The Business of WordPress

A presentation by John Turner of SeedProd (http://seedprod.com) on the Business of WordPress - Exploring the emerging WordPress Economy

Transcript

2. The Business of Exploring the emerging WordPress Economy @johnturner
3. Who am I? Developer → Marketer → Bootstrap Entrepreneur Author of: Ultimate Coming Soon Page Plugin Ultimate Maintenance Mode Plugin Founder of:
4. Why listen to me? • 15 years in web development • 6 years WordPress development • Built a variety of products in various languages: asp, asp.net, cold fusion, php, python • Lots of failures • Author of the Coming Soon Pro plugin.
6. • Hosted verticals: wordpress.com, happy tables, restaurant engine, wedding, small business, bands • Hosted services: Managed Hosting, Security, Backup, SEO, WordPress Valet, Manage WP, WP101.com • Themes: WooThemes, StudioPress, Elegant Themes • Plugins: Gravity Forms, WooCommerce, Coming Soon Pro • Freelance How do people make money with WordPress?
7. WordPress Market • 62 Million WordPress Sites • 20-25% of new site are WordPress • As of 2011, over 100,000 new WordPresses are created every day. • 17% of the the top 1 Million Websites • 120 plus languages source: http://yoast.com/wordpress-stats/ and http://en.wordpress.com/stats/
8. Who are the users of WordPress and who can we sell to? • Do-it-yourself end users • Fortune 5 Million • Enterprise • WordPress Assemblers • Theme and Plugin Developers
9. How much money can you make? • WooThemes 2 Million per year 2010 http://mixergy.com/adii-rockstar-interview/ • Kresi 2 Million http://notes.envato.com/authors/kriesi-wins-the-race-to-2-million/ • SEO Smart Links $80,000 http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/how-i-made-80000-with-a-single-wordpress- plugin • Nivo Slider $200,000 16 months http://gilbert.pellegrom.me/nivo-slider-the-story-so-far/
10. How do I get started research ideas? • Scratch your own itch. • Sell something you've already made or a byproduct. • Look at the WP.org forums. • Look the through the plugins repo. • Look at themes. • Look at current services. • Niche Products
11. Validate your idea! • Ask People • WordPress Forums • Build a simple plugin or theme and release it for free • Sell it before you build it.
12. Executing your idea Two Options: 1. Build it yourself 2. Hire someone • oDesk • 99 Desings • Themeforest • Twitter
13. Sales Site and Accept Payments • 99Designs • Themeforest • Build it yourself • Paypal • Stripe • ejunkie • Easy Digital Downloads • Sellwp.co • Marketplace: Themeforest, Codecanyon, Mojo Themes
14. Traffic and the Math Say you want to make $1000 per month You need to make an average $33 per day Product Price $49 ~ 0.7 or 20 units per month. Conversion Rate Total Conversions/Total Views X 100 = Conversion Rate 20/ ? = 0.02
15. Pricing your product • One Time Payment / 1 Year Duration / Recurring / Per site Packages • Membership Site
16. Marketing your product • SEO organic and in the repo • Release free version • Blog Post • Contact Bloggers and Affiliate Marketer • Sponsor and speak at WordPress events • Pay-Per-Click • Mailing lists, niche advertising, social media, video sharing, partnerships, and podcast
17. Measure results, rinse and repeat • Google Analytics Ecommerce Tracking • A/B Testing: Optimizley • Advanced Metrics: KissMetrics
18. Supporting your product • Don't use just email • Zendesk • Helpscout • UserVoice Support metrics is a key to making future pricing and product decisions.
20. Quotes "People are happy to pay for things that are good. Don’t be afraid to charge for your services." Jason Fried http://productpeople.tv/2013/02/27/ep15-jason-fried/
21. Resources • Heinemeier Hansson at Startup School 08 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY • Kissmetrics Blog http://blog.kissmetrics.com/ • Start Small Stay Small / Microprenuer Academy - Rob Walling http://www.startupbook.net/ • Unicorn Free - Amy Hoy http://unicornfree.com/
22. Questions? Find me at: http://www.seedprod.com http://www.sellwp.co @johnturner