Author Archives: Jen Jamar

Welcome Back Gravity Forms

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Contact forms for WordPress don’t get any easier than Gravity Forms. That’s why we’re proud to announce they are a returning sponsor for Prestige Conference Las Vegas.

Gravity Forms

Over a million sites use Gravity Forms. With their easy-t0-use premium WordPress plugin, they take the drudgery out of custom form building. Gravity Forms allows you to quickly and easily integrate with a variety of third party services such as PayPal, AWeber, MailChimp, FreshBooks, and many more. You don’t even need programming knowledge to use it.

There’s a reason why Chris Lema called Gravity Forms “the best WordPress plugin ever.” And he’s not alone. WP Explorer calls it the “WordPress plugin of choice for many power users and developers.” Through a commitment to innovation and development, Gravity Forms consistently lands on developer “must-have” and “best” WordPress plugin lists.

We’re honored to have the support of Gravity Forms for our Las Vegas Prestige Conference event.

Plan Ahead: Prestige Conference Las Vegas Hotel Info

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With Prestige Conference: Las Vegas only a few short months away, we’re making it easy for you to budget for the event by sharing hotel info now. We don’t want you to miss out on the Early Bird prices ending Nov 21st.

Downtown_Grand_Las_Vegas

We’ve negotiated special group rates at the Downtown Grand Las Vegas. Although not available for booking yet, our room rate of approximately $120/night* will include amenities such as free in-room wifi, complimentary parking, complimentary coffee in the morning, and a coupon book filled with discounts for area attractions.

No car? No problem! A shuttle will be provided from the Downtown Grand hotel to and from the Innevation Center for both Friday & Saturday conference events.

Stay tuned for additional announcements, including an email to all Prestige Conference ticketholders once our room block opens for reservations.

*Nightly cost estimate includes room rate & resort fee. All rooms are subject to applicable taxes & hotel fees.

Photo credit: tojones007 on Flickr

Top Entrepreneurs Share Their Favorite Business Books

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During the Prestige Conference Expert Business Panel in Minneapolis, moderator Matt Medeiros asked the panelists which business books they would recommend for our audience of entrepreneurs. His question prompted a new Prestige tradition to ask all of our top entrepreneur speakers to share their favorite business books.

Top Business Books

Recommended by
Prestige Minneapolis Speakers

Recommended by Travis Totz of WerkPress:
You’re My Favorite Client - Mike Monteiro

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended by Carl Hancock of Gravity Forms:
Zero%20to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the FutureZero to One - Peter Thiel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended by Reid Peifer of Modern Tribe:
Let My People Go Surfing - Yvon Chouinard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended by Jake Goldman of 10up:
Decisive - Chip Heath & Dan Heath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended by Matt Medeiros of Slocum Studio:
Running Lean - Ash Maurya

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended by Toby Cryns of The Mighty Mo! Design Co:
The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferriss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended by Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative:
Book Yourself Solid - Michael Port

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus recommendation from Jennifer Bourn:
Youtility - Jay Baer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended by Lisa Sabin Wilson of WebDevStudios:
The Leadership Challenge - James Kouzes & Barry Posner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus recommendation from Lisa:
Rework - Jason Fried and David Hansson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured image photo credit: Abhi Sharma on Flickr

Share Your Prestige Pride - Conference Badges

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You’ve already bought your ticket to Prestige Conference.

You’ve tweeted us @PrestigeConf about your excitement with hashtag #PrestigeConf.

Now you’re wondering what else you can do to show the world how excited you are to attend Prestige this weekend.

We’ve got the answer - geek out with these fabulous Prestige Conference badges!

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Hear Lisa Sabin-Wilson Speak At Prestige

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Lisa Sabin-WilsonIf you haven’t heard Lisa Sabin-Wilson speak yet, you’re missing out.

For the past 10 years, Lisa has been working in the web design and development industry, focusing on WordPress design, development, and consulting. She is currently co-owner and partner of WebDev Studios, a company specializing in WordPress and related open source platforms. Their clients include Microsoft, the YMCA, MSNBC, and livefyre.

When we say that Lisa wrote the book on WordPress, we’re not kidding. She’s the author of WordPress for Dummies,, now in it’s 6th edition, as well as BuddyPress For Dummies, WordPress All In One For Dummies, and WordPress Web Design For Dummies.

