ThePissBiscuit.com » WordPress

Extra! Extra! Read all about it…

admin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:47:28 +0000

Well today I’ve got tons and tons of stuff that I really wanted to write about but because I don’t have all day, and over posting seems to be a bad thing sometimes, I decided to incorporate all my thoughts into a re-cap list of sorts… you know like a newspaper would do.

PB’s Premium Theme Giveaway is has now been moved up!

2:00 pm Thursday the 26th (central standard time) will be the, new… albeit closer, drawing date for the contest. That’s right people, I’m moving up the contest up few days to accommodate a surprise conference I’ve got to attend at the end of this week. That said, just remember that I’m giving away two premium WordPress themes designed by Adii and all I ask for in return is a little link love. One theme will go to a randomly drawn Feedburner subscriber, and the other to a random trackback post to the contest! Read More…

An Update for a Tweak A Week

I’m really very disappointed in the results of my “Tweak A Week” post. What I thought was a generous and totally awesome offer to help give you guys something cool, didn’t pan out very well. Of course everyone wants something for nothing, but all I asked for was a little help promoting PB. The end result was (0) zero linkbacks… (1) one Stumble, and a handful of comments and e-mails from theme affiliate re-sellers (not the designers) making crude and unwarranted remarks that made no viable sense. So I mean what the heck is the point right? It was flop, and with many hours of work each theme takes… I’m not quite sure it’s something I’m going to continue past the first winner. What do you all think? Remember, I’m running a business!

The Ultimate Mimbo Pro Review is Coming…

As you all know, “Robin” was this past weeks winner of “Tweak A Week“. Hopefully he will be sporting the new theme soon I’ll let you guys know when it’s up!. That said, I mentioned in some of my initial post s that from the start Mimbo Pro was just a big problem. Well… in PB fashion, I stand here ready to tar and feather myself for your gawking pleasure! WIth the Help of Darren, Mimbo Pro works like a charm and I’ll be the first to say that it’s a real winner. I’ll be writing up a full blown review towards the end of the week explaining how my server’s settings were causing the failure as well as my thoughts about what I found under the hood of one of the coolest WordPress themes I’ve seen.Â Anyway, more on that soon so stay tuned!

Gearing up for the blog flipping contest

As you all may know by now, Bryan Clark is throwing one hell of an awesome contest and I’m siked about it. Not only am I entered to win it… I’m a sponsor throwing in about $900.00 worth of theme tweak work as a prize as well as a banner ad over here at the now famous PB! Get your asses Registered…

John Joubert is giving it all away!

Mr. Joubert wrote up a great plug for me a while back about my “Premium WordPress Theme Giveaway“. So as any good fellow should do, I stuck around to read more about what he’s doing over there. Now that he’s giving away things like his specialized consulting work and free web hosting for a year… I wanted to let all of you all know that he needs our collective support! Help a fellow blogger gain some publicity and get your self some cool free stuff while your at it.

The Ultimate Mimbo Pro Design!

admin — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:41:01 +0000

Alright ladies and gents, I’m a few days behind schedule on my Tweak A Week giveaway due to some errors setting up the theme, but regardless, I’m moving forward and as promised here is a sneak peak at what “Robin” of NOAFILM.be is getting!

The Re-Design of the Re-Design

As mentioned in an earlier post, MimboPro is a bit of a pain in the butt to set up. I was pretty stressed out about it for about a day and a half until Darren offered some help. I’ve got to give it to him, that’s one great way to earn the respect of your peers. So, Darren… good show.

There is a but… The image issue is still not fixed making it hard for me to properly code and test the css and background images the way I need to in order to make this one kick ass theme tweak! After a few days of back and forth with no prevail, I decided to go ahead and re-design, the re-design. So what you see is actually the second version which isn’t as in depth as I would have liked, but hell it got the job done and is looking pretty fricken awesome!

Bunches of changes!

I’ve moved a few elements around, changed some CSS, and of course… I went bonkers with the graphics to just set this MimboPro showcase over the top. I used a number of design stratagies when thinking of both of these re-designs and I’ll be going over those in a later post so don’t worry, I won’t leave you hangin’!

As for the screenshot, you’ll notice that those pesky thumbnails still aren’t showing, so once Darren gets it fixed for me, I’ll be able to get it all finished up with the final little touches.

Comparing apples to apples… I’d like to know.

Just to show you guys what some of the other proud MimboPro theme owners have done, I’m going through the task of putting a few of Darren’s showcase links in here for ya. Take a gander… compare notes… and let me know what you guys think of the ULTIMATE MimboPro re-design!

Like tips… great feedback is always welcome!

Now I’m sure that asking for feedback might be like asking for a hole in the head, but I’d like to know what you guys and gals think so far. You know… motivation! We all need it and with so many install headaches and two re-designs just to accommodate the silly error, I’d like to think I’m on the right path with things anyway.

Get your own theme tweak…

Remember that you have way to many chances to get yourself your own custom theme tweaks by yours truly by just checking out some recent posts where I’m selling my soul for some traffic.

