From left to right: Mike Irvine, Don White, Nate Houstman, Aaron Van Noy and Andrew Miller

Cedar Rapids WordPress Continuing Education meetup group

wordpress logoFantastic evening of sharing, learning and hanging out with fellow friends at the January 20th 2015 WordPress Meetup at Creative Corridor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Tracking billable hours:

https://toggl.com

~50 pages worth of plugin recommendations:
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/298401/Documents_for_download/Ultimate_guide_to_plugins_07.pdf

Great web firewall service: Sucuri.net

Concatenate JS and files:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoptimize/

SEO blueprint that I use:
https://bigtenwebdesign.com/our-program/seo-process/

Scrum boards:
https://trello.com
https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
https://www.17hats.com
Video Blog at:
http://www.wpwatercooler.com
http://wordpress.tv

All in one events calendar:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-event-calendar/
Here’s a list of some theme creators that have good support. These themes are built on the Genesis Framework. You would need the base Genesis Framework from StudioPress to use these themes. ($60)
http://www.studiopress.com/
https://www.web-savvy-marketing.com/
https://prettydarncute.com/

Our favorite forms:
http://www.gravityforms.com

Business directory form:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/geodirectory/
https://wordpress.org/plugins/business-directory-plugin/

eCommerce:
https://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/

Themes:
http://my.studiopress.com/themes/genesis/
http://themeforest.net/item/avada-responsive-multipurpose-theme/2833226

 

From left to right: Mike Irvine, Don White, Nate Houstman, Aaron Van Noy and Andrew Miller

From left to right: Mike Irvine, Don White, Nate Houstman, Aaron Van Noy and Andrew Miller

Tech and Freelancers lunch in Iowa City

Tech, Web & Freelancers Lunch in Iowa City, IA

Startup Iowa logo startup Iowa City logoWe joined 8 other tech industry members in the Iowa City area for a Freelancers lunch and discuss how to better interact with clients. From using videos to show clients what we worked on that day to digital scrum boards to just email. We were all in agreement that dealing with clients, that email maybe one of the worst things to use. Phone calling using a google voice number was far above just sending end of day emails. But in short is what is manageable for you and the client. Its not always an easy thing to balance or find.

Tech and Freelancers lunch in Iowa City

Tech and Freelancers lunch in Iowa City

Participants of Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

Fun at the Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

Startup Weekend LOGOHad fun participating in the 2015 Iowa City Startup Weekend! I worked on several projects. All pivoted and ended up going in lots of different directions. From a “Daily Special” app for local restaurants to fun but simply not practical “Corn Caucus” that was at first designed to be a satirical look into Iowa politics but also pivoted into a kids book later on in the weekend.

It isn’t all ways hard work!

My group at Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

My group at Startup Weekend Iowa City 2015

In the video below the Corn Caucus Crew is discussing the characters in the book that we ended up working on for this project.

Local SEO and Web Design in Iowa

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