143 Gordan Orlic on Running a Successful WordPress Plugin Business

In this powerful interview, Gordan Orlic of Web Factory Ltd discusses becoming an elite plugin author on CodeCanyon and why he's leaving the platform, and moving everything to his own website. Gordan pulls no punches as he talks about making the transition from getting traffic on a marketplace like CodeCanyon to setting up shop on your own. Find Gordan at http://www.webfactoryltd.com/  Follow Gordan on Twitter on https://twitter.com/webfactoryltd   Episode 143 Table of Contents 0:00 Podcast Intros 2:30 How did Gordan get into web development and get into building WordPress plugins? 4:00 How did Gordan make the transition from client work to selling products? 7:46 Niching down helps you make more money in the long run. 10:19 Positioning and white-label plugins: ideas are garbage, having a working prototype is more valuable. 13:36 What are the pros and cons of being on Envato vs starting a plugin shop on your own? 22:22 Why is Envato still recovering and changing course from decisions they made five years ago? 31:24 The one thing on Envato that confuses nearly every customer. 35:02 CodeCanyon is a great place to start, but you can't build a brand there. 36:30 The reason Gordan is leaving Envato and is in the process of moving his plugins to his own website. 40:09 The thing you must accept if you piggyback on another successful platform or plugin. 42:01 Podcast outros 46:07 YouTube bonus content begins. 46:08 Gordan talks about his plugin Security Ninja, what it does and who it is for.   Security Ninja https://wordpress.org/plugins/security-ninja/   56:40 What is making it tougher for plugin authors to make money on Envato right now? 1:02:45 The one thing that sucks about marketplaces. There are many upsides, but this one thing can hurt you long-term.   =================== Find additional content for this episode on the WP-Tonic website: https://www.wp-tonic.com/podcast/143-gordan-orlic-wordpress-plugins/   ===================   Follow WP-Tonic on iTunes and be sure to leave us a review! itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wp-tonic-wordpress-podcast/id893083124?mt=2