11. Nov, 2009 
30 Comments
Shortly after the WishList Member Live workshop, Stu McLaren interviewed Cory Miller from iThemes.com on his thoughts regarding the future of WordPress plugins and themes.
NOTE: This was filmed outside so we apologize for any audio difficulties
What are your thoughts?
What would you like to see happen with WordPress?
Leave your comments below.
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It’s funny I was just looking at Wish List and was concerned that it wouln’t integrate with the Flexx theme I purchased from them. I’m glad to see you guys talking and I feel much more confident getting Wish List now.
Great interview guys, I am a customer of both of yours and the customer support, that Corey mentioned, is second to none with Wishlist. (it was quite fitting to have a little bit of ‘Reach Out – I’ll Be There’ that I caught in the background)
I think I’ve got about 4 or 5 iThemes now and they are fantastic. I tend to just use iThemes and StudioPress – will check out Headway & Press75 (I think that’s right) who you mentioned Corey. Good to hear you’re all good pals.
Excited to hear there might be a bit of a collaboration – how good can it get, my favourite themes, with my favourite CMS system run on my favourite plugin (seems ridiculous to call Wishlist a ‘plugin’ it’s so much more than that).
I’m just putting some finishing touches to my membership site and I now have another 5 that we are focusing on and planning to launch in the New Year – so I need to go find me the upgrade link for WishList as I only bought a single site license initially.
Anyway – thanks again for a great interview, I really enjoyed it, it was just so genuine and you can really see the passion you guys have, which makes me happy to be your customer.
Stu, you are a natural interviewer and you look quite at home on the camera, I’ve enjoyed all of the interviews you guys have been bringing out recently – so thanks from a very happy customer!
Nikki Backshall
Good job guys.
Hi Stu and Cory, awesome video loaded with a content I that I truly enjoy. I use Wordpress as a CMS and Website for all my sites. I have to tell it just does not make sense to use any other program. I use WishList Member and iThemes all the time. Very good job to both of you.
It’d be great to have themes that incorporate sales pages, squeeze pages. And an added service to brand the theme (take existing theme and tweak the header).
Also, the ability to vary things depending on if someone is logged in or not (eg. widgets).
Hi Stu,
Good interview. I own WL and have all of Ithemes themes 2008 club as well as others. The one thing that I wish I could do with themes, flexx included, is the modification of the theme from a business perspective. Making the look and feel more like the companies brand. There are in some cases too many graphical elements that all start to look the same from one site to the other.
My point is that I wish customization (like graphical elements, backgrounds, etc.) of the themes should be made easier for the non-techies like me. Graphical people like myself are restrained by the boundaries.
This is the path I think that Wordpress and Ithemes should take.
JR Durruthy
I highly recommend WLM, because of the support team.
Awesome job getting me going, with
my first membership site!
I’m very proud to have accomplished that goal.
Would not have happened, with out the WLM
support team, I’m eternally grateful.
Thanks!
For anyone on the fence, jump!
Take Massive Action!
You won’t regret it…
Jeff
I couldn’t agree more with Stu’s praise for Cory. We went through a number of different themes before settling on the Flexx theme for some upcoming projects. Not only are iThemes’ themes well designed, but there are a lot of extra features for newbies, which was important for our setting up sites for Customers new to WordPress.
I especially enjoyed Cory mentioning his competitors in the video. For me, that says that he’s not afraid of his competition because he’s on good terms with them and has quality merchandise as good as theirs. That’s certainly been my experience.
Thanks again Stu and Cory. Can’t wait to see what you guys are cooking up!
Steven Sanchez
Thanks all, for the great feedback and comments.
I really enjoyed the time with Stu and Tracy as I indicated because of the quality of people behind WishList … I think we are kindred spirits with similar outlooks on business and support and community … here’s hoping for great things ahead!
P.S. — Now back to working on our own WishList Membership site.
