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View Full Version : Post-Development Theme Aspects



jamestl2
08-18-2010, 02:06 PM
OK, I've been working on a few themes over the past few days, they're almost finished, but now I need decide over a few things and I'm not entirely sure where to begin.

1) Naming
Right now all I've really given the name is description factors. Like "Corporate Light" or "Dark Business" or something along those lines. All I did was take which group the theme was geared towards, and the basic color scheme of the theme and put them together, not exactly the most inspiring method to use.

I'm not too set on these bland names at the moment and would like to think of something more unique, but I'm not sure what or how to go about deciding what to call it.

And 2) Pricing
Like Naming, I'm not exactly sure how much I want to set the prices at either. I took a look at a few other themes and designs to see what they go for, but those vary pretty widely to get a rough estimate on how much to charge. (Did the same thing for names as well, have no idea how others have come up with those unique names).

I was thinking about adding up all the advanced features, functions, etc. and just try to ballpark it. Honestly though these are just shots in the dark and I'm not entirely sure what I should be doing. What aspects would you look / have you looked at in deciding what to charge or call your products?

Any help in determining these factors would be appreciated,
Thanks

Lyrafire
08-18-2010, 03:31 PM
I take it you're developing Wordpress themes to sell? If it helps, I was initially drawn to one that contained a keyword in its name that told me it would accomplish what I need to accomplish. I then tried others, but when back to it. It's called "Magazine Basic." And it does just what it's name says it will--set up a magazine-style format. So if your theme is designed for affiliate marketers, I'd be sure to use the word "affiliate" in the name. Ditto other uses. It just makes it easier for the right prospective user to find it.

vangogh
08-18-2010, 07:41 PM
James first let me say these are things in the future you want to think about before you design and develop the theme. In one of your other threads we were talking about things like who you see as the market for your themes, etc. Those are all marketing decisions and if you think about them first it'll influence the direction of the design and development. Don't stop thinking about the marketing once you've answered the questions in this thread. Keep thinking about your overall strategy for all your themes and let that guide everything else.

1. I've never been good at naming things. The way you've gone is one good direction. Name them descriptively. As Cat mentioned above she found a theme based on a keyword so keywords are one way to go. Another might be as part of an overall strategy, where your name would be something to about your entire brand and then theme names could be Brandname Corporate Light.

Don't agonize over this too much. Pick a name and go with it. You can always change it later if you want.

2. Pricing is also hard. Based on what I've been seeing lately I think something in the $25 - $50 range is appropriate. You can always adjust your price based on how well the themes are selling. $27 seems to be a new popular price point. Anything ending in 9.99 or 9.95 or 7 seems to work well for different reasons. The .99 or .95 thing makes it sounds less expensive and apparently people go for the 7 since many people consider it a lucky number.

Again don't agonize too much. When your 4th and 5th theme are ready you'll have better ideas about both names and prices and you can go back and adjust the first few themes.

One more time keep thinking about an overall marketing strategy. Who are these themes going to be for? Don't target each theme at a different market. Target them all at the same market. What problem(s) are your themes going to solve for your market? As you start answering those questions, naming and pricing, and even theme development will start to fall into place.

Harold Mansfield
08-19-2010, 10:45 AM
I agree with the name part..just name it and go with it. IF you can make it something descriptive , even better but most theme names don't make any sense to me in regards to the actual theme...seems to just be something that the designer thought up that has meaning to them...not much to the purchaser.

As far as pricing goes..I could never tell anyone how to price their product anymore than anyone can tell me what to charge by the hour...but you have to be competitive. There are a lot of dynamic themes out there in the $27-$45 price range. While that may not be your style and targeted market, you have to take into consideration what is already available and what is free that is similar. You also have to take into consideration things like support and if you will be providing email or forum support for the theme...and whether or not new versions and updates will be free for previous buyers.

How successful your pricing model will be will depend largely on how well you can target your market.

jamestl2
08-21-2010, 12:29 PM
Alright, thanks for the info guys.

I guess I just see themes out there like "Thesis" or "Atahualpa" and wondered how they came up with such unique and seemingly powerful brand names. And the ones I've been coming up with just seem a bit bland, yet still descriptive, so that's one positive. I'm not sure about naming them after my brand. Something called "Engipress Corporate Light" or whatever just sounds tacky to me.

Regarding Pricing, I assumed the average rate was higher than that. Perhaps I should lower the price on my current theme, basically because it's a clean and simple theme, and there' no advanced scripts or options pages, etc. running behind the scenes.

I was thinking about offering users free bug fixes, updates, etc. Since they already paid for the theme, but I'm not sure if I see myself doing that. Once it's finished coding, that's pretty much it, the theme's done, and I'm not sure what "updates" I could insert into the already existing theme.



Target them all at the same market.


I think I had asked this in my review thread, but I'll ask it again here just to be safe. I'm not entirely sure if I am looking at markets properly. Should I keep in mind the markets who mostly look at the style and look of the theme. Or what those audience skill levels are and how well-adept they are in using advanced WP features?

Harold Mansfield
08-21-2010, 05:21 PM
Alright, thanks for the info guys.

I guess I just see themes out there like "Thesis" or "Atahualpa" and wondered how they came up with such unique and seemingly powerful brand names. And the ones I've been coming up with just seem a bit bland, yet still descriptive, so that's one positive. I'm not sure about naming them after my brand. Something called "Engipress Corporate Light" or whatever just sounds tacky to me.


No one "comes up with" a powerful brand..they are created over time with a lot marketing savvy , repetition, and advertising. Don't get ahead of yourself and try to compare to people that have a 2 year head start on you, marketing capitol and are working with a team. Many times I have started, grown, and bankrupt a business in my head in less than 10 minutes and it discouraged me.
One step at a time.

vangogh
08-24-2010, 02:00 PM
Agreed. It takes time to build a brand. With Thesis I can see how the name arose out of the marketing strategy. The marketing was to suggest that Thesis did more than other themes, that it was smarter than other themes so it could handle things you didn't know how to or want to do. When you consider that Thesis makes sense as a name. What's a thesis? What thoughts and feelings does the word convey? Probably a PhD student working on a well researched paper to earn their degree. It conveys a message of being smart, which is what Thesis marketing strategy wants you to believe about the them.

Atahualpa on the other hand seems like a pretty bad name. I don't know the marketing strategy behind the theme, but the name doesn't convey anything to me that's connected to a WordPress theme. I would think their branding has worked in spite of name rather than being helped by it. It's a free theme though so I don't know that it mattered as much.