One of our readers recently asked us about the relationship between WPBeginner and Awesome Motive. This question has come up several times in the past, and some of our competitors have even created a false narrative around this topic.
We wanted to set the record straight and answer the question “how are WPBeginner and Awesome Motive related?” with full transparency because we value the trust our readers (YOU) place in our content recommendations.
TLDR: WPBeginner is a blog created by our founder, Syed Balkhi, in 2009 to help non-techy users learn WordPress. Later in 2011, Syed founded Awesome Motive as a management company to oversee his various business operations. Awesome Motive is NOT WPBeginner’s parent company.
Syed and his various teams develop products based on the feedback from WPBeginner readers. That’s why we recommend these tools, because they are specifically designed for you.
Over the last 16 years, our team at WPBeginner has helped millions of people learn WordPress, choose the right business tools, and grow their website.
In this guide, we want to share our behind-the-scenes origin story and more details on why we recommend the products that we do.
Here is a quick overview of what we will cover:
How Did WPBeginner Start?
Let’s start at the beginning. Syed Balkhi was a college student at the University of Florida in 2009. He had been using WordPress since 2006 for his own websites and client work.
Syed noticed a big problem. There were no good WordPress guides for beginners. All the tutorials were written by developers for other developers. If you were a regular person who wanted to build a website, you were stuck.
Small business owners and bloggers wanted to use WordPress. But they couldn’t understand the deeply technical / confusing instructions.
Syed thought, “I wish there were a WordPress site that normal people could understand.” So, he decided to make one.
In July 2009, Syed launched WPBeginner from his college apartment at age 19. His goal was simple: help complete beginners succeed with WordPress. Our tagline says it all: “Beginner’s Guide to WordPress.”
People loved it right away. Within months, thousands of people were visiting WPBeginner. They needed WordPress help they could actually understand.
Syed spent hours testing WordPress plugins and themes. He wrote tutorials that explained difficult things in simple words. The site grew because happy readers told their friends about it.
Today, WPBeginner is one of the largest free WordPress resource sites for beginners. Millions of people visit every month, and we have over 3,000 tutorials written by experts.
The mission for our WPBeginner blog has remained the same: help small businesses and regular people succeed with WordPress. You don’t need to be a tech expert to build a great website.
This focus on helping beginners would later shape every product that Syed has built. Every tool, every recommendation, every tutorial comes from wanting to help WordPress beginners win.
Why Was Awesome Motive Created?
By 2011, Syed was running more than just WPBeginner. The success of the WordPress education site led to other business ideas. He was managing several different companies at once.
Here’s the problem: each business needed its own team members. But hiring people for multiple separate companies was getting messy. There was too much paperwork and too many legal hoops to jump through.
Syed needed a simple solution. He wanted one company that could make hiring and expense management simpler. At the time, he didn’t know about EORs or PEOs, so he decided to create his own management company.
The idea came from his college apartment because he knew that the same owners owned multiple properties, and they were using the same management company for those properties.
That’s when Syed created Awesome Motive in 2011. The name came from his girlfriend, Amanda (now his wife). The thought was that everything they do has an “awesome motive” behind it, so the name Awesome Motive was a perfect fit.
Awesome Motive became the management company. It handles the boring business stuff like payroll, hiring, and other administrative things. This lets each individual business focus on what they do best.
WPBeginner kept doing what it always did – creating helpful WordPress content. But now we didn’t have to worry about HR paperwork or other administrative things.
This setup allowed Syed, a 21-year-old entrepreneur, to continue growing his businesses without losing what made them special. Small teams could still move fast and focus on helping customers.
What is Awesome Motive?
Awesome Motive is a technology management company that exists to help smaller product companies created by our founder, Syed Balkhi, to be more nimble and move faster.
From the outside looking in, it may seem like Awesome Motive is a builder and acquirer of software companies that serve the small business market, with a particular focus on the WordPress ecosystem. However, that’s not an accurate reflection of reality.
A better way to think about it would be a federation of independent companies that choose to work together because it benefits everyone involved. The only thing that’s common is that Syed Balkhi is an investor in each of the companies that are part of Awesome Motive.
This allows each individual company to benefit from economies of scale by working together when it’s mutually beneficial, but they are NOT required to do so.
