{"id":513,"date":"2015-04-19T14:00:20","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T04:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2015.brisbane.wordcamp.org\/?p=513"},"modified":"2015-06-30T11:13:17","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T01:13:17","slug":"speaker-ben-maden-wouldnt-life-be-better-without-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-ben-maden-wouldnt-life-be-better-without-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker: Ben Maden &#8211; Wouldn&#8217;t Life Be Better Without Clients?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_511\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-511\" class=\"wp-image-511 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/2015.brisbane.wordcamp.org\/files\/2015\/04\/ben-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Ben Maden\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/ben-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/ben-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/ben.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/ben-1000x1000.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-511\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Maden<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A prospective client calls us\u00a0wanting work &#8211; Yay!\u00a0<\/span>They get into complaining about their existing web developer. They&#8217;re a good dev, we\u00a0know them.\u00a0Where did it go wrong?\u00a0Is the client crazy?\u00a0This is a classic problem that happens the world over to web designers\/developers.\u00a0It causes us (and the clients) pain and stress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Ben will talk about this common problem and address some questions such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">How can we get it right?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">Why do clients cause us pain?<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">How bad can this pain get? (Including a confession or two from Ben).<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">How can we take control of our lives?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ben can teach you how to create a plan and compare our industries business model agains other professional services that handle client service relationships, instructions, variations and billing such as\u00a0builders,\u00a0lawyers,\u00a0accountants and\u00a0plumbers. There&#8217;s a lot we can learn from this!<\/p>\n<p>At the end of Ben&#8217;s presentation you&#8217;ll leave with the following take aways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An action plan to solve your issues.<\/li>\n<li>You&#8217;ll make sure you&#8217;re never\u00a0the designer or developer that\u00a0clients whine about!<\/li>\n<li>Make sure you have your docs and contracts in order.<\/li>\n<li>You&#8217;ll learn how to reach out for help from your peers!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ben Maden founded <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mattersolutions.com.au\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Matter Solutions<\/a> in April 2000 and remains the lead web consultant today. While Matter Solutions originated in London, UK, the company took on Australian clients when Ben emigrated to Brisbane in November 2006.<\/p>\n<p>Ben does lots of different things\u2026 roughly in order of frequency the tasks he performs include\u2026<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Working with clients and prospective clients to plan projects.<\/li>\n<li>Communicating plans with team members and project managing progress.<\/li>\n<li>Coaching team members.<\/li>\n<li>Coding \u2013 Headphones on and coding funky (mostly back-end) stuff.<\/li>\n<li>SysAdmin \u2013 Keeping the infrastructure humming along.<\/li>\n<li>Blogging \u2013 Writing about stuff that happens and how to do things.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can follow Ben on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mattersolutions\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>See this and other great talks<\/h3>\n<p><a class=\"button cta\" title=\"WordCamp Brisbane 2015 Tickets\" href=\"https:\/\/register.eventarc.com\/29601\/wordcamp-brisbane-2015\" target=\"_blank\">GET TICKETS NOW!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A prospective client calls us\u00a0wanting work &#8211; Yay!\u00a0They get into complaining about their existing web developer. They&#8217;re a good dev, we\u00a0know them.\u00a0Where did it go wrong?\u00a0Is the client crazy?\u00a0This is a classic problem that happens the world over to web &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-ben-maden-wouldnt-life-be-better-without-clients\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"assistive-text\">Speaker: Ben Maden &#8211; Wouldn&#8217;t Life Be Better Without Clients?<\/span>  <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13428714,"featured_media":511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Speaker: Ben Maden @mattersolutions - Wouldn't Life Be Better Without Clients? http:\/\/wp.me\/p5LFb3-8h #wcbne","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,5015],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-speaker"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/ben.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5LFb3-8h","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":524,"url":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-helena-denley-leveraging-your-skills-moving-from-one-on-one-client-work-to-creating-your-first-online-course\/","url_meta":{"origin":513,"position":0},"title":"Speaker: Helena Denley &#8211; Leveraging Your Skills &#8211; Moving From One-On-One Client Work To Creating Your First Online Course","author":"Bronson Quick","date":"April 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We just keep bringing you awesome speakers! So here's another inspiring speaker, Helena Denley! Helena will be teaching you how to leverage your existing skills to create an online course. Are you a freelancer who is at\u00a0capacity with clients but aren't earning the income you would like to be? Are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Announcements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/Helena-Denley.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":442,"url":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-jen-jeavons-woocommerce-case-study-coffeebeansdelivered-com-au\/","url_meta":{"origin":513,"position":1},"title":"Speaker: Jen Jeavons &#8211; Woocommerce Case Study &#8211; coffeebeansdelivered.com.au","author":"Bronson Quick","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We're happy to announce yet another speaker to our lineup. Jen Jeavons from\u00a0Pixel Palace\u00a0will be giving a WooCommerce case study. Coffee Beans Delivered is Pixel Palace's very own eCommerce project. Conceived after years of building online stores for clients they\u00a0thought it would be fun to put our money where our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Announcements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jen Jeavons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2015.brisbane.wordcamp.org\/files\/2015\/04\/Jen-Jeavons-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":864,"url":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-jo-grey-why-isnt-my-beautiful-website-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":513,"position":2},"title":"Speaker: Jo Grey &#8211; Why Isn&#8217;t My Beautiful Website Enough?","author":"Bronson Quick","date":"May 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We're adding yet another fabulous speaker to our lineup for WordCamp Brisbane! Jo Grey will be teaching you why having a great looking website isn't enough. Jo will give you 3 tips to help web designers get the right content from clients\u00a0and soome easy-to-use sites designers can refer their clients\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Announcements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/05\/Jo-Grey.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/05\/Jo-Grey.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/05\/Jo-Grey.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/05\/Jo-Grey.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/05\/Jo-Grey.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/05\/Jo-Grey.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":636,"url":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-tracey-porst-writing-and-design-for-successful-content-strategies-words-images-and-interaction\/","url_meta":{"origin":513,"position":3},"title":"Speaker: Tracey Porst &#8211; Writing and Design for Successful Content Strategies \u2013 Words, Images and Interaction","author":"Bronson Quick","date":"April 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For years we've been hearing the phrase, \"content is king\" but producing great content is definitely an acquired skill. Our next speaker, Tracey Porst will\u00a0give you industry insights into how you can prepare\u00a0an effective content strategy for your business and\/or your clients. Tracey Porst will be discussing her process for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Announcements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/tracey-porst.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":419,"url":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-troy-dean-recurring-revenue-is-the-holy-grail\/","url_meta":{"origin":513,"position":4},"title":"Speaker: Troy Dean &#8211; Recurring Revenue is the Holy Grail","author":"Bronson Quick","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We're very pleased to announce another speaker for WordCamp Brisbane 2015! You might know Troy Dean from his WP Elevation Podcast, if not you should definitely subscribe and catch up on the past episodes as Troy interviews both WordPress focused business owners as well as digital business entrepreneurs and thought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Announcements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/troy-dean.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/troy-dean.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/troy-dean.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/files\/2015\/04\/troy-dean.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":815,"url":"https:\/\/brisbane.wordcamp.org\/2015\/speaker-kel-santiago-contributing-back-to-wordpress-why-its-important-for-your-business\/","url_meta":{"origin":513,"position":5},"title":"Speaker: Kel Santiago &#8211; Contributing Back To WordPress \u2013 Why It\u2019s Important For Your Business","author":"Bronson Quick","date":"May 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Monday all! You should read about our next speaker, Kel Santiago, while your second coffee is kicking in for the day. Kel will be talking about why your business should contribute back to WordPress why\u00a0it's important for your business. 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