Runners have a mantra that goes like this: “Nothing new on race day!”
After you spend hours/days/weeks/months preparing for a race, you know what works and what doesn’t. Stuff like which pair of socks slips down into your shoe, what fluids/fuel upset your tummy, and which shirt chafes your armpits. By the time race day rolls around, you don’t want surprises. You show up ready.
Well, I broke the “nothing new on race day” rule in every way possible for my inaugural episode of Genesis Office Hours (if you missed reading why I started it, catch up here). I’d never created an on-air hangout, done a live broadcast, or used the new webcam that my husband delivered 5 minutes before start.
The result? A very rough-around-the-edges first episode. But, hey, it was free admission and you get what you pay for. 
What We Talked About
I think about 20 folks joined in, which was more than I expected and awesome! It was a successful validation of an idea.
A lot of questions were around general development practices and freelancing as opposed to specific questions about the Genesis Framework, but that’s okay. Give the listeners what they want!
Some questions covered in this episode:
StudioPress & Genesis Questions
What do you feel are the most under used features of Genesis that all users should consider taking advantage of?
Do you use Genesis SEO straight out of the box or always install another plug in?
What Genesis theme do you find most useful when customizing websites for clients?
If Genesis was to come up with one Super! Feature!, what would you vote for and why?
Are there any common mistakes, or less optimal solutions, specific to Genesis that you’ve seen?
How do you use the new microformats in Genesis?
How do you get your theme published on StudioPress?
What’s the support requirements like when publishing a theme to a store like StudioPress?
General Design & Development Questions
What do you use to store your snippets and code?
Have you worked with Pods plugin?
When you start a new project, do you develop locally or on a live server?
Who is your web host?
What do you use as your starter theme for custom builds, have you used sandbox or similar?
Have you used Dynamik* or Genesis Extender* Plugin by Cobalt? What were your impressions?
Do you wireframe, and if so what with?
How do you test mobile responsiveness of a site?
Have you developed site with private content (w/front end login)?
Any tips for debugging sites?
What do you use to preview/edit CSS in the browser (vs. edit and push to server)?
Consulting Questions
Congrats on the 6-month anniversary of Utility. You’ve now also published Winning Agent. Is there more opportunity in the land of too many themes or in the land of too many freelancers?
How much time do you allow between announcing a price increase and putting it into effect?
How do you manage scope creep?
How much do you rely on face-to-face w/clients vs. email + docs?
How do you fire a client?
Watch it Here
You can catch the replay of Genesis Office Hours here! Pro tip: Skip to around minute 8 before questions actually start rolling (Wasn’t kidding about the rough around the edges part).
Show Notes & Links
Here are some links/references I mentioned during the hangout:
Curtis McHale – for great articles on Freelancing, Pricing, Client Work
Chris Lema – for notes on Membership sites and protected content
Scott Clark Kingsley – lead developer for Pods Framework
AuditWP – WordPress SEO audits
Deploying WordPress: What’s your Workflow?
Utility Theme for the Genesis Framework
Genesis Sandbox – starter theme
Bidsketch – proposal writing tool
ScreenQueries – Mobile testing tool that I couldn’t remember the name of during hangout.
Firebug
Genesis Extender – Tutorial showing things you can do with Genesis Extender
How I deal with Scope Creep
Free Photoshop Wireframe Kit (Rafal Tomal)
Schema & Genesis 2.0 (Yoast Tutorial)
Responsive / Mobile Menu tutorial
ami.responsivedesign.is – Taking Screen Shots of Mobile Views
Join Me Next Week!
I’m planning to make Genesis Office Hours a weekly occurrence. Meet me next Thursday (time TBD) for the next episode and have your Genesis Framework questions ready!