WordPress Themes Should Be More Expensive: HERE’S WHY

If this post has caught your eye, you are probably a current WordPress user, author, developer, designer, or if not, perhaps a potential one. The subject of pricing is a tricky topic that some prefer to ignore or avoid – the proverbial elephant in the room. Why, because this is a hot topic indeed.

How should WordPress Themes be priced anyway?

For the purpose of this article, let’s start off by saying that a WordPress theme is a downloadable digital product as compared to an actual physical product that can be shipped. When you purchase a WordPress theme you do not receive any physical items at all but instead, you are given permission or license to download an electronic/ digital product (the theme), via email or a provided link, and use it according to the author/developer’s specific TOU (Terms of Use).

Traditionally, the actual cost of producing/manufacturing tangible products can be arrived at by adding the cost of materials used and the labor paid to produce these products to arrive at the total cost of goods. Others may add on overhead costs but strictly speaking it’s simply materials +labor. For services rendered, actual cost can be arrived at based on a rate applied to the number of man hours spent (time) on a project or the professional fee charged by the person (expert) rendering the service.

However,

Digital products require an approach to pricing that differs from that used for physical products. Most digital products have common characteristics which includes:

  • high fixed cost to produce the first unit, but low marginal costs to produce subsequent units
  • quality is difficult to judge without actually experiencing the product

The most common pricing method that can be used for digital products is to use a licensing approach.
(source: Digital Economy: Impacts, Influences, and Challenges by Harbhajan S. Kehal, Varinder P. Singh)

The Digital Products Cost Equation

The cost structure of digital products = high fixed costs that are sunk, and tending towards zero marginal costs.

Fixed costs refer to the costs associated with a product, that are fixed over a number of units. Thus regardless of the number of units produced and sold, the fixed costs remain the same. With digital products, much of the fixed costs are actually sunk costs, and therefore non-recoverable costs. A large portion of the costs associated with digital products are fixed, and sunk, and not variable costs, which are more typical of traditional manufactured goods.

Sunk costs refer to costs that are non-recoverable fixed costs. Digital products usually have significant sunk costs (when compared to other fixed costs) in the form of research & development and intellectual property (copyright, patents etc.) for the product. If the product is not successful in the marketplace, the costs associated with the the product development (intellectual property, labor) cannot be recovered. Thus when making pricing decisions about the product in the future, one should not factor in the sunk costs. If a product’s cost structure is made up of sunk costs (no other fixed costs) and zero marginal costs then any price above zero will contribute to the company’s bottom line. Other fixed costs, that are not sunk (rent, depreciation on equipment etc.) should be factored in when making pricing decisions in the future, since these are ongoing costs to the company. The company will continue to have to pay these costs in the future, this is not the case for sunk costs.

Marginal costs are the costs associated with creating an additional unit of product. This is similar to variable costs, which are the costs that increase directly with the increase in production (unlike fixed costs). Digital products typically have very low marginal costs, when compared with traditional goods (materials, labor etc.) and if the product is distributed via a web site, then the marginal costs can be zero. The consumer is bearing the distribution costs, and there are no packaging costs. This is why companies are able to market their products for free on their web sites, in order to try to entice further purchases at a later time (in the hopes of creating lock-in perhaps).
(source: http://www.udel.edu/alex/dictionary.html#d)

What costs go into the creation of a WordPress theme anyway?

How many of you enjoy BTS (Behind the scenes) footages of upcoming movies? BTS clips give you a sneak peek of how these movies were filmed and the production process these films have gone through. Similarly, if we could do a BTS video of how a WordPress theme is created, can you imagine the amount of work that goes into creating a theme? Can you identify which activities fall under fixed costs, sunk costs, or marginal costs? Can you tell how many working hours have gone into its creation? Can you measure the education, experience, competence and expertise of the author/developer?

When you purchase a WordPress theme from a reputable WordPress author/developer you typically get a long list of features like the one below. But, have you ever associated any cost to these features?

