We've made a few updates to our privacy policy. Removed a few items and also added a few items. We're not doing anything different or new, just updating our privacy policy to be current and give you a clear picture of what happens to your data in our hands.
Crisp.chat - no longer use their chat/support platform
FontAwesome - we stopped using their CDN
MailGun - we switched to Postmark to deliver our transactional emails from My Projectarmy portal.
Items Added
Postmark - we're using them to send our invoice emails and ticket replies
Vultr - they provide dedicated and virtual private servers
TrustPilot - we use them to collect reviews and send review invitations
Items Changed
Rocketbots.io changed to Respond.io - they changed their name, used to reply to social media and messenger apps support requests
Userback.io - added a link to their new privacy policy
Google and Facebook services - since both have offices in US and EU, we've updated our privacy policy to reflect that.Â
Awaiting Privacy Shield Certification
User privacy and safety of your private data is very important to us, and personally to me. ProjectArmy is fully compliant with the GDPR and CCPA privacy laws, and we've extended their protection standards to include ALL our users. And to go even a step further, we are working on receiving certification from the Privacy Shield.Â
What it is?
The EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks were designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission and Swiss Administration to provide companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States in support of transatlantic commerce.
The application has been submitted. So now we wait. I hope the next privacy policy update will include the Privacy Shield policy and certification.
We're frequently asked about the difference between the self-hosted WordPress vs. WordPress.com. Why should you pay for self-hosted WordPress if WordPress.com offers WordPress for free? Once you understand the basic difference between the two platforms, you'll see why one is better for a business website or a blog than the other.
Owning a House vs. Renting an Apartment
This analogy works well for non-technical users, in my experience, so I wanted to share it with you to help you understand the difference between WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com.
When you rent an apartment there are a lot of things you can and can't do. For example, you can paint the walls, hang shelves and pictures on the walls, you can put in your furniture and make that space yours.
But, there a lot of things you can't do with a rented apartment. For example, you can't break down walls, you might not be able to have pets, you can't add another room or any other major structural changes.
That's really how you should see WordPress.com. It's a commercial service by Automattic, a company that was founded by Matt Mullenweg (a co-creator of self-hosted WordPress and is in charge of it right now).
WordPress.com offers a free option for you to create a blog, which is limited to a set of sub-domains (e.i. myblog.home.blog). If you decide to have a custom domain (e.i. myblog.com), you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan. Also, if you buy your domain from a third-party registrar (e.i. GoDaddy, ProjectArmy, Namecheap, etc.), you will have to pay domain mapping fee in addition to your paid plan upgrade.
Since WordPress.com is a network platform (a building) all these WordPress.com websites/blogs are apartments inside this large building. In order to provide privacy and security for each website, WordPress.com places enormous restrictions on each website.
Some restrictions on the free plan include:
No custom themes allowed, must use their own themes (limited)
You have very little control over the design of your website
No custom plugins are allowed, you're limited to basic functionality
Your blog will have ads you have no control over
Limited control of content and no FTP access
No 3rd party advertising is allowed (e.i. Google Ads/Adsense)
No affiliate links are allowed
You can't track your traffic with Google Analytics
You can't have a custom domain
The paid plans begin to ease these restrictions, in one way or another. Each upgrade allows a set of functionality. But you have to be on a more expensive plan, like the Business plan, to get a decent amount of control over your website. That's just the nature of their business model.
These restrictions aren't a problem if you're just getting started and want something free. If you want a simple blog, WordPress.com is a good choice. If you want to monetize your blog or you're a business owner and need a website to generate leads and sales, don't you dare to get yourself an apartment and wonder why you're not getting the results (profit!) you need - get yourself a house (next).
Owning a House: Self-hosted WordPress
Self-hosted WordPress User Interface
The good news is, you don't need to take out a mortgage to own a self-hosted WordPress website and/or blog. When you own a house, you have full control over what happens to your house.Â
If you decide that the wall in the kitchen must go - get rid of it. If you want to own and breed tigers, go ahead and do it. There's no one stopping you, for the most part.Â
When you own a house, you can do whatever you want to make it your own in every way possible. That's exactly what you can do with a self-hosted WordPress website.Â
With a self-hosted WordPress website you can:
Upload your own custom theme and modify it as much as you like
Upload free and premium plugins as needed
No ads included
You can run third-party advertising (e.i. Google Ads/Adsense)
Include affiliate links in your content
You have FULL control over your content
You can track traffic with Google Analytics or any other 3rd party tracking platform
What a lot of people do is start with a WordPress.com blog, but quickly realize limitations. That's when they have to invest more money to convert the WordPress.com blog to a self-hosted WordPress.
