In connecting with thousands of fellow WordPress professionals online, Kyle Van Deusen noticed that while many are amazing developers and designers, they don’t always have as much experience on the “business” side of things— especially when it comes to customer service.
Since his formal education is in business, a lot of the tips he’s shared along the way have been well-received and he thought it would be the most helpful way he could give back to the community that has given him so much: the WordPress Community!
No matter if you’re a freelancer or agency, there are 4 things your business must have to succeed:
- repeat customers
- referrals
- recurring revenue, and
- a reputation.
If these 4 things are in place, you’ll never go hungry. Unfortunately, all of these things rely on your client’s perception of you.
In his talk, Overdelivering: The Art of Exceeding Customer Expectations, Kyle Van Deusen will cover several actionable ways, from the first interaction you have until the project is complete, you can set expectations that will tilt the scales in your favor and set you up for success.
While many people think overdelivering means giving away things for free, working longer hours, and charging less, according to Kyle Van Deusen that couldn’t be further from the truth. It starts with setting the right expectations and setting your projects up for success, he says.
Kyle Van Deusen is the owner of OGAL Web Design, where primarily, he’s focused on building websites for small businesses.
He’s always had a soft spot for mom and pop shops, and entrepreneurs, and it’s where he tends to gravitate. While he thought his business would always be local, thanks to the magic of online networking, he’s now done work in over 7 countries!
Kyle Van Deusen, the WordPress community has been crucial to the success of his web design business.
“Nowhere else on earth have I see a community be so supportive and helpful. Along with a friend, we even started a community in September of 2018 that has become my daily hangout. It’s where I get and share ideas. It’s where I find support.”
Interestingly enough, Kyle Van Deusen once found WordPress intimidating, but through the “enormous community,” he was able to “start putting all the pieces together.”
After spending over 15 years in the print industry, Kyle Van Deusen accomplished his goal of getting a business degree. Knowing that owning his own business was always something he wanted for himself, he started looking at ways he could get out on his own. A friend came to him with a website problem, and other than tinkering a bit, he didn’t know much about web.
“After finishing their project, and a few for myself, I guess you could just say I got “the bug”. Not only did I enjoy the change of structure from print, I could see a path forward to start my own business,” he says.
Kyle Van Deusen officially started his web design business part time in January of 2017, while he still worked his day-job. The hope was that within a year he could get enough business to drop to part-time at his job and eventually leave it all together. 6 months later, he put in his notice and launched his business full-time… and haven’t looked back since!
After starting a podcast in 2018, Kyle Van Deusen really got into content creation and sharing helpful things he’s learned with others. WordCamp DFW 2019 will be his first “real” speaking engagement—which has him “both nervous and full of excitement.”
We are happy to have Kyle Van Deusen as part of our speaker line up this year.
You can tweet @kylevandeusen during his session, using the hashtag #WCDFW. Make sure to ask him about how he can make minute rice in 58 seconds, too!
If you haven’t yet registered for this year’s WordCamp DFW, head over to the Tickets page. See you there!