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.