
My 7th attempt at a startup: Selling layer styles to Photoshop users. - chaosmachine
http://photoshoplayerstyles.com/
======
chaosmachine
I quit my job in tech support about 4 years ago. Since then, I've made at
least 7 attempts at starting a bootstrapped business.

My original idea was to build "a live-video youtube" but Justin.tv and uStream
showed up just a few months after I got started, and the dream died. Since
then, I've launched four search engines (two of which are keeping me ramen-
profitable), a twitter app (wasted time), and a "viral" site based on
comparing movies (didn't go viral).

With income from my two main sites dwindling, I decided I would try moving
away from web apps, and focus on building a product. Patio11's success with
the bingo card niche has been my main inspiration. After a few weeks of
iterating through various ideas, I decided to put my skills with the camera to
use, and started building a collection of layer styles.

My goal is to corner the high end of the layer styles market. Launching this
site is the first step, but it will probably take a few more iterations to get
where I want. Based on my research, there's at least 250k in yearly revenue up
for grabs, and room for growth.

I finally launched the site yesterday, and now I'm looking for feedback.
Please check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks.

PS: If you have a design related blog/forum/etc, and you want a review copy or
a free copy to give away to your readers, just send me an email
(john.at.blamcast.net)

~~~
hop
Playing devil's advocate, what differentiates this from the huge library of
free stuff on Deviant Art?

[http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/textures/?qh=&sec...](http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/textures/?qh=&section=&q=wood)

~~~
pbhjpbhj
They're not free, a random click on your link -
[http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/textures/?qh=&sec...](http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/textures/?qh=&section=&q=wood#/db3irh)
shows that the copyright owner allows non-commercial use only and then with
attribution and informing him of the use. Onerous.

"If you want to use it for Profitable goals contact me."

I've tried contacting people on DA before about using imagery in semi-
commerical settings. It's cheaper to buy stock art than waste time chasing
them unless it's a one-off image.

This exchange highlights the problem -
<http://comments.deviantart.com/1/76929399/904383280> \- someone requests
permission from the "artist" who assumes that as it's a texture that people
are allowed to copy it:

"It was put up as a texture hopefully you know what a texture is and what it
means. LOL!"

But just because it is a texture doesn't mean rights are automatically granted
(though it is unlikely to be distinctive enough to warrant copyright
protection only a court can really decide that).

If people used PD or CC-BY or other free to use licenses clearly then such
problems wouldn't arise.

~~~
moxiemk1
What I've noticed "Professional" software like Photoshop is that a vast
quantity of copies are pirated. In corporate settings and among very
successful practitioners, not so much, but among any other category of people
I've met that use Photoshop/Final Cut/AutoCad/etc, a very large portion of the
copies are pirated.

From that, I really wouldn't be surprised if they grabbed stuff such as these
textures from Deviant Art without any regard to the rights. I've certainly
seen it happen.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I'd be interested to see how many people
among the users of Photoshop who aren't such kung-fu masters of it to have
tons of their own such things worked out are going to pay for this stuff
instead of looking for it on torrents.

------
tptacek
HUGELY SEO-able (I search for stuff like this all the time). What are your
plans here? How are you going to scale out content generation?

The first link I see on your page is:

[http://photoshoplayerstyles.com/styles/wood/woodworks-
volume...](http://photoshoplayerstyles.com/styles/wood/woodworks-volume-2)

wordworks-volume-2 doesn't mean anything.

On that very page are cedar and oak and maple and distressed pine? and 4 other
styles of wood. And yet you have no link that says:

<http://photoshoplayerstyles.com/maple-wood-texture-layer>

that has a meta description of:

Royalty-free high-resolution maple wood textures for photoshop, easy to buy

even though I bet 10 people search every day for one of

[maple texture] [distressed wood texture] [photoshop pine texture]

etc.

I don't know much about selling things to graphic designers (maybe it sucks)
but I'm almost jealous at how easily your content scales out to Google.

~~~
chaosmachine
Thanks, you make some good suggestions. SEO is very much a part of the game
plan, and I've still got some work to do, but you've struck on the main idea
:)

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patio11
Go over to iStockPhoto, note what they charge for a picture of a smiling woman
wearing a headset, then raise your prices. $12 is below the care threshold for
employed professionals, which describes 100% of the people who will actually
pay for this product rather than torrenting it.

If you feel bad about raising your prices and don't think people will pay
them, raise your prices to $X and then announce a special grand opening sale.

~~~
dagw
Yup. Everywhere I've worked can basically be split into two categories, pirate
everything you use no matter what the price, or pay for everything you use no
matter what the price. A company that will pay $12 will also pay $30, a
company that won't pay $30 won't pay $12.

Also consider offering a bundle of all the styles at a small discount over
buying them individually. Many people wanting only one or two styles may grab
this instead to save them potentially having to go through the hassle of make
a second purchase, especially if they're using company money.

------
redorb
Your top navigation looks like a slyly placed Google Adsense link type unit

~ I would go back and freshen up the other two money makers cause they will
need to last for this one to get the steam I think it needs...

