I am excited to let you know about a new venture I have entered into this year with my friends over at iThemes. Together, we are launching Allure Themes – a commercial WordPress theme provider with themes designed just for women (you guys can use them too – just go ahead and adjust the colors and design to suit your needs!)
Since 1998, I have been in the business of building themes and site development for my clients at E.Webscapes, on a custom basis. Even when the WordPress ‘premium’ theme industry started taking off and everyone seemed to be jumping on the ‘premium’ bandwagon – I did not. It was a purposeful choice for me, at the time, for several different reasons. I didn’t have the time to keep up two businesses AND write all the books I have been writing over the past 3-4 years and I, as a solo freelancer turned studio owner, I also didn’t really have the bench strength to launch a commercial themes venture – - just being myself, I imagined the support, sales, accounting, etc, etc needs of a venture like that and it made my head spin!
I was doing very well with my custom work – enough that it allowed me to quit my day job and work at it full time, which also lead to my book contracts with Wiley Publishing. E.Webscapes is still very strong, with an amazing team of talented designers and a project manager/assistant that I could not live without – after 12 years, it is still doing extremely well today, which I am thankful for, and having just finished 2 big titles for Wiley publishing this month – I don’t start my next title for them until September … what is a girl to do with 7 months of time on her hands??
Help launch a commercial theme provider doing the type of themes I really enjoy doing, that’s what! There are a ton of commercial theme companies out there – all wonderful in their own right, but curiously, none of them women owned and operated with an emphasis on theme designed just for women – mommy bloggers, business owners, bloggers and more. It’s not secret I like pink and most things girly and my design style tends to lean in that direction, so it’s a perfect solution that allows me to be fully creative, as well as dip my toe into an area that is new to me.
To solve the problem of bench strength, I have partnered in this venture with the fine group at iThemes.com who is providing the backbone of Allure Themes through provision of support, sales, affiliate programming and more. I’m more than happy to partner with iThemes on this, as together, we have built a solid relationship of mutual trust, loyalty and friendship with them over the years – I would not have considered doing this without their support, expertise and friendship.
Allure Themes is so close to done! Right now, when you visit the site – you’ll find a simple email form where you can sign up for our newsletter – - which will give you the breaking news of when Allure launches, and in the future, when new themes are released, as well as news and updates. Our intention is to launch mid-March with a full collection of themes to choose from with a support team ready to go to handle support needs and questions. The full site, itself, is done and I’m polishing up the Allure themes and getting them ready for release in March. You can also follow AllureThemes on Twitter, where we will announce our official launch, as well as news/updates moving forward.
I’m pretty excited about Allure! 8 years working in the WordPress theme world on the custom end of things – this is my first dip into commercial themes – wish me luck!!
@LisaSabinWilson That’s so sexist… just thought I’d let you know
@ryancduff you will get over it
@LisaSabinWilson Doubtful… unless you plan on getting me drunk to the point I don’t remember anymore
@ryancduff that can be arranged…mmmmuuhahahah!
Congrats Lisa and it is about time. I can not wait to see what you offer as themes to a market that has been underserved with specific themes to feel a need. Way to go!!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Grant! I am nervous and excited at the same time
Brilliant! I think it’s a huge untapped market, and I think you’re set for success with your partnership with iThemes. Best of luck to you!
Thank you, Justin…much appreciated! We are very excited about the venture and cannot wait for the officiAl launch
@LisaSabinWilson
And CONGRATS! I can’t wait to see you bring the pretty. 
@andrea_r aww..thank you Andrea
I am pretty excited about it!
@LisaSabinWilson so basically they will all have pink?
@andrea_r some pink … Of course! Would it be me without a little pink?? Lol
@LisaSabinWilson Awesome Lisa! Best wishes to you & @ithemes for @allurethemes! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
@jonathandavis thank you, Jonathan! We are very excited. Really looking forward to seeing you again this wknd at #wcphx !
@LisaSabinWilson #wcphx is looking truly #epic. Gonna be really fun and can’t wait to hang out again
Looking forward to it.
Congrats on the new venture. There is always a market for kick-butt WP themes!
Awesome stuff Lisa! I can’t wait to see what you guys are cooking up. You’re welcome to email me if you want to write a press-release or talk a bit about your new venture over at my blog (http://www.wpexplorer.com/blog/).
Looking forward to hearing from you
Thank you, Aj – looking forward to the launch, then I will be happy to do an interview if you’re interested.
Cheers!
I can’t wait to see what kind of themes you have and such. I bet they’re gonna be really awesome!!
Thank you, Jenny! I’m excited for the upcoming launch – - we have a pre-launch webinar this Thursday, if you’re interested in seeing the themes prior to the launch – come join us! You can sign up here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/832180107