bkrull
BitPixels solves this challenge by providing a simple img tag HTML code that HN would use to automatically generate and cache a png thumbnail of any URL.
Behind the scenes, BitPixels uses a server farm of real Google Chrome browsers to load URLs and take screenshots so the thumbnails look exactly like the real website. Most competitors use open source libraries like phantomjs or cutycapt that produce inaccurate thumbnails on modern websites.
BitPixels currently makes ~$1k/month which is enough to cover the App Engine and DigitalOcean bills plus a bit extra. I'm working to find 1-2 more marketing channels that can drive sustainable growth.
The primary marketing channel is offering a free account that requires attribution on their site (e.g. "Thumbnails powered by BitPixels). The attribution links drive several new users per day and some eventually convert to premium accounts.
I currently use App Engine to handle front end requests and storage so I can't comment as much there, but DO's integration with Mesosphere sounds promising for scaling and reliability.
More here - https://digitalocean.mesosphere.com/ https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/an-introduc...
Then try new ways to start growing again: 1. Try selling product on the Amazon Marketplace to take advantage of the SEO traffic they gained. This will cut your CPAs dramatically. If this works, expand to other marketplace partners. 2. Find local retail partners to sell products or open your own store. 3. Sell products at relevant sporting events. 4. Consider selling training, information, services or other high margin products.
None of this is easy nor a sure thing, exommerce is a cut throat game these days. Best of luck.
However, the larger problem you discovered is that spending adwords is not cost effective for theme affiliates. It's common knowledge that the bigger players like Themeforest, ElegantThemes, etc. have better economics so they will always outbid you. But if you reduce your CPCs down to your breakeven, the volume will be too low to bother. Ultimately you need a more cost effective traffic channel to have any chance of making this work.
I also own a premium themes business and a theme review blog so I will share the ways I get cheap traffic:
1. For the premium themes, I rely on marketplaces and blog reviews/roundups. I let them drive the traffic while I focus on building great themes.
2. For the theme review blog, I rely on super long tail search traffic driven by the hundreds of theme reviews I've written. I also gain traffic and links by writing guest posts on prominent WP blogs.
3. Another big traffic driver I see a lot but don't use myself is to release high quality free WP themes. Then mix in premium affiliate themes on your Themes page to make a little money.
Be prepared to spend a solid year working on the above before you see significant traction. It's a tough space to play in these days, but it does eventually pay if you work really hard at it. If that scares you, I would probably pull the plug now before you spend a lot more time.
Best of luck!
It sounds like cycling is far more dangerous and potentially deadly than driving. As others mentioned you'll never "educate away" the problem. The road system is clearly not designed for cycling so both drivers and cyclists are annoyed.
What is it that you get out of cycling to make it worth the risk?