Anyone that makes money from work involving WordPress will be able to benefit from hearing Lisa speak at Prestige Conference. Her session is titled “You Should Charge More” and right from the get-go, she’ll be diving into pricing considerations when bidding projects, common mistakes freelancers make when quoting clients, and advice for bumping up your current rates. Lisa will also be covering different pricing models, how to identify signs your rates are too low, and the difference between agency and freelance pricing structures.

Hear Lisa Sabin-Wilson speak at Prestige

Make sure you don’t miss out on hearing Lisa Sabin-Wilson present at Prestige Conference. Saturday Conference tickets include Lisa’s presentation and much more. Streaming tickets are also available for remote attendees.

WordPress Podcasts Worth Listening To

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WordPress is an open source software that’s constantly changing & improving through contributions from a very active developer community.

Whether you’re a developer yourself, a designer, or someone that uses WordPress for your business, stay up-to-date on the latest WordPress news by tuning in to these podcasts.

14 WordPress Podcasts Worth Listening To

In alphabetical order:

Apply Filters

Apply Filters is a podcast dedicated to WordPress development. Hosts Brad Touesnard and Pippin Williamson share their experiences in the development world, including development in WordPress core, plugins, and themes. They also bring in guests and occasionally cover the business side of WordPress.

The DradCast

The DradCast is a video podcast featuring Dre Armeda and Brad Williams. Each week they feature a guest host and discussion of all things WordPress, including WordPress news, upcoming events, and the WordPress community in general.

Kitchen Sink WP

Just like their name implies, this podcast covers everything WordPress but the kitchen sink. Hosted by Adam Silver, this podcast is his way of giving back to the WordPress community that has supported him through the years.

Matt Report

The Matt Report is a WordPress business podcast created and hosted by Matt Medeiros. Matt has interviewed hundreds of WordPress professionals throughout his career, and his podcast is full of great information on WordPress entrepreneurship, startups, and freelancing.

*If you’d like to hear Matt Medeiros live, he’ll be speaking at our upcoming Minneapolis event. Ticket info: PrestigeConf.com/Tickets

Please Advise

Please Advise is an occasional live podcast by Mike McAlister, Jake Caputo, and Chris Molitor. As commercial theme developers, they are able to speak expertly on topics related to theme industry, theme development, and WordPress in general.

WordPress Breakdown with BobWP

Bob Dunn is a professional trainer. His podcast teaches beginner and intermediate users the strategy, marketing, and design side of WordPress.

The WordPress Chick’s Podcast

Kim Doyal is “The WordPress Chick” and her podcast focuses on “WordPress happiness made easy.” Her show discusses WordPress themes, plugins, publishing, and more.

WordPress Plugins from A to Z

As anyone using WordPress knows, there is a massive collection of free and premium plugins that have been created by and for the WordPress community. Created and hosted by John Overall and Marcus Couch, the WordPress Plugins from A to Z podcast regularly reviews new and updated plugins to help you find the best tools for your site.

WordPress Tips & Tricks

WordPress Tips & Tricks by Steve Hart is gaining some popularity and momentum. Steve has a great personality and is able to deliver useful content in short bursts. Each podcast is typically 5 minutes or less, though some do come in closer to the 10 minute mark. His recordings stay on topic and deliver great value for those looking to expand their WordPress knowledge.

WordPress Weekly

WordPress Weekly is a WPTavern podcast hosted by Jeff Chandler and Marcus Couch and recorded live each week at 9:30pm EST on Wednesday night. WordPress Weekly focuses on industry news with supplemental interviews and discussion.

WPcast

This professional WordPress podcast is hosted by Doug Yuen and David Hehenberger. The podcast focus is on providing valuable information for WordPress professionals, including designers, consultants, developers, and even end users that run their businesses on WordPress.

WP Elevation

WP Elevation interviews successful entrepreneurs in the WordPress industry. Their business podcast focuses on ways to help you build a successful WordPress enterprise.

WP Watercooler

WP Watercooler is a live video roundtable discussion hosted by WordPress developer Jason Tucker. This weekly show discusses what’s happening in the WordPress community and how WordPress has changed people’s lives and their businesses.

Your Website Engineer

Your Website Engineer is a podcast created and hosted by Dustin Hartzler that, each week, provides a simple approach to creating high quality websites with WordPress. His goal is to inspire you to do great things with WordPress. Each week, he tackles a new topic to help small business owners build their WordPress websites.

