dave yankowiak

…is always your own.

I’m currently working on another re-launch of LiftDevelopment.com. The first launch was in early 2008 when I first went full-time with the venture, version two was released August 2010, and this will be version three.

It’s crazy how after just 12 months I feel like the current site is completely out-dated and my capabilities as a web developer have improved immensely. I think a big part of it is just the evolution of WordPress (my platform of choice) and my switch to doing 99.9% of new website projects on the Genesis framework. Genesis really allows me to add in a lot of useful options into a new client website right from the start.

Oh yeah, and the current version of my own website is NOT running on Genesis. I almost don’t know what to do without all the options that Genesis provides. That being said, version three WILL run on my framework-of-choice.

Overall, I have a few goals for the new site:

• A cleaner, more simple design and layout. I’d like my portfolio to do the talking and I don’t want to distract from that. In fact, I’m going to make it so the newest additions to my portfolio are featured on the home page. I think that’s what potential clients really care about seeing.
• Less of the “we”, more of the “me.” I realize that the current version of LiftDevelopment.com uses a lot of third-person lingo when talking about the services I provide. Let’s get real: This is a one-man business. Yes, I team up with other folks on a regular basis but Lift Development is my company. I’d like this site to seem more personal since clients are working directly with me throughout the process.
• A responsive layout. I’d like this website to look great on your desktop PC. I’d like it to look great on your iPhone. I’d like it to look great on your iPad. Not only that, I’d like it to be easy to navigate and read on any device you can dream up. The next version of the site will respond to the context in which it is viewed and adapt accordingly without creating a bunch of separate versions. Read more about responsive web design.
• Even easier to update. When I launched version two of the site on WordPress, it was already easier to update than the first version. However, with features in WordPress like custom post types, posting the latest project that I’ve completed or the newest client testimonial should only become easier. And the quicker it is to post, the more I’ll do it (based on past experience).
• More video. I’m a firm believer in the power of video to build trust and reputation with your target clients. I’d like to get back to using more video with my business in the same way that I do on my other blog and video podcast.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. From a design and development standpoint, my job might be done once a new website launches but is the website itself truly finished? Or is it just beginning? After switching to WordPress as my primary platform of choice a few years ago, I’d say it’s just beginning.

When I turn over the keys to a brand new site to a client, they have at their disposal a new place to share their vision & goals with potential clients and build conversations. Being able to edit anything and everything on the site means that every bit of information on the site can (in theory) be up-to-date.

But is it? Usually no. And I am no exception to that.

I think I blog an average of once every other month on this site. In the words of Charles Barkley, “That’s turrible.” I also have quite a few new websites that get launched on a monthly basis that fail to get included in the portfolio section of this site.

We often use being to busy as an excuse, but how long does it really take to keep things updated if you plan ahead? I need to make some time in my schedule to keep things fresh around here even if it’s just on a weekly basis. Heck, 20 measly minutes a week would probably help.

As for my website itself, I launched the current version in August of 2010. I’m already soooo ready to create a new version. I think there are a lot of things that could be toned down and even removed (I’m talking to YOU home page slider). I’m also realizing that there are probably three main things my potential clients care about, all of which can go into a blog format of some sort: Recent projects, client testimonials, and insight from me on launching the best website you could possibly dream of.

In other words, I think the actual blog portion of my site needs to become the site. It seems kind of backwards, but wouldn’t you rather see something I built last week instead of something I launched two years ago? Wouldn’t you prefer to read the most recent client testimonials just to be sure I haven’t gone totally Gary-Busey-crazy in the past few months?

Also, I’m wondering if I should remove all the “we” language from this site and speak in the first-person. At times, there is a “we” in Lift Development as I team up with other web designers & developers, but the company itself is owned by me.

So I guess this is my promise to you. I’m going to simplify things around here. I’m going to keep crafting my site the very same way that I encourage my clients to. I’m going to share new designs and websites. I’m going to do the occasional screencast tutorial or video interview. It’s going to be good.

And before I go, I need to give credit where credit is due. Some of you know that I’m the co-host of a live show/podcast for freelance web folks called Freelance Jam. This week our guest was web designer Sarah Bray (Go ahead and click – I won’t be offended if clicking this link means you hire her instead of me) and much of what I’ve just confessed in this post is a result (aka direct ripoff) of what she shared with us. She even launched a service for website owners that forces them to spend time with their website on a weekly basis for great rewards.