1. Theme Features and Functionalities

  • Fancy Sliders
    • Simple jQuery Slider
    • Slider Pro ($25)
    • jQuery Carousel Evolution ($10)
    • TouchCarousel ($21)
    • LayerSlider (Parallax Slider) ($15)
    • Paradigm Slider ($15)
    • Slider Evolution ($18)
    • Nivo Slider WordPress Plugin ($19)
    • Pinwheel Slider ($9)
    • Responsive Ken Burns Slider WordPress Plugin ($18)
  • Plugins/plugin compatibility ($4-$50)
    • eCommerce/shopping cart plugins
    • Audio/Video/Images/Slideshows/Widgets/Portfolio
    • SEO, Social Media
  • Multiple page templates (more than basic Blog and Archives templates)
  • Graphic Design Elements
    • Icons
    • Fonts
    • Stock Photos
    • Multimedia
  • Mobile device compatibility and display features
  • Styling Short codes (buttons, columns, tables, boxes, dropdowns, drop caps, etc.)
  • Custom admin panel and customization features

2. Admin/Marketing/Support Costs

  • Business license/ applicable taxes (cost = based on your geo location)
  • Developer’s fees
  • Hosting costs
  • Theme preview designs
  • Copywriting
  • Analytics – Marketplace sharing
  • Support staff, Forum maintenance, Live chat support
  • Documentation, PSD/XML/Demo content files
  • Video tutorials, screencasts and video hosting costs
  • Setup, installation of WordPress, theme, plugins (time spent)

3. Labor: Professional fees and software (personal or outsourced)

  • Man hours to create and develop theme
    • (design and coding)
    • design concept | creative process (R&D, selection and decision making: colors, fonts, graphics, icons
    • testing, browser compatibility
  • Software: Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, etc – ($1500 up)
  • Training, Seminars, Education

Did you know that creating custom themes for clients range from around $1500 up to $50000 depending on the project. Looking at the list above, and seeing everything that goes into creating a theme, would you say that WordPress themes are underpriced? overpriced? or fair enough?

Let’s ask the next question. What’s important to you? How much do you value your business? your brand? yourself?

The answers to these questions will more or less determine how much you are willing to pay anything actually – whether it’s paying for your website, for your family needs, or even for your own personal growth.

How important are these WordPress designer’s traits to you?

  • Competence – work portfolio
    Web development requires many skills: Proficiency in Photoshop and design skills, CSS and HTML skills, copywriting and SEO skills, programming skills, with subsets of skills across a vast array of programming languages.
    If you’re comparing costs between developers, make sure it’s apples to apples – you should know what you’re getting in terms of feature set and functionality. Then take into consideration the experience and portfolio of the individual or company you’re looking at hiring, the attention you can expect to receive and the general rapport between you and a potential developer. Even if the cost is perfect and everything else seems right on paper, you may want to think twice about hiring someone if you don’t feel that somewhat ethereal sense of connection and comfort.
  • Experience – good working knowledge, coding skills
    A less experienced person may charge less because he doesn’t have the full-blown skill of a seasoned professional. It’s always a risk when you’re working with freelancers who build websites “on the side”, self-taught “learn web design in 21 days” types and people who are just starting out in the industry.
  • Number of years in practice
    Experienced developers can charge you more because they bring the weight of their expertise to bear on your project. An experienced developer may be able to do your site in half the time and charge twice as much, but remember you’re dealing with value and not cost.

Sometimes you have to make your decision, not based on cost, but based on value – which company do you want to work with? Which one has the most experience, the best portfolio, the most responsive people? A higher cost should not disqualify a company if that’s the one you’re confident can get the job done.

