This Week Online Today - With Ahmed Khalifa

In this episode, I talk to Holly Worton, a business alchemist, who helps female entrepreneurs to use the power of their mindset to help their businesses to grow. And as a major enthusiast of WordPress, Holly has also shared her own journey of building her online profile and the systems she uses to create a huge backlog of content; from books, to blog post, to podcasts, to videos. Here are just a few things we talk about: the importance of finding the right mindset that suits why the trend of hustling is not necessarily the best idea for you Holly's own system of how finishes her big projects and major content by going away for full focus "If you are hustling all the time and you are just working, working, working, you don't have any space for the creative ideas to come in. And that's what the goal is in business" - Holly Worton Shownotes are available on

In this episode, I talk about something that I hear quite often of the years; and that is when people blame the actual WordPress core for when anything goes wrong with their website. This is an interesting thought because it doesn't matter what Content Management System you use, you will have some kind of problems. Guaranteed! We take websites for granted and expect it to work all the time. But the reality is that there is a lot goes on behind the scene for any websites to perform at the basic level and we can't assume that it will always work. Why the thought of blaming everything on the WordPress core is flawed The possible areas that could problems with your site The possible solutions that could fix your site's problems Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode22

In this episode, I talk to Sharon Haver, a New Yorker, a Style Expert and a Personal Brand Strategist from Focus On Style. Having been online since 1999, Sharon knows the ins and outs about being online using your natural and authentic self to stand out from the crowd. Even before we hit the record button, Sharon and I have talked for 15 minutes just to have a fun chat. I had to remind myself and remember why we have connected in the first place...the podcast interview! But Sharon has shared some amazing insights about her online journey, the ups and downs, and how she got to where she is right now thanks to her online presence. Here are just a few things we talk about: what is the authentic star power and how it can make a difference to your online presence the importance of being authentic and natural online the benefits of just "going for it" when it comes to being online and creating content, like videos le

In this episode, I want to talk about an issue many, if not all of us, deal with. Things like imposter syndrome, anxiety, lack of productivity, feeling down. We all feel like that, and I'm not different. And just to be clear, I'm not just talking about only the entrepreneurs and business owners. It can affect everyone; employees, parents, carers, high school students, apprentice. One thing I like to do when I'm suffering from any of these feelings is to look at what I call my "Awesome Log". What is the "Awesome Log" and how to create one? It's a record or a log of everything awesome that you have done to remind you how awesome you are Any time you are doubting yourself, you just look at all of these amazing things that you have done You can do that capturing awesome that has happened via screenshots, audio, video, picture, text...anything Make it easy to access your Awesome Log e.g. Evernote, comput

In this episode, I talk to Eric Rosenberg from Personal Profitability, where we talk not only about his financial background and his journey from working in the corporate financial industry to running his own financial management company. On top of being a financial consultant, he is also a public speaker, podcaster and a professional writer. Here are just a few things we talk about: how working in the corporate financial industry has helped paved the way to running his own business his process of gathering ideas when creating content the benefits of automating and outsourcing tasks to save you time and speed up your tasks managements how you should use your unique experiences to stand out from the crowd how education has fueled his passion and drive his business success "If you have a secret power, no-one is going to hire you. Clark Kent, is just a guy who works at the daily news, no-

This is a different type of episode to the normal interviews. In this episode, I will be talking briefly about my excitement for this weekend's WordCamp Edinburgh 2017 and also how my experience has helped me to appreciate conferences and similar events even more. I have listed a few points that we should all think about the next time we attend conferences. Things to think about the next time you go to a conference or similar-styled event: How much planning goes on between different people within the team Working with venue organisers and accommodating the number of people attending The process of finding/using caterers and accommodating food requirements and allergy The importance of sponsors and not just for financial reasons The time and effort that speakers go through to put together the talks for you, regardless of whether they're getting paid or not Technology is important, such as those provided

In this episode, I talk to Andrei Polgar; an online entrepreneur who is passionate about economics and investing on "exotic" assets such as domain names. Andrei is also an author of Wealth Management 2.0; a book which is dedicated to those who are earning a living and making money online. As well as that, he also uses his niche and knowledge to create his own YouTube channel to teach his audience about economics in a 1-minute video format. This is a brilliant episode, not just to talk about managing finance, but also about using your niche to create content online and offline, as well as raising your own personal brand along the way. Here are just a few things we talk about: The purpose of his Wealth Management 2.0 book and why he created it How he overcomes his personal barriers to go out there and create videos on YouTube The impact creating content online has had on his profile Why you are wasting your time

