My clients include Glaxo Smith Kline, Baskin Robbins, Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman), Shaw Communications, Heart & Stroke Foundation, Sony Centre, Zerofootprint, Clinical Trials Ontario, and the Toronto Star.
I’m a core technical reviewer for the textbook “WordPress Web Application Development” and I volunteer my time each year at WordCamp Toronto.
I have a number of plugins in the WordPress repo some of which are somewhat popular.
I feel that developing free plugins is probably one of the best ways a WordPress developer can give back to the community, while also improving those WordPress development skills.”
Presentation: Developers and WordPress Monetisation (Panel)
“Over the last year a few of my free plugins have become popular and i’m struggling to justify investing so much of my free time into support and improvements.
I’m also concerned by the trend of Premium Plugins and their effect on the WordPress community. Can a developer keep a product free but still generate enough revenue to keep the project moving?”
What unique perspective are you bringing to this talk?
“As a plugin developer who has struggled with the dilemma of whether to keep a popular plugin free or move it to a premium model. I feel that I would be suited to lead a panel based discussion on the subject of alternatives to the premium model.
I have tried a number of non premium based solutions to generate revenue to support ongoing work on my free time and I would like to discuss these with other developers.
I think this should be a panel as the continuing growth of WordPress affects all developers and members of the community.
I feel it would be a great discussion to debate the pros and cons of different monetization solutions and how models such as premium could potentially affect the future of the WordPress community as a whole.”
What’s one really cool thing people will discover during your session?
“As a WordPress “free” plugin developer I know how challenging it can be when a plugin reaches a critical mass of users. You are suddenly juggling paid work with plugin support and feature requests.
It’s hard work and although the community as a whole are super helpful you have bills to pay! But you want to keep the plugin free, right?
In the panel I hope to initiate a discussion to allow devs to share and discuss potential methods of monetizing a popular plugin or theme without resorting to a premium model and keep the product free for all to use.”
Do you have a good WordPress related story, anecdote or memory?
“I guess my favorite was when I worked on a WordPress project for Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman).
It was pretty awesome to be on a conference call with Pee Wee himself, and even better he sent me a Christmas present as a thank you for the WordPress site I built. That wouldn’t of happened if I was working on Joomla sites!”
What are you most looking forward to at WordCamp Toronto?
“Personally I really enjoy helping out at the happiness bar. It’s always my preferred place to volunteer.
As a dev it’s great to be able to pass on my experience to those just starting out in the WordPress world!
Oh…you also get to meet some pretty talented people!”