The Revolution Affiliate Program Officially Launches

Well it’s finally here – the Revolution WordPress theme affiliate program has finally launched, and is now available for people to sign up. It’s been a pretty painful process in terms of deciding which route is the best way to go, and I want to thank all of you who expressed your comments and concerns regarding the program.

I want to start out by saying that I’ve chosen to go with E-junkie with the affiliate program. Although I really wanted to go with Linkshare, I decided that it wasn’t worth the significant amount of money that they required from me to sign up.

I realized that Linkshare (and others like Commission Junction) are primarily designed for high volume retailers, and that is one thing I am not. For those who were really on board with me potentially going the Linkshare route, I apologize, but my time and money will be better spent developing and supporting the Revolution theme family.

As noted before, the commission pay will be as follows:

• 25% of a Single Use package – $79.95 = $20.00 to you
• 25% of a Multiple Use package – $199.95 = $50.00 to you
• 25% of a Developer package – $399.95 = $100.00 to you

I am really excited to announce the program has begun and look forward to working with you all to further the development of the Revolution themes, and to take WordPress to a higher level.

So don’t waste any more time, go ahead and sign up to become an official Revolution theme affiliate program member!

Revolution Pro Theme Development

I just wanted to take a quick moment and announce that the Revolution Pro theme has undergone the initial stages of construction. The basis for design on this theme, will be the new look that the Revolution Theme site currently has. Below is a sneak peek of the theme:

One of the things that will be different with this theme than the other is the offering of a few different packages. Here are the ones that will be offered:

Revolution Pro Blog Package
This will be a simplified version, which will incorporate the standard single post and single page layouts, as most WordPress themes have. A left hand and a right hand sidebar option will be included.

Revolution Pro Business Package
This will serve as the basis of a small business/corporate website, and will resemble the layout of the original Revolution theme. With more emphasis on static content and more of a CMS, this package will include a customizable home page, featured page, contact page, single post and single page layouts. A left hand and a right hand sidebar option will be included.

Revolution Pro Media Package
This will be capable of accommodating a wide variety of things – including a tabber section, featured video spot, places for advertising banners, possible social networking implementations, and a few other potential things. This package will include a customizable home page, featured page, news page, contact page, single post and single page layouts. A two-column sidebar will be included.

All packages will be WordPress 2.3.2 compliant and also will be widget-ready. Stay tuned on the development of this theme, and you can also Subscribe by Email to receive notification on the progress and launch of this theme!

Would You Become a Revolution Affiliate?

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have been asked this question. And to be honest, I’ve danced around this a bit because of the amount of paperwork that a real affiliate program requires.

Now that I have officially relaunched my Revolution theme site (which now includes all of the themes and information), I am ready to start the ball rolling on creating an extremely profound affiliate program with my Revolution themes.

What does this mean? It means that I am planning on investing heavily into developing a true affiliate program, with a variety of ad banner sizes (to include 125×125, 468×60, 300×250) and the ability for each affiliate to have access to statistics on things such as impressions, click-thrus and daily sales.

I have decided to pursue this affiliate project in conjunction with Linkshare, which is probably the #1 leading affiliate marketing company in the world. Some of their clients include Target, Walmart, ESPN, American Express, so you know that this is a very reputable company. Here’s a little about why I chose them, taken from their website:

Affiliates and merchants choose LinkShare because of our reliable and accurate tracking technology. Our patented tracking technology is not cookie-based and therefore, does not fall prey to the tracking discrepancies that often result from cookies. LinkShare’s robust technology ensures that tracking is accurate and complete. Because our technology is web-based, it is easy for affiliates to manage their programs and merchant relationships.

I am looking to see how much interest there would be in me setting up an affiliate program – with Revolution, I always wanted to take WordPress to a higher level. Offering an affiliate program with the best company is only a continuation of that dream. Please give me your feedback on whether or not you’d be up for joining – the cost of this is pretty high on my end, and that is why I am asking. But if it means providing you the best program and easiest for you to track in terms of sales and stats, I’m willing to do it!

For those of you who are getting ready to ask the question I anticipate from most of you, the answer is that I am paying out 25% for each sale. Which means that you would earn this:

• 25% of a Single Use package – $79.95 = $20.00 to you
• 25% of a Multiple Use package – $199.95 = $50.00 to you
• 25% of a Developer package – $399.95 = $100.00 to you

I’m all ears, please tell me what you think!

Revolution 2008 Officially Launches

I just wanted to take a quick moment and announce the official reboot of the Revolution themes. As you will see, all of the themes are now being hosted on the main domain, which I thought would help unify the Revolution theme family.

Stay tuned as in the near future, additional themes will soon be available!

If you see any bugs or issues with the new layout, please contact me and let me know.

5 Blogs That I Will Read Everyday in 2008

I have been trying to think about things to write about these days, and I might even open that up for discussion on another upcoming post. In the meantime, I thought I would challenge myself with something fun for this year (albeit the New Year’s Blog Resolution of mine is a few weeks late.) So here’s to the New Year and a little blog fun!

One of the things that I mentioned in my post entitled “20 Reasons to Celebrate the New Year” was that I was very excited about having more time to read blogs. Below are 5 blogs that I plan to read everyday – some are for fun, some are for business. Nonetheless, they are blogs that I think are worth a daily visit.

Freelance Switch
This is a pretty obvious selection, mainly because two weeks ago I threw away my cushy day job to follow some pipe dream of being a freelance website/blog designer and consultant. The amount of quality content on this site is amazing, and I can guarantee that it will be a very good resource for me along the way.

One
ONE is Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life – united as ONE – to help make poverty history. Many of you are aware that I participate in the Breast Cancer 3-Day event, but my heart also goes out to the under-resourced. One of the things that I want to do while spending my life on the web is not to lose track of what’s really important in life, and committing to reading this blog everyday should help keep things in perspective.

A List Apart
This is one of those blogs that I have purposely avoided because every time I visit the site, I feel really stupid. Being a self-taught designer, there are a lot of things that I don’t know how to do, and sometimes when I read A List Apart, I feel like I’m in another country trying to read a menu. However, it’s time to stretch myself, and learn some things that will help make my designs and themes better for you all.

Whoorl
I don’t think you can pay me enough money to stay off of this site. When I first started reading her blog, I was a big-time lurker, and just read it for fun. Well this past year Sarah and I have gotten to become friends, and I even had the privilege of doing her latest blog design. Always fun, always witty, this is a no-brainer everyday read to take off the edge.

The Cruise Log
Obviously this falls into the “fun” category, but it’s no secret that my wife Shelly and I love to cruise. It’s pretty funny because she practically had to beg me to try one for our honeymoon 5 1/2 years ago, and since then, we’ve taken 9 cruises. Anyway, aside from the exotic scenery, delicious food and the great entertainment, I actually find the idea of cruise boat engineering and construction rather interesting. This should be a fun one to read, and it will keep me excited about our upcoming cruise in March to the Caribbean.

Now for the fun part.

I want to know which blogs you plan to read this year – so leave a comment (although your list doesn’t have to have 5 blogs) of the ones you want to dedicate your readership to!