Interview with Kevin Muldoon – Blogger, Internet Marketer, WordPress Junkie
Hey pirates, welcome to another interview in our pirate interview series! This time we’re talking to a marketer and blogger who uses WordPress as the backbone of his online business. Kevin Muldoon shares his personal tips on how to make a career out of simply using the internet to your advantage.
(Here are the previous interviews in case you missed them.)
Interview with Kevin Muldoon – blogger, marketer and WordPress junkie
Kevin Muldoon is an online marketer and blogger who operates his main blog at kevinmuldoon.com. On the blog, he shares various reviews, tutorials, and tips on blogging, affiliate marketing, social media, technology, and WordPress.
Kevin has a very interesting story about how he got started and what led him to pursue a career on the internet. Originally I was going to summarize it here in two sentences, but that really wouldn’t do it justice.
… coding on a Commodore 64? Old school website creation in Notepad? online poker? partner sites? Do you run BloggingTips.com? Sell blogging tips to a super affiliate? Earn money with forums? martial arts? It’s all there. If you want the details, check them out about section on his website – It is Kevin’s journey as he tells it himself.
Now for the interview with Kevin Muldoon:
When and how did you start working with WordPress? Is there an interesting story here?
I used WordPress shortly after launch, but the original version didn’t do anything that similar scripts did. I tested it on a few websites, but it wasn’t until a few years later in 2006 when I started blogging regularly that I started using WordPress to create blogs and websites. Back then I was still using blogging scripts like Serendipity, but over time WordPress became the better option due to the number of plugins and themes available.
What do you think you would be doing now if WordPress didn’t exist?
I got into the online world years before using WordPress.
Ultimately, WordPress is simply a tool I use to build websites and publish content online. If WordPress weren’t there, I would use a different tool.
From a professional point of view, I would have gone a different route as I have written many articles about the WordPress platform. So while I would still work online, it would be unlikely that I would have freelanced that much.
What’s your technique for staying productive throughout the day?
I try to fit my work into my schedule. This means that I sometimes work twice as many hours in one day when I have different plans for the next day.
How do you define “successful”?
Too many people online focus on how much money they make, but to me the true definition of success is making enough money to give you the lifestyle you desire.
I enjoy sports, socializing and travelling. Working online allows me to do that.
If I had a choice of making $5,000 a month for 25 hours a week and $10,000 a month for 50 weeks, I would choose 25 hours as twice as many hours would make me less happy regardless of the extra money would do.
That’s not to say I don’t work hard when I have to. I just don’t think it’s worth working my way into an early grave.
The true definition of success is making enough money to give you the lifestyle you desire
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not WordPress-ing?
I also enjoy watching movies, playing games, and seeing friends and family.
What would you wish more people knew about WordPress?
It’s the one area that too many website owners don’t take seriously enough. Securing your website and making backups regularly is one of the most important things a WordPress user should do.
Who is doing things that are just cutting edge and incredible in the WordPress space right now?
However, I believe that one of the most important developments that we are currently seeing is hosting. Dedicated WordPress hosting companies have pushed other hosting companies to up their game and offer dedicated hosting plans for WordPress users. We’re now seeing features like offsite backups and website staging become commonplace.
Describe the WordPress community in one word.
What is the biggest threat to WordPress today? Other platforms like Ghost or maybe things like Squarespace?
If you look objectively at a platform like Ghost, it’s arguably a much better solution for bloggers. Everything is simpler and the dashboard has fewer distractions, allowing the blogger to spend more time blogging and less time managing the website.
WordPress needs to look objectively at what other platforms are offering and see what they are doing well.
What are your recommendations for a WordPress newbie?
Buy a good book on WordPress from Amazon, set up a test site, and then learn how to get the most out of the platform through trial and error. If you encounter a problem, you can use search engines to find solutions to your problem.
If I had to summarize this interview, I would say that the internet is for all of us. Only our own entrepreneurial spirit and our motivation bring us to our goal. Kevin saw the opportunity and he just took it. He used whatever tools and resources he could find to make a living online. What is your most important takeaway from this interview?
