There are so many WordPress themes for free online, now many designers and developers have started to give away their premium WordPress themes for free just to get exposure. This of course, makes it even harder to actually charge money for premium themes. I think that if you’re going to charge money for a WordPress theme it either better be a custom theme created just for your site as an original – or it better do something truly special that no other theme does.
This is part of our new series “Ways to Make Money Online” – this interview with Andrei Saoic you some insight into what it’s like to be a Premium WordPress Theme designer!
I recently found a couple of premium WordPress themes that do just that. Andrei Saioc owns Sitemile.com where he sells premium WordPress themes that help you take your site or blog to the next level! He has two WordPress themes, one that turns WordPress into an auction site, and another that turns it into a classifieds site. There are some plugins available that do try to do both of these things, but his WordPress themes really allow you take your site to that next level – without leaving WordPress.
Let’s find out from Andrei himself how this came to be…
Andrei Saioc owner of Sitemile.com
Tell us a little about your background and who you are:
A: My background is quite simple. All started with the passion for computers back in primary school, at that time I was hacking DOS PC games, then started to learn DOS programming. After that when it was time to get to high-school, I choose a programming oriented high-school… this is how I met C/C++ programming. Then after high-school I went to university (Automatics and Computers from Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest). At that time I started to learn HTML and PHP, which I already had contacts with since high-school. But I needed to take it to the next level so I can earn enough money to pay for my studies. First I worked as a freelancer on lots of freelancer websites out there. The greatest was getafreelancer.com, where I found a permanent job for some guys in England. Kinda long background huh? 🙂 Also I am working online for 4 years as a professional, but have more than 6 years since I had contact with programming.
Do you work independantly, or with others in your online business?:
A: I work independently for now, but I am always open to new offers.
Why did you decide to create premium WordPress themes?:
A: Well, i decided that because WordPress is a very large open-source product and has a great market of users behind, so coming with such things brings you fast success.
Where did you get the idea for the classifieds and auction themes?:
A: The idea of classified theme i got it from some other sites that sell that stuff, but i made it better, more neat, more features, better support, more quality product. Thats the secret 🙂
I see you do the PHP coding, do you also do all the web design, SEO, and promotional work yourself?:
A: Yes PHP is my love! I do the coding, and all the designs and everything. I am good at everything.
Is it hard to “wear many hats” in an online business, or do you like being the guy that “does it all”?:
A: Yes is hard, but I think in first stages of a business is worth it, because there are risks, if you invest too much you risk to loose everything, and you can risk less in eventually of a loose you wont have that big damage on
your pocket.
Working online for yourself, do you find that you work more or less than the average person in a regular job?:
A: In the first stages of the business you work more and always need to come up with innovations and new ideas. But once you settle your business you will find that more relaxing than a regular job.
What’s the hardest thing about working online?:
A: The hardest thing is to find that niche or market, and to have that idea of the product that will sell. Coding the product is the easy part.
When you work for yourself online how do you plan for things like insurance, taxes, and retirement?:
A: Well you can work online and pay taxes and insurances. There are many private organizations that offer insurances and all that stuff. Important thing is to succeed in your business, then all the rest are details.
What’s the #1 goal you are striving for in the next year for your products?:
A: No1 goal is to have as many products as can be, so I can cover big areas of the market, so I can do more and more sales. The secondary goal is to buy a new car, a house, to quit my ordinary job and so on.
Will you create new additional products for release in the future?
A: Yes more product will come in the following months. I have a few ideas of wordpress themes and great things based on opensource scripts, because they offer a great market and usage behind.
What advice do you have for others wishing to work online or market and sell their own premium WordPress themes?:
A: My advice is to create something very solid, very premium and very professional, also the packaging of a product is very important.
This is great insight into the life of a real world (and world class) WordPress Premium theme designer. I highly suggest you read my post reviewing his “classifieds” WordPress theme entitled “How to Build a WordPress Craigslist!
You can always get a sponsor for your wordpress theme. If it’s really good and you’ll get good exposure you can sell few links at digitalpoint forums.
Stancjes last blog post..Wrocław 04.05.2009: Mam do wynajęcia
You can also get quite a few backlinks with those themes. If you write a good theme it will be featured on a lot of free theme sites (free backlinks) plus you can include one or two backlinks to your site in your own theme (more free backlinks) =)~
I’ve been working from home for some time now and it really is possible to make a great income. In order to find something that is legitimate, you must first understand what you are looking for (e.g. work or business opportunity).
Most online work requires you to have some sort of specialized technical skill sets. You should never pay to start an online job. Any site that requires you to pay to work is definitely a scam. On the other hand, if you are not technically qualified for most online jobs, then your best bet is starting your own home based business. Starting a business does require up front cost.
The quickest way I know to make some extra cash is by selling stuff on ebay or searching craiglist for work- these are normally only short-term fixes. I’ve tried them both and lost interest very quickly. =[]
yimzwik | Make Money Onlines last blog post..How to Start making money online Without spending a dime
Good interview! The premium theme game is extremely competitive nowadays, and I question whether or not it’s more vital to release free themes to help publicize your business for the backlinks or make money in a market growing to be saturated.
I’ve seen this coming ever since I discovered wordpress. I’m willing to pay for a wordpress theme that is original and one that I can edit.
Yes the classifiedTheme is a premium theme for example: check it out: http://www.sitemile.com/classifiedTheme.php
this information helped me a lot – nice outframe of things.
Great interview. I love hearing about people that are making things happen online. Creating wordpress themes seems like it could be a real profitable business.
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I have a friend who makes a killing making WordPress themes. She earns even more than my husband’s company manager. Now I wish I paid more attention in computer class while I was in primary school =[]
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With the little testing I’ve done, I’ve found that it is much easier getting a WordPress blog ranked in the search engines than a website. For now, I’m just going to build my sites with WordPress. There are some great SEO plugins such as the All In One SEO plugin.