So, hello there website. I know it’s been a while, but while I preach update, update, update to my clients, I fail to do so myself. Let’s make this right. This is a relationship that will last.

As many of you know, Lift Development specializes in developing for the WordPress platform. That being said, this is a completely biased post. I use WordPress for much of what I do and shifting to this ever-improving platform as my primary line of work about a year ago was a move I have never regretted.

Here are just a few ways I’ve seen WordPress used in the past few years.

Use WordPress for your blog

Obviously. WordPress was originally a platform specifically created for blogging (see WordPress.com for thousands of blogs). It’s easy to use and even with all that WordPress supports in terms of plugins and themes, at its core it is one of the best blogging platforms out there today.

Use WordPress as a CMS for your full website

Not only can you publish posts with WordPress, you can also publish stand-alone pages and dedicated widget areas for additional content. You can manage sidebars, menus, footers, and images. Its flexibility as a full content management system (CMS) continues to evolve and I now build and manage all of my full websites using WordPress.

Use WordPress for your portfolio

If you are any sort of artist who produces photography, video, or other art, there are some amazing photography themes available for WordPress that allow you to broadcast your latest creation to the world with relative ease.

Use WordPress for your landing pages

Need to set up a single page with details of a special offer and a call to action? More and more landing page themes are popping up that will allow you to get something set up on WordPress…and fast!

Use WordPress as an e-commerce website

Have something to sell? Using a combination of e-commerce plugins and specialty themes, you can sell it on a WordPress-based website.

Use WordPress for your project bids and proposals

This is my primary method for sending project proposals to clients, and I use the WPBids theme which I have customized around the branding of Lift Development.

Use WordPress for collaboration with your team

Let’s say you want to set up a wiki-type site with general editable writeboards and threaded conversations around each one but you don’t want anything accessible by the general public. WordPress can do that, too. Simply create WordPress accounts for each of your employees in your installation, install and enable one of the many maintenance mode plugins, hide your site from search engines, and you’re all set! Let the ideas flow.

Use WordPress as a public events calendar

I recently hooked up a client website using the Diarise theme from WooThemes. It has some great built-in functionality for setting up events and building conversation around each one.

Use WordPress to build a social network

There’s a full-featured WordPress plugin called BuddyPress that can turn your existing site into it’s own social network. Who knows? Maybe you’ll launch the next Facebook or Twitter! If anything, you can create a place where your customers or user-base can interact and say wonderful things about your business.

Use WordPress for anything!

It’s just that flexible. With features like custom post types, easy to customize theming, and it’s widely accepted usage, WordPress is a platform that you can shape and mold to fit your business.

Interested in having Lift Development hook up WordPress for your next website? Fill out our project details form today.

I noticed that some Facebook profiles had their “employer” linked to an actual Facebook page, while mine was just linked to a basic blank page without a logo or any information. Here’s a quick and easy screencast showing how I was able to link the employer in my profile to the actual page for my organization.

I originally found out how to do this through a discussion on this Facebook forum using the tips shared by Paul Appleton.

What You’ll Need:

• Firefox or Chrome (for mac or pc)
• The Web Developer add-on/extension

By the way, if you are still using Internet Explorer as your primary browser, give some serious consideration to switching to one of the above browsers. Your web experience is going to be much better with something other than IE.

Andrew Warner’s Mixergy, “Home of the ambitious upstart,” is a site absolutely filled with great interviews of successful entrepreneurs. He digs deep to find out what made them succeed, how they’ve failed, how much money they’ve generated, etc.

Andrew’s guests include many well-known and successful individuals such as Gary Vaynerchuk, Tim Ferriss, Jason Fried, Guy Kawasaki, and many, many, many more. In fact, I don’t now how Andrew keeps up. He puts out a TON of quality content.

In the “mix” of these Mixergy interviews have been several WordPress-related entrepreneurs. Here are my five favorite interviews from the archives.

1) The Biography Of WordPress – With Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg is one of the co-founders of WordPress, the open-source platform that allows people like me to have a career. Watch this interview to find out how WordPress got its start.

2) Thesis Theme: How A Well-Designed WordPress Theme Became Big Business – with Chris Pearson

One of the top theme frameworks for WordPress out there today is Thesis (aff link), and Chris Pearson is the creator. He doesn’t love wearing shirts.

