For two years of my blogging I used free designs. Then one fateful night, I switched to a theme from Theme-Junkie.
In this post I’d like to show you how using a premium WordPress theme solved my design flaws and ultimately made me a richer man.
I hope this inspires you to make a worthwhile investment and level-up your blogging.
Time for Change
So, why did I switch themes?
Among other reasons, I felt the look of my blog was not up to par with my content.
I wrote great articles and published guest posts from ~30 others but readers were not appreciating the content because the design was crummy.
I was actually lost. Considering ditching the blog and starting a new project. But I had heard premium themes made all the difference so – I was just a bit afraid to make this lean and initial investment – so I decided to do some Googling.
“Cheap premium WordPress theme” I typed into Google Search.
My Foray into Premium Themes
I searched around for about an hour but kept seeing the same problems. Too expensive, too many weird features, too confusing to setup.
Then I found something cheap that really fit my needs.
Theme-Junkie looked like a decent bet from the start and only got better as I browsed their products.
I was able to see they offered:
- Competitive prices
- Live demos of what your site would look like
- Instant upload and activation in WordPress
Pretty cool.
Check out this pricing chart that compares Theme-Junkie to other themes:
About the Chart: A price tag of $49 for a blog theme ain’t bad these days – most are even more expensive. But Theme-Junkie was offering 3 themes for that price, which reduces each Theme’s tag to $16.33. This deal sealed it for me. It meant that if one theme didn’t work out for whatever reason, I’d have two more in my back pocket. In other words, less risk that I’d waste my money and feel like an idiot.
(Having used Theme-Junkie for a while now I’d willingly pay $49 just for one theme, but that’s beside the point.)
The themes I ended up buying were Daily, Forester, and Garden.
Go ahead, browse through them real quick then let’s go over a few features you get at TJ.
Here’s what I got for $49:
Post questions and come morning you’ll have an answer, every time. I used the forum the other night to create my first squeeze pages like this one. The forum is a good place to ask general blogging questions too.
You can bet you won’t see you blog’s look elsewhere because Theme-Junkie is still relatively new. This also means they’re more willing to help you design it.
My favorite three are the preset 125 x 125 ad boxes like those you see on Daily Blog Tips, the featured content slider that automatically swipes through new posts, and the javascript light box that displays new content and new comments. Two of these are active now at Honest College.
This neat feature that lets you play with code with zero risk of ruining things. Just copy paste then hit save, or delete to remove the effects.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the minor details made my blogs so successful after I went Theme-Junkie. Things like grey borders and organized menu tabs really help and impressive visitors.
Uploading A New Theme
This part is easy. Once you purchase your new theme you’ll be redirected to the user dashboard. From here, download the .zip file of your theme to your hard drive.
Then head to WordPress, and in Appearance – Themes – Install Themes you can upload and activate the new theme!
The theme will instantly start working. You can also instantly revert back to normal and dump the theme if you want, so no worries.
Back to My Story
After buying my Theme, I was up ’til about 4am designing.
It was a blast – and feedback was already coming in.
“Nice!”…”Dig the new look!”…”Whoa bro!” were a few comments.
But I had to turn in. The next day we’d visit Troy (where the Trojan horse story actually took place) so I needed to be a real person.
I was elated to have a new look on my blog, and the $49 that came out of my PayPal already felt like a good investment. Ya know, those investments you’re instantly glad you made?
Covering My Costs and Then Some
So here’s the part you perhaps were waiting for.
In the days that followed, I found new advertisers were contacting me on the regular. Not like multi-million dollar deals, but about five to ten advertising emails per week as opposed to one, if I was lucky.
Trust me, when you’ve experienced the lows of blogging, seeing those little “can I advertise with you” emails is really encouraging.
It seemed (go figure) that looking like a legit, respected website as opposed to “any old blog” made a big difference.
Of course, this meant more responsibility too. If you don’t want more attention on your blog, more emails, comments, etc, I guess I would not recommend buying a theme.
But within about a week I had secured 4 ad deals, with really awesome companies, and was paid on two consequitive Fridays.
Wahoo! Amazon shopping spree, here I come 🙂
My net income for the month (July 2012) looked roughly like:
$500 ad revenue – $49 for 3 new themes – $6 hosting cost = $445 profit
And again, I was on vacation 😀
Have You Tried Premium?
As hopefully you can see, a new premium theme from any provider really can give your blog a facelift. Not only do readers respond positively but it’s a good move for yourself. I think investing in my own business pushed me to work a lot harder.
So, a good idea. Even if your wallet hurts for a day or two.
I’d love to hear from you if you have ever wanted to buy theme, and help you new Theme-Junkie users get setup! More the merrier.
Just don’t totally copy my look 😉
Seeya in the comments.
Greg, even I used free theme from Woothemes (actually I got one paid theme from my friend, but it was free for me :)) and using that theme was an awesome experience because I modified that theme according to my requirement.
Even in the starting days of blogging I got many comments from my readers about my theme, and they all were very happy with the design.
Suddenly one day I found Genesis Framework and started using it on my blog (right now my blog is on genesis) and that’s really very awesome experience to have genesis powered blog.
A great design always help to get more returning visitors because people love to see clean and easy to navigate blog and your blog is awesome in these both sense.