Keep in mind, as with a house you are responsible for maintaining your self-hosted WordPress website. This includes making sure all plugins, theme, and core are upgraded to the latest versions, fix issues when they arise, etc.Â
There's a tremendous online community of service providers that can help you with WordPress issues, it's easy to find help and even get some free help through WordPress.org community forum. We offer free WordPress support on Twitter, you can tweet or DM us @wpmedic.
You can also find tutorials, guides, and videos about everything related to WordPress. You simply need to Google it. That's the beauty of WordPress being the #1 website platform on the web. A good hosting provider can also provide additional WordPress support as needed.
The Cost of a Self-hosted WordPress
At this point, you may realize how important it is for you to build a blog or business website using self-hosted WordPress - NOT WordPress.com.Â
With WordPress.com, you have a nice pricing page that lays out what your options are. With a self-hosted WordPress, it's a little bit more segmented and might not be as clear to some. So let's break it down a bit.
Required:Â You will need a custom domain, most .COM domains run around $12/year. Different domains (.co.uk, .eu, .ca, .org, etc.) will have a different cost.
Some hosting providers may include a free domain when you purchase hosting, either the first year free or free while subscription is active.
Required:Â You will need hosting compatible with WordPress:
Option 1: Shared hosting is the cheapest - $3 - $10/month usually paid annually (best for beginners)
Option 2: WordPress managed hosting - $10 - $25+/month either monthly or annually
Optional: Premium theme - prices range $40 - 100 one time fee
You can always use a free theme
Optional: Premium plugins - prices range $5 - 150 one time fee usually, some require subscriptions
You can always find a free plugin in most cases
Optional: WordPress help and support - prices vary (hourly, per task, monthly subscriptions, etc.)
For example, Â we charge $25 per small task. Usually, that's 90% of the work our customers need to get done.
Please note, a good hosting provider will include a free SSL certificate so your website is accessible through HTTPS. Some hosts charge for SSL certificates, so be wary of that and ask upfront.
For example, if you were to get started with a self-hosted WordPress website with us at ProjectArmy your first payment could be as low as $17. That's $12 for a .COM domain, which is paid annually; and $5 for the first month of hosting. Then, starting the following month, it would be $5/mo.
This is just an example scenario if you were to sign up with us.
Tips to Buy Hosting
Almost all hosting providers will show a monthly price on their pricing page, but that may be tied to a long term contract. For example, the monthly price will say $2/mo but you will have to sign up for a 3-year term ($2 x 36 months = $72).
Many hosting providers will give you a new customer discount, and when renewal time rolls around the price might double or triple. Pay attention to the fine print.
Shared hosting providers don't include backups of individual websites. If something happens to your website, you might lose it. Set up your own backups to Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.
Many hosts don't include malware clean up after a hack. They will either upsell SiteLock service or a similar third-party provider.
Remember, you get what you pay for. Multi-year deals on hosting are offered cheap because that locks customers in, prevents them from leaving early if the service is bad. Deals that are too good to be true usually end up with bad service, be it frequent downtimes or technical support being useless (we help a lot of people at @wpmedic because their hosting support couldn't help).
If you can, sign up for monthly hosting and then upgrade to a longer-term if service is good to get a discount. Remember, everyone offers 30 days money-back guarantee. So you do have time to leave if it's bad from the start.
If you have any questions and you're our customer, feel free to comment below or reach out to your dedicated support team. If you're not a customer, you can get help on Twitter @wpmedic be it a question or a problem with your WordPress.
Dr. John Demartini is a human behavior specialist, internationally published author, educator and profound authority on maximizing human awareness and potential. Dr. Demartini uncovers how business owners can gain more balance and clarity of purpose by aligning themselves with their highest values.
Dr. Demartini, as featured in internationally acclaimed film 'The Secret' explores the law of attraction, power of thought and application in achieving entrepreneurial success. He debunks myths on motivation and explains how negative self-talk is really the result of unrealistic expectations - a sign that we need to 'get real' with ourselves.
Having worked extensively with successful business leaders and multinational corporations on professional development, leadership and profit, Dr. Demartini reveals key teachings for entrepreneurial success and self-mastery.
