Naomi C Bush

Naomi C Bush is an Atlanta, Georgia-based WordPress developer. Naomi discovered the Internet at a young age when she was involved in a technology group for kids. With that group Naomi learned how to build webpages, and found she was good at it. In fact she entered a webpage building contest and won her first computer as a result of her talents! Today, Naomi is still creating things on the internet.

Naomi started building software when she was working on a client’s project. Naomi saw an opportunity to connect Stripe and Gravity Forms in order to make a more seamless payment option. She developed the software, which she named gravity+, and uploaded the plugin to the WordPress Repository.

From there, Naomi started receiving donations for her work. Three years later, WordPress users are still paying for her plugin.

Between the success of gravity+ and Naomi’s involvement on a chat room for developers, Stripe approached Naomi and asked if she would be interested in working for them. Naomi accepted a position as a support engineer, helping customers with Stripe integration.

A year later, Naomi had her son and decided her time was best spent freelancing. She realized that WordPress was her first love, so she got back into working with WordPress and Stripe. Naomi also organizes a monthly WordPress developer meet up in her community.

Although Naomi never wanted to be a programmer, today she spends most of her time coding and providing support to her customers.

As a business owner and a mother, Naomi doesn’t have time to sit and wonder what she should do next. She says she always has a list, and she just keeps crossing things off. Naomi is sure to not get caught up in society’s glamorization of staying busy, and makes time for her family and the other things that matter in her life.

Join us on today’s show to get Naomi’s insight into meeting customer’s needs, tips on time management, and the importance of specialization on this week’s WP Elevation Podcast.

Elevation Round

Q: What’s the #1 thing any freelancer needs to know?
A: Boundaries.

Q: What’s the best thing you’ve done to find new customers?
A:  Build a plugin and make it available for free.

Q: How do you stop competing on price?
A: Specialization.

Q: Any tips for writing better proposals?
A: Specialization really helps. I’m very specific and I’m very clear, I know what my sweet spot is, and that’s what I stick to.

Q: What’s your favorite CRM tool?
A:  Trello is pretty much my go-to tool. I was actually just introduced to Streak.

Q: What’s the best way to keep a project and a client on track?
A:  Know what your sweet spot is. Know where you work best and stick to those projects, which are very specific.

Q: Any ideas for getting referrals from existing customers?
A: First of all, you have to do a great job; and second, ask.

Q: What’s the #1 thing you can do to differentiate yourself?
A: Specialize. There’s a reason why I keep saying that, people are afraid to specialize. There’s nothing to be scared of.