For example, WPForms has their own team that decides what features to build. OptinMonster has their own team that focuses on conversion tools. WPConsent has their own team working on a privacy compliance plugin for WordPress.
Awesome Motive helps with things like:
- HR and Finance
- Administrative Tasks
Awesome Motive doesn’t control the product roadmap, marketing strategy, etc., because these decisions are made at the individual product company level by the various co-founders and leaders across different product businesses.
If you’re curious about learning more, we recommend checking out this blog post: Awesome Motive Behind the Scenes – Origin Story and Operating Manual.
How WPBeginner and Awesome Motive Work Together
Here’s the most important thing to understand: WPBeginner came first.
WPBeginner started in 2009, and Awesome Motive started in 2011.
WPBeginner is not owned by Awesome Motive, and WPBeginner is not a division of Awesome Motive. WPBeginner was already successful before Awesome Motive existed.
When Awesome Motive was created, it didn’t change what WPBeginner does. WPBeginner kept the same mission: help WordPress beginners succeed. The same team makes the same kinds of content decisions.
WPBeginner has complete control over what it publishes. The editorial team decides what tutorials to write based on what readers need. They choose what products to recommend based on what actually helps beginners.
The connection between WPBeginner and other Awesome Motive companies is simple: they work together when it helps readers. But they don’t have to work together.
When WPBeginner recommends a tool like WPForms, it’s not because someone told us to do that. It’s because WPForms was built to solve real problems that WPBeginner readers have.
The shared mission across all of Syed’s companies is to help small businesses grow & compete with the big guys. WPBeginner does this by teaching people about WordPress. The software companies do this by building easy-to-use tools for growing your online presence.
This creates natural teamwork without forced partnerships. When WPBeginner readers succeed with WordPress, they often need the kinds of tools that Awesome Motive’s partner software companies make.
We are always transparent about the product connections, and you can see this through the Products nav menu in our website’s header, our brands section in our website’s footer, and the Reader Disclosure page that’s linked on every article.
We also recommend plenty of products from other amazing companies in the WordPress ecosystem when they’re the best choice for your needs. There are over 60,000+ WordPress plugins on the market, and our main mission is to help you succeed by choosing the right solution for your goal.
How Your Feedback Helps Create New Products
The really cool part about WPBeginner is that your comments and questions directly shape which products get built by Syed and his various teams. This is very different from how most blogs or companies work.
Most companies guess what people want. Then they build it and hope people buy it. But Syed listens to what WPBeginner readers actually need. Then he creates tools to solve those exact problems.
WPBeginner gets feedback in many ways:
- Comments on tutorials
- Support questions
- Reader surveys
- Direct emails
When the same problem comes up over and over, our team pays attention and flags it for Syed to review. If hundreds of readers struggle with the same thing, that’s a sign that existing tools aren’t working.
The next step is asking more questions. We might send out a survey to better understand the problem so that Syed can know exactly what’s not working and why.
Once he confirms that many people have the same problem, product development begins. But the focus is always on making tools that beginners can actually use.
This means:
- Simple interfaces that make sense
- Clear instructions written for regular people
- Good customer support
- Fair pricing
During development, WPBeginner readers often get to test early versions. They give feedback on what works and what doesn’t. This makes sure the final product actually solves the problem it was meant to fix.
This is a big key to our success and why over 30 million websites use the WordPress plugins created by our various teams.
As new products help the community, more people engage with WPBeginner. More engagement means more feedback. More feedback leads to even better products.
Real Examples: Products You Asked For
Let’s look at specific examples of products that exist because WPBeginner readers asked for them.
WPForms – The WordPress Form Builder You Requested
In the mid-2010s, Syed sent out a big survey to WPBeginner readers. He wanted to know what tools you needed most.
The top request was clear: an easy form builder for WordPress. At the time, form plugins were either too basic or too complicated. Basic plugins could only make simple contact forms, and advanced plugins required coding skills.
WPBeginner readers wanted something in the middle. Powerful enough for business use, but simple enough for beginners to use without getting frustrated.
Based on this feedback, Syed partnered with Jared Atchison, a well-known WordPress developer, to create WPForms. Every feature was chosen based on what survey respondents said they needed.
The result: a drag-and-drop form builder with over 2,000 templates. It connects to all the popular email and payment services that WPBeginner readers were already using.
