting image for tutorials?

Business

We’ve built a ton of Genesis child themes for our clients, at least a handful of which I think could be marketable. Advice, thoughts, considerations as far as publishing, selling, and marketing Genesis child themes?
I’ve just launched a niche wp development side business based on my work experiences in the last year. I’d like to replicate it for a few different niches. What advice do you have for developing a niche business?
Great thought for theme sellers: join the theme review team and do a few theme reviews. It beefs your skills an helps give you perspective on good and bad ideas in themes

WordCamping and Conferences

How much money do you think you spend each year on travel/wordcamps/conferences/etc?
What WP conferences would you recommend outside WordCamps?
I’ve never been to a WordCamp. Is it mostly people doing client work full-time, or what’s their audience like?

Show Notes & Links

Learning Resources

MattReport Pro – Use discount code CARRIEISGREAT
Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port
Fizzle.co – Online Business Training (I have no experience with this, but it was mentioned in the chat)
Genesis Explained Series – Nick Croft
Lynda.com – ** Genesis courses coming soon**
Genesis Tuts – Sridhar Katakam

Articles

How Not to Sell Genesis Themes – moi
Marketing Tips For Small Businesses On Profiling an Ideal Client – Jennifer Bourn
A better, and easier, grid loop – Bill Erickson

Get Involved

Miscellaneous

Optimizely – Easy A/B testing for your site
WPTheory – Your website launched in a day (new offering from Adam Clark)
GoodStuff.fm – A broadcast network featuring the best of technology, culture, news and more.

Images / Stock Photos / Screen Capture Tools

(these were mentioned in the chat during GOH)