I always love to read your blog and visit it because of super clean design and your awesome content of-course. 🙂
Premium themes are highly recommended for each and every blogger if they want something good from blogging.
If it isn’t Kulwant! Great to have ya back sir.
Thanks for that. I try to keep this place cripsy clean.
I know, the comforts and benefits of a premium theme really make a blogger happy. It’s like a new car or a new apartment.
Genesis?? Wow, big guns! I bet it’s amazing.
Cleanness is the key !! ha ha..
If you want to go for more cheap themes, then you can have a look at elegant themes. For a price tag of $39 with a complete collection of 83 themes, this option just can’t be ignored at all.
No way Sameer. TJ gives you 3 themes for that price.
Hey Greg, I’ve returned from a week in Canada [I’ve been itching to pick out a theme or two!] and I have chosen my themes from Theme Junkie. Trouble is, when I go to install the theme, there are so many files and folders [changelog, colors, archive], I do not know WHICH one to install. Help!!
Installation says I need to upload a zip file, which I downloaded to my hard drive…do I need to unzip the file? Everything is php, png, and css.
Hey Laura! Glad you chose Theme-Junkie, you’re gonna love it.
Lol. You have to upload the whole .zip file into WordPress. So you don’t need to unzip it on your hard drive. Just search for the file name in WordPress and upload the whole thing, then activate. WordPress covers the rest.
The thing i learned is that the quality comes with premium only either it can be blog writer, or a premium theme.
A great post dude.
Writer > theme, but both go hand in hand.
Thanks for the insightful comment Himanshu
Thanks for sharing your story.
By the way, I think your price comparison table isn’t fair. For example, for Genesis from StudioPress, you compare the price with Pro Plus Package. If you’re comparing the price of theme that you wish to use on on blog, the price should be for one theme only. Just my opinion.
StudioPress charges $239 for 3 themes, forum, etc.
Theme Junkie charges $49 for 3 themes, forum, etc.
Which one would you buy Rudd?
Relevant – The Truth About Premium Themes
hi Greg
yes, I’ve tried premium themes before, and I may have tested even one of your favorite ones… Theme Forester.
I do this for most of my small niche sites…
For my big brand sites I prefer to outsource design from scratch. This really hurts the pocket, but it’s well worth the investment.
Hot content published on an ugly theme makes it non appealing, so you lose visitors. Thus, I highly recommend a theme that stands out and makes it easy for visitors to consume your content.
Blogging is all about usability, and providing your followers with a pleasing reading experience, isn’t it? 🙂
John, you seem like a good guy to have around here. Hope your pockets have reloaded like mine did 😀
Love this post, and I do think changing from a free theme to a paid theme can be the change that make your blog looks more attractive to readers and create opportunities to gain some advertising deal, I myself have just changed my blog apperance so I totally agree with your points. Thanks for sharing mate.
On point Tony. So many blogs I see deserve to be more attractive 🙁
I did an upgrade to a premium theme for my primary blog but, have been thinking about starting another one in a completely different niche. I “get” the value of premium themes – and I really “get” the value of what you’ve shared about Theme-Junkie. Like the option to get 2 bonus ones.
+2 themes is a great safety net. Happy to help more Kathy.
Thanks for the review on theme-junkie, Greg. I am still relying on free themes for couple of my blogs. I make little tweaks and customizations on existing free themes and use them on my blogs. For a price tag of $49 for 3 themes, this is not a bad option.
Sounds fun Rinkesh, but you might be holding yourself back.
Hey Greg,
Good to know that you’ve earned $445 by just changing your theme!
Few days back I’ve written a post on ‘How to choose a WP themes’ where Theme Junkie was the first recommendation to choose. Though I am using DIY theme on my blog. Actually I am an old customer of DIY theme.
Definitely I’ll try out theme jukie. Thanks for nice sharing.
Yo yo Istiak. Glad you recommend Theme Junkie too!
I’m in the market for a new theme. I have one that I love, but want to step it up a bit for my blog. I currently have one from Woo Themes called Fresh News. I’m looking for one like Newswire.
Thanks for this post! It’s pretty timely and has given me something to think about.
Kimberly
Newswire is really neat Kim. And the forum helps you add/remove/change features.
Theme junkies themes are more than just great for all the bloggers, other theme developers mostly develop themes for business bloggers on the other hand theme junkies themes are based on the bloggers experience and they are highly optimized for adense.
Totally forgot the Adsense bit Rakesh. You’re brilliant.
Really Encouraging… Im just wondering when advertisers are going to contact me….I know buying a theme will help but the change u posted is amazing
Make an “advertise with us” page Dinesh. Page tabs on Theme Junkie rock the house.
We both are Theme-Junkie lovers, Greg. 😉
Well, you missed to mention It’s SmartBlog theme above, It’s one worth checking out as well. I’ve been using it from long time, but I’m not that expert in WordPress coding like you.
$445 is not bad when you’re on vacation.
As per usual you crack me up Ehsan 😆 Well duh, you’re theme is even better than mine.
You’re kidding me now.
🙂 What’s “better” anyways
I still cant understand that you earned just by buying “theme” 😮
😀
The new look seemed to the missing piece in my puzzle!