Learn From My Time Wasting Mistakes

[Kevin AKA Hubcap]

I wasn't going to post this because I'm kinda embarrassed about it but I know it will help some of the nuggets (rookies) coming into IM.

I use html/css sites but recently decided to do some things with wordpress.

Of course, I needed the perfect theme which by the way doesn't exist.

How do I know this...I spent the better part of two days searching both premium and free themes until I realized that good enough is good enough.

Just a reminder to all to invest your time into things that make a difference to the bottom line.

[George Wright]

True True True.

That kept me away from WP for a long time. Heck I can create "good enough" myself.

Then I discovered WP "good enough" was faster and less nerve racking then my Good Enough when I had to make changes. Plus it's just plane faster in the first place.

What has been amusing to me is watching the master website builders who used to create works of art websites are using WP now. I guess faster, easier and good enough is better than time consuming, head ache giving, works of art.

On the flip side I see sites that are not WP being used now by people and they are good enough. WP set a new high standard for good enough. they have both raised and lowered the bar simotaniously. What a neat trick.

Now if anyone ever creates THE PERFECT WP theme it will be the better mouse trap.

George Wright

[Kezz]

Okay, so I can't help myself, I have to ask.

In your view, what elements would the "Perfect WP Theme" include?

And, what elements are present in the themes you've seen that preclude them from "perfect" status?

[peter gibson]

Originally Posted by Kevin AKA Hubcap

I wasn't going to post this because I'm kinda embarrassed about it but I know it will help some of the nuggets (rookies) coming into IM.

I use html/css sites but recently decided to do some things with wordpress.

Of course, I needed the perfect theme which by the way doesn't exist.

How do I know this...I spent the better part of two days searching both premium and free themes until I realized that good enough is good enough.

Just a reminder to all to invest your time into things that make a difference to the bottom line.

This is SO true. You are actually spot on time for me with this thread. I just started a new network of sites and I've spent the better part of the day searching through templates. Aargh.

Thanks for the kick in the #%$#. Back to real work now I guess.

[Tom Brite]

Ive spent all too long in the past searching for the perfect theme and i know even if i got one custom made for me then it wouldn't be perfect down the line.

I am always on the look out for more wordpress themes and especially ones that other people don't seem to be using as much which is even harder (or at least not in my niches).

Although eventually i have learnt that its not the theme that makes the sale its instead just the content that does. Okay the theme can help slightly but its not a big part of getting the sale/convertion/lead.

Tom Brite

[George Wright]

Drop the time and date. No clocks or calenders. No automatic links anywhere just a place to put them if you want them, Adjustable to full screen or % of screen. Looks like my good enough website but works like a WP site.

And, a way to put the clocks, calenders and links back if I want them.

Oh yes, Makes Coffee.

George Wright

Originally Posted by Kezz

Okay, so I can't help myself, I have to ask.

In your view, what elements would the "Perfect WP Theme" include?

And, what elements are present in the themes you've seen that preclude them from "perfect" status?

[Bertil Jenner]

So I guess you really did not totally waste your time as you have learnt something, good enough is good enough. Making mistakes is also a good way of learning and internalizing lessons.

Bertil Jenner

[Ciara Mac Mahon]

I absolutely agree with the "good enough is good enough" philosophy BUT I've seen a number of threads in the forum (possibly the copywriting area) where people have said things along the lines of .. "changing a single word in my title increased my conversions by 300%"

So can tiny changes in your sites made massive differences to your outcome? I guess that why there's so much split-testing going on!

It's all learning!

[RentItNow]

Rule of business. As quality reaches infinity, so does cost (in time and money).

[crystalq]

Maybe you should buy Artisteer

[igorhelpsyousucceed]

Originally Posted by Kevin AKA Hubcap

I wasn't going to post this because I'm kinda embarrassed about it but I know it will help some of the nuggets (rookies) coming into IM.

I use html/css sites but recently decided to do some things with wordpress.

Of course, I needed the perfect theme which by the way doesn't exist.

How do I know this...I spent the better part of two days searching both premium and free themes until I realized that good enough is good enough.

Just a reminder to all to invest your time into things that make a difference to the bottom line.

I invested 3 days in my Theme searches. And then invested another week in
tweaks and minor changes. It can get rather irratating.

Needless to say my productivity suffered :/

~Igor

[mikeyman120]

I spent a whole 12 hours looking for a theme just the other day. I finally picked one that is pretty good. I have 2 other blogs but haven't had time to get a theme for them yet. But it was annoying looking for a nice theme. I only looked at free themes I guess paid would have been better or at least they should be.

Mike

[Tim Yu]

Thank you for Sharing!

But it's true, alot of people always spent more time on technical and design.

Focus more on Marketing to get more sales for you! Once you have made some money, hired a designer and change that template.

[Shana_Adam]

Procrastination is a snake that disguises itself as perfection. I swear I have many snakes enslaving me at the moment!

[Mike30]

Thanks for sharing it. Don't be embarrassed for it. We all had passed for those times. You had pointed a very important point of life. Good enough is good enough.

[gianne2705]

This the positive side of having mistakes.Mistakes help us to learn and improve so instead of giving up take this as a challenge to do more next time.

[Kevin AKA Hubcap]

Originally Posted by Kezz

Okay, so I can't help myself, I have to ask.

In your view, what elements would the "Perfect WP Theme" include?

And, what elements are present in the themes you've seen that preclude them from "perfect" status?

Keez

I can't really say if I would know a perfect theme. I like a lot of the business and creative themes at Theme Forest but there are some changes that I would make.

First of all it seems that many themes have a jquery slider on the home page. I'd replace that slider with a video (self hosted) on the left side and an opt-in box on the right.

I'll be using wordpress as both a blog and as a CMS (on the same site) for e-commerce sites (some themes are built for this) so I need the theme to have both pages that are "traditionally styled" and "blog" pages.

I also like blogs that aren't too ambitious with their color schemes. IMO some color variations make it more difficult to customize (swap headers etc.).

That's about it.

By the way, if you know of any themes fitting the description give me a shout.

Kevin

[Kevin AKA Hubcap]

Originally Posted by Tom Brite

Ive spent all too long in the past searching for the perfect theme and i know even if i got one custom made for me then it wouldn't be perfect down the line.

I am always on the look out for more wordpress themes and especially ones that other people don't seem to be using as much which is even harder (or at least not in my niches).

Although eventually i have learnt that its not the theme that makes the sale its instead just the content that does. Okay the theme can help slightly but its not a big part of getting the sale/convertion/lead.

Tom Brite

Tom

I don't know about you but it helps to remember that I'm not a designer (eventhough I do have a strong interest).

I'm a marketer and as such there are more productive things I could be doing.

[Kevin AKA Hubcap]

Originally Posted by Ciara Mac Mahon

I absolutely agree with the "good enough is good enough" philosophy BUT I've seen a number of threads in the forum (possibly the copywriting area) where people have said things along the lines of .. "changing a single word in my title increased my conversions by 300%"

So can tiny changes in your sites made massive differences to your outcome? I guess that why there's so much split-testing going on!

It's all learning!

Ciara

The difference is those sites are up and making money. It's true that you need to test but you can get any relevant data if your site isn't on the web.

Kevin

[Kevin AKA Hubcap]

Originally Posted by crystalq

Maybe you should buy Artisteer

I've tried the demo version and to be honest I thought it was just ok. The themes that it creates all have a certain "look" to them.

Kevin