~~~
NathanKP
I noticed that as well. I almost avoided clicking on it for a few seconds
before I realized that it was legitimate. I think it is the underlined text.
Good navigation links these days are often not underlined.

~~~
chaosmachine
You're right, I hadn't considered that, but I definitely see it now. I just
removed the underline on the links.

------
NathanKP
I read the url as "photo sho player styles". I see the word "photo" and then
my eyes tend to jump to the next visible word: "player". Perhaps it is just my
eyes but I find the domain name is hard to parse.

With regard to the site itself, I like the idea. However, most of your layer
styles look like they are just plain image and emboss styles which can be
created for free if you have a decent stock image collection.

One layer style set that I would definitely buy would be layer styles to
easily make transparent water, good looking glass, fire effects and other
advanced effects. Basic stone and wood isn't hard, its the advanced layer
style effects that I would be willing to buy.

Good work though, and I hope this seventh try finds success.

------
JangoSteve
There was a time when I wouldn't pay for this sort of thing. Nowadays I
actually prefer to pay as I feel there is less chance that someone will
recognize its use elsewhere. In other words, I think you're smart to go after
the premium, "no, it's not free" market.

------
fleitz
Looks cool, my question though is where are the free styles or a demo?

[http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/freebies/best-free-
photoshop-l...](http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/freebies/best-free-photoshop-
layer-styles/)

Even if you don't want to give away your styles you may want to compose a list
of free styles others have produced so you have something they can try.

You may want to create some free ones just to post on sites like that.

I have to say thanks though because I had no idea such a thing even existed
until I saw your start up and when I googled I found some free layer styles
that can really help me.

------
CatalystFactory
Please don't take this the wrong way, but where do you get $250K revenue from?

Also, who is using these layer styles now and are your layer styles protected
by IP?

The styles look a little like those I would find on Word's word art function.

These were the thoughts that popped into my head.

Good luck!

------
NEPatriot
You could alsos try to create an open marketplace for styles so anyone can
submit/buy.

~~~
watty
Looks like envato already has this: <http://graphicriver.net/category/add-
ons/photoshop/styles>

------
snitko
Wow, that's unexpectedly neat. I don't know if there's a market, but I think,
probably, it should be there for such a thing.

------
AndrewWarner
Consider adding a contact page. I was going to compliment you on the site but
couldn't find a way to reach you. Your customers might want it to tell you
about issues or give you suggestions.

Nice work.

~~~
chaosmachine
Whoops. I had put a contact email on the license page, but forgot to include
one in "about". Thanks Andrew.

------
whalesalad
Definitely going to need to get all of the typical gloss/apple styles in
there. Look to the open source Aristo (Cappucino's UI) for inspiration --
<http://github.com/280north/aristo>

Not sure how well your idea will take off, but good luck. Similar sites (you
probably already know of these):

<http://www.brusheezy.com/> <http://www.vecteezy.com/>

~~~
chaosmachine
Yes, a GlassWorks style pack is in the works, should be ready in a couple
days.

------
showerst
Nice idea, although your site looks very plain on wide monitors, I'd consider
doing something that tiles across wider backgrounds.

Also, are you any good with gradients? I find these to be a real lifesaver,
and would pay for something similar:
[http://www.dezinerfolio.com/2007/03/14/ultimate-
web-20-gradi...](http://www.dezinerfolio.com/2007/03/14/ultimate-
web-20-gradients-free-download)

------
maryrosecook
After reading quite a lot of your homepage, I think I've figured out that
Photoshop layer styles are textures you apply to vector shapes. Is this right?
If so, I'd suggest a sentence that states this near the top of the page.

------
andrus
I misread the url and immediately saw "player styles." Perhaps a more succinct
brand name or url could help? EDIT: I see "Style Works" on the page now.

------
TWAndrews
I think you'll also want to include before/after images in the galleries
showing what can be done with each layer.

------
wlievens
Suggestion: you could put up a subtle fading slideshow of your styles (as soon
as you have more than 4, I guess).

------
ddemchuk
you really really need to be attacking your organic search rankings to get
yourself some traffic -> sales. Contact me privately through my blog in my
profile, I run something that can help you.

~~~
NathanKP
_I run something that can help you_

A spam bot? A link exchange network? Just curious... most of the techniques
for "attacking the organic search rankings" are frowned upon by Google.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
> most of the techniques for "attacking the organic search rankings" are
> frowned upon by Google

I'd be pretty sure he means whitehat SEO, on-page optimisations, link-building
(eg linkbait, social networks) .. not frowned on by Google.

Edit: or maybe not!

~~~
ddemchuk
ha, very few things can be considered "whitehat" seo, everything is a shade of
gray

~~~
kls
I don't know about that, Google has a defined set of rules, if you build your
site to take advantage of that defined set of rules then good for you. It is
no different than apples UI guidelines. When you start to device the system to
get ranking that you do not deserve then it becomes a grey area but just
optimizing your site and taking advantage of available resources to promote
your site is indeed squarely in the realm of white-hat.

Going back to the UI analogy, it is one thing to provide an optimized UI that
has been A/B tested to sell anti-virus software. It is another thing entirely
to provide a UI pop-up that says your computer is infected when it is not in
the hopes of scarring someone into buying anti-virus software. Optimizing to
sell is white-hat. Deceiving to sell is not.

~~~
ddemchuk
But when you own a website that does "deserve" to rank and Google's algorithm
allows for spammers to get to the top, then you have no recourse but to fight
fire with fire.

If I had a great site about my acai berry product, but stuck only to white hat
seo techniques, I would literally never rank for that keyword. I would never
get that traffic, never get the exposure, because there are people out there
who are taking advantage of the holes in Google's algo while I am "sticking to
the rules".

You have to remember that Google publishes rules for 2 reasons: 1) so that you
don't participate in shady tactics that polute the internet (for the greater
good) and 2) because their job is to clean up search results so the less
"spam" that is produced, the easier their job is.

EDIT: left out a key word

