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