You’ve probably seen it happen- someone complains because they just got a website, but they don’t know how to use it. Their designer or developer or project manager just left them high and dry without some type of direction or documentation. Let’s face it, as a designer or developer or project manager, you’re definitely going to run into someone who isn’t really that familiar with WordPress. In fact, you’ll encounter all sorts of user levels when it comes to working with clients. How do you teach your client how to use their WordPress website? How do you figure it into your project’s scope? If you don’t like teaching them, what can you do to make sure your relationship with your client ends on a good note because you were diligent to give them the tools they need to continue on their own? I’ll be going over strategies to help you put together a plan on teaching your clients how to use WordPress. Let’s decrease the frustration together and allow your clients to become enthusiastic WordPress users that are making money.

1. Teaching Your Clients
How to Use WordPress
By Nile Flores @blondishnet
http://blondish.net

2. Objective
❏ Helping you understand where your client is coming from when you
work with them
❏ How to improve your client relations and still remain in your own
comfort zone
❏ Training solutions for your client, if you happen to be an introvert or for
freelancers on a budget

3. Let’s make happy
clients, and not ones
who are left confused
and/or mad.

4. WordPress is easy to use...
Not all people learn at the same speed as you.

5. WordPress Client Training:
❏ You’d rather be designing or
developing.
❏ You really don’t have the time.
❏ You might hate people, either
sometimes or all of the time.
❏ WordPress is always evolving and
changing, so it’s hard to keep up.

6. Due Diligence = Happier Client
For you, it also means more future business, and less stress.

7. To Hold Hands, or Not
to Hold hands?
If you haven’t even thought of this for your
WordPress freelance business, now’s the
time.
Hand holding will happen. It depends on who
is going to do it.
Add training to your scope in your project
proposal.

8. Yes… I even thought of my introvert friends
Because no one wants to
feel like this →
Don’t make your client
feel like they’re bothering
you.

9. Approach training from 2 angles
1. Preparing WordPress for the client’s needs to cut out the confusion.
2. Preparing the client for WordPress.

10. Preparing WordPress
for the Client
❏ Set them up with a Backup and Security
plan.
❏ De-clutter the WordPress admin

11. Customize backend for
the client
❏ Re-arrange or create a simpler navigation
❏ Simplify the WordPress dashboard (less
widgets)
❏ Cut down on features that the client may not
needs when editing a post or page

12. Tools & Resources to help de-clutter the admin
❏ Creating Admin Themes - http://codex.wordpress.
org/Creating_Admin_Themes
❏ White Label CMS - https://wordpress.org/plugins/white-label-cms/
❏ TinyMCE Advanced - https://wordpress.org/plugins/tinymce-
advanced/

13. Video Screencasts
If you’ve customized and de-cluttered the WordPress admin:
No need to team view or video chat on Skype or Google Hangouts. Make
a couple short 3-5 minute video screencast of the areas that the client
needs to know how to use.

14. Video Screencasting for Cheap?
Screencast-o-matic http://screencast-o-matic.com/

15. Video Training Series?
If you enjoy teaching and have the time, make a video training series and allow
your clients access to this training.
You will need to take in account that you will need to update your videos to keep
up with the changes WordPress goes through.
BONUS: You can pop in extra videos or even resource lists to help give your client
a leg up on trying to succeed in using WordPress and making money with it.

16. For the rest of WordPress training:
You can either create your own
WordPress training series that all
clients can have access too, or find
a business that already does this.
https://wp101.com

17. How to charge (Training
them yourself?)
Training them yourself? - Estimate the hours
and multiply it by your hourly rate.
Add it to your scope as part of a ongoing
maintenance plan

18. How to charge (Outsourcing
training?)
❏ Charge as a concierge service in your scope
❏ Sign client up with their email to training.
(WP101 has a lifetime subscription. )

19. I’m Nile Flores.
http://blondish.net
Don’t forget to subscribe to my
newsletter, and follow me.
Twitter: @blondishnet
https://slideshare.net/blondishnet
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