So you're just about done. You've created your masterpiece. The WordPress theme you've been working on for the past few weeks has finally been coded and debugged. You're sure this is the best design you've ever made and just can't wait to reap the profits. Hurry, run to the nearest webmaster forum and sell it!

So many newbies fall into the trap I just described. I'm no exception, I've done it myself aswell. When you first start out designing website templates and selling them online, you tend to rush the last step, which, as ironic as it is, is the most important one of all. Think about it. You've worked and slaved over this design to make sure it was nothing but the best (hopefully), you've tested it in multiple browsers to make sure it was bug-free (hopefully), and you were sure to validate your code to the W3C standards (hopefully), why would you rush the one part that directly results in you receiving payment for all of your hard work?

Take your time. Odds are you'll be selling your design on a webmaster forum. You want to be sure to catch the readers eye and draw him in with your promotion of your design. But just how do you do that? Here I've outlined the steps that I take when I put my listings up for sale, just follow them and you won't be sorry.

#1 Include a Screenshot

Face it. You're on the internet. Most people on the internet have the attention span of a chipmunk. For those people that will automatically be turned off when they open up your topic and see nothing but a wall of text describing your design, include a screenshot. Not only will the screenshot possibly spark the interests of some of the readers, but it adds a little personality to your topic. You want to make your potential buyers feel as comfortable as possible. Another reason not to rush this process, because if you do, odds are your topic will look somewhat spammy and untrustworthy.

#2 Include a Link to a Live Demo

Always, always, always include a link to a live demo. I don't care if you're selling a WordPress theme or a plain CSS template, make sure there's a live demo. Would you go out and buy a new car without test-driving it or a new home without inspecting every room of it? Hell no. You have people spending their hard-earned cash on something you made, give them the reinsurance that you took no shortcuts and that your design is rock solid and bug free.

It's a good idea to display how rock solid your design really is in the live demo. Be sure to include many scenarios where "rushed" designs would likely break. Examples of this would include lengthy post titles that span more than one line, lists within lists, blockquotes, and large tag clouds.

If your design contains more than one color scheme, your best bet is to show a live demo of each color scheme. If this is too much work, which is understandable, a live demo of one color scheme and full-page screenshots of the rest will be good enough. Remember, you don't want to give your potential buyers the slightest idea that you may be trying to hide something.

#3 Include a List Containing all of the Features

In most cases, lists are the easiest and most efficient way to portray information. A good idea is to include every single unique feature about your design in an easy-to-read list. Most forums allow the use of lists via BBcode in their posts, use it! Does your WordPress theme use a nice jQuery carousel to display posts, list it! How about a fancy tabbing system? List it! Is it compatible with WordPress 2.7 "threaded comments"? List it! I hope you get the idea. Anything and everything that is unque with your theme, make sure you mention it in the list.

Also in your list, be sure to include things that are usually taken for granted. It's a good idea to just list these things to give reassurance to the potential buyer. These things include:

  • Compatible with WordPress v2.6 and v2.7+
  • Gravatar Ready
  • Widget Ready Sidebars
  • Cross-Browser Compatible (IE 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari, etc...)
  • W3C Valid Code
  • Etc...

#4 Include Links to Successful Past Sales

What better way to reassure your potential buyers than by showing them your successful past sales? If they see that you've done business with 3, 5, 10+ other webmasters, they'll feel more comfortable from buying from you. The odds of you trying to rip them off or sell them a shoddy product are slim to none.

For newbies who don't have any past sales in their portfolio, link to your blog or website somewhere in your post. Don't do it in an advertising, spammy sort of way. Just drop it in there somewhere. Now when the potential buyers see you're running a successful website that you take care of, they'll be reassured that you're not just some loser trying to rip them off and run off with their money.

#5 Make Your Price Clear

Alright, you're done describing your theme. You've pointed out all of the great features in a list, you've included a screenshot, a link to the live demo, and links to your successful past sales. Now it's time to put a price tag on this baby.

On these webmaster forums, the common way to sell designs is via an auction. The designer sets a start price and it starts from there. Most newbies don't understand this topic, so let me shed some light on it for you.

When you are at the pricing stage, be sure to include 5 things:

  • Bidding Start Price
  • Bidding Minimum Increment
  • BIN (Buy It Now) Price
  • Payment Method
  • When the Auction Ends

The bidding start price is what the auction will start at. Any offers lower than this will not be accepted. The bidding minimum increment is the minimum amount of money to up a bid by that is acceptable. A common minimum increment is $5. The BIN (Buy It Now) price is the set price that will allow the buyer to automatically win the design without having to go through the auction. Hence the name, "Buy It Now." The payment method is self explanatory, Paypal is the most common and widely accepted form of payment. And last but not least is the declaration of when the auction will end. A good idea for this is to state something close to the following:

The auction ends 2 days (48 hours) after the first bid.

It's a good idea not to go greater than 2 or 3 days in the amount of time your auction is live. You want to give your potential buyers the sense of urgency. You don't want them to sit back and just watch the auction go on for a week or two. Make them have to bid right away in fear that they will lose the design if they don't.

Well, there you have it. It's sad to say that most newbies don't follow the above steps when they're selling a design. It's common to see them skip over important things like a screenshot or a clear price declaration. Before I end this post, I want to link you guys to some of the most popular webmaster forums to sell WordPress themes on.

And that's all from me today. Look for my next post on Wednesday outlining 3 ways to make money with WordPress themes. And to all you newbie WordPress theme developers out there, good luck!

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