This Week Online Today With Ahmed Khalifa

If you are a regular user of WordPress, you would know that there are always updates to carry out within the core, plugins and themes. But there are certain things you need to do and know before you carry out any updates. In this short episode, we discuss exactly what you need to do. Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode34

In this episode, I talk to Luke Szyrmer from Launch Tomorrow. Luke is an entrepreneur who help others to launch their products fast by using the power of advertising to pre-sell your product. He is also a landing page expert which plays a part in this process and we will go to in more details about that. Luke is also an author of a book, which has played a great deal in his business and naturally uses WordPress to create and elevate his online presence. Here are just a few things we talk about: the areas that people ignore when it comes to optimising landing pages how you can test the market and create like an 'MVP' before you launch your product or service being in a niche area which you can (almost) create yourself how being an author has helped to open doors for him and add credibility to his ready-made skills "...the best language to use isn't yours. It's your customers'" - Luke Szyrmer Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode33

In this episode, I talk about the power of challenging and how important it is that you continuously test your limit to help you grow as a person but also to make it exciting and memorable too. After setting my personal challenges, I realised the benefits of doing so and I wanted to talk about it in order to encourage you to do the same. Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode30

In this episode, I talk to John Lagoudakis; an internet marketer who was in the Top 100 Clickbank Affiliate and featured in various publications such as CNN Money, Forves, Fortune and Inc. After deciding to start his own business, John has had many ups and downs, including having his income dropped by 90% overnight because of circumstances out of his control. Now, John helps other develop their own traffic generation strategies and run a membership community of like-minded entrepreneurs. Here are just a few things we talk about: the backstory to being "slapped by Google" and losing his revenue overnight what made him decide to start his own online business and stop "chasing the money" the benefits of giving things away for free and how it can help you to be successful how being a perfectionist can hold your business back "It's good to do your best, there's nothing wrong with that. But don't expect everything to be perfect before you go live to sell a product, before you launch...it's not going to happen

In this short n' sweet episode, I talk about the importance of...you've guessed it...persistence. It's a small thing that can have a dramatic impact in your life. Without it, you will not be able to become an expert, a specialist, the go-to person. Without it, you will not grow, you will not inspire and you will not change your life. Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode30

In this episode, I talk to Sean Campbell; the co-founder of Cascade Insights in the B2B market that specialises in technology market research. Sean has many years of experience within the technology business, but you don't have to be in the same industry to learn from Sean in this fantastic episode of The IgniteRock podcast. From choosing to specialise in a niche industry, to using content to help attract clients, to how WordPress has helped his team, there are plenty of advice and insights to learn from Sean. Here are just a few things we talk about: the benefits of not being a generalist in your industry the power of his content and how it has helped his business to attract clients using personas to help be more specific with their target market the impact of getting rid of his most popular content to help his business in the long-term how WordPress has played a crucial role in his team's content creation and for the business "If you don't have a really clear sense of where you want your business to

In this short n' sweet episode, I get deep and personal about how much WordPress means to me, not just in my business, but in my lifestyle. Those who know me will know that I like to be involved with the WordPress community as much as I can, it's a big part of why I love WordPress. But there are other reasons why WordPress means a lot to me and I talked about this briefly in this episode. Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode28

In this episode, I speak to Jaime Slutzky from; a Canadian based near Seattle, Washington. As well as being a WordPress developer and an online technology consultant, Jaime also helps her client with running a virtual summit to grow and leverage their business. Jaime has shared a very interesting story about using her computer science and "geeky" background to help other people to overcome their tech barriers which is holding back their ability to grow online. And using virtual summit with WordPress is a unique way of doing that. Here are just a few things we talk about: what is a virtual summit tech and how it helps businesses to grow the benefits of "following someone else's script" to help with your learning experience how Jaime helps to ease the clients' experience in using WordPress the important transition from being a freelancer to a business owner "You can follow someone's blog, you can follow someone on YouTube, you can follow someone on their Facebook page. You can meet them where they're at a

In this episode, I go personal about my journey with podcasting so far and what do I get out of it. When you listen to podcasts, you don't really think about what happens behind the microphone. I certainly didn't until I researched more about how it works and then gradually deciding to do it too. But after 26 episodes, I'd like to think that I'm getting the hang of this and I can share my own experience about why I am doing this and what I am getting out of this...and it's not necessarily reaching more people and bringing in business. Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode26

In this episode, I talk to Ian Farrar, the Founder & Managing Director of Far North;  sales & marketing consultancy with a passion to drive growth in the North-East of the UK's manufacturing and technology industry. Ian shares a very personal story on how he had suffered burnout and got admitted to hospital after a highly-pressured sales role. Now that he has overcome that journey, he has decided to work on his own term but also make it a priority to look after yourself. Here are just a few things we talk about: how burnout can totally shut down your body looking after yourself is crucial in business and in life the importance of remembering not how much money you make, but how you make it how immersing yourself into learning as much as possible can make a big difference in your business "If any sales people listening to this...cool your jets! Keep the relationship going and you'll get across the line. People often get messed up when they don't get that sale. It's a no...it's a 'not now'. Just k

In this episode, I talk about our working environment, whether you are in self-employment or employment, and how shaking it up a bit can boost your productivity. It's so easy to get comfortable and stuck in our habits. But how do we know whether it's helping us to work at our maximum capacity or not? There are a few tweaks here and there which can dramatically improve your productivity at your work. These can include: work in a different environment the perils of working in your pyjamas listen to the right type of music use technology responsibly Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode24

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 https://www.igniterock.com/episode23

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 learn about how everything works together; the messaging, language, branding as well as your appe

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, computer desktop, notes on your phone, etc. Shownotes are available on https://www.igniterock.com/episode20

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-one knew any different. He had a day job. But Superman, when the real super power came out and you're out changing the wo

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 by the audio and video specialists, and how WiFi is not always reliable How much effort you and everyone

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, money and resources if you are looking for a custom CMS The importance of being out there in th

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 why always recommend other bloggers to use WordPress why one of the best decision tha

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 grow your business Carole's early experience on using WordPress and how persistance pays off eve