Interview of Codecanyon’s best seller

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Today i have the pleasure to post a little interview of Guillaume Marty, the Codecanyon’s best seller. Maybe you don’t his name, but you might your his items. On the marketplace he’s called “PixelWorkshop“. Guillaume has created a bunch of great HTML/CSS items such as the CSS3 Mega Drop Down Menu, the Responsive Mega Menu Complete Set, or the Pure CSS3 Sticky Footer. With more than 18600 sales, he has become an amazing elite author , and if you don’t know him yet, it’s time to visit his portfolio ! Nonetheless, Guillaume is talented but he’s also a real nice guy.

Hi Guillaume, can you tell readers a little about yourself?

Hi everyone ! My name is Guillaume, I come from southern France and I’m now living in Prague. I started working as an independant web designer 3 years ago after working as a teacher in different universities.

Why and when did you start selling on Codecanyon/Themeforest?

I began working on Themeforest templates 3 years back. At that time, I was learning the basics of designing and coding and I quickly understood the potential of this marketplace. So I tried to make a few original templates.

I quickly understood the potential of this marketplace

When Codecanyon was created, I was not really interested to sell web elements but I finally decided to give it a try in september 2010. After working on a project for a customer, I had the idea to build my own mega menu. The next morning, I started working on it and in the evening of the same day, it was awaiting approval. This file is the one I created the most quickly, just to get a taste of the marketplace.

I decided to work exclusively for the marketplaces

It was completely unexpected but this menu reached the top seller list and held the first position during months. At this point, I decided to work exclusively for the marketplaces and without this menu, I wouldn’t be there today.

What’s the average time you spend on your items?

An HTML template can take time, between 2 and 4 weeks in my case but this kind of file doesn’t require regular updates.

On the opposite, a web element for Codecanyon can take a single day or several weeks to create and I tend to update these file more regularly. The feedback I receive by email or through the comments help me a lot to improve and add new options to my products. Actually, updates can take more time than the original creation.

What do you like in the Envato community?

I’ve learnt a lot of things through the forums, it’s a great place to get feedback aswell. When my work used to be rejected, I could get answers from there.

What are the marketplace items you prefer?

I can’t point to any particular item because there are a lot of them. I created several collections where I put all the templates / elements I really liked, mostly from 4 marketplaces : Themeforest, Codecanyon, Graphicriver and Videohive.

Those marketplaces are now growing so fast that I don’t have time to get through the new submissions, I just try to keep an eye on Codecanyon specifically.

What’s your process when creating a new item?

When an idea pops up, I usually start by doing a few tests / mockups. This can take an hour or several days, I just try to give it enough time to be mature. Once I vizualize the final product, I start working on it. Many effects can be done in CSS3 so I use Photoshop only for specific graphic elements.

When I have my first coded draft, I start testing it on several browsers to avoid hours of trying to find fixes when it’s almost finished. And I keep working on it until I’m 100% statisfied !

Do you have tips for new authors?

Motivation is the key for me. It’s a lot of work to release stock items but it’s just worth it ! And I don’t hesitate to take my time, it must be 100% ready before uploading.

Motivation is the key for me

The preview is a very important aspect, it can be a video or a live demo, it should be attractive.

Also, before working on a new item, I ask myself a few questions :
– Will this file be useful and does it have potential ?
– Is there already something like this available for free or on the marketplace ?
– If so, is it worth developing a premium item from this idea ?
– How to make this file stand out from the crowd ?

I hope that these few ideas will help new authors, thanks for reading :)

PixelWorkshop items

css3-mega-drop-down-menu-preview

responsive-mega-menu-complete-set-preview

pure-css3-sticky-footer-preview

megamenu-reloaded-preview

jquery-sticky-footer-preview

Note: Guillaume he’s now 2nd top selling authors on Codecanyon.

 

12 responses to “Interview of Codecanyon’s best seller”

  1. Proxy

    Dommage que tout l’interview soit en anglais ! Surtout entre deux français… :'(

    1. Ha Ha Ha! c’est vrai !

      1. Proxy

        L’interview reste quand même sympa. Même si je trouve qu’il manque un question cruciale, sur un thème délicat. L’argent ?

        Est-ce qu’il arrive à bien vivre de toutes ces ventes. Combien cela peut rapporter ? Est-ce qu’il fait autre chose à coté ?

        Je sais, je suis curieux ^^”

  2. Guillaume te le dira, ou pas, dans les commentaires!

  3. Guillaume

    Pour info, oui on peut bien vivre de ce genre de travail. Et c’est carrément à une autre échelle sur Themeforest, c’était d’ailleurs l’objet d’articles sur le blog d’Envato (dans l’odre chronologique 1, 2 et 3). Je suis loin de ce genre de revenus mais ça peut donner une idée du potentiel !

    1. Proxy

      Waouw, c’est quand même impressionnant, même si ça reste les exemple les plus “concret” qui sont mis en avant.

      Allez au boulot et merci ! ^^

  4. Fabrice

    Excellente interview, la french touch de chez envato ;)
    Guillaume, c’est avec plaisir que je vais tester les items de chez Pixelworkshop !

  5. […] Rémi Corson interview un des best seller (en) du site CodeCanyon. […]

  6. […] Rémi Corson interview un des best seller (en) du site CodeCanyon. […]

  7. Youssef

    Bonjour Guillaume,

    Je voulais savoir si tu pouvais nous recommander quelques références (livres, sites,….) en français pour nous aider à atteindre ton niveau de compétence ?

    Merci à toi, et félicitation pour ton joli parcours !

    Youssef.

  8. Guillaume

    @Youssef Merci ! Pour moi la clé a été la motivation, internet est plein de ressources et j’ai pas de souvenir précis de la manière dont j’ai commencé. Mais j’ai 2 références qui m’ont aidé à certains moments : les tutoriaux de Tuts+ (qui a bien changé depuis, ils ont d’ailleurs un nouveau hub…) et les cours de Lynda. Bonne continuation !

  9. bodla

    Themeforest is a saturated market thats why even elegant themes are rejected there.In case if your theme got approved, it is soon become invisible due to the
    arrival of new items.Solution to this issue is that Authors can submit their themes on those marketplaces which are less saturated like themifycloud.com where
    chances of approval are high as well as number of sales because your item will not be made invisble by rapid new arrivals.

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