Today, over 6 million websites use WPForms. It’s popular because it was built to solve real problems that real people told us about. Check out the free version of WPForms.
MonsterInsights – Making Analytics Simple
Google Analytics is powerful, but WPBeginner readers found it confusing. Comments on analytics tutorials showed that many beginners either found it too confusing to set up analytics in WordPress or couldn’t understand the data at all.
Our readers wanted to see their most important website stats without having to learn Google Analytics’ complicated interface. They wanted simple reports that showed what was working and what wasn’t.
In 2016, Syed agreed to purchase the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin created by Joost de Valk, founder of the popular Yoast SEO plugin, and he rebranded it to MonsterInsights.
Syed partnered with Chris Christoff, a respected WordPress developer, and they completely rebuilt MonsterInsights with our WPBeginner user feedback in mind to create the most beginner-friendly analytics solution.
Today, over 3 million websites use MonsterInsights. It helps WordPress beginners make smart decisions about their content without needing to become analytics experts.
See MonsterInsights’ origin story for more details.
AIOSEO – WordPress SEO Made Easy
SEO is important for every WordPress site, but unfortunately, popular SEO plugins had stopped innovating. Reader feedback showed that people needed more comprehensive SEO tools that would guide them through best practices.
This is why in 2020, Syed purchased the popular All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin from the original developer, Michael Torbert. He then worked with his team, led by Benjamin Rojas, to completely revamp the plugin to add all the features based on our readers’ feedback.
Now, it includes amazing features like local SEO, an internal link assistant, AI tools to help boost SEO, keyword rank tracking, a broken link checker, and so much more.
Today, over 3 million websites use AIOSEO to rank higher on Google and on AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and more.
It’s important to highlight that while the AIOSEO plugin was being revamped in early 2020, the WPBeginner site continued to use the Yoast SEO plugin, and we ONLY started recommending AIOSEO to our audience when we felt the plugin met our very high standards.
That’s also when we switched from Yoast to AIOSEO (and we wrote about 18 reasons why).
These examples show a pattern: when you tell us what you need, Syed and our various product teams build the tools to solve those exact problems. Our business success comes from solving real problems, not from guessing what might work.
Why WPBeginner Recommends These Products
Some readers wonder why WPBeginner talks about Awesome Motive products so much. They worry that business relationships influence our recommendations.
Let’s be completely honest about this.
WPBeginner recommends Awesome Motive products for one main reason: they were built to solve problems that WPBeginner readers have. When you build products based on what your audience asks for, those products naturally become the best solutions to recommend.
When we recommend WPForms, it’s not because of business relationships between Syed and Jared. It’s because WPForms was literally built based on feedback from WPBeginner readers about what they needed in a form builder, and it’s also the WordPress form plugin that we use on the WPBeginner site itself.
Our WPBeginner editorial team tests every product we recommend. This testing happens regardless of who makes the product. If a tool doesn’t help WordPress beginners succeed, then we won’t recommend it.
Our main goal is to help you succeed with WordPress. If that means recommending a competitor’s product because it’s better for your specific needs, then that’s what we’ll do.
We also recommend lots of products from companies that have no connection to Awesome Motive or Syed Balkhi. As a matter of fact, the majority of our tutorials recommend products and tools created by other amazing developers in the WordPress community.
The WPBeginner Growth Fund
Besides building new products, WPBeginner’s connection to the WordPress community also influences investment decisions through the WPBeginner Growth Fund.
The Growth Fund invests in early-stage companies that build tools for small businesses and WordPress users. Unlike typical investors who just want quick profits, the WPBeginner Growth Fund focuses on companies that share our mission of helping beginners succeed.
Investment decisions are heavily influenced by what the WPBeginner community thinks. When readers consistently praise a tool or show strong loyalty to a product, that feedback becomes important in evaluating potential investments.
The MemberPress Investment You Helped Us Make
Our investment in MemberPress is a perfect example. For years, WPBeginner readers consistently said that MemberPress was their favorite tool for creating membership sites and online courses.
This wasn’t based on marketing or feature lists. It was based on real experience from thousands of WordPress users who tried different membership plugins and found MemberPress to be the most beginner-friendly.