Getting down to business

admin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:06:45 +0000

Well, rumor has it that some of the natives have been a bit restless around these parts because I had to take the weekend off from posting to clear my schedule, get caught up at work, and deal with a number of issues outside of my office, that required my full devoted attention. That said, I’ve had quite a bit of time to do some serious thinking about taking my business to a whole new level. At the suggestion of some I’ve decided to toss the idea around more seriously.

Making my talents profitable!

It’s been suggested on more that one occasion that I take my talents, write a little bit about them, put up a portfolio of sorts, and start offering some design services to people like you. Yep… premium WordPress theme design! It is after all, part of what I do for a living so it wouldn’t be hard would it?… Okay, so “I think I’m ready to start selling myself”… but, I’m not totally sold on it being a good idea. You all know by now that this blog is a no hold barred look at life on the web, so I have no problem writing from the heart and voicing my concerns (Thanks Zania!). to see what my online friends think.

Sometimes I wonder about things like “Fear of Rejection”, “Emotional Attachments”, “Dumb Questions”, and “Time”.

The Fear of Rejection.

I fear rejection! I’m completely afraid that my themes won’t be needed or wanted, and that adding a “product” to my blog is only negating what it is that I promise to do here… Keep it real! I’m afraid that I’ll be opening doors to critiques and criticisms even though it may not be asked for. I’m afraid of being stuck playing 100 questions everyday from inexperienced people who shouldn’t even be blogging yet, much less buying a premium theme. I fear the unknown and I’m not quite sure why I’m so skiddish to pull the trigger. Hell, back in the day, I’d be all over this like white on rice sow what’s my problem?

I hate dumb questions

No matter the number of FAQs or knowledge base material I could possibly put together, can make up for the fact that hundreds of people will be asking the same time draining questions over and over again. I’ve read on a handful of blogs by premium theme designers, how draining and even aggravating their customer can be. Haha… Nick can attest to this one! He can be found on one site in particular where the same dumb questions are asked over and over again and he’s always trying to help newbies learn. It’s hard on readers, and it’s hard on the theme designers… I know it’s profitable but is it all worth it?

The Emotional Stuff

I’ve personally designed a few hundred websites, blogs, and logos over the years and each one is something that I’m very proud of in their own right. I did it as a freelance designer, and now I do it as a professional. The problem is that as a professional designer, your relationship somewhat ends once the final product is delivered. In fact, many times, it’s like going to a funeral, or reading my post about having the “Blogger’s Blues“. After weeks of daily interaction, you’re left with a feeling of relief that it’s finally over, and a bit of despair that you’re no longer needed. Funny how that works huh! Regardless, it’s the nature of the beast and just a part of the business that as designers we’ve all got to deal with. I think my “idea” takes the emotional roller-coaster out of the equation. I think it’s sort of like having attachment anxiety. One day you’re hot, the next day you’re not.

Time

Time is really really valuable, and as bloggers I know that you know exactly what I mean. Zania, for example, just to a little sabbatical to get caught up on more “profitable” chores. I myself just spent the past few days busting hump to get caught up… and I’m still not at 100% yet! Adii, one of the best WordPress designers out there, has some of the same troubles too. So how do I do something I love, make a little extra, and not get fired or need to take up dinking full time to ease the pain and kill the stress? Simple… don’t design premium WordPress themes!

Okay dude! What’s the “great” idea then?

Within the current position that I’m in with my employer, nothing forbids me from doing “side” work… or being a “hired gun”. However, I appreciate my job, and respect my boss, so aside from my dedication to my daily work, I think it would be a conflict of interest to go for the gusto all on my own. Sort of biting the hand that feeds me in a way.

That said I think that I’ve found the solution. I won’t design new themes… I’ll tweak ‘em! That’s right, after two minutes and thirty-seven seconds of reading, you’re finally going to see what the hell I’m talking about. See, building and maintaining a premium theme resource is serious business. It’s serious enough for some folks, that they spend all day every day working on their business and NOTHING else… that means other things will inevitably start to suffer… like my job, and my time with you guys on your blogs. Not good for my mental health if all this went by the way side. But, what if I spent four hours a night working on theme tweaks for awesome people like you?

Four hours a day, for 5 days a week is about 20 hours of work (A Part time job by US standards)… not bad I don’t think! Doing these “Tweaks” would keep me from having to jump into an already hot market, deal with the silly FAQs all day long, and I can still do a little something that I love all while earning a little extra cash to add more and more goodies to The Piss Biscuit.

Here’s where you come in…

So now that you know I’ll be taking the premium themes designed by others, and tweaking them, what do YOU think I should do? Since almost everyone of you own at least one website, how do you think this type of product would fair out? Do you think that it would open doors for theme designers to sell more themes? but when I really think about it, there are some questions that I’d like you to answer for me above the ones I just mentioned.

Do you think there is a market need for theme customization?
What is the number one reason you don’t already use a premium theme?
If you think premium themes are priced to high… what price point SHOULD they be at?
If you could, would you have your current theme customized to make it your own?

Well there you go. Four questions I’d like each of you to spend 2 minutes answering for me. Remember, this isn’t a sales pitch, this is a way for me to decide if it’s time to start doing something for myself again, or just sit back and do a whole lot of nothing!