Pricing is not a magic, secret recipe. It’s just the cost of doing business, plus the value of expertise, plus the time needed to complete a project in a particular set of circumstances with a particular set of requirements. (reference: Websearchsocial.com)

At $39 you can already get 80 premium WordPress themes, no sweat. It’s about the same price, more or less, of a plugin or a slider, isn’t it? Do you agree that these themes should be worth a whole lot more than that?

Tell us what you think. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

The Optimized WordPress Sidebar

According to the WordPress Code

The sidebar is a narrow vertical column often jam-packed with lots of information about a website. Found on most WordPress sites, the sidebar is usually placed on the right or left-hand side of the web page, though in some cases, a site will feature two sidebars, one on each side of the main content where your posts are found.

Historically, the main purpose of the sidebar has been to provide navigation assistance for the visitor – a function that commonly continues to the present day. These navigation aids are designed to help people move about your site and find the information you want them to see. The list of navigation items includes Categories, Pages, Archives, and even the most recent posts. Another navigational tool you’ll see in the sidebar is a search form to help people find what they are looking for on your site.

The first information in the standard WordPress installation is a list of Pages or Categories. Listing Pages helps the visitor find more information about your site, like About, Contact, Register, or Site Map. The information displayed in the sidebar is controlled by your Theme’s Template sidebar.php file.

Rethinking your Sidebar

Next to the menu navigation, the sidebar is your virtual signpost pointing the way to exactly where you want to direct your traffic. It acts like a target board of links where you deliberately shoot your traffic towards. That’s why you need to give careful thought to what goes into your sidebar. Every link should be strategic…optimized. Populating the sidebar with useless links that have no value to your users nor to your ranking is a waste of virtual real estate.

Left? Right? Nowhere in sight?

Tired of the left-right sidebar configuration/ Did you know that you can add sidebars to your theme other than the usual left-right configuration? You can actually put additional sidebar in a header, a footer, or any other area in your template. Additional sidebars let you place any WordPress Widget (such as Recent Posts, Pages, Links/Blogroll, Calendar, Tag Cloud, as well as any custom widgets) into new areas of your WordPress template. Check out this handy tutorial by Michael David to see how it’s done. Some content-rich sites have totally junked the sidebars or strategically relocated them as part of their branding. Whatever you decide to do with your sidebar, displayed or hidden, should be towards the goal of enhancing your user’s experience on your site while enhancing your site’s overall performance.

Cool WordPress Themes for Churches: 2013 Edition

Churches and other religious or advocacy centered organizations have very specific website needs. Most of them require a combination of magazine, events, multimedia, and community features rolled into one theme. Here are some great WordPress themes that have great features and functionalities that can address those needs:

The Good News

The Good News Premium WordPress Theme is a theme specifically designed for churches but it is flexible enough to fit other uses. This premium theme includes: custom posts (Events, Sermons, Media), custom templates (Events, Sermons, Media), custom widgets, a contact form, 11 PSD files, and a complete HTML version, everything you need to set up your church’s website. The Good News is also responsive.

Evolution

Evolution Premium WordPress Theme from Elegant Themes is a simple, clean, responsive multi purpose theme that can be used for any type of website but it can also work well for advocacy groups or church and religious blog sites. Pastors or church leaders can use this theme to publish regular preachings or inspirational articles to inspire their readers beyond the Sunday sermon. This theme includes several useful page templates such as an image gallery, portfolio, a blog feed, and a member login template, among others.

Peacemaker – The WordPress Theme for Churches

Peacemaker Premium WordPress Theme is an excellent church theme that incorporates all the elements of church related activities into one theme. A notable feature is its events countdown feature which is a helpful events management tool to inform people about upcoming events. This responsive premium theme also includes: four custom post types (Events, Videos, Audio & Galleries), custom widgets, a unique homepage slider builder with the Slider custom post type, layered PSDs for detailed customization, and extensive documentation for easy setup.