In this episode, I talk to Gary Arndt from Everything Everywhere (not the UK mobile phone network); a popular travel blogger, 3 times Travel Photographer of the Year in the US and a podcaster. Gary has shared his story about he decided to go travelling in 2007 after working for many years. He decided to things differently by going to places that are not as known as others, teaching himself to be a travel photographer and recently releasing the Travel Photography Academy to help those who wants to get he most out of their photos when travelling. Along the way, Gary has explained how he used WordPress to make it the hub of everything that he does to grow his branding there and also gave advice about anyone else who start or grow as a travel blogger. Here are just a few things we talk about: how to stand out as a travel blogger in a competitive market the importance of making the most out of your photographs when travelling

In this episode, I talk to Carole Asselin (or Cassel as she is also known as) from Scrapbook Campus and based in Calgary, Canada. Carole has shared her story about the importance of storing your memories using digital version of a scrapbook. Thanks to her passion in doing so, she teaches others who can do the same, runs regular webinar and manages a community of people who wants to learn how to create a digital scrapbook for their most passionate memories. Along the way, Carole has also explained her journey of creating her business and how WordPress has helped her to do just that. Here are just a few things we talk about: the pros and cons of having a digital vs traditional paper scrapbook the importance of storing your memories and making it easier to share with others the challenges she faces for those who focuses on Photoshop and not her main tool, PaintShop why starting slowly is the best way to start and

In this episode, I talk to Alexandria Blaelock; an author, blogger and philosopher based in Melbourne, Australia. Alexandria has shared a powerful story on how a major health setback in her life has set her into making the most of your time and follow your passion. In this case, it is to write and publish books, which Alexandria has successfully done and continuing to do so. Here are just a few things we talk about: Making the most of your time and your life Standing out as an author in a competitive industry Taking the time to understand the logic of using WordPress The importance of patience in all aspects of life The process of creating content consistently and finding inspirations to do so "All of us, every single person has their own ways of expressing their thoughts and opinions. So, the way I might explain to you how you tie your shoe lace does not involve rabbits and ho

In this episode, we are doing something a little bit different. Normally I talk to awesome individuals who are doing something really awesome with WordPress. Today, I talk to Alban Brooke, the Director of Marketing at Buzzsprout, the podcasting hosting company, which is also the host of The IgniteRock Podcast. Here are just a few things we talk about: the story of Buzzsprout and the podcasting world the purpose of the WordPress plugin and why they have decided to build one advice on how to get started on your own podcast various ways on how to grow your audience "...almost half of podcasts are churches or nonprofits. And the reason for that is these are groups that are already putting together content every week. A pastor is putting together all week, and he gives a 45-minute talk. That's a tonne of effort put into a great piece of content. And so for them, it made sense. Even if you have a chur

In this episode, I talk to Erin Flynn; a web designer based in Aspen, Colorado but with a difference. Despite starting her career within the web design and development industry, as she focuses on helping other designers and developers to run their business more efficiently and effectively. I first spotted Erin after reading a blog about her 5-year self-employment anniversary and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to invite her onto the show and to talk more about her journey. Here are just a few things we talk about: the 18-year journey which led to becoming self-employment why being yourself has more benefits than pretending to be like others how keeping things simple when starting your own site is the best thing to do the benefits of consistent communications with your clients "...keep your clients happy while you're building them a website is a weekly email or a weekly check in. Where literally

In this episode, I talk to Emanuel Blagonic; a Croatian-native who has talked about the impact that WordPress has had in his native country and the community that it has built. The first time I met Emanuel was at WordCamp Belfast 2016, where he did a talk entitled "How WordPress Changed the Face of Croatian Politics". I was captivated by his talk and I knew I wanted to talk to him on this podcast and dive deeper. Here are just a few things we talk about: how, together with the community around him, he has built a portal to encourage transparency and communication with local authorities how WordPress has helped him to create a path in his life and make a difference to those around him being part of the WordCamp Europe network and the opportunity it provides to network with like-minded people why Emanuel thinks accessibility is the next big thing in web standards "...it doesn't matter if you are h

In this episode, I talk to Russell Aaron of WebDevStudios who shares his story from originally wanting to become a world-changing journalist and ended up as a WordPress expert. Russell, who is currently based in Las Vegas, works at Maintain which forms a part of WebDevStudio and a die-hard WordPress advocate who believes in its power to both transform businesses and lives. Here are just a few things we talk about: The generosity of the WordPress community How learning a little bit every day can make a huge difference in the short and long-term The reasons on why Russell wants to be a better role model "Start small. Read one article a day on WPBeginner and another one on Torque. So you're reading two articles a day. By the end of the week, you've read 14 articles and you've learnt. Now you know 14 different things about WordPress that you didn't know when you first started. And when you do that consistentl

