Why Pay?

I am sure this question comes up periodically. “Why Pay?” for a theme, plugin, service or program when there are free options available?

Well, as the old saying goes, sometimes you get exactly what you pay for.

Now I am not saying that there aren’t some fantastic free WordPress themes, plugins or services out there. Just take a look at the repository and you can see for yourself. A lot of time and effort goes into creating a themes and plugins.

As you become more involved in the WordPress world, either at WordCamps, Meetups or just reading articles on the web, it won’t take long to realize that some of the people you meet or hear about are game changers, ninja’s, whatever you want to call them.

I have met some great people since I became involved in WordPress in 2010. Here are some of the services I gladly pay for.

The folks at A2 Hosting did me a huge favor late last year and I appreciated their generosity  so much. I started this website using their hosting service in early December of 2015. I had been mulling over starting a website for seniors prior to that and this kind of kickstarted me.

I had met some of the iThemes crew at WordCamp Dayton in 2014. Here again, one of them did me a favor and again, it was greatly appreciated. I use 2 of their products – Backup Buddy and iThemes Security Pro.

I recently purchased ServerPress. Not because I am a developer or a designer. Far from it. I have stated several time that I am a WordPress “user.” But there are times when I need to experiment on my work or personal websites and I really don’t want to mess around on a “live” site. Not only that but if you have ever read anything at all about one of the people involved with ServerPress, you will realize that you are dealing with some classy people. People that I have no issues at all doing business with.

So, these are just a few of people in the WordPress world that I gladly pay money to have on my side. But one thing that I always have in the back of my mind is this: I became friends with these people before I I paid for their services.