I do not know what to do

[claudiathompson]

Hello,

 

Okay, a few years ago, when I started making Templates, I was just trying to create what they call "Background Sets". Background Sets are really not the same as the usual Templates you see out there today. Usually its just some little housewife out there taking a picture and making some buttons and a divider and a main titled graphic and arranging it on a page with a Home, Back, Next and Email Button.

 

So anyway thats how I started. Well let me show you a simple Background Set I made to start out with:

http://www.countrymanordesigns.com/childrentemplates/babydoll.htm

 

-thats how I started out.

 

And way back then, there would be quite a few people coming to me that wanted to use these background sets and they would ask me to design their site for them, using the theme set of their choice.

 

But then I came up with an idea... I thought, well if I were a person out there, wanting to have my website designed, I'd want different layouts for the pages, like the Home Page, Contact Page, About Us Page, and Products Page, etc--- yet still having the entire website match in colors...

 

So I decided to start designing background sets with 4, 5, 6 pages or so, each with a different page layout.

 

 

To start with, please just look at this Template here as an example, so that you will understand what I am talking about: http://www.countrymanordesigns.com/countrytemplates/hickorydickory_entrance.htm

 

Okay so that was great! People started ordering my theme sets right and left... and not only that but before I knew it, I'd go to Google and type in "Victorian Templates" or "Background Sets Web Design" and alot of other Categories and my two web sites would come up first on the list.

 

And you might think well, Claudia, whats the problem then?

 

Well the problem I now have is, hardly anyone ever asks me to design their website anymore, and I finally figured out WHY. its because I have practically ALREADY designed it for them by creating these 6 Page Templates for sale. Plus I started offering a Membership for a fee of $7.95 which would give them access to all the Templates on the site.

 

So now I have got to figure out what to do because I need some money. I need Web Design money, like as in enough money at a time to amount to something.

 

But here the sites are doing pretty good on the search engines and people do like this membership idea.

 

So my question is this... WHAT DO I DO NOW?

 

I came up with the idea of maybe creating these 6 page sets still, but no more allowing people to buy the templates, in order to use one of them they must hire me for web design.

 

BUT the problem with that is that all these web designers would get the membership so they would be able to use the Background Sets to design sites for their clients.

 

Plus I dont want to do anything even more stupid and get my site out of the search engines. I mean, for years now, when you type these things in at Google the site comes up first on the list or at least on the first page of Google.

 

If you were me what would you do?

 

To be honest I really dont like doing web design all that much, I enjoy creating Background Sets. I jave noticed though that alot of people, when they do buy the templates they end up re-arranging the page to have the buttons down the left side... so I started making some like this: http://www.countrymanordesigns.com/PrimKitchen_Home.htm

 

One question I have is... if I did remove the Membership thing plus remove the being able to buy all of the templates on CD... and just have them for sale individually, and not be able to use them unless they hire me for web design.... how much should I charge? And also, it is legal for me to remove the membership once I already have it there? Like couldnt I just leave the download the templates page there... so that people who already ordered the membership can still go to the membership page and download them? But discontinue offering membership?

 

I just feel like things have entered into a new phase and that everyone under the sun who was going to order the membership thing has done so already.

 

Also for a while there, maybe half a year now, I was desperate for money so I came up with the idea of offering all the templates as a reseller package... where people could resell them. I made people leave my link there on each template though. Is that stupid and should I discontinue that?

 

I feel now like Im creating templates to no purpose since people get all of them included in the membership, ANYWAY... so why make a new one? Thats why I started doing the Exclusive Sale templates. So that they arent a part of the Membership templates.

 

I even started thinking of doing special templates with 8 pages on my web design page and make it to where people cant use those unless they hire me for web design. Like this one with a more like a "Template" style instead of a typical Background Set-looking thing: http://www.countrymanordesigns.com/WebDesigner/FrontPorch.htm

 

And what I am doing is ending up going all different directions, not sure of what I am going to do or what I SHOULD do now.

 

I really really need the money right now so I need to do the right thing.

 

I hope that it is alright to put these links here so you can see what Im referring to. I feel like Im sort of on the verge of creating Templates instead of Background sets... although I am not really sure what the difference is except that Templates have buttons down the left side...

