Dan Norris's presentation from WordCamp Sydney on how to build a scalable WordPress business in 1 week. Visit http://wpcurve.com/7daystartup for a copy of the 7 Day Startup book.

1. The 7 Day Startup
Welcome to Content Club
How to build a scalable WordPress
business !
in 1 week
!
!
Dan Norris
Dan Norris - Co-founder contentclub.co

4. Topics
• My story
• How to make good decisions
• How to choose a business idea
• The 5 most important elements for growth
• WordPress business ideas matrix
• Questions

9. Informly Timeline
• Everyone told me it was a good idea
• Took me 6 months to launch paid version
• 4,000 free signups
• Coverage in TNW / Mashable
• 12 months later $476 in MRR

10. WTF?
• Business idea at uni - didn’t launch
• Agency couldn’t grow
• Startup - total failure
• SEEK
• Moving cities

11. WTF?

12. WP Live Ninja
24 / 7 access to a live WordPress developer for $49

13. WP Live Ninja Timeline
• Saturday - Had the idea / registered the domain
• Sunday - Uploaded a $37 theme
• Monday - Filled in the content and set up apps
• Tuesday - Posted a special deal in a forum
• Wednesday - Emailed the list and asked them to sign up
• Next Wednesday - $476 MRR

14. WP Curve now
• Me and Alex in the US
• Total team size of 21 people
• 500 customers
• $37,000 in Monthly Revenue (mostly recurring)
• 35,000 monthly visits to our site
• Featured on Fox TV, Forbes, Inc.com
• $181.00 total spent on advertising
• Presenting at WordCamp’s worldwide

17. WP Curve I had no time to think about
• Sexy ideas
• My failure
• Permission
• Assumptions
• The small stuff
• Pricing strategy
• The perfect payment gateway

19. “You don’t learn until you launch”

20. How decisions changed
• Experts said unlimited wouldn’t work - data said otherwise
• We thought agencies would be our market - they weren’t
• We thought everyone would use chat - they prefer email
• I thought we needed seamless Stripe integration - PayPal was fine
• No big launch - a long ongoing growth curve
• No flashy site - a $37 WordPress theme was fine
• I thought WP Live Ninja was a cool name - it wasn’t

21. The 7 Day Startup Process
• Day 1 - Choose an idea
• Day 2 - Design your MVP
• Day 3 - Choose a business name
• Day 4 - Build your site and marketing funnel
• Day 5 - Set up a marketing plan
• Day 6 - Set targets
• Day 7 - Launch

22. 9 elements of a great bootstrapped business idea

23. 1. Enjoyable daily tasks
• Dealing with cheapskates
• Packing envelopes
• Going to the post office
• Getting trolled on oz bargain
• Solving problems
• Building and managing a team
• Creating content
• Building an audience

24. 2. Product / founder fit
• Sales
• Business development
• Quoting
• Local team
• Creating content
• Building a remote team
• Going on podcasts
• Getting press

25. 3. Scalable business model
• Expensive resources
• Low profit margin
• Clients with high expectations
• Local focus
• Entire world as market
• 70 million sites
• Margin built into the business
• Virtually infinite resources

26. 4. Operates profitably without the founder
• Would have to hire 5 people
• I could never leave
• 50% profit margin
• I can replace myself at about
750 customers and still make a
good living

27. 5. Builds an asset you can sell
• Re-sold hosting
• No value being created
• Recurring audience
• Own IP

28. 6. Large market potential
• Mostly local
• Some interstate
• 70 million wordpress sites
• Operates 24 / 7
• Worldwide team

29. 7. Have a pain or pleasure differentiators
• Just another agency • Unlimited - invoice pain
• 24 / 7 - Responsiveness anxiety

30. 8. Unique lead generation advantage
• Better looking
• Better at sales
• Nicer office
• Better looking
• Better beard

31. 9. Ability to launch quickly
Stop operating on assumptions

32. The 5 most important elements for growth
1. Profit margin
2. Large market
3. Asset building
4. Simple business model
5. Recurring or predictable revenue

34. Where to learn more
• wpcurve.com/7daystartup
• wpcurve.com/blog
• @thedannorris on Twitter
• dan@wpcurve.com
• Please approach me

35. Questions?

36. Unlimited WordPress support & small jobs,
24/7 from $69 per month.
Welcome to Content Club
wpcurve.com
!
Dan Norris - Co-founder contentclub.co