Make a Living by Giving It Away for Free
A WordCamp Toronto 2011 Developers Track talk delivered the same month as the Detroit version of this thesis, but framed around a single concrete proof: a free WordPress plugin built for a charity that reshaped the speaker’s consulting career. The Detroit version focused on the broader ecosystem case; the Toronto version focused on the personal one.
Where and when
- Event: WordCamp Toronto 2011
- Date: November 5–6, 2011 (exact session day not confirmed)
- Track: Developers Track
- Venue: George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Session page: toronto.wordcamp.org · Developers Track listing
Watch or read
This Toronto 2011 session was recorded for WordPress.tv:
The slide deck (42 slides, posted on November 9, 2011) is on SlideShare as “Make Money by Giving it Away for Free”.
The Detroit version a week later also has its own recording and a 40-slide deck on SpeakerDeck.
The premise
From the published WordCamp Toronto 2011 session listing:
“A presentation about how developing a free charity plugin for WordPress changed my career from struggling to stable, and why it’s possible for anybody to make a living with WordPress.”
The plugin behind the talk
The “free charity plugin” referenced in the abstract was a fundraising thermometer plugin built for a hospital — a small, single-purpose plugin that displayed campaign progress against a goal. Building and giving it away is what the speaker pointed to as the inflection point in his consulting career.
What I’d say differently today
Very little. Given the chance to redo it all, I’d still advise people to passionately invest in community first and be excellent at something — then success will find you.
Related talks in this through-line
- WordCamp Detroit 2011 — the recorded version of this argument from the same month
- WordCamp Ottawa 2013 — re-delivered framing two years later
- WordCamp Buffalo 2023 — twelve-year revisit
Related work
- Open-source plugins by the speaker: wpShadow · External Link Control · WebP Support
- Working with the speaker: WordPress services · Get in touch
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Pricing (CAD) Per Student
| Team Size | Price / Student |
|---|---|
| 1-3 attendees | $249 |
| 4-5 attendees | $229 |
| 6+ attendees | $209 |
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