 

I feel like I have got to make a decision of some sort and stick to it. Plus I have another site like it, and I need to decide if Im going to be doing the same thing as whatever I end up doing with this site.

 

But at any rate, I have got to do something to start generating some money, and I feel that maybe I have been foolish by practically giving my stuff away... and I dont know how to go about changing that without messing up my search engine thing that seems to be good.

 

I started out just doing it as a hobby and because I wanted some lady on the internet who gave away free Religious Background Sets to modify one of hers so I could use it for my website. She said no and I asked if I could just change the color of the pages because someone told me that I do good work with graphics... so she got all huffy with me and said "Well if you think you can do it, make your OWN Background Set then!" So I thought to myself well OKAY I WILL then!!! ...and thats how it all started. I just dont want to mess anything up, I have worked really hard to get it the way that it is now. And I know I dont know ANYTHING compared to all of you, I really dont know Html professionally or anything like that, but for me I regard it as an accomplishment and it has helped me out quite a few times when I needed money for stuff. Like recently I needed $1,300 for my Permanent Residence when I moved from the USA to England and I was so scared I was goingto be deported because I didnt even know I needed to pay more money again, after I'd already gotten my Visa... and so I came up with that idea of selling all my Templates as a Package for Resale. So thats why I dont want to make any stupid decisions and mess things up. For me, its the only thing that gets me by sometimes.

[falkencreative]

Ultimately, you know your business way better than I do, so really you're the one who has to sit down and figure this out.

 

That said... it sounds like the main thing you need to do is to more strongly differentiate between your various options. It sounds like you have three different options, with three slightly different focuses:

 

- Background sets: cheap/limited

- Membership: more options/moderately expensive

- Custom: custom design/expensive

 

If a Background Set is roughly $3-4, and the membership is a one time fee of roughly $8, I think there isn't significant enough differentiation between those two options. It may be an idea to raise prices on the membership, or drop it completely if it really isn't earning you any money (though you'll have to find a way to provide your membership to any current active members.)

 

Realistically, I'm not sure how good of an idea your allowing others to resell your templates is. If it isn't something that's earning you much money, you may consider dropping that option. Besides, just because you ask someone to include a backlink to your website doesn't mean they actually will.

 

Also, one other thing to consider... It's possible that potential customers have different expectations regarding templates and image sets than they did eight or ten years ago when you first started. It may be worth doing some market research and looking at the top template sites and those sites you consider your competitors, and seeing what they do and how they approach things like pricing/membership options, etc. Also, it may be worth redefining exactly who you are targeting your services to. What sort of person are they? What are they looking for/what are their expectations when they purchase templates online? What are they willing to pay?

 

When visiting your website, I'm immediately struck by how "old" it feels. It feels like a site that was built ten years ago, and hasn't really been updated significantly since (which I'm guessing is pretty accurate -- your copyright on some of the pages still says 2002.) You still have an award from 2001-2002, you use animated gifs and marquee text, which all serve to "date" your website. Much of the graphics you offer are the same way, like they were designed for a time when having a GeoCities website was the cool thing, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people have different expectations now for what a "good" website looks and functions like. I would definitely suggest that you consider redesigning your website and improving the graphics you offer to feel more modern. Obviously, this depends on who your customers are, and perhaps that is the look they are going for. But in my experience over the past four or five years in the web design field, my customers tend to be looking for something that feels up to date.

 

When looking for "modern" web design, take a look at some of the showcase sites like http://www.thebestdesigns.com/, http://www.webcreme.com/, http://www.unmatchedstyle.com/, and template sites like you would consider competitors. Everyone has their own sense of what makes "good" design, and perhaps what I think of as "good" won't fit what you think of as "good" design, but I'm worried that what you are offering no longer fits the needs of your target audience.

[Susie]

I agree with everything Ben said. Also, if you prefer creating background and graphic sets, maybe you should focus on something like creating Design Kits that people use to decorate their blogs. I think that would be profitable for you - there are a lot of mommy and hobby bloggers that might like your design style. Here's a quick example of a blog designer who uses design kits to design blogs for people. And here's some info about blog wear.

 

If you really want to continue providing templates, you might look into creating blog themes (I recommend working with WordPress rather than Blogger). WordPress design is in huge demand right now.