A short clip from Brian Tracy's the "Total Business Mastery" seminar about the 4 Principles of Marketing Strategy. This video will answer your questions about your marketing mix including:
How do I get customers?
How do I determine my target markets?
Whats my competitive advantage?
Brian Tracy's 4 principles of marketing strategy are:
Specialization
Differentiation
Segmentation
Concentration
Watch the video to learn more about each principle and how to apply it to your business or SaaS startup.
Reframe the business or the product to the point where it becomes beneficial to the customer. This is what Malcolm is preaching in customer success tipping point through various successful examples and when you reframe it to the level where people think of it as different and more beneficial to themselves then people will buy it.
For instance, let's take the example of RCA radio which had been around for some time in the early 1920’s but the sales were low. David Sarnoff (American entrepreneur and radio and television pioneer) came along and did something different. He showed radio's market potential by live broadcasting the boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier on July 2, 1921. The broadcast had a phenomenal response.
Sarnoff revolutionized an existing product utility and made it highly appealing to the customers. He reframed the way people thought about radio in those days. However you have to appreciate in this video that it is the ordinary people from humble backgrounds that changed a product or reshaped an industry.
This is an excellent way of relating to the viewers as most of the people are not executive’s and people can relate back and find motivation to make changes in their personal lives or businesses and products as they only have to think with a different perspective.
However, there are setbacks to this process and the speaker is fully aware of this and gives the bigger picture right out with the examples of the shipping company and the transportation industry.
In his opinion the reframing of a product or an industry is an enormously significant and very challenging task to take on. It is not always easy as back in the early 1900s. The shipping industry was struggling and one person with an idea and a different perspective changed this industry to the point that it involved not only the ships, the cranes and the docks to be improved but the sales team had to be revamped as well.
The examples provided in the video by Gladwell will help you apply reframing to your business and your industry. Simply try looking at your business, product, or industry with a completely new set of eyes. You will see something different, something nobody else saw. Enjoy the video.
The most successful Enterprise SaaS companies know that growing revenue only through new customer acquisition is the less efficient way to scale. Rather, they understand that growing revenue within your existing customer base – through up-sells, cross-sells, and expanded use – is the most profitable way to scale.
In fact, Enterprise SaaS companies that grow revenue – and company valuation – by expanding revenue within their existing customer base also know the key to making this work is to focus on – and operationalize – Customer Success.
This deck is from a joint presentation called – Is Customer Success the New Sales? – that featured Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight and Tawheed Kedar, CEO of ToutApp.
Lean Startup is a disciplined, scientific and capital efficient method for discovering and building products and services that people love. Pioneered by entrepreneur and engineer, Eric Ries, the Lean Startup method will thoroughly change how you think about and practice agility.Â
Born from the struggles and ultimate triumphs of successful software companies, Lean Startups use rigorous experimentation, careful measurement, validated learning and pivot/persevere decisions to systematically produce happy customers and successful businesses.Â
In this talk by Joshua Kerievsky at the GOTO conference, you'll learn why this decade will be dominated by the Lean Startup method and what you can do to make it a part of your process.
McKinsey & Company’s research into SaaS companies serving large and mid-enterprise customers shows that companies with annual churn rates of 20% or more see slower growth in annual recurring revenue than others that manage to hold onto their customers.
Shawn Lankton and Brian Stafford from McKinsey & Company joined Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta as they double clicked into the findings of their latest SaaSRadar research.
How a great product experience can drive customer stickiness.
Why cross-sell directly impacts churn reduction.
How Customer Success teams are implementing proactive strategies to fight churn.
The most successful Enterprise SaaS companies know that growing revenue only through new customer acquisition is the less efficient way to scale. Rather, they understand that growing revenue within your existing customer base - through up-sells, cross-sells, and expanded use - is the most profitable way to scale.
In fact, Enterprise SaaS companies that grow revenue - and company valuation - by expanding revenue within their existing customer base also know the key to making this work is to focus on - and operationalize - Customer Success.
One of our servers, Finn, encountered an error at boot time today. Something called "kernel panic," where operating system has an error it can't easily recover from.Â
After troubleshooting the problem we decided it will be faster to bring affected customers back online by migrating them to a different server. All websites should be back online.Â
If you're still having issues, please contact our support team and we'll be happy to help.
Status updates for the incident can be seeing on our status page.
I do apologize to the affected customers for this downtime.Â
