In a post on wordpress wank, one of the only blogs by a WordPress user who actually thinks and blogs critically about the service they love, an interesting thread has begun following the announcement that the popular Revolution WordPress theme would go open source. In that discussion Nathan Rice asks:

As long as themes are selling, why make them free?

The answer to this question is easy in my mind: distribution. The real question people should be asking themselves is this: can selling themes be a profit center for a designer. Meaning, if all they did was sell themes, could they support a family. The answer is almost certainly: no. (But I invite anyone to tell me differently because I would sincerely like to know).

Why is this?

First, the blogging market is already relatively commoditized forcing most customers to be pretty price sensitive since bloggers have grown accustomed to get everything for free. That means that a designer cannot sell a theme for more than $150 or so because their customer base feels that anything higher would be too much.

Second, if the max I could sell a theme for is $150 per theme let's say, how many do I have to sell in order to make a living doing so? Too many. So many in fact, that I have exceeded the number of people willing to pay anything at all in the first place. Designer, meet ceiling.

So as a designer, what good is it for me to sell themes at all?

Simple: selling themes is a relatively low cost way to establish a recurring revenue stream for your business. Even if it never becomes a profit center, at least you can count on making a couple hundred bucks or more a month.

Ok, then, so if it makes me any money at all, then why make it free?

Perhaps never, but by selling a product you establish some obligation with the customer to support the product you are selling, and it is quite possible based upon the popularity of your theme, that the cost to the designer to provide support begins to eat away at the revenue they are making selling it. That could have happened to Brian.

But perhaps Brian saw his gross revenues decline. It would be reasonable for him to attribute that trend to one of two things:

1. the market is not growing - everyone who has a theme has already purchased one and the market is saturated.

2. increased competition - more and more people are trying to sell to the same market and you are losing customers to competition.

It is safe to say that #1 is definitely not true as the number of blogs created every day is astounding. That leaves us with option #2: increased competition.

So how do you compete more effectively in an increasingly competitive market?

You make your designs ubiquitous, and by so doing you make your brand ubiquitous. You use your design to service every designer's real revenue base: the services they provide.

And that is precisely what Brian has done. He is going to compete better than everyone else because more people will go to him to get started with a good looking design because the design is free. Then, when the user needs to take their design to the next level, who are they most likely going to go to for help?

Brian.

Only time will tell if Brian's decision was a good one for his business, but I suspect that it will be. I for one am ecstatic about his GPL'ing Revolution and you can bet that as soon as it is released, you will find a version available for Movable Type soon after, which is what I think will be his greatest win: the Revolution Theme will begin to transcend the blogging platform it was originally designed for, and Brian as a designer will gain greater visibility in a market he has yet to tap. He may choose not to support Movable Type users, that is a distinct possibility, but his brand will be known among its users - and that is always good for business.

There was thing about becoming a parent I was completely unprepared for: the feeling you get when you hear of tragedy that befalls another parent or their children. Before becoming a parent, I would hear such news, have my moment and think, "that is horrible," and then I would go about my day. But since having Harper, hearing such news creates this profound and lingering sense of sadness and emptiness. I remember my own parents speaking of this feeling, and it was something they told me that "only a parent can understand." They were right.

So, when my friend Sarah sent me this email:

I want to share some upcoming news with you that is very close to my heart. My good friend, Dana Richards, and I have registered for the Honolulu marathon to pay tribute to the sons of two of our dear friends, Dena and Lori. They have endured major heartache and tragedy and they've given us the courage to make this effort.

We are self funding and running this race together, and raising money for medical research for Mitochondrial Disease and Juvenile Type I Diabetes. Our goal is to raise $5000 for each cause (for a total of $10,000). Please help us by making a contribution and know that each mile we run is for something much bigger than all of us.

I couldn't not give.

Please, take a moment a meet Evan and Owen by watching the video below and visiting their blog. And please: please give. And if you don't give to this worthy cause, than give to any cause that benefits the health and well being of children everywhere.

Learn more:

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
• Evan and Owen