Today I'm joined by my enemy, I mean friend -- frenemy? -- Brian Krogsgard.

All joking aside, I have an enormous amount of respect for what Brian has created over at Poststatus and for his outlook on the WordPress space.  If you don't know who Brain is, he's the publisher behind Poststatus. Poststatus is a mix of WordPress and industry news, with a paid for membership component. Those that join the ranks of the site, receive a members-only e-mail newsletter and access to a private Slack channel where other like-minded WordPress people hangout. Brian has been blogging about WordPress, at some capacity, for over a decade and this latest effort (the blog and the membership) is his all-in bet for making a run at becoming a full-time owner.

WordPress as a platform for paid content

Like previous guests on The Matt Report, we dive into what it's like to plan a membership website launch, and the specifics of revenue/cost structure. More importantly, the intestinal fortitude one needs to become an owner no matter what the business model looks like.

• $100k in second year revenue
• $30k in secured "startup funding" (e.g. sponsorship)
• 1 employee (himself) & 2 contractors

These bullet points provide a glimpse of business facts associated with Brian's new membership + partnership venture. My last guest, who recently purchased WPLift for $205k, generates a bulk of his revenue through affiliate linking and paid content spots. Poststatus plans to be part of a modern movement where independent content publishers create non-traditional revenue streams. And by non-traditional, I'm generalizing the typical ad or PPC model.

If you're thinking about starting your own membership site, or WordPress news site, this will be a great episode for you.

Interview with Brian Krogsgard of Poststatus

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/270670425" params="color=0066cc&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

Subscribe on iTunes

The links

• Brian on Twitter
• Poststatus
• Stratechery
• Bill Simmons Podcast
• Subscribe to my new YouTube channel!