How has iThemes helped me over the past 5 years?

Of all the questions I may be asked on a given day, this may be the simplest.  I’ve always had an interest in website hosting, design, email marketing, general internet marketing and many more topics since my first exposure to the internet in the 1990′s. It took a few years to get to a point where I was ready to jump in and learn.  I wrote a post last week about this experience and using iThemes but I didn’t really say much about the effect it’s had on my progression through learning to create and modify WordPress websites.

I first discovered iThemes  in 2010 through a former coworker. I learned that they were based in OKC and was interested in Backup Buddy because I had several sites I would need to move to another host.

In the fall of 2010 I registered for Open Camp DFW.  There was a lot of information to absorb and I heard that the iThemes team was in attendance.  I sent a tweet to Cory Miller and met with the team.  Turns out their office was just around the corner from where I spent several years working with an IT consulting firm in the late eighties.

Cory answered the tweet, a turning point for my support of iThemes.  He offered to meet me in the lobby between sessions and we talked about a few Oklahoma things and the products (Builder, Plugin Buddy, Webdesign.com and more speak for themselves.)  I’ve been a client since.

I can get a more secure WordPress site up and running much more quickly. I trust their recommendations for other developer plugins as well as their own. I’ve learned a lot about the products and WordPress from the live and recorded sessions via webdesign.com.  Benjamin Bradley is very good at answering beginner questions as well as those from more advanced students.  He’s able to “read between the lines” and answer based on what the querent means rather than what they ask.  Along the line of “Do what I mean, not what I say.”  This balance isn’t easily achieved by all trainers.

Happy Birthday iThemes!  For my own selfish reasons, I hope you have another 5 x 5 x 5 x 5!