Envato Notes |
| Posted: 06 Nov 2013 03:18 PM PST What does every author need? Advice from a buyer who knows what she’s talking about, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. That’s Annie (chickscanfly), an avid fan of the Envato Marketplaces since 2008 who has an uncanny ability to customise items for her clients. Would you like to know what one of our top buyers looks for in the items she purchases? Read on to find out!
When I was a teenager, my father passed away, and my mother decided to buy me a computer. She knew that I had a creative side and a science side, and wanted to keep me on the right track. A few months later, I was gifted an Apple Lisa 2. That was back in 1984. From then on, I spent every free waking moment on my computer, and haven’t stopped yet. That was the best thing that ever happened to me. Medicine and flying were the two things I aspired to do when I was growing up. Computers and design had been a passion, but I never thought I could do them as an actual job. Never in a million years did I think I could make a living out of it.
Having explored web development since early 2000, I was made aware of WordPress around 2006. But it seemed so hard, so I gave up. A year later, I realised it was the way of the future, and decided to get serious about it. As I was researching WordPress, I discovered ThemeForest, because it was the best place to find WordPress themes. I joined in November 2008, just after Kriesi, one of Envato's top sellers (who joined in August of the same year). That was the early days of Envato. I loved Kriesi’s work, most of all his WordPress themes. They were innovative, and I bought them as a way of learning WordPress. The Envato Marketplaces provided me with the best resources to refine my graphic design skills, and were the main source of my WordPress theme education. I would buy items, download them, pull them apart, and figure out how they work. I’m a self-learner—I learn best on my own. I choose to get my hands on everything I can, rather than sit down and study lesson by lesson. At the moment, I choose to not be an author. There is a responsibility that comes with becoming an author—the responsibility of providing ongoing support for the items you've created. I prefer to move on to the next job and create something new. Overall, the Marketplaces have been my my teacher, my guide, and my source of inspiration, and I could never be more thankful. That's what the Envato Marketplaces enabled me to do: learn, grow and deliver.
My latest project was for actor Dylan Neal, who is currently the lead male actor with Andy McDowell in the much-acclaimed Hallmark Channel series, Cedar Cove. Dylan and I crossed paths some time in June. He asked me to come up with an acting studio website. I wanted him to have his online media in order before the launch of the TV show—July 20th. So I had a short window of time. After our initial conversations, I had a visual idea in my mind of what Dylan wanted. I went to ThemeForest , as always my main source of inspiration, to deliver what he needed. I found Mafioso, a great HTML theme by web20donkey, which really appealed to me, and has great functionality. I knew I needed a WordPress theme, and I found Kallyas by hogash. So I figured I could combine the two themes together. By using these two themes and combining their features, I was able to deliver Dylan's website by the July 20th launch of the Cedar Cove TV series.
My priorities are my client's deadline and budget. Does he want something custom, or does he want something quick? If his budget for the project is only $500-1000 for graphic design and web development, there's no way I can not code or design something from scratch in just a few days. But I know I can find something on ThemeForest that will accommodate his budget, make him happy, and save me time. The dilemma is time versus money. Many of my clients have already found the theme that they like on ThemeForest. They often have the assumption that because they look at a demo, that's how it comes out of the box. It doesn't happen that way. They think they just purchase the theme, install it, and poof… it’s finished. That’s not how it goes. Once we agree on a theme or direction, they’ll tell me what they want changed or added. Then I move forward giving the client what he wants.
Ever since I discovered Envato, I've been going to all the Marketplaces every day to discover the new authors and items that have just arrived. I guess you could call it an addiction! Depending on what my client needs, I focus on the appropriate Marketplace. When I browse ThemeForest, GraphicRiver, ActiveDen or whatever, I just look at the day’s items. Since the Marketplaces have grown exponentially over the last few years, I don't have the time to click on each one. My typical searching ritual is to just hover my mouse over the latest items, and whatever attracts my attention, I click on it.
As big as Envato is right now, we have a lot more choices than we did in the early days. Unfortunately a lot of the items look the same. Many of them have similar descriptions—”bootstrap”, “responsive”, “metro”. What I’m looking for as one of the top buyers, are items that are different. I've been on Envato from the beginning. I've seen them all. I am not interested in repeats. My inclination goes towards functionality, and the author's reputation: their eagerness to help and respond to customers, and their feedback in general. If I see one author who hasn't responded to customers in days, and can only bother to send me to his personal support page, and another that replies to enquiries from customers, I will give that second author more of a chance. Buyers like to be treated with respect, not blown off. I'm also after something that stands out. When I hover my mouse over the thumbnail, do I see something that looks like a lot of other items? If so, I don’t even waste my time. I only click when I see something different. I tell authors, “We all know everything has to be responsive. Everybody knows that responsive means tablet, web, iPhone, iPad, Android… So don’t show me an iPhone or Android phone.” Your preview has to catch my attention. Otherwise I’m not clicking. Here’s my short-but-rude version: It’s a go, or it’s a no go. Either the way you represent your product or image sucks, or it’s good. So show me what you’ve got, and show me you’re different. Since conducting this interview, Dylan Neal gave full control of his online media presence to FanGeek.com, and dylannealstudio.com is no longer live.         |
I’m a graphic designer and web developer, but I haven’t always been. My professional journey has been diverse.
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