Genesis

Reaching your audience has never been simpler with Genesis Premium WordPress theme, a church theme that’s designed to help you create a dynamic and responsive church website easily. This premium WordPress theme includes a simple custom solution for events that other events plugins complicate. This responsive theme also includes an unbranded theme options panel, unlimited photo galleries (masonry style), video, MP3 streaming, PDF download capabilities, and other useful features to enhance your website.

Spurgeon

Sunday preaching time too short to say all you have to say? Not a preacher but inspired to write all your thoughts and insights from your personal devotionals? Write about it and take all the time you need in your very own website. Spurgeon Premium WordPress Theme is a great way to compile all your thoughts and share them to as many as you can on your website. This responsive premium theme is equipped with features to help you easily publish your messages to inspire people and encourage them in their faith.

Saving Grace

Saving Grace Premium WordPress Theme is a theme geared towards charities and non-profit organizations. What’s unique about this theme aside from its outstanding layout and typography is the built in donation facility, via PayPal, using its donation page template and donation button and progress bar. This functionality takes advantage of impulse donation and gives visitors the option to donate straight away. This theme also includes 5 alternative color styles for you to choose from.

Malachi

Today’s church generation is so much different from before. Technology has changed a lot of the traditional methods of reaching people and replaced it with multimedia and audio-visual systems. Malachi Premium WordPress Theme integrates these modern tools and gives you a theme that is in step with today’s demands giving you technical functionalities that include podcasts, streaming music, and music videos. These modern communication tools are seamlessly integrated within the theme so you can create a website that can effectively reach today’s tech savvy generation.

Check out the WordPress themes above to see which ones will match your needs.

Index.php, The Loop and your WordPress Content

We have already discussed the header and the menu in our previous articles. In continuation of our series, we will now take a look at the Content section of the WordPress theme or the index.php. Here’s a recap of what we wrote:

Content Column (index.php)

The content container in WordPress plays the most important role. It holds the WordPress Loop which dictates the generation of content on the page depending upon the request by the user.

Content, on the other hand, consists of text, images, or other information shared in posts. This is separate from the structural design of a web site, which provides a framework into which the content is inserted, and the presentation of a site, which involves graphic design.

Now, let’s take a look at what a Loop is. According to the WordPress Codex:

“The Loop” is the main process of WordPress. You use The Loop in your template files to show posts to visitors. You could make templates without The Loop, but you could only display data from one post. The Loop should be placed in index.php and in any other Templates used to display post information.

The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post.

Before The Loop goes into action, WordPress verifies that all the files it needs are present. Then it collects the default settings, as defined by the blog administrator, from the database. This includes the number of posts to display per page, whether commenting is enabled, and more. Once these defaults are established, WordPress checks to see what the user asked for. This information is used to determine which posts to fetch from the database.

If the user didn’t ask for a specific post, category, page, or date, WordPress uses the previously collected default values to determine which posts to prepare for the user.

After all this is done, WordPress connects to the database, retrieves the specified information, and stores the results in a variable. The Loop uses this variable’s value for display in your templates.

Below is a visual of how all these php files and templates work together. It shows which template files are called to generate a WordPress page based on the WordPress Template hierarchy.

And here’s a sample code of a simple index page:

<?php
get_header();
if (have_posts()) :
while (have_posts()) :
the_post();
the_content();
endwhile;
endif;
get_sidebar();
get_footer();
?>

For beginners out there, it’s like telling WordPress to do certain functions based on a set of defined parameters – an “if”-“then” scenario. “IF” (parameter A) is true, “THEN” (execute this action). “IF” (parameter A) is false, “THEN” (execute this action instead).

For the more advanced and those who would like to sink their teeth into something more “meaty”, here are some excellent references and tutorials you can check out:

80 Reasons To Join Elegant Themes

According to Leonardo Da Vinci “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” True. If you observe a lot of the high end designer brands, there is a common thread among all of them – simple sophistication. Elegant, timeless, classic designs that stand the test of time always wins over outlandish, over the top fads that shine bright like a falling star only to fade later on. Perhaps this is why Elegant Themes continues to remain strong. Their commitment to elegant, classic design gives their themes that timeless appeal. That doesn’t mean that their designs are dated and irrelevant but instead, their consistency, as far as delivering beautiful and highly functional themes, is constant.