3) StudioPress: Bootstrapped, Profitable And Built In Coffee Shops – with Brian Gardner

StudioPress is the creator of the Genesis theme framework (aff link) for WordPress as well as several well-constructed child themes. Brian Gardner is the founder.

4) How WooThemes Quietly Built A $2+ Million Per Year Business Selling Themes – With Adriaan “Adii” Pienaar

Adii is one of the co-founders of WooThemes (aff link), a super-popular site for purchasing premium WordPress themes. The revenue they generate is incredible.

5) Would WordPress Sue The Maker Of Thesis, A Leading WordPress Theme? – with Chris Pearson and Matt Mullenweg

I saved the best for last. Two very successful gentlemen who have built there careers around the same product – WordPress – and their differences over the GPL. Make sure you watch their individual Mixergy interviews first.

I watched the entire discussion leading up to this interview on Twitter, and was impressed that Andrew picked up on it and set up an interview immediately.

More About Andrew

I highly recommend that you keep your eye on the things Andrew is doing with Mixergy. I tune in when I can, and every time I do I feel like I learn something. He asks fantastic questions and gets a great response from his guests. I actually spent some time with Andrew last year and he is just a good all-around, energetic guy. Follow him on Twitter at @andrewwarner.

It’s time to get out of the box.

Today I want to encourage you to think about a new way to do things. Your business is unique. Why shouldn’t your website reflect that?

Obviously there are certain standards that most users of the web come to expect. They want it to be easy to navigate your site. They want to know what you can do for them within seconds of entering your site. These are the basics.

However, what can you do with the web to make the experience of visiting your site truly unique? Is there any functionality you can dream up that nobody else is using? Are there ways you can tweak existing systems and shape them into something new, not to mention useful?

Example: Brian Casel at ThemeJam is a fellow WordPress developer. He has created a successful business around selling premium WordPress themes. He recently brainstormed something “outside the box” and created a WordPress theme that allows users to build online project proposals. In fact, if you’re a recent client of Lift Development, you may have even received a project proposal on Brian’s WPBids framework*.

Basically he took a platform millions of people were already comfortable with (WordPress) and crafted a system that allows them to use that platform to generate proposals…easily.

What are some unique ways you can engage your market? Are there ways you can use systems they might already be familiar with (like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr) to create “new” functionality? Get creative!

* If you’re interested in implementing WPBids to send proposals to your clients, Lift Development can assist you in setup and customization. Contact us for more details.

In this video I walk you through my process for setting up a really slick Twitter background that displays your important content across various screen resolutions. You can check out my Twitter page/background, and check out Cassie Fisher’s updated background.

FREE DOWNLOAD!

I’ve developed a starter template you can use to lay out your own Twitter background so go ahead and download it free of charge. The gray areas are the regions where your content is safe (most of the time). Just use the 1920×774 PNG as the bottom layer of your project in Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator, or any free Photoshop-alternative and build your layout on top of it.

You’ll notice in my video that I actually set up some Photoshop guides to show me the edges of the safe areas, so you may want to add those to your project once you get started.

Happy background building! If you use this template/layout, feel free to post a link to your Twitter account in the comments below. I would love to see what you create.

I don’t even know what to say. I’d like to thank my God, parents, my wife, my kids, my clients, my college professors, that friend who first introduced me to the web, Al Gore for inventing it…

Obviously this isn’t a real certification…but IS hilarious! It’s a product of Matt Mullenweg’s recent public conversations with Chris Pearson, founder of Thesis, over what the WordPress GPL does and does not mean for theme frameworks built on top of it. See this Mixergy interview (with Andrew Warner) for a complete explanation from both gentlemen including the famous “three most important” quote.

By the way, Pearson did finally agree to a partial GPL with Thesis so all is well again.

A huge thank you to Matt for sending not only this certificate (sure to be framed) but some other WordPress swag along with it. Very cool to see that not only is he a coding genius and successful entrepreneur, but he’s got a fantastic sense of humor.

PS – Just for fun, here’s my appearance on Mixergy earlier this year.

Plugins, widgets, and themes…oh my! While there are probably hundreds of reasons to launch your next website on WordPress, I’ve narrowed it down to a few of my favorites.

