iThemes FreelanceLab a ‘Life-Changing’ Event

Last week, we hosted the very first iThemes FreelanceLab—a special in-person event designed especially for freelance web designers, solopreneurs, marketers or anyone making a living building WordPress sites for themselves or clients. While we had originally planned to extend a public invitation to FreelanceLab to our entire customer community, iThemes Toolkit customers got first dibs and snatched up all 30 available spaces within the first two weeks of the event announcement. We weren’t sure what to expect for the response to an in-person event, but we were blown away by how quickly FreelanceLab sold out. “Although we’ve had small events like this in the past, it has been too long since we’ve had an in-person event where we get to meet customers, hear their stories and help them make progress on their hopes, dreams and goals,” iThemes Founder Cory Miller said. “We’re hearing more and more stories from attendees about how these two days with us were truly life changing for them and how they were able to make progress on their goals. Nothing is more satisfying than doing work with this kind of purpose, so we’re already planning the next events.”

Why Only 30 People?

FreelanceLab was a small event for a reason. Cory Miller, our Founder & CEO, explained it like this: “During the event someone actually said when they first saw the announcement they thought the limit of 30 people was a typo and missing another zero on the end. But we intentionally wanted a smaller group simply because it’s more intimate and personal, allowing us to personally interact with each attendee and each other.

Being around 30 people who are on the same journey as you are, sharing stories, including successes and struggles, is powerful. As I told the group, the biggest benefit from these is that you realize in a deep, profound way, “I’m not alone. Everyone has the same problems, just with different names attached.”

And then to have experts like Benjamin Bradley, Nathan Ingram and James Dalman to help you fill in the gaps of your skill or knowledge, or simply to get you unstuck is icing on the cake.”

A Sampling of the Sessions

FreelanceLab had a two-day schedule:

• Day One focused on amping up web design and development skills. Benjamin Bradley (“The Professor” at iThemes Training) walked through a crash-course on theme and plugin development, setting up SSL for ecommerce, server configurations and more.
• Day Two focused exclusively on business development, covering everything you need to know to successfully market your services, build residual income and maintain successful client relations.

What Attendees Had to Say

After the event, we emailed attendees to get feedback on the event. Here are a few of the great things we heard back:

“iThemes provides top notch tools, training, and networking opportunities for freelance web designers and developers. It you’re a freelance web designer or developer, you need to hop on board and grab an oar to row toward success with the iThemes team. If you don’t you are missing the boat!” –Georgia Butterfield, Freedom Ventures

“In thinking of the past few days with you and your team, one word comes to mind. GENUINE! I am truly thankful for getting to meet you and allowing all of us the time to get together, learn, and share in our prosperity. Having made friends and contacts from the group, we are already prosperous, now to take it to the next level.” –Dennis Bosse, Computing Consulting & Training

Meeting and networking with like-minded people (including Team iThemes) at the Freelance Lab was more fun and fulfilling than I could have ever imagined. The in-person push to take actionable steps to improve my business was exactly what I needed. –Ruanna Waldrum, readywebservice.com

“Amazing couple of days – besides everyone being totally brilliant, everyone was genuine – nice and totally awesome – looking forward to more encounters online and live” –Ronald Headley

“Cory, Nathan, Benjamin, and team — thank you so so so much for everything. This was a tremendously helpful two days and I am definitely planning to attend future events.” –Kate Newbill, 2FishWeb.com

So much knowledge gained from Freelance Lab the last few days. Thanks! @iThemes @corymiller303 @benjaminbradley @nathaningram @jamesdalman

— Mike Gillihan (@MikeGillihan) March 29, 2015

Get On the Waitlist for the Next FreelanceLab

We called it FreelanceLab, but it was more like FreelanceRetreat. These events are important because you are forced to take a couple of days to focus on yourself and your business. We’re already talking and planning more in-person, two-day workshop focused around business and marketing as well as iThemes Exchange and more, because of the impact they make in the live so our customers. We know you’re busy doing the work … but FreelanceLab is a great opportunity to invest two days in yourself and your business, for your present and future. Continuing your education is a must for success, plus you’ll meet other people that you can collaborate with and know you’re not alone. If you’re interested in attending the next iThemes FreelanceLab Event, be sure to get on the waiting list. We’ll be sending out information about our next in-person events soon.

Get on the FreelanceLab Waitlist

A FEW MORE PICS FROM THE EVENT