Their recently released WordPress Theme, Fusion, is a good example of the quality of design work they put out. Fusion Premium WordPress Theme is just one of 80 high quality themes Elegant Themes members enjoy. That’s 80 good reasons to join Elegant Themes today. Imagine owning 80 beautiful themes for the price of mere pennies for each theme. That’s cheaper than buying an upsized or Big Soda – and hey, no calories too! For WordPress professionals who create websites for clients, that’s a great investment indeed. It’s better to upsize your business rather than your waistline.

There are many other reasons why you should seriously consider joining Elegant Themes. A good sign that a company is healthy and thriving is its growth rate. Elegant Themes membership has grown more or less 30% in a span of 6 months. From 120,000+ members last year they jumped to 160,000+ at the start of this year. The numbers tell the story and that is really worth noting.

If you haven’t heard of Elegant Themes yet or if you are a WordPress beginner still trying to find your way around the WordPress community, check out our recently updated article – “Nick Roach’s Elegant Themes Review”. It’s a great resource with lots of information and samples  for anyone who wants to find out more about Elegant Themes. Click on the title “ Nick Roach’s Elegant Themes Review” to read.

Get 80 Premium Themes for $39

Fusion Theme from Elegant Themes is HERE!

Elegant Themes’ recently released Fusion Premium WordPress Theme is a theme designed to bring pizzazz into business websites by fusing fun and professionalism together in one awesome theme. Who says business themes have to boring and sterile when you can jazz it up and make it more interesting? This theme is intended for startups, tech companies, and design firms but it can easily be tweaked and adapted to whatever website you have in mind.

What’s hot? Fusion’s generous homepage slider dominates the theme’s layout even beyond the fold giving you maximum room to showcase your very best products or services with a bang. You have a choice of 5 gorgeous backgrounds to wow your audience with and the animated slideshow is smooth and sleek. The font choices used add that overall subtle elegance to the whole theme while still maintaining readability.

This premium WordPress theme also includes several page templates like: a contact form with built in Captcha, a portfolio section with 5 layout options, a sitemap, an image gallery, an advanced search page, and a not your usual WordPress login page. You can also assign content like quotes, article excerpts, client logos or icons to specific widgetized sections for that professional feel.

Overall, Fusion’s theme layout, color styling, font choices, and built-in features and functionalities are great as is but if you want to customize certain features to make it more custom you can do so via its powerful Theme Options Panel. You can also enhance other functionalities with the use of the theme’s shortcodes. This premium WordPress theme is responsive so you can be assured that you the same pizazz is there no matter what screen size you view it in.

Features:

  • Perpetual Updates
  • Secure and Valid Code
  • Browser Compatibility
  • Complete Localization
  • Unlimited Colors
  • Unparalleled Support

Fusion Premium WordPress Theme includes top-notch tech support provided by Elegant themes’ support staff to help you setup your site and get it running in no time.

Get Fusion from Elegant Themes Now!

Useful WordPress Utilities to Start the Year Right


Give your WordPress site a tune up to keep it running smoothly with these helpful WordPress utilities. Remove forgotten spam comments, beef up your site’s functionalities, or simply improve the overall browsing experience of your audience, and give your website a little TLC. Check out these utilities to see which ones will work for you.

Smart Cleanup Tools

Smart Cleanup Tools is an easy to use, powerful plugin for database cleanup. With this plugin you can remove data that is no longer in use or not needed like trash, spam, or orphan posts and comments. It can help you restore database overhead and speed up database operations. This plugin supports WordPress multisites, and it has few tools designed for Network administration.

