One of the things I love most about working as a WordPress web designer is the WordPress community surrounding it. There are always Facebook groups that you can pop into and ask questions, or read blog post tutorials, but there’s a whole personal aspect of it that you as a solopreneur or small business owner might not have discovered yet.
WordCamps
Have you heard of WordCamps? These are most often in-person events where you can go, rather inexpensively, to get to know others who use WordPress in your own community, ask questions and sit in on a variety of sessions. Past WordCamps have had sessions like Putting WordPress to Work in Under an Hour, Your Website: a New Client Magnet Machine!, Creating Content Out of Thin Air, and 5 Ways to Improve your Website Accessibility. You can even watch past sessions on WordPress TV!
Later this month I’m going to WordCamp Buffalo, and I’m looking forward to meeting new people and leading a panel discussion called Ethical Behavior in an Open Source World: a Panel Discussion along with my friend and mentor Michelle Frechette. Will I see you there?
WordCamp Rochester is going to be held in October this year. I’m on the organizing committee this year and it’s going to be a great day! I’d love to see you there, too! (Plus it’s only $20 and includes lunch! See? Inexpensive!)
WordPress Meetups ~ Not quite as many people
Or maybe an entire day at a conference isn’t quite your thing. In that case check your local Meetups. Here in Rochester, NY we have a Rochester WordPress Users Meetup group that meets at least once a month. Any level of user is invited and its a safe place to ask questions about your website, something you’re learning, or ask for help in general…as well as learn about a specified topic for the evening. This month our meetup topic is Setting Up a WordPress Site.
Take Action
No matter how involved you are in creating your site or maintaining it, if you have a WordPress website consider checking out one of these ways to get to know others using WordPress. If not to be part of the community…then to network! Then come back here and share how your experience was!
I can’t wait to hear who you met and what questions you had answered!
