While I would consider doing WordPress consulting really I’m just pursuing it as a personal interest.
I think it’s time to work on developing the blog portion of my site. I’ve begun to rebalance it using subdomains. So far I’ve only added one for my studies related activities. I’m using posts like flashcards for terms and concepts. Right now it’s mostly stock options and blockchain related by I might start doing photography. On photo though you also have the posting of images so it might make sense to put it under it’s own domain. Otherwise it would get lost in the flashcards and study notes. The edu stuff is open to the public but underdevelopment at edu.butturff.org.
It’s in conjunction with the other sites like OXZO.com and it’s subdomains like the one for crypto, Science Fiction Theory, and Wizards Library. It’s a part of the process I’ve used to get better at website development while working full time in the retail sales area. I’m sure if I had 8 hours a day to work on this stuff it would be a lot more advanced not to mention all the stuff you can learn in a team environment.
Still I think it’s worth doing and with this approach I can craft some of my own ideas into a tangible expression of thought. Not mention the visual aspect. I’ve also spent a lot of time experimenting with AI prompts the past couple years. Both in terms of writing and of creating images. It’s good at what it does but it’s not the same as just writing something out like this or taking a photograph. I don’t do deep fakes so on my sites you can tell when it’s a photograph or if it’s something else. The photographs are mine I took them including the clouds in this post. I shot that on the way to the Twin Cities to drive back a car for a local car dealer the other day.
I think I need to get better about captions and alt text but I will. It’s just part of a process. If I was a team there might be someone who specializes in some of it perhaps even me. Working independantly I just need to learn to integrate it into my workflow. Perhaps one day it will become more than a hobbyist thing and supplement my capital accumulation. That’s an overriding purpose in why I work and create NFT art using AI. To build capital both for retirement but also for investing and starting a proper business. It would be logical to start out small at managing websites built with WordPress.
Perhaps it’s a good thing I run multiple sites from a single server. I think if I offer it as a service though I’ll probably rent a little better service to host future sites on and I’ll try to make them simpler and interactive at the same time. Using user permissions. Not so much to control things as to help folks who aren’t versed in WordPress to avoid messing up their sites. While at the same time letting them do stuff that contributes to their business. Assuming it’s a business site etc. If it’s a hobby site then there’s probably a different track to follow.
At least at first it’s not going to be my main earning or income producing venture. I might have more flexibility that way. Say someone has a solid online sales idea. If they want a partner that can manage the website aspect? I might be game for that. If an online business took off it might be more lucrative than taking an upfront fee or being paid for specific tasks like a consultant or contractor. That all would need contracts I guess but not in the sense of a contractor. I might do a contractor approach to some high tech services though. Like say blockchain applications down the road.
Some brainstorming for how to approach contracting WordPress Development
- Focus on education and personal empowerment. Structure it as a package service where I interview prospective clients on their experience and ideas for a site.
- Offer a package starting at say $500 that includes the above combined with a set number of training sessions with an assigned text for reference. Say three days with extended sessions up to eight hours long. In depth exploration.
- Then if there are issues they need help on we can either charge by the incident or arrange some sort of system like a subscription service. Probably using Zoom or one of the remote in to your computer things. That is where I come in and take over the computer and work on it.
- Ancillary services. Like choosing cost effective options to manage a remote site run on WordPress. For most people I’d at least broach the idea of a Chromebook to keep costs down. Keeping costs down is a good theme overall for the project. That is you learn, you get site setup, you have options for the management process and expanding it, but all in a cost conscious way.
- Possibly offer the option in some cases to have the client come here and work on my systems with larger screens and stuff. To give them a more varied experience and demonstrate that with this type of website you are not anchored to one computer or location. You can do it anywhere including places like coffee shops.
- Look at other things that could be offered on a similar basis. Like setting up game streaming. Possibly even Only Fans streaming. It might be good to see how similar they are. In either case trying to leverage the photography background.
- Come up with ideas to use an existing domain to develop a site both for promotion and as a free reference sort to help past clients with trouble shooting. Probably using a social extension for WordPress. BunnyByte.me is original enough to work probably.
- Probably also include some of the original ideas from BunnyByte when I first got the domain. You’re basic computer maintenance tools and such. Offering secure disposal in the sense of maximizing privacy of personal data. Possibly also doing a side hustle of consulting on computer purchases for folks who want some input to make sure they get something that suites their needs. So they don’t get oversold or buy something overpriced. A possibility there is to also become an affiliate with a custom build operation. Except instead of making money on the sale I’ll use the affiliate commission as a discount option. Charging a flat upfront fee like $20. More as a spare time kind of thing. That fee can also cover a visit to the Rochester Best Buy store.