WP Buffs

How Joe Howard Built WP Buffs To $1.2M ARR

Joe Howard
Founder, WP Buffs
$100K
revenue/mo
WP Buffs
from Washington D.C., DC, USA
started January 2016
$100,000
revenue/mo
market size
$431M
avg revenue (monthly)
$57.5K
starting costs
$11.7K
gross margin
90%
time to build
210 days
growth channels
Organic social media
business model
Subscriptions
time investment
Full time
pros & cons
39 Pros & Cons
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WP Buffs is a WordPress technical partner who will fully manage, secure, and speed up your WordPress site for a monthly subscription.

Monthly Revenue
$100K
Score
95 πŸ”₯
Employees
(est.)
Monthly Traffic
198,333
Profitable
Yes
Year Started
2016
Customer
B2B & B2C
Revenue Per Visitor
$0.50

Who is Joe Howard?

Joseph Hirschhorn Howard is the founder and CIO of WP Buffs, a WordPress website management service provider.

Before starting WP Buffs, Joe worked as a User Experience Strategist at Salient CRGT, an American technology company that offers agile software development, data analytics, mobility, cybersecurity, and IT infrastructure services.

Joe holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Haverford College.

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What problem does WP Buffs solve?

How did Joe come up with the idea for WP Buffs?

Joe was struggling to scale his WordPress developer side gig. Building websites was a highly personalized experience for each client, and freelancing was consuming too much of his time. Although he was busy, he felt like he wasn't making much progress.

That's when the idea for WP Buffs was born. Joe wanted to move away from building WordPress websites and find a business model that would allow him to 1) generate recurring monthly revenue and have predictable income, and 2) grow a self-sustaining business.

Instead of charging a high fee to build a website for a few clients, Joe decided to charge a smaller fee to manage the websites of many clients. He structured his pricing like a SaaS company; clients would make a monthly payment to have a technical WordPress partner.

How did Joe build the initial version of WP Buffs?

Joe Howard built WP Buffs by quickly creating a minimum viable product (MVP) website using his extensive experience. He launched the site within a few days, adhering to lean methodology principles.

As he developed the website, he also established internal systems for managing plugins, themes, core file updates, security, performance, backups, and uptime monitoring. Additionally, he assembled a remote team to provide 24/7 support, enlisting developers who had collaborated with him on past projects.

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A snapshot of WP Buffs Landing page from 2015

What was the growth strategy for WP Buffs and how did they scale?

Since the beginning, WP Buffs has primarily relied on inbound marketing as their main customer acquisition channel.

Their approach revolves around creating and sharing valuable content that people discover through Google searches. This marketing strategy has proven highly effective, as most of their traffic consists of individuals seeking solutions to WordPress-related issues.

In addition to this, they have actively engaged with the WordPress community by participating in WordCamps, delivering talks, and sponsoring events to increase WP Buffs' visibility and contribute to the open-source environment.

What's the pricing strategy for WP Buffs?

WP Buffs offers five pricing plans:

  • Maintain @ $79/Month
  • Protect @ $159/Month
  • Perform @ $219/Month
  • Custom @ $347/Month
  • Custom Pro @ $447/Month

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WP Buffs pricing as of June 2024

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More about WP Buffs:

Who is the owner of WP Buffs?

Joe Howard is the founder of WP Buffs.

When did Joe Howard start WP Buffs?

2016

What is Joe Howard's net worth?

Joe Howard's business makes an average of $100K/month.

How much money has Joe Howard made from WP Buffs?

Joe Howard started the business in 2016, and currently makes an average of $1.2M/year.

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