I needed to write this article as I wanted your opinion. Are plugins suitable for advertising?
Now first of all I have seen many uses of plugins and themes that I do not approve of. Here are few examples.
- Theme or plugin automatically inserts their blog link to your blogroll. You would be surprised how many plugins and themes do this without even asking you.
- Theme or plugin is adding a nag notice in your administration panel. Bad boy.
- Theme or plugin is changing your dashboard. Usually by adding the contents of their blog feed. I am not 100% sure about this one but I lean towards the opinion that the user should be asked first. I would if I was to change someone's home.
- Theme or plugin is printing out a link to a website. In this case if the link is related (theme home page, support forum, author page) definitely yes but in some cases the plugin or theme will print out an affiliate link or a link to a site with questionable quality. Again very naughty.
The problem here is that these actions usually happen without you approving them. They will not even tell you anything about in the readme file (Hey, we are going to do this and this on our own we hope you are fine about it). They do it in a sneaky way. Bad.
How to do it without hurting anyone's feelings (almost!)
What I have done in almost all of my plugins is to have a menu on the plugin options page. I felt this was non intrusive and would be shown only when people are generally interested in the plugin (when they opened it's options page).
This menu will show helpful links to plugin support forum, plugin rating on WordPress.org, plugin home page, my other plugins and also links that can be marked as commercial - the Paypal donate button (I am not one of those who made a fortune on donations) and a link to my services page (which did bring people genuinely interested in my services).
Smart Youtube Options Menu
The same goes with my themes, the footer link in the theme pointing back to my site is a common practice and I also approve of this (you are at least getting something back for the work).
However in several occasions I noticed how angry people can get even with these practices.
Once I was changing the above shown menu ( I was adding prettier icons, changing the links..) and after the plugin update has been made this comment appeared on wordpress.org forum:
This guy keeps pouring "updates" just for the sake of showing us his newest donation images and other advertisements in his back-end. What does this improve for actual users? NOTHING! Man, this sucks - heavily!
Now he did not get any approval from other forum members or anything that would really make me worry about my thinking but the amount of 'hatred' expressed really upset me.
There we have plugin authors who are putting their work out for everyone, for free, so others can have better sites and people are still not satisfied. They are angry because it is too hard to press the upgrade plugin link. There is something wrong with that.
Plugin advertising idea
Having written a book on WordPress plugin development is one of the best experiences I have had recently. Not just for publicity but the sheer enjoyment of having created something that will actually outlast me.
So I was thinking about my plugins and using them to promote the book. Can it be that all that plugin development could pay for itself if I used it now as a base to promote the book?
What happens if I add one more link to the options menu, that will say something like 'Learn to create cool plugins like this' and link it to my book page.
Here is the simple scenario.
My total plugin downloads are in the 500,000 area (official WordPress.org figures). That's not a small number, and more than a year of work stands behind it.
Let's say that quarter of the users will upgrade the plugins (some are lazy, some don't mind having old version, some are using older versions of WP). That's 125,000.
Lets say that of those who upgraded 10% will check again the plugin options page. That's 12,500.
And let's say 5% will notice/be actually interested in learning to create plugins. That's 625 users checking my book page.
How many will buy? Hard to tell, 5%-10% seems to be realistic. So I sold between 30-60 books.
The effort to actually update all of my 15 plugins actually outperforms the revenue I will get from these actual sales (we are talking maybe $200 here). Hm, I might just write this rant instead. Hate to leave it without a final conclusion, hopefully you can help me reach one.
Suggested reading:
- New WordPress forum
- Show me Options and Snazzy Archives plugins release
- Tweaking WordPress: Home page tweaks
Posted in: WordPress
TAGS:advertise wordpress plugin, advertising using people, advertising wordpress, word press plugins, wordpress advertisement plugin, wordpress advertising, wordpress advertising idea, wordpress advertising theme, wordpress blogroll adverts, wordpress comment ads, wordpress easy advertising plugin, wordpress plugin ads, wordpress plugin advertising, wordpress plugin advertising footer, wordpress plugin youtube menu, wordpress plugins advertising
14 Comments
Donations seem to work when you provide something in return that normal visitors can't get. I use a Pligg site and donated because the donation was equal to their plugin and template cost I wanted which they give for free with donations.