Hear Matt Medeiros Speak at Prestige

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Matt MedeirosMatt Medeiros, host of the Matt Report and co-founder of Slocum Studio, will be opening our Saturday sessions with his talk “Traits of Success: From Car Sales to Software Sales”.

Matt is well-known in the business technology sector for his weekly podcast the Matt Report, a WordPress-focused business podcast for entrepreneurs, startups, and freelancers. Over the past two years, he’s interviewed hundreds of WordPress professionals about their stories, successes, and struggles within their businesses. He is also a frequent speaker at WordCamps and business events around the country.

Growing up, Matt learned the sales side of the world through his father’s car dealership. Those skills, along with a brief stint in retail sales, have continued to pay off in his other pursuits. His interest in technology led him to positions within the industry that eventually pushed him to found Slocum Studio in 2008, a full-service web marketing & development provider.

Through his countless interviews with successful entrepreneurs and hands-on experience running his own agency, Matt brings an enormous amount of knowledge with him to Prestige Conference.

Hear Matt Medeiros Speak At Prestige Conference

We’re excited to have Matt Medeiros as a speaker at Prestige. We’re confident in his ability to provide inspiration and actionable tips for success in your own business.

Saturday Conference tickets include Matt’s presentation and much more. Streaming tickets are also available for remote attendees.

More than just another WordPress conference

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When Kiko & Josh conceptualized Prestige Conference, they did it using WordPress as the framework for the education they wanted to provide their attendees.

While that’s still a piece of the puzzle, the event has evolved into something so much more than just another WordPress conference.

The event organizers have taken the core of what makes the WordPress community great and used that model to create a business conference that’s unlike those you’ve seen in the past. You’ll find the same friendliness and willingness to help you with your goals. The same Open Source concept for problem solving. The same high-level experts you see making waves in the space.

But you won’t find any JQuery or plugin integration sessions here. Prestige Conference isn’t about building your skills as a developer or a designer. It’s a whole new level of sessions on what it takes to manage your business and your career.

Need help figuring out your pricing model? Lisa Sabin-Wilson will tell you why you should charge more and how to get clients to accept a rate that reflects the value you bring to the table.

Want to know what attracts clients & customers to your business? Whether you’re looking for them to hire you, buy from you, or learn from you, Jennifer Bourn will explain how a design-first approach sets the stage for success.

Feel like sometimes you have no idea what the hell you’re doing? Reid Peifer has been there. He’s even willing to share a bunch of the stupid mistakes he made along the way to building a $1 million dollar a year “side business.”

Wonder how to handle growth? Jake Goldman took his company 10up from a 1-man show to a 70+ person brand in less than 3.5 years. He’s offered to get up on stage for an intensive interview that will walk you through his watershed moments & risks that paid off. Like all of our speakers, Jake will be equally candid about decisions he regretted making along the way.

This is just a sampling of the type of business insights and advice you’ll gain by attending Prestige. Yes, all the speakers work in the WordPress environment. But the sessions apply to anyone that’s currently freelancing or building their business, regardless of the industry they’re working in.

You can view our full speaker lineup for Prestige Conference, or click the image below to purchase your tickets now.
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Hear WerkPress co-owner Travis Totz speak at Prestige Conference

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Travis TotzTravis Totz is partner & co-owner at Westwerk/WerkPress, a WordPress-focused design & development agency in Minneapolis. Travis has built and created countless WordPress projects since back in the days of version 1.5.

Beyond their well-known expertise in WordPress, Westwerk is a digitally-driven full-service agency. Their areas of expertise include strategy, creative, and development for clients such as NASA, Rush River Brewing, US Foods, Aveda, King Solutions, RJM Construction, and the Minnesota Opera.

Travis is currently focusing his efforts on Press75, one of the original premium WordPress theme shops that Westwerk recently acquired under their WerkPress umbrella. His experience building a successful agency will be shared during Friday’s Business Experts panel, which is the only session of the entire weekend that will not be recorded or live-steamed.

Meet Travis

Although our Friday Only tickets are SOLD OUT, you can still hear Travis speak by purchasing a full conference ticket. The full conference ticket includes BOTH Friday night’s Business Experts panel, as well as the full day of conference activities on Saturday.