I Make $150K/Month From 20 Tiny Apps

Katie Keith

• Built a portfolio of 20 apps over 10 years that generate $1.8 million annually
• Runs a remote team that develops and maintains all products
• First plugin idea came from the WooCommerce ideas forum—identified a gap where people were voting for password protection features
• Second plugin (Post Table Pro) emerged from a client project, then expanded into a premium product
• Newest product is a Shopify app, marking expansion beyond WordPress

Products and Offerings

• 19 WordPress plugins (primarily WooCommerce extensions)
• 1 Shopify app (newer addition)
• Plugin types include: document libraries, product tables, product options, store protection tools
• Pricing structure: one site, five sites, or 20 sites plans with annual subscription or lifetime options
• Free versions available for some plugins to drive adoption

Metrics and Financials

• Annual revenue: $1.8 million (2025 actual: $1.7M)
• Average monthly revenue: $150,000 (higher in busy months like November, lower in December)
• Lifetime revenue: $9.8 million sold
• Plugins used on over 90,000 sites
• 17,000 active subscription customers
• Additional revenue streams: affiliate income and development services
• Lifetime deals account for approximately 15% of revenue

Strategy and Growth

• Primary growth engine: organic search traffic
• First plugin achieved top Google rankings immediately because it was unique in the market
• Content strategy: publishes genuinely helpful blog posts and tutorials covering wide range of use cases
• Cross-promotion strategy is central to multi-product approach:
  • Bundles plugins (one-plugin and two-plugin bundles)
  • Selects closely related plugins for upselling
  • Sends email 3 days after purchase offering 50% off next plugin
  • Runs separate Black Friday campaigns for new vs. existing customers
  • Uses language like “discount off your next plugin” for existing customers
  • Segments email list to recommend highly relevant products
  • Places banners on settings pages to remind users of complementary products
• Key principle: build products for the same customer base rather than adding features to one monolith

Multi-Product Playbook (if starting over in 2026)

• Step 1: Focus on an area already familiar with to gain unique insights into user needs
• Step 2: Come up with several product ideas simultaneously, research and validate each, prioritize those with overlapping markets for cross-promotion
• Step 3: Build and launch one product at a time—give each proper marketing attention without distractions
• Step 4: When launching second product, market it standalone with cross-promotion tactics (website links, email campaigns to existing users with discounts, beta testing invitations, documentation cross-links, post-purchase emails)
• Step 5: Repeat until portfolio generates revenue without spreading too thin

Tech Stack and Infrastructure

• Project management and team operations: ClickUp (used for project management, time tracking, company chat)
• Source code storage: GitHub (free)
• Automations: Zapier
• E-commerce platform: Easy Digital Downloads (~$300/year) for licensing, download delivery, and sales processing
• Website: WordPress

Lessons and Advice

• Get a product out first—ideas will come from user feedback and requests without needing to force them
• Listen to customers: feature requests often lead to entirely new plugin opportunities
• Just do it: launch a product because opportunities only start coming once something exists in the world
• Even if the first product isn’t a success, the experience and feedback can lead to other successful products
• Diversification reduces risk—don’t put all eggs in one basket
• Cross-selling to existing customers is more efficient than acquiring entirely new customers for each product