Saeed Balkhi

Big blog buys the plugins its readers already want

Shaan describes Saeed Balkhi's model: run a massive WordPress blog (WPBeginner), see which tool categories readers search for most, then buy or build the plugin in each category and funnel the blog's traffic to it - owning distribution and product together.

“So basically, super popular blog looks at which tools people want, goes and buys the tool because he knows I can funnel a fuck ton of traffic to this, and then owns those tools in each of the categories of like, ah, a lot of WordPress sites need a form, a lot of WordPress sites want to capture emails, so they do— they need OptinMonster.”

Steal thisBuild (or buy) an audience first, watch what tools they search for, then acquire the product in that category and feed it your traffic.

Saeed Balkhi's plugin empire: ~$30-40M recurring revenue

Sam estimates Saeed Balkhi owns around 8 WordPress plugins outright plus 30-40% stakes in ~50 more, in the $30-40 million recurring revenue range, with WPBeginner driving 5-10 million uniques a month.

“I heard it's in the $30 to $40 million recurring revenue range, which is pretty cool. And it's probably very profitable. On his personal blog, like Saeed, and then his last name dot com, he talks about buying property. So he owns a bunch of gas stations.”