Going Global with Your

WordPress Skills

Hi, I'm Yoren Chang.I do WordPress development for a living.Have been freelancing for more than 10 years.Currently based in Taipei, Taiwan.

It's my first WordCamp and public English presentation!I'm quite nervous about it.Hope you'll find the information I'm about to deliver valuable, and helpful to your freelancing career.

I'll share my experience on:• How I grew my business from serving small organizations in

Taiwan;• To a global audience, 95% of them now are based in the

U.S. and Europe;• In roughly 4 years or so.

Back to late 2013

• I have been focusing on custom WordPress development for > 4 years.

• I worked with local governments, universities and small businesses/organizations in Taiwan.

My (past) clients include• National Taiwan University• National Taiwan Normal University• Soochow University • Fichet• Taipei City Government• New Taipei City Government• JumpFromPaper

Reinvented My Business

Why (1/2)• Local market went silent;• Got fewer inquiries than before;• Found it hard to increase project sizes.

Why (2/2)• Was more confident in the future of WordPress;• Wanted to be recognized in the global

WordPress community.

Started from 2014

• I created a blog in English: https://1fix.io.• Also created a few feature plugins on WP.org.• Signed up for several WordPress online groups

and forums.

• The Kindle book "Everything I Know" by Paul Jarvis.

• Signed up for The Creative Class online course by Paul Jarvis.

• Signed up for Double Your Freelancing by Brennan Dunn.

I learned• How to position• What's my niche in the WordPress market• Who's my target audience

About Time!

• Got my first few gigs from the CC Slack community.

• Budgets from USD $800-2,000 or so.

Said YES to Every Opportunity

• Working with Laura and Client Portal.• Becoming a Codeable expert.• Working on projects for Gravity Flow and

Gravity Forms.

How I Met Laura and Client Portal

Client Portal - Keep your clients deliverables inone place

CLIEN T-PORTAL

Client Portal (1/2)• It helps freelancers look professional• By simplifying the onboarding process and

organizing the deliverables elegantly

Client Portal (2/2)• Laura had such an awesome idea and l helped to turn it into

a premium WordPress plugin.• Taking care of support tickets help me a lot on improving

the product.

How I Joined Codeable• A client (who I met via my blog) suggested

me to try a few professional platforms when I‘m looking for more projects to work on.

• I tried Crew first but got rejected right away.

• I applied for Codeable then, and I waited for 6 months to hear back from them. (Now most applicants get a reply within one week.)

Screening, Trial and Be Certified• The screening process included the application, a test

project, an interview online and live coding test.• When I passed all of them, I started a trial on Codeable for

45 days or so.• In the trial period I charged and got paid as all certified

experts.

What I Love About Codeable (1/2)• The screening process shows humanity and respects all

applicants.• Experts are expected to use similar hourly rates that starts

from USD $60.• Don‘t do bidding. The final price is the average of all

quotes but excludes extreme ones.

What I Love About Codeable (2/2)• Running the expert community like a pro.• Offering a helping hand whenever you’re in need.• Handling disputes so you don‘t have to worry about the

money stuff.

Looking Back: Two Years With Codeable

N AT HAN ELLO

Numbers don‘t lie• One of best experts Nathan Ello earned

USD $131,473 in his first year on Codeable!

• I‘m not full-time on Codeable (I know, it’s not a good excuse!) and my first year revenue is around USD $43,000.

• My average project size now is USD $1,400, which I can usually finish and get paid in two weeks.

Work for Gravity Flow and Gravity Forms• When I saw a project on Codeable posted by Steve Henty, I

was eager to respond.• But he hired the other expert for that project .• Hadn’t I initiated the talk then, I wouldn’t work with him and

Gravity Forms now .

WooCommerce - Gravity Flow

GRAVITY FLOW

Gravity Flow• A business automation tool.• When you use Gravity Forms to take

submissions, you can automate the later process with Gravity Flow.

• You can approve entries, ask users to input more details, add signatures etc. You can even automate your WooCommerce orders with it.

Gravity Forms and Rocket Genius• Steve kindly introduced me to Rocket Genius.• I have joined the developer team as a contractor for 8

months.• Learn much more than doing client jobs when working

with developers much experienced than you.

Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts (1/3)• People who hire remotely don’t micro manage.• Cash flow is much healthier for freelancers when you have

weekly cash income, and that can break the "feast or famine" cycle.

Final Thoughts (2/3)• If you really have solid WordPress skills, the projects all over

the world are waiting for you.• Don’t let language barriers (or anything) stop you.

Final Thoughts (3/3)• Join Codeable!!• Would love to help if you have any

questions.• Reach out to me yoren@1fix.io or

@1fixdotio on Twitter.