Cheers Bruce :)
Hello Vlad,
Although I don't think you will ever be rich from selling a book, or asking for donations, I do you believe you might be able to accomplish something with your brand. I see you are wordpress wizard (I read you blog a lot), and I imagine you are able to keep lots of cash coming in with your consulting business (and other ventures). Eventually I think you deserve the fame? to be able travel around on someone elses money giving the occasional talks about web4.0 (coming soon), or some other thing.
The sad truth is that the donation model simply does not work. The rate of incoming donations in many cases does not fully cover development and hosting cost. Not to mention all the time the developer has put into the project at the cost of their own personal happiness, all for a measly donation that come in once every two months.
In any open-source project, you need revenue to support the momentum, and to ensure the project sustainability. I have seen a lot of projects that started off with lots of enthusiasm, but succumb to a premature death. This occurs too often.
I think that developers and designers need to rethink their own strategy for viability. Tricky implementation and shady undercover dealings that work in boosting their websites at the expense of their users will not work.
Gone are the days of free. The web is increasingly becoming service oriented. I personally would pay for a plug-in if it is active development, if the developers listen to their users, and if there are timely releases to address user issues as well as security.
Vladimir, I think you have to think about your sustainability. The popular model of donation, or as I call it, solicitations, in Open Source is not always a viable option. It is sort of like those Google Ads. You see them, you know you are supposed to click on them to help the website owner generate revenue, but many people do not.
In an ideal world, donation is really a selfless act, but we don't live in one. Perhaps, we should start thinking about cultivating one.
I'm impressed that you are taking this with such diplomatic consideration! I'm also impressed how you respond to others' "shady" tactics.
As long as the obnoxious ads are avoided (which you aren't even close to) I think it's very well appropriate to put links like that in your options menu. I have found it on many others. It's like signing a painting or any other work. Because of how aware you are, the only possible way I could think of being even more sensitive is to mention it in the plugin description. Something at the bottom like, "Much time and energy has been invested in this plugin. So naturally, in the plugin options I give links to support, website, and other plugins. As it relates I also mention my book about developing plugins. By downloading the plugin you agree to appreciate the developers work, and not complain about the unobtrusive links. If you disapprove, please refrain from downloading."
Now that I wrote that, I think it's still going overboard. I wish I could, but given my situation, I don't feel the freedom to donate, so any other way I can give back, I attempt to do so. When I get my site up and running, I'll have a link to everything that powers the site, mentioning your plugins and blog. It's the least I can do.
All the best!
I find it incredibly annoying to see Google ad links for software in the backend and frontend of a website. I tend to disable such plugin that does that. Administrators already have lots of issues to deal with, and none of them should be Google Ads, unless it it monetizing their own content.
There are many ways to support authors who are publishing free plugins. If you cannot donate, there are other ways to contribute. My recommendation is as follows:
1. Blog about the plugin
If you like the plugin, let others know about it and share your experience. Submit your experience to the forum, WordPress, etc.
2. Get others to donate
Happiness is infectious. When you are happy about something, chances are someone else will become happy as a result of your happiness. When someone is happy, they can do some happy things such as donate. There are people who are looking for avenue to donate. Why not a plugin?
3. If Google ads are a must for the plugin authors, give administrators the option to activate and deactivate the plugin, and its appearance on the website.
For example, you can have the plugin show on the website, selected pages, all the pages, or none of the pages.
The truth is that someone has spent time developing and maturing the software. If it is something that is useful to you, support it. If you cannot support it immediately, do your part and let others know. It is the least we can all do.
Azuka has a point, it is challenging to maintain open source projects. Branding, as Bruce mention is no doubt a motivation from an individual developer standpoint, although for many the return is far from the work invested. But what about Mozilla, WordPress, Ubuntu, Apache, etc?