1) Simple content management

You want to keep your website current and you want it to be easy to update. No software to download, no FTP, no complex systems to learn. WordPress makes it very easy to simply open up your favorite browser, log in to your site’s Admin area, and update your content. Easily.

2) Quick indexing in search engines

For some reason, Google and other search engines love WordPress. If I post something to any of my WordPress sites in the morning, I typically get an alert from Google by the end of the day that my post has been indexed and is already appearing in results.

3) Content is separate from design

As a web developer I love this one, but this is a great thing for anyone running a WordPress site. It essentially means you can change the design or theme of your site at anytime without having to completely re-format content (which is stored in the database). You really don’t need to do anything special at all. As your site grows, you won’t have to worry about the complexity of a re-design down the road…the content exists on its own.

4) Easy functionality

Need to add an advanced commenting system? There’s a plugin for that. Want to build a premium, pay-for-membership site? There’s a plugin for that. Whatever idea you might have for some sort of functionality, there’s probably a plugin for it already.

5) Don’t have to build from scratch

Because so much is already built in to WordPress, a complete website is very rarely built entirely from scratch. Well, obviously the CMS portion is already taken care of as we discussed, but much of the front-end design can be constructed from existing complete or starter themes. There’s even a complete arsenal of theme “frameworks” such as Genesis that bring all sorts of design and functionality options to the table right from the start.

6) Huge community of users and developers

There are literally MILLIONS of websites that run on WordPress. That means there are a lot of folks out there who use and build on WordPress. There are all sorts of forums, tutorials, and other resources that can educate you on running your WordPress website and help you in the even of any errors. Personally, whenever I get any sort of error, I copy and paste it directly in Google and am usually able to find the fix within minutes. It’s an active community…and growing.

7) Open source

The fact that WordPress is open source means two things: 1) lots of different folks are working to make it a better platform, and 2) IT’S FREE. I like free.

8) Cheap to host

Since WordPress primarily runs on Apache for Linux, hosting can be extremely cheap. No Windows Server or SQL Server licenses that hosting companies need to pay…the fees for them to run Linux are minimal and the savings are passed along to you, the user.

9) Auto-saves

One of my downfalls has always been I forget to save my work on a regular basis. WordPress has a nice little feature built in that auto-saves your posts or pages as you are composing them. It’s nothing major, but it makes life go on when you accidentally close your browser. It also saves the past few revisions so you can go back and restore older content.

10) Quick to launch

If you need to launch a site FAST, WordPress is a great solution. In fact, I launched a sub-business of Lift Development called TweakMyTheme in a single weekend by doing just that: Tweaking an existing WordPress theme (and a free one), filling it with content, and releasing it to the world. Within days I was already getting requests to do the same thing for others.

11) Easy to target mobile devices

There are specific themes and plugins available for WordPress that allow you to serve a mobile version of the website to mobile devices. The smartphone market is growing like crazy, and this is a feature that can really allow you to make sure your best content is accessible on these devices.

12) Hooks up to social media

With WordPress and various plugins, you can send your blog posts to Facebook, Twitter, or just about any social media website. You can make it easy for your visitors to add your content to Digg or other bookmarking networks. You can create custom RSS feeds for specific categories and add them to unique Feedburner feeds. WordPress makes it simple.

13) Interactive

Being able to publish a post or a page and allow your visitors to comment with their own thoughts gives you an easy way to interact and develop relationships. You can extend the built-in WordPress comment functionality with plugins such as Disqus and IntenseDebate which allow for threaded discussion and more.

14) Simple to get others involved as you grow

If you need to add employees and other content authors to your website, it’s simple with the various user-roles available in WordPress. And (once again) you can even create additional roles and user-rules through plugins.

15) Can be what you want it to be

Some people use WordPress for simple blogging. Some organization use it for news and articles. Some realtors use it for listing their properties. Some businesses use it for e-commerce. I even know someone who developed a custom theme that allows you to use WordPress as a project proposal/bid tool. WordPress is flexible.

16) Always getting better

WordPress continues to evolve, and the recent release of WordPress 3 included some incredibly useful features like custom menus and post-types (and more!). It seems like with every release, WordPress becomes even more flexible than it already is.

