Premium Themes For WordPress and Socrates
If you would like to see step by step instructions on starting a blog, please click this link How to Build a Website.
In an earlier post I talked about free wordpress themes, but want to briefly cover Premium Themes, and tell you about the Socrates Theme.
When I first got interested in blogging and started to look around the internet for information on building a site, the first ones that I found were a lot more difficult to set up than WordPress.
At first I thought they were wonderful, however you had to copy/paste parts, and pick fonts, and colors. It was very time consuming. They’re still out there half finished. Then I found WordPress and the free themes I absolutely loved them. It was so much easier.
There is however an even better alternative, and that is Premium Themes.
Some of the companies that specialize in them are DIY themes, Elegant themes, Woo Themes, Theme Forest and Thesis Themes.
They range in price from about twenty dollars to a few hundred, and offer a more professional look, and more versatility. Don’t worry if you don’t want to spend any money right now, but you might want to plan for one when you can. Just keep a list of the ones you like. That’s what I did.
Anyway, I was surfing the net one day, and happened upon a video for the Socrates Theme.
I was completely blown away at the versatility, and the ease that you could set up it up. The theme was designed by Joel Comm, and Dan Nickerson, two guys that have been around for a while.
On the video Dan explained that they had a forum especially for the theme , and not only do they answer questions about Socrates, they answer questions on problems people were having with WordPress, because a lot of Newbies were buying the theme.
That absolutely blew my doors off, they were going that extra mile for their customers, and didn’t have to. So I bought it.
In case you’re wondering it’s $47 for the Single Domain License, and $77 for the Unlimited Domain License. The unlimited package allows you to build as many sites as you want. Comparable themes charge $150-$300 for Unlimited Licenses, and it also comes with a 60 day money back guarantee.
Anyway, don’t take my word on it check out the video and the forum below.
Here’s just a few images of my dashboard. Don’t look at my site and think that this is all you can do with the Socrates Theme. I have by no means even started to use all the options that Socrates has to offer. It’s on my to do list 
Click on the Images to enlarge them, and back < to come back to the post.
To put the Twitter, Facebook, RSS buttons like at the top right of my page on your site, all you do is type in your ID and Socrates does the rest.
I could take screen shots all day, but wanted to show you one more.
Here is a screen shot of some of the headers for a pet niche site. The last time I checked they had over 200 , and also take requests for niche sites.
This theme is not just for newbies, it has an Integrated Affiliate Program with banners, sales pages, and videos, Sales Page Template, Squeeze Page Template, advanced SEO features, and much more.
I am not doing Socrates justice here you have to check out the video below. In the video Dan puts a site together all monetized and ready to go in 10 minutes. It is quite fast but there are more detailed how to videos in the members area.
Here’s a link to the Forum. Check out how newbie friendly it is.
Here is the Video
These are affiliate links, and I would appreciate the referral fee, but if you want to just go directly to the site. You’ll be glad you did.
Let me know what you think in the comments, as always please Tweet and share.
Thanks
Neil
Hello Neil
I have an unlimited version of Socrates and it is a very nice and easy to maintain theme.
I highly recommend it.
Hello Peter,
I am glad I took a look around before I bought a theme.
I love Socrates, so many options.
I’m going to have to make some time to see what she can really do.
Take care,
Timely Blog Neil as I’m currently in the process of moving over to the dark side with WP! Have heard good things about Socrates – will investigate further
Cheers Kiaran
kiaran recently posted..Your First Steps To Branding you Inc
There’s lots of great themes out there Kiaran.
Go kick some tires, see whats available
Take care,
Neil
Hi Neil,
at the moment, I’m happy with my theme but who knows…I’m share this with my following on social media anyway because some of them might be looking…so thanks for sharing.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend recently posted..The Anatomy Of Quitting – Would You Like To Change Places With Another Person
Hi Oliver,
One of the reasons I love this theme is the support.
You probably noticed that my responses weren’t following the comments.
After trying to fix it myself for a while yesterday I went to the Socrates forum… I should have gone there in the first place.
