From writing code to teaching it on video, Aaron Francis has built a thriving audience by turning screencasting into a superpower. In this episode of plugin.fm, Aaron—developer, educator, and co-founder of Try Hard Studios—shares how screencasting became his most effective channel for teaching, connecting, and building trust with other developers. He unpacks what makes screencasting such a high-leverage tool, how it fits into your funnel, and why showing your face on camera matters more than ever in a world of AI-generated content.

Most software businesses struggle to get noticed, but the right influencer partnership can change everything. In this episode of the plugin.fm podcast, YouTube influencer and founder of Ferdy.com, Ferdy Korpershoek, shares how software companies can partner with influencers to reach new audiences and boost product visibility. With over 1.2 million subscribers, Ferdy has firsthand experience collaborating with brands and understands what makes influencer campaigns successful.

Developer marketing is a different game with its own set of rules, and being technical yourself doesn’t guarantee you’ll win it.

Product-led content is essentially creating content educating people how to solve problems on topics that are directly related to your product, either showing people how they can solve problems with your product or getting your product in front of people who are kind of researching solutions. Learn how to create effective product-led content, connecting customer pains while naturally showcasing your product, with expert insights from Tom Whatley.

Brand-driven content is losing its edge. Consumers trust real voices, not corporate messaging. So how do you tap into user-generated content at scale? Discover how to scale user-generated content, build community, and create high-value content efficiently with insights from Tamara Omerovic.

Acquiring new customers is just the beginning. Keeping them engaged and turning them into loyal advocates is where real growth happens. In this episode, Ashley Faus, Head of Lifecycle Marketing at Atlassian, shares proven strategies for building and scaling lifecycle marketing systems that drive retention and long-term success. With deep experience in both B2B and B2C, Ashley explains how to create meaningful customer interactions at every stage of their journey.

Building a personal platform isn’t just about posting online, it’s about creating a space where your voice stands out and attracts the right audience. In this episode of the plugin.fm podcast, Erica Schneider, founder of Cut the Fluff, shares how she built a thriving presence on X and LinkedIn with over 50,000 followers. She breaks down the difference between a personal brand and a personal platform, the key to becoming magnetic online, and why authenticity is more than just a buzzword.

Building authority as a solopreneur goes beyond expertise. It requires connection, trust, and persistence. In this episode of the plugin.fm podcast, Devin Bramhall, a growth advisor and former CEO of Animalz, shares what it takes to establish credibility and stand out in a crowded market. She breaks down how to carve out a niche, create content that builds influence, and develop a personal brand that attracts the right audience.

Fractional workers — or part-time employees — can elevate your business without the commitment of a full-time hire. In this episode, Margaret Kelsey explores how getting the right fractional marketing talent can help you reach your target audience, dominate your niche, and scale efficiently with limited resources. She also explains why SEO isn’t the silver bullet it once was.

Marketing often begins as a solo effort, but scaling requires strategic decisions about hiring a marketer, structuring a team, and growing operations effectively. In this episode, marketing leader Lindsay Tjepkema shares her insights on building a marketing team from the ground up. With a career spanning B2B branding across e-commerce, app development, and martech, Lindsay has collaborated with industry giants like Intel and LinkedIn, bringing a wealth of experience to the table.

This is the first episode of the season, where we unpack why Freemius CMO Goran Mirkovic is joining as the new co-host. We dig into why marketing is the bridge between a great product and a great business, how marketing is evolving, and why you should be really specific about whom you target and when. The episode also explores key themes like understanding your audience, avoiding common marketing mistakes, and the growing importance of being authentic and ultra-specific with your marketing. Goran also provides actionable advice on crafting simple but effective marketing strategies, the role of storytelling in connecting with customers, and more.

Vova Feldman is the founder and CEO of Freemius, an all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. With over a decade’s experience, he’s also an expert on pricing page optimization and the meaningful impact it can have on the sales process. And, because his company works with solopreneurs and SMBs, Vova has developed a deep understanding of his customers’ pricing models that further enriches his knowledge. In the final episode of plugin.fm season 2, Vova unveils common mistakes and shares strategies to optimize your pricing page for results that turn visitors into customers.

Jason Cohen is the founder of the renowned WordPress hosting company WP Engine. His background in building and scaling successful businesses means he’s not only a serial entrepreneur but also an investor and startup mentor. His journey as a founder includes various undertakings — including co-founding Smart Bear Software — which makes him an expert in growing businesses and organizations.

Joost de Valk quite literally changed the WordPress SEO landscape with his company Yoast. What started as a small bootstrapped product grew into a business empire with 140 employees and over 12 million websites using the product… And incredibly, this was just the beginning of Joost’s journey. In 2021, Joost and his wife Marieke van de Rakt exited Yoast, which set him on a new, exciting path into the world of investing with Emilia Capital, a fund he started with Marieke.

Amir Helzer is the founder of OnTheGoSystems, the company behind WPML, a leading multilingual plugin used by over a million websites. Originally, WPML was a freemium plugin, but due to unfortunate — even somewhat controversial — circumstances, Amir and his team decided to make the product paid only. This business model shift would end up transforming his company for the better.

Justin Ferriman is the founder and former CEO of LearnDash, a platform that he grew from a simple blog to one of the leading solutions in the LMS space through a mixture of aggressive marketing and clever ‘guerilla’ tactics that helped him take on bigger competitors. He’s a non-technical founder who approaches business with a competitive streak that’s seen him go from underdog to top dog in the eLearning industry.

Arvid Kahl co-founded FeedBack Panda, which he bootstrapped and later sold for a life-changing amount. He is also a published author and writes extensively about entrepreneurship and bootstrapping. On top of this, Arvid also hosts a weekly podcast called ‘The Bootstrapped Founder’. In this episode, he shares his insights about how software product founders can balance transparency and business strategy as well as why building in public can be life-changing.

Chris Badgett is the co-founder and CEO of LifterLMS, a popular LMS (learning management system) plugin for creating, launching, and scaling courses. So far, LifterLMS has helped achieve 8 million+ enrollments and 12 million+ completed courses and lessons. Chris is rightfully regarded as one of the leading voices in open-source eLearning and educational technology and discusses how software product creators can benefit from marketing through course creation.

Kim Coleman and Jason Coleman are two entrepreneurs who have shared the journey of building a software company. However, their mission has been much more than a professional partnership. They’re a married couple with two kids who’ve built a successful company and several software products together. In this episode, they discuss navigating personal and professional challenges while maintaining a harmonious marriage.

Matt Mullenweg is the visionary co-founder of WordPress and Automattic. The former is the biggest CMS in the world powering 43% of the internet, while the latter is one of the biggest remote global companies, employing 2000 workers and valued at $7.5 billion. Matt shares his insights and advice about navigating the challenges of a remote-first company and working with distributed teams — ranging from accountability and compensation to hiring and productivity.