In this episode, I talk to Anne Dorko of Dialect and Without Boxes who has been using WordPress to help create her digital nomadic lifestyle. Anne shares her story of how started from nothing into getting into WordPress and create a business out of it. Anne has worked her way up by creating WordPress themes and plugins via Dialect Pro and helping others to achieve their online objectives whilst also dreaming of being a freelancer and a digital nomad. Some of the things Anne and I talk about are: how the opportunity to experiment and "break" WordPress has helped her to grow her knowledge and subsequently her business how she likes to alleviate any fear that people have when it comes to working with their own website building plugins and themes which have helped to create passive income overcoming her imposter syndrome to help those around with their online projects "Success is very relative to what

In this episode, I talk to Julie Christie from Tea Break Tog, a community and course-based photography website which was built on the back of Julie's passion for photographer as well as the determination to have a business to revolve around her family. I first spotted Julie when watching and listening to a video podcast which featured herself and several other people. I was immediately impressed with her business and her branding, as well as enjoyed listening to the way she has conveyed herself and the pure determination to succeed. And I had a great time interviewing Julie. Some of the things Julie and I talk about are: the fear about going into the competitive photography industry how determination and persistance is crucial for the long-term success how both the ups and downs can help your business to succeed the tough grind in the beginning which ultimately convince Julie to adjust her business Julie's next

In this episode, I talk to Ben Usher Smith, a web designer and illustrator who runs his own design business and has been in the industry for over a decade now. I knew Ben from our regular chats during our local WordPress Meetup group in Edinburgh and it was apparent that he has huge knowledge in the world of web design and WordPress. He is never one to shy away from helping out others when they have a question for him. Some of the things Ben and I talk about are: what goes behind the scene for web designers how Ben's experience in "offline art" has played a big part in his web design career the process Ben uses to help get the most out of clients and web designer relationship how clients can make the most out of their web designer why he also uses Squarespace as well as WordPress ""A good designer should be looking at where you can communicate with their client. And if you are looking

In this episode, I talk to Steve Morgan, an SEO Freelance Consultant at Morgan Online Marketing, blogger at SEOno and various publications, as well as being a regular speaker at major conferences. I first originally got to know Steve via Twitter and after time has passed, we finally met each other at an SEO conference. Steve is someone I have always admired and respected for the way he conducts himself as a freelancer, speaker and writer. And is never one to stop short of sharing useful tips and advice. Based in Cardiff, Steve has been working in the SEO industry for over 8 years and has been working as a freelancer for the past 3+ years. A regular speaker at major conferences such as BrightonSEO, you will find Steve writing detailed and thoroughly useful guest posts including at State of Digital. Some of the things we talk about are: The journey to his SEO freelancing career His thought processes on how Steve creates his own per

In this episode, I talk to Shannon Mattern from WP+BFF, a community-based site where she helps you to create your own freedom using WordPress. I first spotted Shannon on Twitter when she was doing Periscope video on this subject and I instantly knew that I had to invite her on to the show. Despite being based in Ohio and with 5 hours time difference, we made it work. And not surprisingly, we hit it off which tends to happen when you are both passionate about similar topics. Shannon's site WP+BFF is where she has helped countless number to start building their freedom using Freedom. Shannon even offers a free 5-day email course on how you can quickly and easily build a WordPress site yourself. Shannon's site is WP+BFF and this where she has helped a number of people (or her "BFFs") to start building their freedom using WordPress. Shannon even offers a free 5-day email course on how you can quickly and easily build a WordPress site yourself.

In this episode, I talk to Gavin Bell from Blue Cliff Media, a social media agency who specialises in Facebook Ads. One of the main reasons for inviting him is because of that particular niche that he chooses to focus on. Gavin wants to stand out from the generic social media industry by choosing to niche down and it looks and sounds like he has done the right thing for his growing business. Gavin is someone that I have followed for some time online via Twitter, yet never met up with him before. He is a young entrepreneur but managed to start making a name for himself by being the go-to guy for Facebook Ads. It's not a surprise that everyone is talking about Facebook Ads and how powerful it is and Gavin has spotted that gap in the market where more and more brands are utilising it but necessarily seeing a return on their investment. Some of the things we talk about are: Gavin's journey to how he got to where he is today