Run The Show

I’m excited to announce the launch of my headless WordPress company, Run The Show. You may have seen this coming.

In my last post, Upside Identification, I wrote, “My position as a freelance WordPress developer feels outgrown”. Life’s good, my clients are awesome and I make a great living, but the page needs to turn.

My interests have diversified from their web development roots. For example, I’m at ease creating content about independent business and marketing because that’s where my curiosity lies. My love of business has overtaken my love of programming.

As my drive shifts my WordPress business has to move with it. It’s the journey of an entrepreneur. And I’ve been putting this off for a while.

Something’s telling me to push forward. Maybe it’s the effects of the pandemic, maybe it’s because I’m becoming less risk-averse as I age. I can’t give you a single reason. But I have an overwhelming feeling that I have more to offer.

I want to teach others through my experience. I want to create tools that help people save time and make money. I want to help more businesses than I can help myself using a technology I believe in.

It’s time for me to become a business owner. Because I can create more value this way.

Why Headless WordPress?

The WordPress space has been good to me. Since 2009, I’ve consulted on projects for the likes of the NHS, Umbro and Facebook. I’ve worked with 10s of clients internationally. We’ve built everything from marketing sites, global multisites, intranets, apps and custom APIs. All on WordPress.

People come to me for my WordPress expertise and I’m known as someone worth working with. I’m grateful for that and I want it to continue. My existing clients and our partners at Run The Show can expect more of the same.

WordPress is an amazing content management system. It’s easy to use, flexible and familiar. As of 3rd March 2021, WordPress holds a 64.4% share of the CMS market. The president thinks WordPress is a good bet too.

New headless CMSs are coming to market—what feels like—monthly. The problem is, they aren’t WordPress. I owe a 12-year career to people wanting WordPress and WordPress only. This need isn’t going away.

The introduction of React to WordPress core is what brought it to my attention. After spending time learning JavaScript deeply, React’s popularity made sense.

As I was pulled further into the world of JavaScript, I started developing side-projects with tools like Gatsby and Next.js. Including the site you’re reading this on.

Gatsby identified a common goal between their users and those that want to use WordPress early. It’s obvious to me why they market towards the headless WordPress approach:

• Security
• Performance
• Scalability
• Content repurposing
• Editorial familiarity
• Presentational control

This stack will take smart businesses far. (I wrote more about the benefits of headless WordPress in 2019).

I’ve been building headless WordPress sites for the last 18-months with clients looking to level up online, push past their competitors and become the best in class. To great effect.

I see the need for headless WordPress becoming greater in the years to come. I’ve never been more bullish on something.

Not everyone who uses WordPress wants to battle with page builders to get their content looking half-decent. Or wrangle with low-cost themes and free plugins that never actually get them the functionality they want.

There are many markets to benefit from headless WordPress.

The digital marketing industry is booming. I see it first hand from my friends in the space. WordPress/WooCommerce is the common CMS/eCommerce platform of choice for their clients. SEO is about competition. If you have a traditional WordPress website like everyone else, it can be hard to edge ahead. If you go headless, however, you open up options that aren’t available to the person ranking next to you.

Businesses are becoming more technical too. It’s not an option to dismiss digital. If you want to thrive online, you need a strategy and you need quality implementation from people who understand business; partners who know websites can always improve through testing, analysis and iteration.

This is where Run The Show comes in.

Our approach is search-loved and conversion-minded.

We build marketing sites that are fast to load and don’t look like themes.

We build WooCommerce stores that are easy to manage and get sales.

We build custom frameworks that allow you to roll out new sites quickly.

We build APIs from your WordPress managed data to use wherever you want to.

There’s a market of people who love WordPress that want to create custom content systems, use modern front-end frameworks and leverage rigid testing and deployment processes too.

It’s a perfect match because now, I only want to do the same.

When your niche expands, find one within it.