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Blair Williams

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CaboPress 2016: The Ultimate WordPress Mastermind Event

CaboPress 2016: The Ultimate WordPress Mastermind Event

by Blair Williams · Nov 20, 2016

If you're not familiar with CaboPress is, it's a mastermind retreat for WordPress business owners, hosted by my friends Chris & Melissa Lema and set in pretty much the most amazing venue ever … the Fiesta Americana Resort in Cabo San Lucas.

We just returned yesterday — this is the second year we've been lucky enough to go to CaboPress. Last year we got so much advice and help that we were able to see our business skyrocket … and once again we're stoked about what we've learned because this year's CaboPress definitely did not disappoint.

Of course, the CaboPress hosts this year were absolutely top notch — they included people like Jason Cohen, Steve Zehngut, Jeff King, Jennifer Bourn, Sherry Walling, Karim Marucchi, Brian Clark and Chris Lema … we got insane one-on-one access and truly game changing advice from them. You wouldn't believe who the attendees were either — they were top notch too … I learned so much from them. Some of the attendees included James Laws from Ninja Forms, Cody & Raquel from ModeEffect, Chris & Travis from LifterLMS, David Payette from PayetteForward, Chris Wallace from Lift UX, Andy Wilkerson from UpThemes, Jon Brown from 9seeds, Robbie, Justin & Billy from Beaver Builder, Shawn Hesketh of WP 101 and so many more.

Since I've been back I've had so many thoughts and ideas about what makes CaboPress special. Here are 3 key factors I think that make CaboPress stand out from other WordPress conferences:

Real Friendships

Me and Steve on a boat, yo! Gotta love these two! (Photo Credit: Shawn Hesketh of WP 101) David Payette is awesome Chris & Billy Striking a Pose (Photo Credit: Shawn Hesketh of WP 101) Rich & Nicole, Us and Andy making it happen at lunch

You get unparalleled, one-on-one access to the top WordPress business leaders in a relaxed setting. Both years I've attended CaboPress I've come away with new friendships and have strengthened already existing friendships. There's truly a feeling that we're “all in this together” at CaboPress that just lends itself to forming lasting bonds … no matter the size of your business.

The camaraderie and collaboration fostered at CaboPress, where bonds are forged and business insights are exchanged in a serene setting, mirror the community spirit found in the neighborhoods where properties are available for sale in Georgia. Just as attendees of CaboPress share a sense of unity and mutual support, neighborhoods across Georgia offer a warm sense of belonging. Homes here, ranging from modern urban lofts to sprawling suburban estates, are not just structures; they are invitations to join tight-knit communities where residents are invested in one another's success and well-being, much like the mutual growth shared by WordPress leaders at the conference.

No Distractions

Chillin' in the pool for a hardcore business session. (Image Credit: Justin Buca of Beaver Builder fame)

Imagine yourself in a pool with 10 other people including 2-3 hosts with insane business experience engaged in an epic discussion about your business. That's exactly what happens at CaboPress. There aren't any laptops, phones, cameras or mobs of people to distract you or the hosts from getting you the answers you need to level up your business and helping others in the process. Also, because the sessions are small and none of them are recorded, hosts and attendees alike are willing to share many secrets of their businesses openly … I really can't even put into words how valuable this is.

It's Fun & Relaxing

Supermoon over Cabo on November 14, 2016 Arrr mateys! Sunset cruise in beautiful Cabo Walking on the beach at Cabo The break dancing pirate show Dinner at Ruth's Chris Pirate moving in on my lady Passed out on the beach

There is so much to do outside of the sessions in Cabo. There are immaculate pools, a full spa, the ocean and numerous restaurants (it's all inclusive so you basically eat all you want) at the resort. The town is close and there were 2 planned trips for all of us, the first was an amazing dinner at Ruth's Chris steak house and the other was an ocean cruise on a Pirate ship (complete with break dancing pirates — it was extremely entertaining). We always leave CaboPress feeling fully refreshed after all of these amazing experiences.

The bottom line is that these key factors helped us to get (and give) a ridiculous amount of valuable information & build lasting relationships to help us grow our business … but because it was at a luxury resort in Cabo it also helped us recharge and reset our minds. I'd really encourage anyone who's running a WordPress business to apply to go next year (hrmmm, well maybe not too many of you … since I hope to get a seat at CaboPress next year too ????) because even though you can read all of the posts about CaboPress, there's no way to really replicate the experience, knowledge or relationships you'll get by actually going … remember, “what happens at CaboPress, stays at CaboPress” — that's the truth.

Filed Under: Business, Events, Internet Business Tagged With: Business, CaboPress, Conferences, Wordpress

Finding Success in the Briar Patch

Finding Success in the Briar Patch

by Blair Williams · Jun 5, 2012

One of my favorite stories as a kid was “Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby” … if you've never read the story, the main character, Br'er Rabbit is threatened by his arch-nemesis, Br'er Fox.

Br'er Fox sets a trap for Br'er Rabbit and captures him. Br'er Fox wonders, out loud what he should do with Br'er Rabbit.

