mdolon

Wrote this at the request of a couple of HN users - if you guys have any specific questions about the premium themes market in general or my strategy for it, feel free to ask!

Hey vinhboy, I posted the article here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1237532

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any specific questions!

I'll try to write one in the next day or two and post the link to HN (it will be posted on my blog at http://devgrow.com/)

WooThemes is apparently pulling in $2+ mil per year according to the Mixergy interview. (http://mixergy.com/woothemes-adriaan-pienaar/)

The market is quickly getting very crowded but I'm currently in the process of selling premium WordPress themes myself, mainly at the request of clients who prefer a cheaper solution that is easier for them to customize. If there's interest I could blog about it or provide some insight into my research (and development) so far.

That's great to hear, congrats then!

The most important information I found on your site was the comparison chart between your service, MochiMedia and HeyZap! - is there any way you can put more focus on that, or mention the comparisons on the homepage?

Otherwise, looks good and I wish you the best of luck. It seems like it will be hard getting traction against the giants but even a small slice of the pie could/should be worthwhile.

This has been asked many times before - http://searchyc.com/hosting

My favorite has always been (and continues to be) http://www.linode.com/ for their value, simplicity, control panel and support.

I've always wanted to try http://www.webfaction.com/ too, might give that a shot next for a small project.

You should totally make the animation/design customizable too so I can finally have my own talking paperclip!

I have a friend working on two of them right now, including www.gafanhoto.com.br and www.gengibre.com.br - if you'd like I can put you two in touch.

No offense but that's a terrible deal. He does all the work (in a month at that), owns nothing and gets paid after you get $400 in advertising revenue, which could take months depending on the product.

Apologies for my neglect of linux users. I do develop in Ubuntu (running on VMware) but since it's out of my comfort zone of XP or OS X, I usually find myself much less distracted when working in it.

If you have any suggestions for linux apps that help increase your focus I'd love to add them to the list.

Lockerz is what made a lot of users on my site (pikagame.com) fanatics about free stuff. They do send out prizes however the process is somewhat shady, as they have a limited quantity and the prizes are only available at a certain time/day (kind of like Woot).

It might get you something but honestly it's probably not worth the time.

Well, if he's allowing you to download the videos as well what's to stop you from uploading them to YouTube?

I agree with you though, he should definitely limit access to maintain control, especially for the sake of his bandwidth expenses.

In all honesty, while I value your interviews tremendously, I would not pay for them if the transcripts were readily available.

Is video advertising not worthwhile for the amount of traffic you get? That would be fairly painless for all parties involved and definitely fine to most users, as we have to deal with it on YouTube and almost all news outlets.

Sorry guys, I configured this VPS in a rush last week and it went down with the traffic spike. Should be fixed now.

Made something like this before but never made it public, though mine looks more like the iPhone home screen.

I have, and so far so good.

Some info is listed under the NewMogul.com domain records, not sure how accurate it is though:

      New Mogul Inc
      2041 Arrowsmith Dr.
      Ottawa, Ontario K1J7V7
      Canada
      6133221451      Fax --

Should we try contacting him? This is getting a little stalkerish, however it'd be nice to confirm he's OK.

I've always found yawning very intriguing, and how people often get triggered to yawn as others around them are yawning. And how I just yawned at the thought of that!

Can't agree with this enough. From club judo to breakdancing to the microfinance club, I tried everything and anything while in college, even if I sucked at it or quit after a while. In my mind, this is the best chance to try out whatever your heart desires.

And if you do have to freelance, make a portfolio online with samples of your work. If you don't have any good samples, make them up for dummy companies. Print business cards that have your contact info and what you do written in plain English. Don't spend money on advertising (especially if you don't have any to start with), rather send messages to everyone you know notifying them of your new offerings and pass out business cards at every opportunity. Use Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to your advantage in spreading the word about what you offer.

I've also heard offering commissions for referrals works but I have yet to get any leads like that (maybe it's just my friends?).

I took part in a semi-incubator that included several entrepreneurial classes and coaching sessions, provided by the Kenan-Flagler business school at UNC-CH. The program is called Launch the Venture and you can find more info about it here: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/Programs/MBA/concentration/...

Awesome, I am incredibly happy for this! It was a pleasure working with you on both FeedbackArmy and this in terms of design, it is a rare treat to have such a polite and understandable client. I've also seen you online at the most awkward times of night slaving away, so I know this is certainly well deserved. Best of luck my friend!

I would also consider using a professional designer to help with improving the overall look and feel of the site/product, or maybe even a service like 99designs.com. It looks like a solid product and something I'd use, but often I find myself having to consider a product twice if the site is not up to a certain standard of design and/or professionalism.

In terms of getting the word out there, I'm with aberman in giving away free accounts for x users. If you can get a small group of paid users you can also start an affiliate program where referrals earn users money or usage credits.

I especially enjoyed the price comparison chart, with all of the other competitor names blurred out and no hint as to what the product is.

The site looks great and the idea sounds like a winner, I'm just not so sure about the execution just yet.

Your bikes are very cool but they're very expensive! This kind of defies the logic of providing transportation to 3rd world countries - they need a cheap and easy solution. You do seem to know your way around bikes though, if you're interested in the project drop me a line at mdolon[at]gmail.

Any engineers interested in working on a non-profit idea in developing a new type of bicycle for 3rd world countries? While working on a bike sharing program for my campus this past year I had a few ideas and created contacts who are willing to put money into green transportation - it could be interesting to see where it leads.

He was my childhood hero, still remains a big influence in all I do to this day. Growing up I always wanted to be a "universal genius" like Da Vinci, so I tried to pick up on science, music, art and pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I think my admiration of his abilities and the realization that he was just a man (like you or I) provided a lot of the drive and ambition I now have. This does have the unfortunate consequence of producing a 'jack of all trades, master of none' type persona, or at least it did for me.

So yes, it would have been amazing to hear him speak. =)

Out of curiosity.. is anyone here a SEOmoz Pro member and is it worth the money?

An honest question: Is there real value in these usernames other than convenience and ease of typing? It seems unlikely to me that Facebook would allow any kind of selling of the names in the future. On top of that, your username is permanently linked to your account so unless you're using a fake account registered before their cutoff time, you're stuck with it for your real account. Is it to get more traffic to your profile from popular keywords? Somehow monetized with links? Either you lose your real profile or you were able to make a fake account.

I mean, I see value only if the username is relevant to the person choosing it but otherwise what's the point of -nanotech, -solar, etc. other than comic value?

BTW, I stuck with mdolon for my username. =P