Kingpin interview with Ben Pines
Q1: What is your background, & what was the first time you became involved in WordPress?
The year 2006 was the time I embarked on my journey into marketing by working at the SEO agency. It was the wild west of SEO, back when all you had to do to earn the sweet Google traffic was create an informative website, and then link back to the site of your client. It's what I did. I actually managed to get the WordPress site that I created with the sole intention to promote my client's business high ranking. It was then that I discovered the power of WordPress. I recall a disagreement with my boss, who was one of the leading SEO figures in Israel He claimed that WordPress was a platform built exclusively to be used for blogs. He believed that it wasn't suited to other types of sites. I'm grateful that I held my decision to stay with WordPress.
I then went on to establish my own venture, which was managing several WordPress-based affiliate websites. I managed them for seven years before I started my new job as the CMO of Elementor Page Builder about two years ago.
Q2: What should readers be aware of regarding all the things you're doing in WordPress these days?
The goal of Elementor has been to significantly improve how people design websites using WordPress. One of the biggest drawbacks to WordPress is always regards to design. We have set out to bring the latest design features to WordPress, empowering designers to accelerate and improve their design workflow. Designers do not need to depend on developers to support them with any small changes they have to implement. You can use our visual and live editor to build any web page they can imagine, at less than half of the amount of time it used to require.
What we're doing in WordPress these days is geared to achieving our goal. In the relatively short period since we launched, we've were able to sign up hundreds of thousands WordPress users. The majority of them have chosen Elementor for their primary tools for designing, and they are very accommodating in their feedback. We plan to continue to improve and expand Elementor's capabilities for Elementor's free users and our paid customers. Apart from developing our page builders, we're working hard on delivering videos of higher quality as well as supporting the growing community of Facebook (now at over 7,000 people) and communicating further through our blog, through related blogs to WordPress and also by attending WordCamps.
Q3: What obstacles were you faced in gaining access up to the level you're at professionally?
One of the biggest challenges I've faced in my career has always been to determine what action I should do next, in order to make the most influence on the progress of the idea I'm involved in. Marketers must constantly make choices in the face of uncertainty. The constant struggle can be divided into the kinds of questions you have to answer on every day basis:
- How can I acquire a well-rounded marketing skillset, with a focus on each one?
- How do I better comprehend my target audience and prospective clients?
- What can I do to use the present state of the project as a platform to increase the leverage growth?
- What can I do to overcome the primary objection customers have against advertising, and win the trust of the customer?
When I started working on Elementor the various problems and other issues constantly came up. We entered a market that was already home to numerous well-known page builders. Our goal was not just to welcome new customers as well as convince existing customers to switch from their existing page builders, the tools that they worked using. It's not an easy task. It's been an ongoing problem, however this difficult element is what makes me love marketing so much.
Q4: What has surprised you while coming up in the WordPress world?
I thought I knew WordPress in the fullest, after using it on my own websites for years. When I began working on Elementor and Elementor, I realized that I really knew nothing about exactly how WordPress community really operated, and the best way to be influential within. If you run an WordPress company, being well-integrated and being a part of the community isn't the easy task you believe. This isn't just about going to WordCamps.
Contrary to the rather homogenous community such as the marketing community or design communities, WordPressers are an eclectic group. From newbies, hard-core developers to blogger users, you need to ensure that your products cater to many different users, as well as you have to know what kind of persona each member whom you're interacting with is related to and modify your communication and language skills in line with. When you consider that many WordPress communities are closed circuited, it makes introducing your new product even harder. Being a part of the existing community or creating your own requires a lot of work. However, like we've seen, it's a necessary step towards growing your WordPress based business.
It is important to highlight the immense benefits of the WordPress community as well. There was a huge amount of support from every angle of the equation, from Podcasters like Lee Jackson and Kim Doyal to developers like Josh Pollock, and everyone who was among the first to adopt WordPress and helped us in the very first moment.
Q5: What does the future look like for you in the WordPress world?
Here at Elementor We're in the long game, and our goals are lofty. In the near future it is possible for Elementor to move beyond the level of a page and move into the entire WordPress design and development level of the website. It's already happening with our Nav Menu release, and it can be anticipated to expand more in the coming years.
Q6: What should you look for in the best WordPress hosting service?
Alongside Elementor I also manage my own website assets, so I have over 10 years experience dealing with hosting providers. This is the feature that I consider the most essential:
Backups frequently, HTTPS and HTTP/2 support the fastest servers, secure FTP access, unlimitable storage, experienced support servers that are close to my intended public or CDN across a range of locations.
Q7: What activities do you do when you're not from your computer?
I've been involved in Improv theater and hope to come back to it as my children get older (ages 4, and 1; I am focusing on them currently). I enjoy great films (Lost In Translation) and great television shows (Fargo Season 3) as well as stand-up comedians (Bill Burr) and fantastic books (Artist as well as Margarite). My passion is writing, and I am trying to write not only for the Elementor blog, but also for other blogs.
Q8: Whom are we going to interview next & why?
Brian Jackson
Brian is a huge fan for WordPress, has been using it for over a decade, and even develops a couple of premium plugins. Brian is a fan of movies, blogging as well as hiking. Follow Brian on Twitter.