WordPress: No Filter

January 20, 2022

Over the past 15+ years, I have had the pleasure of meeting some incredibly smart people in the WordPress industry. Some of these people have businesses (such as selling courses), and others are building products for WordPress users (plugins & themes).

With recent news that WordPress now has 43% CMS market share, one thing is for certain: the WordPress business landscape is maturing.

We are seeing consolidation, higher pricing, more complex offerings, mature advertising campaigns, and more. It’s truly an exciting time!

There is also a lot at stake. So much so, that the people who have helped create this new, mature WordPress environment are feeling like they need to self-sensor for fear of retribution.

I understand this fear.

For many years, I would just sit, observe, and discuss with my friends in the WordPress space my unfiltered view about what was going on. Topics like:

Product pricing
Dealing with pain-in-the-ass customers
Gutenberg
Product sales and promotions
Maximizing profitability
WTF moments from Automattic
WordPress idealism
Unexplored opportunity areas

And the list goes on.

These backroom conversations that I had with my friends were incredibly helpful to my business, and in some ways therapeutic. The problem is, these conversations were behind closed doors.

There is a real, tangible benefit to having tough (somewhat controversial) conversations in a public setting. So far, very few folks do this in WordPress. For me, Matt Mederos from The Matt Report and The WPMinute is one of the few daring to occasionally broach these topics.

There is no shortage of podcasts in the WordPress space, but there is a shortage of conversations backed by proven success.

At the beginning of January, Matt put out a tweet asking folks what they wanted out of a WordPress focused podcast in 2022, so I threw in my two cents:

Honest, experience-based commentary on WP norms and business practices. What works and why, what could be better and how. Less platitudes and more specific (straight to the point) advice/opinions/guidance.

Too much?? ?
— Justin Ferriman ? (@JustinFerriman) January 4, 2022

The more I thought on my reply, the more I realized that I could help bring this to fruition. Since the sale of LearnDash, I have more time. So, I got to thinking…

I should take the backroom conversations (the ones that helped me create a multimillion dollar, international brand) out into the public.

So, that’s what I am doing with…

NoFilter.fm — No BS WordPress Business Commentary

Every two weeks, I will host a gathering on Twitter Spaces to share proven methodology, tactics, and opinions directly responsible for generating multiple millions of dollars in revenue.

Co-hosting with me will be Ross Johnson from 3.7Designs.

Ross started as a freelancer right out of college and today with his wife runs a 7-figure WordPress design agency. He also has a handful of WordPress products that result in over $100,000 of revenue each year.

Over the years, Ross and I have bounced ideas off of each other as we grew our respective companies to millions of dollars.

Our goal is to help other WordPress entrepreneurs by discussing business topics that I wish were talked about when I was first starting. We will also discuss business themes as it relates to the industry as a whole.

The conversations will be recorded and published later as a podcast.

Here is what you should do next…

Follow the NoFilter.fm Twitter account (this is where the spaces will be hosted).
Subscribe for updates on the NoFilter.fm website (replays will be here and on major platforms such as Spotify, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts).
Last, just show up and join the conversation!

I look forward to seeing you join us in the next conversation!

#WordPress