It’s good to hear you provide great support, but I still think “WishList” is too pricey… I waiting for you to come to your senses and reduce the cost to a more affordable and fair price.
Glenn,
I can appreciate your sensitivity to price but if anything, we’ll likely raise the price in the future.
If you can’t see the value in what WishList can and will do for your business, then it’s not a good fit for you (and that’s ok).
Having a solution that essentially allows you to build a thriving community that can (if you want) pay you every month, is worth a $97 investment. And if a $97 isn’t something you’re willing to invest in your business then it’s likely a project you shouldn’t move forward on.
Our customers are paying for the convenience of having everything they need wrapped into one solution along with the reliable team of people behind it to help answer any questions that come up. You can’t get that in a “Free” solution and that’s why a $97 investment (or $297 for Multi-Site) is a drop in the bucket for those that understand the value of what WishList Member brings to their business.
Of course we’re biased but I’m sure our customers would say the same thing.
Just our two cents worth
Take care.
Stu
Hi,
I’m not a customer…yet, but am about to be.
My friend bought a $3,200 membership site 12 months ago & it looks like yours does the same!
I reckon yours is ridiculously cheap, compared to what it can do.
Please wait, (now I’ve opened my big mouth)until I buy mine before you raise the price!
Thanks,
Poppie
$97 is not pricey. Have you priced other membership sites? They are three times the price. You’d be best to get it while you can.
Great to see iThemes and Wishlist discussing the extensive applications of Wordpress. Been an iThemes fan for a long time and have several new projects running Wishlist.
Keep up the good work!
Too pricey? Heck no — if anything, WL is one of the world’s great bargains. How else can one start a real, thriving business for 97 bucks?
We’ve been in business for 20 years. This year, in the midst of a horrible economy, has been our best year ever — and it’s because we switched to the membership model using WL as the core of it. The $97 I paid has been repaid to me many, many, many times over.
Jon
http://cbiclubhouse.com
Can I throw in mine?
The value from this plugin is amazing – if you truly understand the massive value of what you are getting and the power of what you can potentially achieve with it.
A quick example of worst case scenario; If you only had 10 members with a monthly charge of $10 – you’ve made your money back already! By month two, you’ve doubled your investment!
10 members is pretty easy to achieve and if you can’t get that then the membership module is probably something that might not be right for you.
If you want the best membership software around for your money then you just can’t go wrong with this, it’s the best investment you could make and with a bit of work you can make make a huge difference to your lifestyle and that of your members!
That’s the beauty of a membership site, you can create something of value that you love and benefits others, all whilst earning money at the same time.
I hope you reconsider Glenn as it would be a shame for you to miss out on this plugin that could easily sell for triple the price!
My advice, for what it is worth – grab it now before they come to their senses and raise the price!!
Wishlist is at the top of my list when I reviewed wordpress plugins for my next membership site. I had considered AMember but for what I need, Wishlist is a perfect fit. I am excited to develop my next site once I finish with my current Marketing Tools site launch in Clickbank.
Thanks for this timely video Stu…
~Corey
http://www.AffPortal.com
Well said Nikki,
Hey Glenn, keep this in perspective, R.O.I. (return on investment) That’s what is all about…
If you even need to justify a $97 investment for this product (which by the way I recommend to my customers with no affiliate link, when it gets broken down like Nikki just did, if you still can’t justify at this price, then you need to go work for someone and give them an honest 8 hours a day for a paycheck and call it at that. Because you don’t have the business sense needed to start or grow a membership site.
So analyze this again and go buy the thing already.
My two cents worth,
Another satisfied customer
JR Durruthy
p.s. Sorry to be blunt Glenn but someone has to do it.
Hi Guys, I use ithemes Flexx and WL member, and they work beutifully together, a great solution. My site was transformed and is really managable. GREAT WORK. Take a look at what you can do with these to leveraged toger. PS Support from WL products is excellent.
http://www.liberatedstocktrader.com/
This and the previous interviews/videos have helped me to get off the fence and invest in the multiple site option. With MS Frontpage dead, problems with learning and integrating other membership software, and buying everyone’s “power tools,” … this is my new integrated solution. It will provide me the CMS and MS tools I need. Thanks to Stu and Tracy.
