transparency report sharing the secret of word press themesplugins business
TRANSCRIPT
Transparency report:Sharing secrets of WordPress Themes/Plugins Business
Arjun Singh Thakuri(Founder/CEO - AccessPress Themes, Access
Keys)@aThakuri
What is transparency report?A self prepared report (informal) that gives insight
on:• Revenue made • Strategies applied • Ups and Downs • Lessons learnt• Any other company statistics (eg. support, sales,
legal, customers etc)*Transparency reports might not be audited.
Who does this?• Automattic• ENVATO• CodeInWP• WP Rocket• PIPPINS Plugins• WPCURVE• BUFFER• WooThemes (Customer Happiness Report)• Many others...
What’s good about it?• Serves as Motivation • Indirect advantage - share information that
other people keep private. Be honest and gain trust. Get an insight into a business or niche you wouldn’t normally see.
• Sharing - a good way to give back to the community
• Transparency – Honesty : Loyal customers
Lets give a closer look:
Automattic – transparency report
ENVATO – transparency reportTotal sales (Revenue made by each item) – is
transparent.Revenue sharing % - is transparent via their
policies. (Hence one can easily know which company is making what)
CodeInWP – Transparency reportTransparency report (more detailed one) published
monthly – via their blogThey talk about revenue generated, marketing
strategies, challenges, A/B testing, new experiments and tips
CodeInWP – Transparency reportTheir latest Transparency report states – their
monthly revenue (Oct) is: $93,850.30
WP Rocket – Transparency reportTransparency report (more detailed one) published
monthly/bi-monthly – via their blogThey talk about revenue generated, marketing
strategies, challenges, new experiments, target for next months, and most importantly support/happiness report.
WP Rocket – Transparency reportTheir latest transparency report revealed that their
revenue for Sep, 2015 was: $71,250
WP Rocket – Transparency report
What about AccessPress themes?• I presented a transparency report of AccessPress
Themes in WordCamp Nepal 2014 for the first time and many people loved it.
• Many got inspired
Looking back...What did you see last year?Summary here:
• Started: Feb 2014• 1st FREE Theme launched: May 2014• 1st Premium Theme launched: June 2014• 1st Free Plugin launched: Sep 2014• 1st Premium Plugin launched: Sep 2014• Initial team (Feb 2014): 4 people • Team by last WC Nepal (Nov 2014): 9
Presented in Nov, 2014
This year (2015)Our business model (Freemium)
• Freemium Themes • Freemium Plugins
What did we continue?Most of the good things, specially the product
launch cycle
The cyclePlanning
ExecutionEvaluation/Assessment
What new we did?• Better products• Better Support • Sales and marketing
• Affiliate marketing • Promos and Advertisements
• Paid • Unpaid
• Brand building • Networking with the community
Products overviewAs of Nov 1, 2015
2014 2015Free Themes: 1 11Premium themes: 1 8Free Plugins 1 14Premium Plugins 1 8
Free themes, plugins downloadsTotal free themes downloads: 726,316Total free plugins downloads: 592,901
As of Nov 1, 2015
Revenue sideThemes average monthly revenue: $23606.09 Plugins average monthly revenue: $1509.54Customization service average monthly revenue:
$500 - $1000Top seller (Theme): AccessPress Parallax PROTop Seller (plugin): AccessPress Anonymous
POST (PRO)Total refunds: 28
(As of Nov 1, 2015, Data of last 11 months)
Branding2014 2015
FB page likes 655 5528Twitter Followers 86 404
YouTube channel subscribers: 66 807
Daily Website traffic 300-350 3300-3500
As of Nov 1, 2015
Support / Customer happiness reportSupport forum:
44 Forums1,959 Topic4,752 Replies91% forum replied in less than 24hours.
Online chats: 9456 - online chatAverage daily chats: 28
Help desk (ticketing system)5911 - total ticketsAverage daily tickets: 24
Good times!What happened good with us!
• Everything went almost as per the plan• The strategies worked • Great team work continued• Loyal client base • The community recognized us, promoted us, got
featured in many WP magazines.
Bad times!• Ups and downs (Usual and natural!) • The devastating quake• Dependency in WordPress.org traffic
Plans ahead• Try a different model apart from freemium• A/B testing • High end (next generation) products (some
innovation!) • Give (better and useful stuff) back to the
community
What remained our Mantras? (Values)• Persistent with patience
• Innovation• The cycle (plan - execute - assessment - replan)• Product support
Summing up• We put forward what we did & achieved honestly
and transparently• We want many (or some) of you get inspired • Have a strong trust that WordPress can be a great
platform for successful business!
Got inspired?Good to know :) • Share your success with others• Share your bad times / good times with others • Inspire others • Grow together • (Don’t forget to) - Give back to the community
Thank you!Have Questions?
@aThakuri / @apThemesAccessPress Themes