Bodhi McGee is a WordPress developer and designer working with websites since 2010. Before that, Bodhi was involved in e-learning for the SPCA of Australia and TAFE education in Australia. He is head of support at Total WP Support which means that every client will contact Bodhi before the job is delegated as needed to other team members. Bodhi works hard to make sure all of their clients are taken care of quickly and professionally.
Total WP Support is a company of four full-time employees. Currently, there are 150+ customers on maintenance plans and growing. The entire team is located in British Columbia Canada. They have been doing WordPress maintenance since they started creating WordPress sites back in 2010. However Total WP Support has been running since 2015.
Bodhi McGee
- Company: Total WP Support
- Website: totalwpsupport.com
- Contact: info@totalwpsupport.com
- Price: From $49 per month
- Services: Backups, updates, 24/7 monitoring, security, maintenance, etc.
Why should WordPress users choose your company over competitors?
We have decided to keep our company focused on friendly high-quality service. Our goal is to get to know our clients, their business, and their goals. Taking good care of our clients is more than just taking care of their website. Often times, there is much more than just WordPress maintenance that people really need once you start to get to know their business needs better. At Total WP Support, our aim is to provide a total support package, this includes hosting, domains, SSL, email, optimization, web design, and development, SEO, you name it.
Is there a tutorial or a video you would recommend to beginners who want to start doing WordPress maintenance on their own?
There is so much high-quality material out there these days. The market is a very competitive space now. A quick google will give you more than enough to digest on the subject.
How did you learn WordPress and become a maintenance expert?
I started as a web designer building static HTML sites. WordPress came along and changed everything. I managed several WordPress sites for the RSPCA of Australia for five years and rebuilt all of them from the ground up using my own custom themes. After this period, I was ready to start building sites as a freelancer and did this for another four or so years before starting Total WP Support. The trick to getting good at is to build as many sites as you can, learn from every single one, read tonnes of tutorials, and always strive to build a better site every time.
If you could recommend just one plugin to your clients, what plugin would that be?
Divi Builder by Elegant Themes. From my experience, there’s no other builder that comes close. Clients love it, it’s easy to use and easy to learn. Devs love it, it’s easy to style and has lots of modules to work with, and endless extensions through the community.
How do you deal with rude clients, ones that ask for work outside the scope of their plan or that are simply difficult to deal with?
Having clear plans that state what a client receives in each plan and what they don’t is the simplest solution. If a client wants something that isn’t included in a plan they have two choices, hire us at our discounted hourly rate to do the work or upgrade to a more comprehensive plan. As long as things are clear, this isn’t a problem.
Do you use ManageWP, InfiniteWP, MainWP or any similar tool on all your clients’ sites; or do you maybe have a tool of your own? What CRM do you use to handle payments and generally manage clients?
Yes, we do use a bulk site manager. It helps do the heavy lifting and reporting, but individual touches on every site is a must for proper care. You can’t rely on these pieces of software, you have to do the work to fully audit each site after updates, and there’s lots of fine tuning that goes into proper maintenance that won’t ever be covered by those types of software. We use a basic CRM, and we do our payments through Stripe.
Is there a hosting company that you don’t work with, i.e., if a client has a site with them you won’t work with that client? Is there maybe a hosting company you recommend on a regular basis?
We will work with any hosting company. If a hosting company is really difficult, the client will usually just move once we have made the case for it. For hosting, we recommend ourselves of course!
Do you attend WordPress meetups?
No. Too busy!
How/where do you promote your services and find new clients?
Organic search results. Word of mouth.
Do you think the industry and your business will still be operational in about two years?
Yes.
This interview is a part of the WordPress maintenance companies interview series featuring interviews with 20+ experts from leading WordPress maintenance companies.