...should you be investing when you first open?
Obviously the hosting and domain is an important part but apart from that, are you expected to put loads of money in to a custom theme or custom plugins etc? How much money, excluding hosting and domains, do you think should be invested when you first open? Not wanting exact figures of course.
As much as is required. Don't cheap out it you want your site to be a success. If you think your site would benefit from a custom theme and plugins, go for them.
(2013-03-06, 05:48 PM)Euan T. Wrote: [ -> ]As much as is required. Don't cheap out it you want your site to be a success. If you think your site would benefit from a custom theme and plugins, go for them.
100% agree with this. If you are buying loads of pointless stuff it wont help but if you are buying useful stuff (even if just odd things) then it can really help.
Would it be worth purchasing a theme and such straight away or could you get away with using a free theme until you have more content? I don't know how to go about this to be honest.
(2013-03-06, 10:04 PM)Samalan Wrote: [ -> ]Would it be worth purchasing a theme and such straight away or could you get away with using a free theme until you have more content? I don't know how to go about this to be honest.
It's really up to you. You can use a free theme and customize it to your needs, so you can still have a design which is kind of unique.
That would work, I might see how that goes.
There are 3 main things, in my opinion, that are required to have a successful website (or atleast to make it easier)
A Good Idea
Dedicated, and last but not least.
Some Money
You don't need a ton of money, but don't cheap out. A little bit of money put into a site can go a long way.
I budget out a wallet of $100 for every forum I've made. I buy a custom theme and a few plugin site subscriptions.
(2013-03-06, 10:04 PM)Samalan Wrote: [ -> ]Would it be worth purchasing a theme and such straight away or could you get away with using a free theme until you have more content? I don't know how to go about this to be honest.
We purchased a nice presentable premium theme for $20, and then invested in a more expensive - but much nicer - theme more suitable to our niche. If you're going to use a free theme, then I would make sure it's decent. Purchasing cheap premium themes to start with is probably the best method imo.
I think it's best to go free with some customization and then straight to high-end customs, IMO the lower end premium themes don't generally offer big value over the good free ones.
That said, it really depends on your skillset how much money you need to invest. You can realistically make an incredible site with just money for a domain name and hosting if you can do your own themes, development and marketing. The only money I've spent on Harajuju outside of domain and hosting is custom plugin dev.