I am thinking of starting up my own template selling site (like TemplateMonster or Boxed Art), but I don't know if putting all the time and patience into coding it will be worth it. Can template sites still be profitable, even with such a huge market to compete against?
yeah the biggest problem is competition, you need to put a lot of money into advertising..very profitable though
From a buyers point of view, I must say that such sites can be profitable if you offer what the clients want -- not what you think they do. Right now WordPress themes are very popular, so you should definitely invest in them. (Emphasis added on purpose, because this is very important indeed.) Buy some ads on blogs that appeal to other bloggers, such as PureBlogging, Xtra For Every Publisher, DailyBlogTips, VandelayDesign, BloggingTips etc. This would increase your chances to reach truly interested buyers. Also create some good free WP themes and get them listed in WP and CSS galleries. Make sure to include a link to your template site on each free theme, of course.
I have noticed that Wordpress themes have become a lot more popular recently, so that is a good point. I was thinking of, when starting off, specializing in Wordpress themes, osCommerce themes, and just regular business website themes as some of the first templates. These should be a good starting point, though it's a long way to go to compete with Template Monster's 19000+ templates. Also, do you think I should put ads on the site? I know they can sometimes help monetize things, but if the site is itself an e-commerce site to make money, would ads just get in the way? Also what type of ads would you suggest (AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network, etc...).
Design services end of things are more profitable to me but more tedious. Many "regular joes" don't know what to do with a template once they get it anyway and I capitalize off of it.
Probably not, quality templates take a lot of time to produce, you will not beat them at their own game resource wise because they make millions every year and can afford to hire a team of efficient, highly skilled designers. Wordpress is not a good idea if you're charging for the templates or a membership fee as I'm 1 google search away from hundreds of very nicely designed free templates, I'm spoilt for choice. Maybe if you do them for free and cash in from the boxed art/templatemonster affiliate schemes, alongside google ads.
So you don't think it would be a good idea to design all custom templates, but just sell the Template Monster affiliate templates? I suppose I could, if you think it would make more than selling my own custom ones, plus putting ads on the site as well.
Good marketing and finance mangement, while adapting to the market will make a template business EXTREMELY profitable. But i make it sound to easy, it takes a few years experience or ALOT of luck
So what do you think does sell the best? Apparently Wordpress themes don't sell because there are tons of free ones out there, so which templates would sell the most?
it is profitable but u have to put alot of effort on it. you need lots of creative people around and good advertising. that's what i think
WordPress themes may sell if you advertise for the right audience. This is why I said you should buy ads on blogging-related sites. Probloggers often post articles emphasising the importance of an exclusive design to hlep your blog stand out. This is where exclusive themes come in. The free themes would just help you show to potential paying customers what you are able to do. Just don't exaggerate in the amount of freebies offered. Also pay attention to Cybloid's comment. You could always offer customization services for clients that have already bought templates from other sources (or to those who got a free template but want to make it different from the rest). As for displaying ads... I'm not so favourable to this idea. If you're going to sell products and/or services, the presence of ads on your site may make you look as if you were desperate for money. Not too professional, as you can see. So, only display ads if you offer something for free; all banners and text links should be put around the freebies. The "premium" part of the site should be free of ads because you want your customers to keep focused on your own services. Ah, one additional thought: don't aim to build a gigantic site, at least for the time being. If you're going to do all the templates by yourself, you won't be able to compete against huge staffs. So, start small and use the initial profits to advance your business.
???????? Anything can be profitable if you learn how to run a business...... If you do not know if the time & energy will be worth it.... then you are like millions of others worldwide who started a business...there are no yes or no answers to give you as it is you who will ultimately decide if you are a success or not....... You want safe secure easy predictable .....get a J.O.B..... (though thats not so secure any more.)
Thanks for the replies guys, I'm thinking it may be a good idea to work on it in my free time just to get it going. I think it really could be profitable in due time, so thanks for all of your help!
I myself don't usually buy templates, but lots of website flippers go to them when creating a small website, so i would say it is a fairley profitable venture.
hey ascendancy, pm me when your site launches and ill add your site in my related links section (you can do the same for me).
I think it's a good thing to get into selling. People always want templates, maybe for resale, maybe they don't want to make one because their not an expert in that field. I think making really professional templates would pay off. Just as long as you don't spend too much time. Remember, if you make a template in 5 hours and sell it for $30, you only made $6.00/hr. but if you charge the right price it would make some good money.
Not a very profitable business considering huge competition, you can try focusing on particular people like Joomla Templates, Wordpress templates (just an example - it has a high competition though)
You can sell templates from an affiliate program, then you need to be REAL creative in getting your clients' attention because there are 101 sites out there selling the same templates. If you are designing the templates yourself, then coding is key. There's nothing more frustrating than to get a template and you have to recode it before you can do something with it.