Daniel Watrous

Back in 2008 I was feverishly trying to turn a few small websites of mine into something more than just a waste of time. I had invested as many as seven years into some of them. I worked through countless iterations. I change features and logos and colors and anything else that I could think [...]

UPDATE [9/1/2011]: This plugin is now available for download. Get details and training at http://mobilevideoforwordpress.com/ I’ve built a lot of membership websites in WordPress, and perhaps the most frustrating part is getting the video right. Video is one of the key components to communicating with your members. In fact, video should be used throughout the [...]

As marketer I’ve grown in my appreciation for the value of segmenting the contacts that are added to my email lists. In fact, just last week I created a very sophisticated email list segmentation framework for MemberWing to ensure that my membership websites can accommodate the sales funnel and user customization that I know will [...]

[UPDATE: read below to get free software] I recently developed a tool to increase the optin rate on my websites (and for my clients). During development I got to work with nearly all of the major email service providers. While many of them are very strong and offer some clever tools to make marketers more [...]

Pearl S. Buck wrote of a young man Wang Lung, a pre-revolutionary Chinese farmer.  The story begins on his wedding day, but unlike the opulent weddings that our prosperous culture is accustomed to, he woke in a three room stone house where he lived with his aging father.  A small curtain separated his bed from the rest of [...]

I recently released some software to all my subscribers. It’s an optin footer that greatly increases the optin rate for your website. In order to help people get maximum benefit from the footer, I held a webcast and installed it for a few websites, including customizations to make it fit with the website. The reason [...]

One of the books I’m currently reading is a biography on George Washington (His Excellency). In it, the author points out something that I think captured a pure, unfiltered glimpse into humanity. I always pause when I see that glimmer of raw humanity because it almost always applies to more of life than the small [...]

I just finished reading Tribes by Seth Godin last night. I learned a lot from it, but I think I could have learned a lot more. The book felt disjointed. In my opinion, the last third of the book provided the most value. What I most liked about this book was that it encouraged me [...]

Cool looking actor #1: “It’s the pentagon. Do you think we can just walk right in and take whatever documents we want?” Geeky looking actor #2: “Watch me turn this wrigley’s gum wrapper, a AAA battery and some titanium shavings from my laptop case into an instant bypass of this multi-million dollar security system”. Don’t [...]

Among premium WordPress themes, Thesis is one of the best I’ve seen. Thesis looks clean and professional right out of the box.  But what really sets Thesis apart from the others is its focus on my four pillars of good theme design; seo, speed, usability and productivity. SEO I’ve discussed these criteria in a previous [...]