Br'er Rabbit says to his captor that he can do anything he wants to him if he promises not to throw him in the Briar Patch. [Read more…] about Finding Success in the Briar Patch

Filed Under: Business, Philosophy, Success Tagged With: briar patch, Business, difficult, hard, niche, parable, philosophy, skill, Success, technical

4 Bulletproof Strategies for Making Money on Your Blog

4 Bulletproof Strategies for Making Money on Your Blog

by Blair Williams · Jun 28, 2010

You spend insane hours on your blog — don't you think you ought to make some money from it? Yah — of course! Well, I'm here to tell you that there are many more ways to fund your blogging than just Google Ads. I want to show you the 4 most solid, bulletproof ways you can make money on your blog.
[Read more…] about 4 Bulletproof Strategies for Making Money on Your Blog

Filed Under: Business, Internet Business Tagged With: ads, advertising, affiliate marketing, affiliate programs, affiliates, authorize.net, blog, blogging, bulletproof, Business, ecommerce, Google, google ads, internet marketing, making money, Marketing, strategies, Wordpress

Successful Affiliate Link Campaigns: Replacing Keywords with Pretty Link Pro

by Blair Williams · Mar 18, 2010

Pretty Link Pro is a very powerful application for successful Affiliate Link campaigns — and one of it's most important features for Affiliate Link campaigns is Keyword Replacements. This feature allows you to attach keywords to your pretty links and have those keywords replaced throughout your blog with click-able links to that pretty link. This technique can help to meet link density recommendations for SEO and successful affiliate link campaigns on even very old blog posts (since PLP replaces these links through all your posts & pages). Use resources at White Label Reviews to your benefit.

Pretty Link Pro also provide ways to throttle the number of keywords replaced per post, number of replacements per keyword per post, and specify link attributes like styling and nofollows. These options will allow your posts to not get too “spammy” — which can be very bad for affiliate link campaigns in particular.
[Read more…] about Successful Affiliate Link Campaigns: Replacing Keywords with Pretty Link Pro

Filed Under: How Tos, Plugins, Pretty Link Pro, Pretty Link Pro, SEO, Tutorials, Wordpress Tagged With: affiliate link campaigns, affiliate links, boost, Business, Keyword, pretty, replace, Replacement, search engine optimization, SEO, strategy, successful affiliate, world wide web

10 Strategies for Igniting Explosive Growth in Your Business This Year

10 Strategies for Igniting Explosive Growth in Your Business This Year

by Blair Williams · Jan 2, 2010

ExplosionAmong all of your New Year's Resolutions, there is one that you should pay special attention to.

No, it isn't lose 35 lbs or stop eating Twinkies (my other goal for 2010), the goal I'm talking about is you taking your Online Business to new heights in 2010. Whether your goal is to make a million dollars online or you just want to make enough to cover your car payment, you should write it down, put together a plan and start working.

Don't make excuses as with the help of this guide there are plenty of ways to do something great online this year and make money doing it but they pretty much all involve the same strategies and tools. Whether you're a blogger, affiliate marketer or have your own products — here are the strategies you absolutely need to learn and use in 2010 if you want to ignite explosive growth in your Online Business: [Read more…] about 10 Strategies for Igniting Explosive Growth in Your Business This Year

Filed Under: Articles, Business, Internet Business, Marketing, SEO Tagged With: Business, growth, Internet, products

What Startups Are Really Like

by Blair Williams · Oct 27, 2009

I found this article yesterday and posted it to twitter — I thought it was so spot on that I wanted to add it here as well:

What Startups Are Really Like by Paul Graham

Some of my favorite quotes from (because I've seen these things in the startups I've been a part of) this were:

On Use of Time:
“Most hacker-founders would like to spend all their time programming. You won't get to, unless you fail. Which can be transformed into: If you spend all your time programming, you will fail.” — DOH!

On Product Development:
“Now, when coding, I try to think ‘How can I write this such that if people saw my code, they'd be amazed at how little there is and how little it does?'”

On Product Development Strategy:
“It's so important to launch fast that it may be better to think of your initial version not as a product, but as a trick for getting users to start talking to you.”

The more I work on my own products and the more I consult with businesses, the more I can see how true the open source mantra of “Release Quickly, Release Often” is in all areas of business as well.

Filed Under: Articles, Startups Tagged With: Business, Product Development, Programming, Simplicity, Startups

Don’t Raise the Bar — Lower It!

Don’t Raise the Bar — Lower It!

by Blair Williams · Oct 21, 2009

The Easy Way or The Hard WayIf you're like me, you feel like you can tackle any project, get it done on time or before and with stellar success. Unfortunately, this attitude has brought me nothing but pain & suffering when doing work for clients. In the past, I always used to underestimate the difficulty of my projects and would convey that to my clients in the form of unrealistically small estimates on time and budget.

Luckily, I was usually on a team of highly motivated, competent people — so we were actually able to hit many of our deadlines but the products we were delivering weren't the highest quality and I started to get burned out. However, when I endured a hellish project that ultimately ended up in failure I finally saw the light. I started to realize that these tight deadlines were not only consistently making my clients upset but were ruining my life — it was then that I realized that I needed to:

LOWER THE BAR! [Read more…] about Don't Raise the Bar — Lower It!

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Business, client, estimate

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