Business and Monetization Opportunities for Developers

Business and Monetization Opportunities for DevelopersMario Peshev / CEO at DevriX

➔ CEO, WordPress Architect @ DevriX

➔ Former Java/PHP/Python Developer

➔ Consultant and Technical Lead for several SaaS Solutions

➔ Marketing and Project Management chops

➔ @no_fear_inc

➔ Open Source addict and Cofficer

About Me

Mario Peshev, @no_fear_inc


How to Profit a s a WordPress Developer?

Premium Themes

➔ The most popular way for selling products vs. services

➔ Does not require proficient coding skills, suitable for people with marketing/design background

➔ Market is oversaturated, race to the bottom for 2-3 years now

➔ Niche themes are still a thing though


➔ Building niche themes or implement outstanding designs

➔ Create theme frameworks, option frameworks, licensing APIs

➔ Work on embeddable solutions (galleries, builders, other tools that can be integrated within a theme)

➔ A hosted WordPress solution with your premium themes

➔ Support and Tutorial folks are like unicorns

Theme Ecosystem Opportunities


Plugins for Sale

Freemium Plugins

➔ A free core plugin with a paid Pro version or add-ons

➔ Works great for a free trial with an upsell

➔ Gets people engaged and invested in your product

➔ Allows for a larger audience and faster marketing


➔ Get paid for features added to the plugin

➔ Build plugins for clients and release for free whenever possible

➔ Create an extensions ecosystem for additional features

➔ Upsell additional consulting, development and maintenance

Get Paid for Improvements


Premium Plugins

➔ Building WordPress plugins for a fee

➔ Still allows for selling add-ons and extensions (like Gravity Forms)

➔ Also a good stream of annual recurring revenue with renewals

➔ Marketing a new paid solution is fairly

challenging

Note:

All plugins need to be fully GPL-compliant


➔ A lucrative way to code less and leverage marketing

➔ In a way, that's what plugins are to WordPress in general

➔ Extend a powerful and popular plugins and tap to its user base

➔ Applicable to larger plugins (eCommerce, builders, event

managers)

Extensions


Marketplaces and Directories

Plugin Marketplaces

➔ WordPress.org for freemium solutions

➔ Your own website

➔ Plugin marketplaces

➔ Core plugin sites listing extensions


➔ Lists the Core plugin plus extensions

➔ Runs promotions and campaigns on your behalf

➔ Marketing out of the box

➔ The EDD Team takes care of support

The EDD Marketplace


Software as a Service

➔ Hosted software distributed on a subscription basis

➔ Platform-independent, centralized updates

➔ Usually integrates with tons of other services

➔ Handle the data and analyze behavioral patterns

What is SaaS?

The Full Package

➔ Bundle both your codebase, and additional plugins

➔ Set the environment standards - both hosting, and WP stup

➔ Define the payment terms

➔ Cancel accounts after payment expiration






























The Right Tech/Biz Toolkit

Tools and Services

➔ Support System

➔ Email and SMM Automation and Sequences

➔ Zapier or IFTTT

➔ Reliable payment solution

➔ A hosting partner, IaaS or PaaS Solution


Stratus5

➔ A Cloudware-based PaaS

➔ Takes care of billing, first-level support, renewals, payments, infrastructure

➔ Takes a cut on your profit

➔ More partnership-based than

outsource-oriented


➔ Payment terms in Bulgaria are really complicated

➔ On top of the EU law, there's the Bulgarian one

➔ You can leverage PayPal, 2Checkout, Payoneer etc.

➔ Accounting could be a major bottleneck as your business grows

Payment Handling


➔ A hosted payment solution for different digital products

➔ Detailed analytics, customer management

➔ Deals with all financial troubles of an entrepreneur

➔ Subscription is $10/month. Charges 3.5% + $0.30 of a sale

Gumroad


Final Notes

➔ Blogging

➔ Tutorials, plugin reviews, demos

➔ Affiliate networks and cross-promotions

➔ Online training courses

➔ Integrating different plugins together


Other Sources of Revenue

Some Extra Tips

➔ Write a detailed business plan

➔ Focus on one thing

➔ Tackle a niche and profile in it

➔ Branding and marketing are important

➔ Partnerships and networking

➔ Consulting opportunities for starters (high rate, low engagement)


That’s all folks!

Questions? Tweets as @no_fear_inc

Mario Peshev on LinkedIn

nofearinc on WordPress.org

GitHubering like mpeshev

Blogging at DevWP.eu