When I checked this morning, Dan Nickerson himself had answered my question. BTW it was a WordPress adjustment.
http://www.socratestheme.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4843#post4843
How cool is that.
Take care
Neil
That’s really cool
Oliver Tausend recently posted..The Anatomy Of Quitting – Would You Like To Change Places With Another Person
It’s almost like I set it up. LOL
Customer service, and product quality is a big concern of people buying things over the internet.
Word of mouth advertising is key to success.
Good product, good information, and good customer service go a long way.
Thanks Oliver,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Thanks for sharing this. Many people will find this helpful as there are many themes to choose from.
Have a great weekend.
All the best,
Mavis Nong
Mavis Nong recently posted..Blogging Tips – 3 Primary Steps To Higher Rankings!
Hi Mavis,
You are right there, lots of choice out there.
It’s something you have to take a bit of time deciding.
You have a good weekend to.
Neil
Hey Neil,
Seems like it’s a great and flexible theme to work with. I like the one I have, but that’s exactly what I was looking for.
Very cool that you found one that fit that bill.
Chat with you later,
Jerome Ratliff
Jerome Ratliff recently posted..Simple Way to Build Your Marketing System
Yeah, I’m lovin’ it.
Check out my response to Oliver.
Where can you get that ?
Cheers
Neil
I am currently using a Woo theme and I really like it, like you state in your article it is good to start out with a free theme. I even started out with a Website tonight platform through GoDaddy to get a feel for what to do. It was within months though that I grew out of that and into a full blown WordPress theme. I then grew out of that one and now into a Woo theme. I beleive that as we mature and grown in our business our tools get “upgraded” as we learn more. Thank you for the information.
Welcome Robert,
I hear good things about Woo Themes too.
It is quite amazing how fast we tend to outgrow them. I didn’t even know about WP for a while at first,
so stated to try to build a site with a couple of those “Lego”site builders.
Not recommend, LOL
Talk to you soon,
Neil
Neil,
I must say, you give great detail about the specifics of getting things done. Great job!
Steve
Steve Scott Site recently posted..Clean up Your Workspace and Get More Accomplished
Welcome back Steve,
I find that sometimes people gloss over a subject a bit to quickly for me, and like the step by step instructions myself.
It is a bit time consuming both learn and post at the same time, one of the many great points you had in your new offering.
I think I’ll give video a try. LOL
Here’s the link to Steves free report http://www.stevescottsite.com/41-hot-internet-marketing-niches
I read it last night, great read for both the beginner, and the more experienced IM’er
Thanks very much Steve.
Neil
Thanks Neil, interesting info. I currently use Woo Themes for my two blogs & am very happy with them.
Michael B Wilbraham recently posted..Achieve Success – Work At Home As A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Hi Micheal,
The more we share information about good products, and services the better it will be for everyone.
Thanks,
Neil
Personally, I am a big fan of Thesis themes – Copyblogger, Problogger, Chris Brogan, Matt Cutts blogs all run on Thesis. And yes, yours truly.
I do hope that your post will help some bloggers find a better theme than free. Nothing against free, but for a serious blog it just does not cut it.
Ana
Ana | Traffic Generation Cafe recently posted..Does NoFollow Follow
Hi Ana,
The free themes are great when first starting out.
I would suggest learning the basics on the free version,
figure out what your requirements are, what you like, do your homework,
then you can make an informed decision.
It’s funny how we seem to outgrow them fairly quickly, but it shows we’re making progress.
Thanks
Neil
Hey Neil
I like the look of the blog and your right this is a very reasonable price especially on the unlimited side of the house can’t beat that.
I love your attention to detail and you going the extra mile for your readers with screen shots and such good job man.
Steve Shoemaker
steve shoemaker recently posted..Strategic Branding- More Face On FaceBook
Hi Steve,
Thanks a lot,
I am so glad I decided to hop in, instead of waiting for everything to be perfect.
Making minor tweaks and learning along the way, is the way to go.
Neil