In this article I’m going to review the recent acquisition of StudioPress by WP Engine. These are two of my favorite WordPress companies / products. The fact that they are now joining forces is incredible! And I want share my thoughts on what I think this means for use users!
Who are these companies?
StudioPress is a premium theme company and the creators of the Genesis Framework. In fact, I would wager that Brian, founder of StudioPress, also founded the premium theme industry and would it surprise you to know that the Genesis Framework is also the most used WordPress theme framework?
WP Engine is a managed WordPress hosting company. I would also wager that they were the first in the space and have set the standard ever since! They have superior support and an incredible product!
Why I’m geeking out on this…
As I mentioned, these are two of my favorite companies in the WordPress space. I’ve used their products every single day since 2009.
It’s hard to really express how awesome these two products are if you’ve never used them. And until you switch from cheap $5 a month hosting to WP Engine you won’t get understand.
Some people would rather pay $5 per month for hosting and deal with bad support and/or trouble some products. My time is more valuable then that.
What if I told you, that since switching to WP Engine, from a company that shall remain nameless, I have probably had to contact support less than 30 times. Remember, I’ve been with them since 2009ish!
As far as StudioPress goes, the child themes are gorgeous, the framework light weight and easy to work with. These child themes are out of the box ready for build effective marketing sites that convert.
Being the largest WordPress framework means a huge community, and the #genesisWP community is awesome.
Aside from all of that, I think these two companies will be doing some pretty incredible things together.
Why should you care?
First off, all WP Engine customers will get full access to all of the StudioPress child themes and Genesis Framework for FREE!
If you look at current pricing for an “All Themes Pack” that’s saving you about $500!
However, if you’re a big picture thinker, you’ve probably already started to imagine what WP Engine can do with the framework to really build out some awesome solutions.
In fact they said as much in their press release:
WP Engine plans to invest in the continued development of the open source Genesis Framework as well as build future solutions that leverage the framework.
But why you should really care…
Because of this part of their statement: “…build future solutions that leverage the framework.”
I don’t really know what that means, however, the potential to use WP Engine’s platform and the Genesis Framework to build awesome solutions for the web is mind blowing to me.
There are brilliant people working at and running both of these powerhouse companies. That combined with the timing of everything that is going on in the world of the Internet right now, means so much potential!
I can’t wait to see what they do!
I personally hope they launch a hosted ecommerce solution, but using Ninja Shop and not WooCommerce.
What you should do RIGHT NOW!
You need to go sign up for WP Engine! Seriously!
If you have been using GoDaddy, BlueHost, HostGator, SiteGround, or any of the other cheap hosting solution, you will be glad you did.
Will you pay more? Absolutely! Will it be worth it? Without a doubt!
Price has a direct correlation with the value of the product / service you get.
People pay $5 per month for hosting and get mad or complain that their site was hacked or that their hosting provider only has ticket support.
The only people I know that complain about WP Engine are the ones that think they are over paying. The reason they think they are over paying is because with WP Engine, you don’t have issues, so you don’t really talk to or hear from them. Which is where the real value is! It just works, all the time.
The Wrap Up
Go sign up for WP Engine and go learn more about StudioPress themes.