Easy Post Google Fonts

This plugin allows you to use over 600 Google fonts (even multiple fonts) in one post or page. You can specify every page element and tell it which Google font to use. No flash required.

The Countdown Pro

Add countdown functionality to your content or your sidebar area with The Countdown Pro powered by jQuery. Features and options include: date picker, expiry url, expiry text, date format, custom labels, custom callbacks, template styles, and so much more. It also comes with a shortcode generator and a multi-instances sidebar widget.

Interactive World Maps

Create as many interactive maps as you want (world, continents, countries, regions, states, metropolitan areas) with Interactive World Maps. Add and display colored regions and display them as regions or with colored markers. Useful for travel websites, multinational companies, NGOs, infographics and many other applications.

Ajax Translator Revolution Dropdown WP plugin

This user-friendly translator plugin is based on the highly rated AJAX Translator Revolution Lite jQuery plugin this time with an easy dropdown menu. Translate everything or select sections, show languages flags and names, remember visitor’s selected language.

Sugar Event Calendar for WordPress

This is a simple, lightweight event calendar plugin with just enough features you need for event management on your site. Neat way to keep visitors updated with scheduled weekly, monthly, yearly recurring, or new events and activities on your site.

Elegant Themes Has Over 160,000 Customers! Time To Join.


In a span of 6 months, Elegant Themes’ customer base grew from 120,000+ to over 160,000. That’s more or less a 30% jump and quite an achievement really. Something right must be happening and this is great news for the WordPress community. On a macro scale, this means that more websites are being powered by WordPress and are enjoying the variety of designs available in the WordPress marketplace as well as the robust functionalities of this ever improving content management system. On the micro level, more WordPress consumers, particularly Elegant Themes customers, are enjoying more quality WordPress themes at incredible bargain prices. If you are member of Elegant Themes this means that you are enjoying 80 (latest count) high quality WordPress themes for pennies!

If you are a WordPress professional and you’ve been scouting around the WordPress marketplace for quality themes, check out Elegant Themes and the great value you can get at a price for less than a cup of Caffe Americano. If you are simply a WordPress user, think of the many ways you can dress up your site (80 themes and counting) to fit your every mood.

What’s so great about Elegant Themes? Consistency. Through all the years that they have been in business, in the middle of ups and downs, redesigns, and all the normal and abnormal challenges all businesses face, Elegant Themes has been consistent. As far as quality of design, commitment to improve, and sensitivity to their customer base are concerned, Elegant Themes has been consistent. This communicates longevity and stability which are important to consumers, especially loyal ones.

When is the best time to join Elegant Themes? Now is the best time to take advantage of Elegant Themes’ current pricing scheme. The current price has remained the same since 2010 when it rose to the present $39 rate. As far as design quality is concerned, it is still one of the best WordPress deals on the web. For those of you who are on the fence or still contemplating whether to join or not, now is the best time to join. Why? A little birdy told us that this pricing scheme may change pretty soon. Maybe you can skip the Caffe Americano for now while this price scheme is still hot. Head on out and check Elegant Themes today.

Get 77 Premium Themes for $39

30 Realistic and Inspirational 3D Artworks 2013

Some people believe that genius is something intrinsic, something inherent within a man and genius cannot be taught. You cannot be trained to become a genius. For e.g. you cannot be trained to paint like Da Vinci. Although this notion is true but some people take it far too seriously. Some students skip classes because they think that traditional education will tamper with their natural instincts. Others try to start a business without reading a single business book. Of course these people are flawed in their thinking. Albert Einstein once said – “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” So you see success has two parts. One is learning the rules of the game and the other one is playing better than others. This former aspect, learning the rules of your trade, can be trained and taught.

Below I have collected 30 artworks for those artists who want to learn the rules of art. These artworks are not genre specific. They vary from the children’s comic character The Incredible Hulk to the portrait of a simple innocent girl, from the picture of a super hero to Ibn Tulun Mosque. So scroll down and enjoy.

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