TL;DR; Find sites that have some sort of a WordPress problem. Contact the site owner and report the glitch (politely). At the end of the message mention that if they need WordPress help they can get in touch with you.
Earlier today I was doing some research. It was about how to better market one of our WordPress plugins that allows people to edit their ALT text of their images in bulk.
If you need to edit your images’ alt text in bulk check out Orbisius Media Property Editor
As I was researching I found a shortcode. Then I google that shortcode and noticed that lots of sites had pages where that shortcode wasn’t replaced. The reason is that the site owned has deactivated or removed a WordPress plugin and some content wasn’t rendering.
I searched for this shortcode: [wr_image
https://www.google.com/search?q=[wr_image
Initially, I was curious what that plugin was but then I realized that it doesn’t matter.
What it mattered was that I report the problem to each site owner and I include my info in the PS section of the message e.g. P.S: If you ever need any WordPress help let me know.
This reminded me about my early years when I was working as a junior developer. As I was working on my tasks I’d find glitches on sites. I’d quickly summarize it and report the glitch to the site owner. I’ve used email such as: bugfinder@mydomain.com. I’ve gotten a few job offers that way.
I was proud of myself for improving my attention to detail.
Some sites had emails published and others had only a contact form.
One of the sites was down because of a plugin error. I admire myself how persistent I can be sometimes. I have checked Google’s cache for that specific page and a contact widget popped up. I reported the error in the chat window and then moved to my next tasks.
Why do it and is it worth the effort?
It took between 5-15 minutes to contact each site owner because I needed to find their contact info. I also wanted to write a message that mentions that site’s issues.
I think it’s worth the effort because it will teach you to pay attention to details. Also it’s helping somebody is a good thing.
I have intentionally decided to include only text so the message lands in the inbox and not in the spam folder. My goal was to be specific and brief. I specified what the problem was, what caused it and which page was affected. I decided to list only one page to save me some time.
Subject: SITE NAME site suggestions for improvements
Message:
Hi,
I was researching about some WordPress errors and noticed that your site also has some an unreplaced shortcode on several pages and as a result some content won't render on your site.
The shortcode is: wr_row
The page is: /THE-PAGE-THAT-HAD-PROBLEM/ and possibly several more
The reason is that you have deactivated or removed a WordPress plugin.
P.S. if you ever need any WordPress help let me know.
Slavi
If the site didn’t have an SSL certificate installed I’d include this line:
Your site needs an SSL certificate as well.
What is the chance of somebody becoming a client?
Nobody can guarantee you success of any kind. The more effort you put into something the better chances you will have. The idea is to always follow this formula when you are successful or not. You need to find actions that produce the results you want.
Plan => Do > Analyze Results > Repeat
As a freelancer you have to accept the fact that you will need to contact at least 20-50 people before you get one or two replies. About 0.5 of those replies could be a good fit.
So find problems and report them to the site owners. I strongly believe that when you do good, good will come back to you in many different shapes or forms and you'll feel good about yourself.
Additionally, you’d help fellow site owners to improve their brand image.
Photo credit:
Sebastian Herrmann / @officestock / https://unsplash.com/photos/jzTQVxCyKYs