When the opportunity came to invest in MemberPress through the Growth Fund, the decision was easy. The WPBeginner community had already proven that MemberPress was valuable through years of positive feedback.
This reader-driven investment approach creates benefits for everyone:
- Successful tools get resources to keep improving.
- Companies stay focused on serving beginners well.
- The WordPress community gets better tools.
The Growth Fund also provides more than just money. Portfolio companies get insights about what WordPress beginners need and access to feedback from WPBeginner’s large audience.
For you, this investment strategy means the tools you already love are more likely to get the resources needed for continued development and improvement.
We’re transparent about these investment relationships, too. All investments are announced on our blog, our socials, as well as our email newsletter.
To see the full list of our Growth Fund investments, please see this page.
How This Relationship Helps You
The relationship between WPBeginner and Awesome Motive creates real benefits for WordPress beginners and small business owners who use our guides and resources.
Products Made Just for Beginners
The biggest benefit is access to WordPress tools designed specifically with beginners in mind. Every product Syed helps build is based on WPBeginner reader feedback, and they solve the actual problems WordPress beginners face.
When you use recommended tools like SeedProd, Smash Balloon, or Duplicator, you’re using products built with your skill level and needs in mind.
The interfaces make sense to non-technical users. The documentation is written for beginners. And the features focus on what small businesses actually need.
Faster Fixes and New Features
The direct connection between WPBeginner readers and development teams means your feature requests and problem reports often result in faster improvements.
When you tell us about limitations or request enhancements for recommended products, that feedback goes directly to the development teams. This creates accountability for addressing community needs quickly.
Tools That Work Well Together
Because multiple tools are developed with the same audience in mind, they work smoothly together when you need multiple solutions. This integration isn’t forced. You can use individual plugins independently, but they provide extra value when you need multiple capabilities.
For example, if you use WPForms for lead generation, OptinMonster for conversion optimization, and MonsterInsights for tracking results, these tools work together seamlessly without requiring advanced technical knowledge.
Better Tutorials and Support
Last but not least, the biggest benefit is that supporting products created by Syed and our various teams helps keep the lights on for WPBeginner.
It makes it possible for us to provide 100% free training videos and tutorials for everyone.
Over the last 16 years, we have seen many WordPress tutorial sites, news sites, and resources come and go because running a high-quality niche publication is not easy. Most of those publications either failed to attract advertisers or had to completely change their editorial standards that serve advertisers over users.
At WPBeginner, we never have to make that compromise.
The relationship between WPBeginner and Awesome Motive ensures you have access to comprehensive tutorials for free, always.
Our team also goes above and beyond to help users with free support in our Facebook group as well as through our contact form.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If you still have some questions about the relationship between WPBeginner and Awesome Motive, we will answer them here.
Is Awesome Motive the parent company of WPBeginner?
No. WPBeginner started in 2009 and was already successful when Awesome Motive was created in 2011 as a management company. WPBeginner came first and maintains its independence.
Why does WPBeginner talk about Awesome Motive products so much?
These tools were built based on what WPBeginner readers asked for, and they were built by the founder of WPBeginner. When products are made to solve problems your audience identified, they naturally become the best solutions to recommend. We also recommend competing products when they’re better for specific needs.
How does reader feedback influence what products get built?
WPBeginner’s large audience provides constant feedback about WordPress challenges through comments, surveys, and support requests. When the same problems come up repeatedly, they inform the development of new products or improvements to existing ones.
Are WPBeginner’s recommendations biased because of business relationships?
WPBeginner puts reader success first and maintains editorial independence. Products are recommended based on their ability to help WordPress beginners succeed.
What is the WPBeginner Growth Fund?
It’s an investment fund created by Syed Balkhi that supports companies building tools for WordPress users and small businesses. Investment decisions are influenced by community feedback, supporting companies that have already proven valuable to WordPress beginners. The MemberPress investment is an example of this approach.
Does WPBeginner ever recommend products that compete with Awesome Motive tools?
Yes. We regularly recommend products from companies with no relationship to Awesome Motive when those are the best solutions for specific needs. Our main commitment is your success, which sometimes means recommending competing products.
Additional Resources
We hope this article helped you understand the relationship between Awesome Motive and WPBeginner.
You may also want to check out these other helpful guides:
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