This is Joomla's blog in which they're considering the future of their financial model. They analyzed other open source companies to help guide their own. About a page down, there's a very brief chart of how each company stays afloat:
http://community.joomla.org/blogs/community/1117-how-open-source-development-is-funded.html
I just finished reading the Joomla link but cannot make comments on the website.
It is difficult to maintain any project, open-source or proprietary. There are real challenges with each. The issue of revenue is something that independent contractors, small and large companies/organizations must deal with on a daily basis. It is about survival and longevity. I also think it is about legacy as well. How does the project go on? Does the project have the resources to sustain itself and the developers? Can the project still maintain its momentum? Not everyone have access to the financial resources or the connection of Shuttleworth or Brin.
This brings me back to Vladimir’s original question and I will use the example of a real ice cream company that updated their customers Twitter every time they bought an ice cream. I read this article about an ice cream company was trying to use social media to raise branding and profits. They company launched a campaign to encourage customers to link their Twitter account to their account on the ice cream company. Customers who signed up for the campaign provided their Twitter login, which is entered into the ice cream system. Every time the customer buys an ice cream, their Twitter page will be updated with what they purchase. So, if the customer buys vanilla ice cream, the tweet will read something like: Bought vanilla ice cream on June 9 at one of the stores of the ice cream company. What is interesting about this example is that the company did not and is not waiting for the customer to update their Twitter. Instead, the company re-engineered their POS system (cash register) to send the tweet automatically when the customer makes a purchase. The company is trying to reach all their customer’s followers as potential customers. Imagine if the person eats their ice cream 4 times a week, the followers of that customer may decide to try that ice cream.
Coming back to your question, you can continue to make all your plugins freely available and supporting them as you already do. Or, you may decide to charge a fee for some of the plugin or for all. You can also provide paid support, which you may or may not be doing, to anyone that needs immediate assistance for your plugin. This model allows serious and interested people to purchase the service, and for others to use the forum to solicit for assistance.
You cannot make everyone happy, even if you do every thing right. I also see no issue with adding the link to your website and books to the options, or even making the link to your website present on the user website. The user can always edit this information out if they choose, or leave it to show supports. Finally, people that use WordPress may not necessarily be interested in making a plugin. You have to remember that there are users that are simply looking for a plugin that work and help their website. Instead of targeting the book of how to make a plugin to them, you should target your service instead.
Take a look at this article about software pricing:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20101101/go-ahead-raise-your-businesss-prices.html
Good read, thanks for the link. As a matter of fact one of my plugins is soon to be released as commercial.
Which plugin is that? Can you provide more information about the plugin?
I agree: showing ads in the plugin options isnt at all disruptive, and its the least we can do in return for your wonderful themes/plugins. If it takes us 5 min to 'upgrade' the plugin, we have to compare it to the time you spent in developing the plugin.
Hi Vlad, I think its totally appropriate to advertise your services inside a wordpress plugn that you make and give to people for free to use.
As a web design firm, you know that I'm going to go right to the plugin author when I need that plugin modified a bit. I would put a link to donate and a link to hire you for custom mods in every plugin.
Hi Vladimir,
I just found your site in the last month or so and am SO glad I did. I think ALL plugin developers should have a donation button- opensource is wonderful, but to keep getting such great plugins the developers need to pay their bills too! :-)
I recently heard someone talk about branding and they said "if everyone likes you, you're not doing your job".
You can't please everyone! Keep up the great work...
Thanks,
Kim Doyal
Vlad, the way you are using the admin panel for sensitive advertising (certainly including your books, especially one that is WordPress-related) seems entirely consistent with what others are doing and entirely reasonable. When I saw plugin providers doing this for the first time I was very pleased--it seemed right and only fair.
You will always get folks that will object, whatever you do I guess, but I would be surprised if almost everyone that downloads your plugins aren't bith grateful and delighted with your work.