wordpress-statsOver the past few weeks I’ve been checking some of my sites statistics a bit more closely to see where people go on the site. Where they come from and maybe how I can improve the site based on such numbers. One of the plugins I use for this is Automattic’s Jetpack (WordPress stats).

After a few days I noticed the trend where Google would send a whole bunch of people to my site from all over the world. Good. A few days after that I noticed that *every* language Google is presented in is shown as a separate site in my referrer stats.

So for the past weeks every day Google dominates my referrer stats rendering it completely useless to see where people come from. Why not just bunch all Google domains up in one entry/row so other sites get a chance to be visible too. This is kinda useless :(

That’s what someone said to me somewhere last year. He believes that in order for a company to be successful you have to please everyone. All the time. At any cost.

“You must please all the people all the time or you will fail in your business.”

But why? To me that makes no sense at all. You can’t possibly please everyone. And “all the people”? Why? People are not customers. They are potential users and hopefull will become customers at some point.

Sure if they come to you with genuine interest and questions. Do your utmost. Even if they peek at you. Try to get their attention and interest. But that’s about it.

Soon after this discussion with the guy I lost my job and decided to start my own business. This wasn’t a new idea. Just a means to an end in a poor economy. I had been doing a lot of development work in the past years already and found that pleasing the people who care for your product is more important and rewarding than supporting the masses.

Starting my own business gave me a viable way to finally do something more with AdRotate for WordPress. Spend more time developing ideas and work out new ways. As some of you may have noticed quite a bit has changed in the past 12 months.

Among other things, I have (finally!) brought support under one roof with the AdRotate site. Also I’ve tried to make support a bit more personal and friendly. I’ve tried to streamline the sites I maintain to make it easier for people to reach me and find information.

A bigger change is that AdRotate now has a premium version. And it’s fairly successfull so far. But it didn’t please everyone. If some are to be believed I’ve ruined their business. Well that’s too bad, if not spending 25 euros ruins your business it wasn’t a good one anyway. Others are just hugely displeased because I ask money for a product that was free before. I don’t believe those people were going to buy AdRotate anyway, even if AdRotate was a paid product from the start. It was a calculated risk and decision that I know will work out in the end.

Some others have been left in the dark because I simply had no time to help them with their projects. Over the past months I have turned down some projects and disappointed a few would-be customers for projects I simply had no time for. Unfortunate. And I hope they think of me for their next project. Perhaps I can make a better impression that time.

But then there are the heaps of happy and satisfied customers that I left in my wake. A whole bunch of them came back for more. Extra work. New projects. And some even said I’m their go-to guy for anything related to websites. Awesome stuff!

And that’s how it works for any company out there. It’s unrealistic, to say the least, to think you can please the world. It’s dumb to even try.
More realistic is to try your best in supporting existing users and customers and see that group grow and hopefully convert users into customers.

Today I’m turning 28. During the entire day you can use the code “ITSMYBIRTHDAY” to get 28% off on your entire cart. All products and combinations possible.

This sale runs on February the 9th (CET/GMT+1) only and is available worldwide! Don’t forget to apply the coupon code!

Check out the AdRotate Store here – Adrotate Store.

Am I that amazing? While investigating a Support Strategy for AdRotate using Twitter.

I changed my profile a bit and suddenly Twitter started comparing me to Matt Mullenweg. Maybe he’s almost as smart as me… But he kinda “invented” WordPress. I just make plugins and derp around with computers.

I wonder when I’m going to make my breakthrough…

That’s right! Tomorrow I’ll be a company owner… Woot!
I’ll be the master of the interwebs and can legally make money with it. That’s a nice improvement.
Lot’s of things to get going and setup but I’m actually excited and more nervous about it then i want to admit.

AJdG Solutions will be my moniker. And I’ve made a website! POW!
Take a look: www.ajdg.net. So far the comments are nice. People seem to like the site and logo. Which is good, i guess, for sure!

So there’s that. But seriously; if you need some help with your WordPress setup, AdRotate plugin or otherwise. As long as it uses PHP/HTML/CSS/MySQL and is not some proprietary thing. I should be able to help you out. This includes, theme and plugin customization or new code, just for you. Say you can’t find a certain plugin. Or your theme lacks that awesome feature. Or, you’re thinking of using WordPress but have no idea how. Get in touch! We should be able to work something out.

I’ll be bringing AdRotate including all of the services I provide for it under the companies wing including some other things I’m working on. You’ll see soon enough. Copyright notices changing and stuff. The plugin stays the same for the foreseeable future.