Lift Development Builds WordPress Websites

I used to build static, plain-HTML-and-CSS websites for clients, and if they needed functionality I used ASP.NET. But not anymore.  Building on WordPress allows me to offer them a ton of useful features without re-inventing the wheel, and with all of the above advantages, our clients are always happy with the final product.

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This is the transcription for a voicemail that I received earlier today. From a client. You know it’s going to be good when the first line is “Hey baby.” And the last line is “Guy” (it was from a female).

This is the type of transcription that would work perfectly for another Rhett & Link Caption Fail video.

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"Give away some knowledge. People fear that if they give it away, people won't need to hire or buy from them. If everything you know about your industry can be explained in a few articles, you don't know much." ~ Scott Stratten, UnMarketing

I read Scott Stratten’s book UnMarketing this week and this particular quote jumped out at me in regards to sharing your expertise on a blog, social network, or even in person. Don’t just TELL people you have the answers to their problems but make them put complete trust in you and hire you to give them the answers, but GIVE them the answers. SHOW people you are an expert in your field. Like I always say, flex your expertise muscles. People will appreciate you and people won’t hesitate to hire you or buy from you in the future.

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I upgraded from a 13″ MacBook Pro to a 15″ MacBook Pro a few months ago. I also started using one of my old laptop cases as it fits the 15″ model perfectly. Don’t worry, I’ll go back to the LL Bean backpack when it’s warm enough to bike again. However, as this case is about 7 years old, it has an extra pocket on the side for a phone. Not a smartphone – just a regular flip phone. I’m an iPhone user so this is of no use to me. Actually, I take that back. I’ve put it to good use as the place where I store my morning snack.

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I’m really frustrated by armchair critics. I see a lot of people ready to trash other people’s efforts, but when I dive into what they’re doing, I don’t see any body of work on their websites. I don’t see them taking to stages. I don’t see them advancing the cause. If you’re going to earn the right to complain and moan, do it by being better than the person you’re trashing. ~ Chris Brogan

Exactly, Chris. Do great work. Don’t worry about bad-mouthing the competition.

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Let’s pretend you are a high school senior. You already know what you want to do for a career: you want to be a programmer for a company like Google or Facebook.

What’s going to get you there in the best, least debt-incurring manner? Four years of college? Or walking up to Google and telling them you’ll work for them for four years for FREE? After four years, you’ve already got a ton more experience than your peers who are just graduating and you won’t have the massive student debt (you might just need a paying part-time job on the side…which you’d need through college anyways). Your professional network is also going to be immensely larger.

Yes, you’ll start at the lowest rung possible but 1) You’re not costing Google anything and 2) you’re learning exactly what they want you to learn. You’ll be putting in some extra time doing self-study over the years, but almost everything you’re learning will be applied.

So which is the better deal? And which would give you a better chance of getting your foot in the door in the first place? Now that everyone goes to college, does it really get you ahead of the pack? I think education through experience is becoming more important than formal education.

Disclaimer: I have a four-year degree. Obviously this approach wouldn’t work with a profession such as a doctor, teacher, or lawyer. But I think it would have worked for me (Business/marketing degree).

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Taking vacation when you no longer have paid vacation days can be tough. However, this summer I’ve taken off more time than I have in my previous three summers as a freelancer. I also feel like I’ve gotten more work done than the previous three. Here are a few thoughts as to why I feel things have worked out this way.

How has your summer been? What did you do with any time you might have taken off?

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I’m spending the week in Colorado and devoting a few hours each morning to getting work done. So far so good, and here’s an update.

I might just stay here.

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I’m in my car right now typing this on my iPhone. My wife is driving, my kids are arguing over a cd, and we are somewhere near North Platte, NE on our way to Boulder, CO to visit my brother and his wife.

About two weeks ago my wife and I decided we should be somewhat spontaneous and pack up the family for a week of mountains, thin air, and for me: work. I have too many projects going to just leave them for a week, so my MacBook is with and I’ll be attempting to get a few hours of work in each morning. I may even check out some of the local coworking spaces.

I’m actually excited to see if my productivity increases knowing that I only have a few hours each day to work. If things go well maybe a lot more spontaneous vacations will happen from now on. I will try to blog some of my findings this week.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer!

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This is just my personal theory, but nobody has utilized the concept of the “upsell” quite like GoDaddy*. Could this possibly be how they found a buyer?

*Yes, this is an affiliate link.

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