I’m using WLMember for my free membership site, even though no membership fee income, it’s a really affordable way to manage your client/membership course content. Plus when my paid membership content is ready, I can add it all on
WLM works perfectly with Brian’s themes, and you can still ‘play’ with the design if you want a different look. I plumped for the multi-user as I have other membership sites in development for 2010.
Glenn, WLM + a great theme costs what, about $150, measured against ‘traditional’ website development costs and you really are saving thousands.
Be interested to see what iThemes come up with too.
I’m looking forward to the day that ll WP themes come with 5-10 Page Templates, 5-10 Post Templates, Squeeze Page templates, Sales Page templates, etc.
WLM is a bargain at triple the cost!
Thanks for more relevant content Stu.
I’m really close to buying the flexx theme. It is very customizable and the widget boxes are great if you like your site to have different blocks (not just main area and sidebars).
Unlike another membership site hosting software I’ve used, there is no proprietary modifications made to the themes so you can use wishlist with any theme.
I bought the Flexx Elegant theme and and am building a membership site with WishList Member. Before I found the Flexx theme, I was concerned about how to show the external pages on the header navigation, but now it’s easy.
My goal is to have my site available as a Christmas present to the world.
Thanks for your work in making these excellent products!
– Dave
Barry D Moore,
I love the rotating tag cloud on your blog. Is that a free Wordpress plug-in? Where did you get it?
– Dave
free plugin called cumulus flash, it is amazing eh, I could sit there and play with it all day.
Great interview!
Glad to see you working together.
Collaboration is what makes the world so COOL!
And Wishlist too!
Thanks,
–Pat & Lorna
http://TheCoolestCouple.com
I’ve had WL since shortly after its release, been to two trainings, and have purchased several ithemes. I love using WL for my membership site and agree with everyone else’s comments about the great support Stu and Tracy provide. But y’all gotta get off the “mom” test!
Moms also own businesses, are entrepreneurs, etc. so perhaps you might want to refer to the “parent” test or the “Dad test” as well!
Keep up the good work.
I like WL but am not a fan of iThemes. Thesis is the best. I love it. iThemes is great if you want to have a blog that looks nice without any code. Once you try and do something advance or use code, it changes. iThemes was what I started with and I spent so many nights trying to figure out why my HTML code was being moved around. I moved to Thesis and overnight I was able to do what I wanted. You have to learn it, but after that it does so much more.
Hi guys,
I’ve been installing WLM like crazy on all of my product sites – it’s such a fast and elegant solution to short course delivery all the way to the traditional membership/continuity sites.
I just wanted to respond to the price question raised above. Before I discovered WLM, I purchased the mid-priced membership solution recommended by so many of the ‘gurus’ – it cost me a bit more than $300 to buy the software and the plugins it required to integrate with 1SC. And this was to allow me to use this on just ONE domain.
Then I tried to install it myself. After a few days of hair-pulling and messing it all up, I hired someone to install it for me – final cost for installation was $417.
That other solution is working fine on that site now, but if I want to use it on another domain, I have to pay at least the cost of the software again – and that is currently $179.95. Do I think I’ll have any more luck installing it on a new site? No…
So the cost we paid for the unlimited site license of WLM seems really inexpensive to us. It is so fast and easy to install, and your support videos are awesome.
Gotta say, I’m soooo glad I bought the site license – we use it everywhere, and are now just routinely installing it and Wordpress behind every product site we create.
Thanks for such a wonderful solution. I only wish I’d found you about $717 sooner!
Quick Q – is there a site or documentation we can check for how to edit and fully use the clean_sweep theme? It’s really sweet, but I can’t seem to get the logo to upload and use my own logo.