Linkedin mostly but I get inquiries on facebook via friends and offline via word of mouth locally.
Selling Wordpress Themes As 'Website Design'?
- Thread starter hist0ry
- Start date
Linkedin mostly but I get inquiries on facebook via friends and offline via word of mouth locally.
I inform my clients that I use wordpress and having pre-designed themes that I modify to fit each of their situations and most are ok with that. I get custom offers but I outsource that work and just act like project manager lol. Again that's the minority of my customers so it's manageable.
Unlike most folks I find pricing to be easy ... especially for what we're doing. What I did was initially called around to some competitors and asked their pricing for doing custom wordpress setups ... I asked them in detail what their hourly rate was and any additional fees they charge for upsells etc ... I don't tell them I'm a competitor but act like a client and I'm able to get all their info. Then I analyze that info. What I found was that discounting their rates by 15-25% off would allow me to claim cheapest price in town, fastest turnaround and better quality because I checked most of my competitors work and the premium themes are 100 times better. That's partly adds to why my conversion rate is as high as it is.
TheMidasTouch
Junior Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 100
- 14
IF they don't have a website in 2012, they probably don't know what wordpress is or even care. I've made tons of sites for clients over the last few years and have not had one ask me "how did i do it." Client just cares that they have a nice site that customers can go to. And then the SEO plan 
that's where the money is.
that's where the money is.IF they don't have a website in 2012, they probably don't know what wordpress is or even care. I've made tons of sites for clients over the last few years and have not had one ask me "how did i do it." Client just cares that they have a nice site that customers can go to. And then the SEO plan
Yeah most don't care but some have asked about HTML and so I explain to them wordpress is much easier to use, etc etc. I don't explain it in detail just keep it as simple as possible that a 5 year old can understand it lol.
Hist0ry I get a couple of these offers occassionally as well (see screenshot below) ... which makes converting sales easier. Now I'm no Joomla expert but I know enough to do the job and what I don't know I have Joomla contacts to reference whenever needed. I get 1 or 2 of these contract offers but for Wordpress development per month on Linkedin. I accept only 1 out of every 5 or 6 of them because of the contract requirements like relocating or customized theme development etc. I'll talk to this person tomorrow to learn the contract specifics before I accept or decline but I posted this just to give you an idea of what the possibilities are. So get out there and just do it
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Couple of quick tidbits for you:
1) Do a quick search for Powerhouse Pricing Formula - it is a WSO about how to price your product and it includes a PDF to help you to feel confident about your pricing. I'll ask for $1000 for a 7 page wordpress site without batting an eye
2) Use meetup.com or the like to find referral groups. Don't try to sell the people at the group, just tell them what you can do for their friends... They'll end up coming to you to buy without you even selling them. Works great and is easy closed business. Takes a few times going before people buy usually, but it's worth the tme.
Man, there are a few people I need to PM on here please give me time as I have to wait to PM people. I have been on this from read every day for a bout 4-6 hours a day to get a better understand on what is on this site. Every time I think I am ready to start doing something I find new ways to make money. So I am at the point of researching what is out there to generate an income.
Just like many of you I am a family man and you guys have some great ideas. Some I have come up with on my own but it helps to be around like minded people to make sure you grow as well. I look forward to speaking with a lot of you very soon.
Just like many of you I am a family man and you guys have some great ideas. Some I have come up with on my own but it helps to be around like minded people to make sure you grow as well. I look forward to speaking with a lot of you very soon.
Just wondering what do people do regarding updating the site? Do you show them the basics of using Wordpress or do you get them to come back to you and charge them for updates? Do you give them the backend password so they can do things/break things on their own?
I have some clients that require galleries that need to be updated periodically and I don't really know how to price these.
Also do most of you do your own SEO service or outsource it and charge the customer more?
I have some clients that require galleries that need to be updated periodically and I don't really know how to price these.
Also do most of you do your own SEO service or outsource it and charge the customer more?
