Latest Articles
Introducing Concierge Pro — Built for the In-Between
…plan. It is now back under a new name. Introducing Concierge Pro Pro includes everything in Core, plus two things that directly address what I kept seeing. One hour of…
Introducing: News & Updates
I’ve been running Concierge for a few years now, and one thing I’ve realized is that a lot of what I’m doing behind the scenes… you probably don’t know about…
What It Really Costs to Own a Website (And Whether a Maintenance Service Is Worth It)
The true cost of owning a business website goes way beyond hosting. Here’s the full math — and whether a WordPress maintenance service is actually worth it.
How “Over-Delivering” On My Email Newsletter Secretly Tanked My Open Rate
I was surprised to find that my efforts to create a truly valuable weekly newsletter… was actually artificially HURTING my open rates. Here’s why…
Building Your Platform
How To Run A Site-Wide Search & Replace On Wordpress
Need to find and replace something across every post, page, and option in your WordPress site? It’s safer than it sounds… as long as you use the right tool and avoid the one critical pitfall most people don’t know about.
Why Most WordPress Homepages Fail (And How To Build One That Actually Works)
Your homepage is some of the most valuable real estate you own. For most WordPress site owners, it’s also one of the most wasted. Here’s how to turn it from…
How I Protect WordPress Sites Against Bots (Using Free Tools)
…that can perform these same operations. Using built-in spam protections in form plugins Many modern form plugins already include solid spam protection features… they just aren’t always enabled by…
2026 Official Hosting Recommendation: How to Beat Premium WordPress Hosts on Speed and Price
…the software panel and the VPS provider are usually two different companies. Most of the time, the panel provider will be your main line of support. Rarely do you…
Membership Sites
How To Convert From BuddyBoss To FluentCommunity
…you won’t have that anymore. FluentCommunity doesn’t have native integrations with Zoom. FluentCommunity doesn’t (yet) have custom fields on user profiles. It’s coming, though. FluentCommunity user profiles are not as…
FluentCommunity Review: Can This Be A Replacement For BuddyBoss?
…FluentCommunity is the latest addition to the “Fluent” family of products which already includes FluentCRM, FluentForms, FluentBooking, etc. What FluentCommunity does is provides a social networking platform that you…
WooCommerce Setup: The Settings I Use For Almost Every Site I Build
…tab, I disable Product Reviews. No site I build has a need for this functionality since we’re only using WooCommerce for order processing and not a product catalog. Next,…
BuddyBoss Hosting: What’s The Hosting For A Buddyboss Membership Site
Buddyboss hosting is a little bit different than a typical blog. Let’ go over various recommendations for hosting your Buddyboss membership site.
Email Marketing Automation
Re-Engagement Emails: How To Create And Execute A Re-Engagement Campaign And Win Back Cold Subscribers
…The thing is, email service providers see this. Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, Yahoo and other providers SEE email engagement across their entire pool of users. They see the email senders that…
Smart Survey System: Your Guide To Using Surveys To Grow Your Business
…way out the door. Using Survey To Get Product Ideas The key to any product selling well is product/market fit. You need the thing being offered to be tailored…
Email Deliverability: The Simple Guide To How To Ensure Your Best Deliverability Metrics
…day. So, it is especially important that you set up proper DKIM and DMARC. If you already have proper DNS authentication and proper one-click unsubscribes, then you’re fine. However,…
FluentBooking Review: Why This Scheduling Plugin Stands Out Above The Competition
FluentBooking certainly isn’t the first scheduling plugin for WordPress. So, why do I think THIS one matters?
Getting Started
How to Choose the Best WordPress Theme in 2025: A Smart Guide (No Developer Needed)
Choosing a WordPress theme that’s right for you can feel overwhelming. This guide tries to make it simpler – and point you in a direction that will not box you in or have you reliant on developers. Based on over 20 years of experience.
Why Wordpress? Why Not Wix, Weebly or Squarespace?
…is aimed at beginners. It doesn’t provide very many options, but what it does provide is very easy to use. That’s the point. They seem to purposely make pricing…
Online Business Startup Costs: How Much Should You Expect To Spend To Start A Money-Making Blog?
How much does it cost to start up a new online business? What should you expect to pay? Here are my recommendations and what you can expect.
Finding Your Blog Niche: How Exactly Do You Narrow Down Your Niche?
…the solvability of it? Specific problems warrant specific solutions. People love specific solutions. Vague problems warrant vague quasi-solutions and confusions. Vague problems warrant inaction and apathy. Vague problems usually…
Traffic & Conversion
Independent Analytics Review: A Better Way to Own Your Website Analytics
I explain why I moved away from Google Analytics and other hosted tools in favor of Independent Analytics – and why data ownership, portability, and WordPress-native reporting ultimately matters more than “free”.
FluentAffiliate Review: Affiliate Program Plugin Without The Messy Bloat
…affiliate program any longer. At least they’re nice enough to give you a “grace period”. 😜 This means that AffiliateWP is a one-way street. If you build your affiliate…
Growing Your Blog In 30 Minutes: 10 High Impact Tasks You Can Do To Impact Your Blog In Only 30 Minutes Per Day
If you only had 30 minutes per day to spend on your blog and online business, what things can you spend your time on which would actually move the needle?
SEO Optimization: The Ultimate Guide To Search Engine Optimization For Bloggers
An ultimate SEO guide for bloggers and content creators. How relevant is keyword research? What are the factors Google looks at? How exactly do we go about attracting organic traffic…
Business & Entrepreneurship
Is BBB Accreditation Worth It For Small Businesses? (Probably Not)
I paid $600 for BBB accreditation back in 2009. I canceled years later. It made zero measurable difference to my business. Here’s whether BBB accreditation is still worth pursuing for a small online business … and the modern trust signals that actually move buying decisions instead.
How To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed As A Solopreneur (6 Strategies That Actually Work)
Overwhelm isn’t a function of having too much to do. It’s a function of doing too many things without direction. Here are six specific strategies for cutting through the chaos…
The 7 Functions Every Business Has (And Why Most Solopreneurs Neglect At Least One)
…Marketing converts interest into customers. Offers, sales pages, promotional emails, webinars, strategy calls, follow-up sequences. Anything that takes someone from “interested” to “purchased.” This is where the active promotion…
What Is A Productized Service? Should You Start One?
A few years ago, I pivoted my entire business to productized services. What is a productized service? And should you launch one?