S04 E09 - Joe Workman on Finding Your People and Creating What They Need

Today's guest is Joe Workman. Joe is a RapidWeaver developer and the founder of Weaver's Space. He also runs the Weaver's Space Online Conference.

Joe started using RapidWeaver - a Mac App that lets you create a website on your local computer and then publish directly to your server - in 2006. When he set out to start a real estate business with his friend (Joe is a self-described serial entrepreneur) they built the site on RapidWeaver. Throughout that project, Joe ended up building several custom stacks (plugins).

Over time, people in the developer community urged Joe to start selling some of his stacks and eventually he started developing full-time. While Joe did do some consulting and client work early on, he ultimately found creating products more rewarding.

Joe has been running his business for more than a decade and has made it a priority to productize and streamline. The ability to replicate his work and automate as much as possible has been a key element to his success as a solo shop owner.

In order to survive the normal ups and downs of entrepreneurship, Joe is working on diversifying his revenue streams and looking for new things to try with his business. He's also preparing for a new release of Total CMS, one of his main products.

[click_to_tweet tweet="There comes a point where you know your niche well enough where you can dictate what people really need, which may not be exactly what they say they want." quote="There comes a point where you know your niche well enough where you can dictate what people really need, which may not be exactly what they say they want." theme="style3"]

In this episode Joe talks about:

• Creating products instead of doing client work.
• Helping other freelancers grow and refine their own businesses through community building.
• Ensuring you have a safety net to withstand the ebbs and flows of business.
• The benefits of being strong and unwavering with your prices.

Main Takeaways

• Find your people first. Be part of the conversation and community before trying to create and sell products or services.
• Scratching your own itch is a great way to productize the work you're already doing and is likely to meet the needs of others as well.
• Building community and relationships is important even if you aren't doing client work. In a product-based business you still have to build credibility and a reputation.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Joe Workman
• Weaver's Space
• Weaver's Space Online Conference
• Blue Tick
• Total CMS