Make Money by Branding Your Free Web Software

When you give your WordPress plugin or theme away what are you hoping to gain? Nothing! Fame! Money! If your answer is fame and/or money then how are you going to achieve this? In this article we will discuss the possibilities of making money by giving your product away.

The Answer

Well the answer to how you going to achieve fame and riches has to be, from advertising. Just like celebrities, the fame you’ve gained from that brilliant plugin or theme can earn you status in the eyes of advertisers. The key is to forget (from a financial point of view) the product and concentrate on your "brand".

Branding is everywhere you look, supermarkets, cars, electronics, airlines, sportswear, food, clothing and of course celebrities.

If you can become a celebrity you gain the status of being an expert. Think Bill Gates and the brand Microsoft, Nikkie, David Beckham or Kelvin Klien who’s brands are their name. They have all been given expert status!

Notice that the products being sold, is secondary to the brand. The brand is the image, the status grabber. It’s the branding of the product that sells, hence the brilliantly simple but memorable logos you see on products.

Manufacturers also take care to brand their product and ensure the visibility of the brand. Cars are an excellent example here. Do you know of any car, even custom made, that does not showcase a brand. Computers, electronics and even supermarket plastic bags do the same, they push the brand, not the product.

This is all indirect advertising, marketing and PR, like word of mouth, used to promote the brand and hence the manufacturers products. People see the brand and if the trust the brand they are motivated to buy.

The Power of Brand Names

Question, which would you prefer, a BMW, a Mercedes or a Lada?

How many people do you think selected a Lada?

But look at the question again, you don’t even know what the product is! I didn’t say what the product was. Your selection was based purely on the brand name. You jumped to a conclusion based purely on a brand name.

I think that proves the power of brand names…

Showcase Your Brand Not Just Your Product

On the web your brand image can be just as important, showcase it and get links to your website whenever possible. Place, "Powered by" links in you theme footers and on your plugin products, but do give users the choice of disabling any visible branding, most will not.

Controversial Topic

I realise that branding plugins and themes is a controversial topic and that some would argue along the following lines;

… if users want my product they will have to accept my visible branding after all they get the product for free anyway, I should get something in return. A little advertisement will not hurt their website…

At the end of the day it’s a matter of personal choice. The developer has to choose between forcing a brand onto the user and the user has to decide if that is acceptable.

I suspect, if the end user is not given a choice, they will find an alternate plugin. Remember the better your plugin or theme the more it will be copied, improved upon and made freely available. Give the user a choice and trust to fair play.

Finally

With open source being the rule rather than the exception on the web, branding and the associated status is the best way for web developers and designers to get something in return for their hard work. Use this option along with any services you can provide to increase your visibility and hence your marketability for advertising revenue.