Atlanta Web Marketers

Using WordPress as a Web Marketing Platform - AWM Mar 2010 Meetup

March 18, 2010 · 6:30 PM
Georgia Tech ATDC

Using WordPress as a Web Marketing Platform

Are you a professional who needs to refresh your organization's website or create a new one and overwhelmed with the options? Or do you have an existing WordPress site and just need to learn the extent of what's possible?

Whether you are in a small-to-medium sized business, a non-profit, a educational or government agency or even a department in a larger business WordPress is a viable platform for you to consider. WordPress has steadily evolved to become a powerhouse platform for business web prescense and it should be on your short list to consider.

For those who still think of WordPress as "just a blog this session will help you undertand why WordPress is such a great option and help you see just how easy and cost effective WordPress can be to implement and to maintain. And for those who are not DIYers and would prefer to pay others for technical and design work there will be several consultants on hand that can help you further.

Format

Five (5) short Presentations each followed by ~15 minutes of audience Q&A for each topic for a total of ~two (2) hours.

Moderator

We've got a real marketing pro for this event, Jacqui Chew (@jacquichew) of iFusionMarketing who will be moderating the Q&A to ensure we stay focused on the marketing (vs. the technical) aspect of WordPress! Jacqui has had 15+ years experience developing and executing go-to-market strategies for emerging and established brands such as CoreCard Software, Manning, Selvage & Lee, PeopleSoft, Silverpop, Stonesoft and more.

Presenters/Panelists

These following will be our presenters and Q&A panelists:

Willie L. Jackson (@willieljackson) of Jackson Web Consulting - Willie specializes in using WordPress with the Thesis theme to deliver web development and marketing services for individuals and small business clients.
Carol Shepherd (@techzestcarol) of Tech Zest Advisors - Aside from her 20+ years of IT building experience who builds websites for fun and clients, , Carol is the consumate technology instructor. She's a hands-on web software software expert who can not only build it, she can teach others how to as well.
Marna Friedman (@marnafriedman) of Writefully Inviting - A professional meeting planning, Marna built her invitation association website using WordPress and the membership plugin Memberwing. Marna is launching a 1 day conference in partnership with AWM's lead organizer Mike Schinkel called "The Business Of WordPress Conference" on May 6, 2010.
Jeremy Dost (@jezza) of Sharpdot - As the owner/founder of technology services firm Sharpdot Jeremy manages client relationships and delivers solutions for clients using the WordPress platform.
Chris Jordan (@thechrisjordan) of Atlanta Insurance Live - An independent insurance agent, Chris runs his video blog promoting his insurance agency on WordPress.
Christopher Altman, Lead Developer and Designer at Matter - Besides having tons of development and design experience for numerous client projects, Chris was the lead on PerqWorks, a SaaS app for managing employee leave. (Chris will participate in Q&A but not present.)

Agenda

Our agenda for the evening should be as follows:

6:00pm - Early Registration (for those not prepaid)
6:30pm - Networking
7:00pm - Meeting opens, AWM News
7:10pm - Intro to WordPress for Marketing + Q&A
7:30pm - Overview of Using WordPress + Q&A
7:50pm - Break
8:00pm - Achieving a World Class Design + Q&A
8:20pm - Extending WordPress + Q&A
8:40pm - Next Steps + Q&A
8:55pm - Closing Remarks
9:00pm - Meeting Ends
9:30pm - Drinks/Dinner at Gordon Biersch

Topics

This is the topic outline developed by our WordPress Expert Roundtable that all our presenters sans Carol participated in. However, each of our presenters will most certainly improve their section by the time they present:

Intro to WordPress for Marketing

Presented by Willie:
Showcase of WordPress for Business
Types of Businesses that can Benefit
Types of Potential Sites
Specific Functionality Available
Benefits of using WordPress

Overview of Using WordPress

Presented by Carol:
Implementation Options
Core Features of WordPress

Achieving a World Class Design

Presented by Marna:
What is a Theme?
What is a Theme Framework?
What is a Child Theme?
How to Select a Theme?
Commercial Examples
Niche Themes

Extending WordPress

Presented by Jeremy:
Overview of Top Plugins for WordPress

What Next?

Presented by Chris:
Start small
Attend Events
Do it yourself?
Or Engage a Consultant/Agency
Key Takeaways

Thanks to...

Thanks to the principals Ash Arnett and Jeff Harris of Matter for hosting our WordPress Expert Roundtable on Monday the 15th at their offices. Also thanks to partners Josh Chase and Nick Ali of Run Level Media for videotaping that day and for the future editing of the roundtable videotapes.

Note we'll be ending at around 9pm after which those interested can head over to Gordon Biersch on Peachtree for drinks and dinner.

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Barb Prebble

All -- Check out the "More / Files" menu at the top of this page and you'll find a zip file: awm-wordpress-march-2010
PowerPoint Slides contributed by Mike Schinkel, Willie L. Jackson, Carol Shepherd, Marna Friedman, Jeremy Dost and Chris Jordan. -- Barb

0 · March 24, 2010
Steven Russ

I was unable to attend (but hope to make the April meeting). Is there any chance to get a copy of the presentation materials? Are they posted somewhere?

Thanks in advance!

0 · March 24, 2010
Ed Silva

Great presentation! I was expecting to hear more about marketing strategies using WP, however, it was pretty good and especially I liked that they talked about great plugins. In the future I love to see more marketing related stuff to help our sites stand out in a very competitive marketplace. I'm not an SEO expert but I'm surprised how WP helped me to be on Google's first page for keywords I never expected before. Congrats to the entire panel you were great. Ed Silva www.WebStudioPress.com

0 · March 19, 2010
A former member

Excellent introduction to the many capabilities of WordPress as a web site creation and management platform. Could have had more marketing-specific detail, but excellent overall.

0 · March 19, 2010
A former member

Everyone on the panel proved to have expert knowledge about WordPress.

0 · March 19, 2010
Chris Altman

Thought the full audience participated by asking questions and sharing their experiences.

0 · March 18, 2010
A former member

Excellent presentation!
Although I'm on the developer/designer end of things, I was actually expecting to hear about how marketers are actually using WP to market their services and products, but seem to have gotten a great technical presentation. I've installed 3 WP blogs, and have been wanting to delve into it seriously so this was very helpful.

many thanks,
Richard
www.visiblesky.net

0 · March 18, 2010
Terry

Great info. Looking forward to the day long event.

0 · March 18, 2010