I do my own SEO as seo in general is rather easy for local SEO and if you struggle to get it into the 1-3 range you could use some services then. In regards to maintenance I do it my self and charge them I also use facebook or another service for image galeries or I embed a gallery from flickr or something and give them the account details or charge them a fee for updates. say it takes you an hour you could charge them a once a month fee what you think its worth
What do you mean website content? It's for other businesses. I generally ask them if they want to writes their own about us page and stuff, most say yes. If they don't I charge them more and write something for them.
puneetas3
Senior Member
- Jan 8, 2012
- 1,111
- 477
This is exactly what I do. After listening to client needs on look and feel, I just stumble through themeforest and pick 3-5 themes screenshots in preview. Then I use Photoshop to hide out any copyright links, theme names etc. and then place the logo of the client on it (either the client has a logo- since they have been in offline business for years or I do one for them).
Then I send the screenshots to them. They choose one and I buy it out. This strategy works great for brick and mortar businesses because they may not be familiar with WP and TF at all.
One thing to note is that I also have some custom made wp themes in my portfolio which I show them initially to get business. For businesses that already deals online I don't risk this strategy and show them only the custom themes portfolio. Need to create wire-frames and themes for them from scratch. But these clients also pay higher, so worth the efforts.
Then I send the screenshots to them. They choose one and I buy it out. This strategy works great for brick and mortar businesses because they may not be familiar with WP and TF at all.
One thing to note is that I also have some custom made wp themes in my portfolio which I show them initially to get business. For businesses that already deals online I don't risk this strategy and show them only the custom themes portfolio. Need to create wire-frames and themes for them from scratch. But these clients also pay higher, so worth the efforts.
Comic
Regular Member
- Jun 17, 2010
- 289
- 193
Interesting thread. We do between 6 - 12 new sites or rebuilds a month. The average ticket is around $2000 but I will never go less than $800 for a site. At $800 they are probably a poor non profit wanting no more than a few pages.
I think some of you guys under sell yourselves. I get many clients because they went with "The cheap guy" and now they have to use someone like me. Something you might consider talking with your clients about is letting them know that cheap isn't better and that they will pay the money at some point. Either through lost sales or having to trash the entire thing.
I think some of you guys under sell yourselves. I get many clients because they went with "The cheap guy" and now they have to use someone like me. Something you might consider talking with your clients about is letting them know that cheap isn't better and that they will pay the money at some point. Either through lost sales or having to trash the entire thing.
Thank you for posting this helpful info. For days I have been worried about how to present the info to clients. I just didnt want to lose my business by just directing them to the themeforest site and then having them think they dont need me. One client did that, but then came back because they thought it was too complex for them to handle... lol
Often themeforest themes can actually be MORE work then a custom designed theme.
Why?
1. the wordpress theme is on an obscure or not obscure framework
2. requires a $hit ton of content to fill out
3. requires certain plugins
4. is tainted with the theme's author's logo everywhere that once again requires more work to remove/swap
5. functions that won't be compatible with the next update and the author hasn't updated theme, but the wordpress update is an important one.
6. lack of shortcodes
7. too many shortcodes
8. shortcode doesn't use a standard shortcode language (which is really annoying moving from theme to theme)
9. lack of documentation for all the great $hit in the demo
10. too difficult to customize
That being said, they are great jumpstarts. Custom themes however, are usually simpler and easier to just dump your content in and go while every themeforest theme has a learning curve.
So the main point is, don't feel bad about selling a themeforest theme to your clients because it would take them months to never getting it right.
Why?
1. the wordpress theme is on an obscure or not obscure framework
2. requires a $hit ton of content to fill out
3. requires certain plugins
4. is tainted with the theme's author's logo everywhere that once again requires more work to remove/swap
5. functions that won't be compatible with the next update and the author hasn't updated theme, but the wordpress update is an important one.
6. lack of shortcodes
7. too many shortcodes
8. shortcode doesn't use a standard shortcode language (which is really annoying moving from theme to theme)
9. lack of documentation for all the great $hit in the demo
10. too difficult to customize
That being said, they are great jumpstarts. Custom themes however, are usually simpler and easier to just dump your content in and go while every themeforest theme has a learning curve.
So the main point is, don't feel bad about selling a themeforest theme to your clients because it would take them months to never getting it right.
imshinji
Junior Member
- May 20, 2011
- 121
- 23
that's exactly what I mean, for example : how to write content for a dentist or lawyer site in service page or home page?
I am not a lawyer or dentist personally, I find it difficult to write content.
