Exciting News from Solostream
By Mike Durkin in Misc, Side Notes, Solostream News
We have great news to share with all of the members of the Solostream community. Solostream has been acquired by Jigsaw Group.
Jigsaw Group made this purchase because we believe Solostream, and specifically Michael Pollock, has built a great foundation for making significant contributions to the WordPress community. We are big believers in the value and benefit that WordPress premium templates provide to people and organizations that want to publish on the web.
What does this mean for you?
Increased product offerings.
Under Michael’s direction, our immediate plans include the production of many new templates, which incorporate new features/plug ins and exciting designs. We will be sending out announcements to keep you alerted as we ramp up our production schedule over the next few months.
Enhanced customer service.
You will continue to receive the same high levels of service that you have come to expect from Solostream. Plus, we are adding personnel to our customer service team and creating a new forums area where you will be able to search for answers to your questions.
New innovations throughout the company.
We are also going to dedicate time and effort to improving communication and assisting the members of our Affiliate Program to generate new sales.
We will find new opportunities that enable and encourage our customers to develop relationships within the Solostream community.
We want to provide new tools that make it easier to use our products and WordPress in general.
I want to assure you that our team will make every effort to continue pursuing the original Solostream mission — our goal will always be to find the best way to enable you to meet your goals.
To this end, we always welcome hearing your thoughts and feedback as we work to grow Solostream so feel free to send me an email at any time.
Best regards,
Mike Durkin
CEO, Solostream
On Sep 18, 2008, Jonathan said:
Congratulations on the acquisition Mike. Looking forward to the new themes and new innovations from Solostream.
On Sep 18, 2008, Alistair Barnett said:
Hi everyone,
Some of you have heard from me already. For those of you who haven’t, I’m one of the new members of the Solostream team. Needless to say, I’m very excited to be a part of this community.
I’m here to answer your questions, so don’t hesitate to ask.
On Sep 19, 2008, Iskwew said:
Congratulations, Michael!
Personally, I don’t think a high number of themes is the most important, but the quality of the themes that have been created by Solostream. That, and the service Michael has been providing.
Michael has focused on quality and simplicity, in that his themes are easy to tweak into something personal. That is very important to me. And he has had an unsurpassed willingness to help you out when you need it. That is greatly appreciated.
Whether or not these things will be present in a new organisation, will be what is interesting to see. And, what will determine whether it is a success. Not the number of themes.
On Sep 19, 2008, Political Disgust said:
I agree 100%. Having LOTS of themes means nothing if the QUALITY and coolness of Michael’s themes is not still there. I have 2 sites (http://www.politicaldisgust.com and http://www.jamooza.com) that are both built on Michael’s themes and everyone raves about how great they look and origianl they are. That is the most important thing. There are TONS of theme sites out there but few that are special.
Also - “Alistair Barnett” is a GREAT name for royalty! haha
On Sep 19, 2008, Michael Pollock said:
Iskwew: Thanks so much for the kind words. Based on what I know and have seen from Mike and Alistair thus far, I’m completely confident you will see the same - if not higher - level of theme quality and support going forward. Plus, I’ll be around for awhile to provide continued support and to create several more themes for the Solostream portfolio.
Political Disgust: Thank you, as well, for the kind words and vote of confidence.
Michael
On Sep 19, 2008, Clive said:
Hearty congratulations to Michael and best wishes to the new owners - I’ll echo previous sentiments, quality above quantity and good support above all.
Cheers!
On Sep 19, 2008, Frank said:
Congratulations Michael! That’s awesome! Can’t wait to see what happens.
On Sep 20, 2008, Nigel Howarth said:
Many congratulations Michael,
I’m very pleased to hear that your excellent work has been recognised.
Although I’ve only been blogging for a comparatively short time, my niche site regularly appears in Google’s top 10 - which has as much to do with your excellent designs as my articles.
Thanks for your excellent themes and I wish you every success for the future.
Nigel
On Sep 22, 2008, Mike Durkin said:
Lskwew and Clive,
We will do everything possible to maintain the quality and service levels that Michael has established.
However, it’s one thing to say it and another thing to do it. Please see below the feedback from one of our recent customers:
“You know how skeptical I was after getting burned on another premium theme that was way to complex to set-up and the publishers support was lacking. I must say, you guys have done an awesome job with WP-Vybe. Easy to use, looks great and most importantly - great support. I got my new site up, customized, full of content and ads in two days. This is with NO prior WP experience (WP for Dummies helped).
Mark Powell
http://www.goebroker.com
PS - Take a look at his site. He did a great job for his first Solostream template.
On Sep 26, 2008, Hemanth said:
One thing Guys. I just love Solostream and keep checking back to see if there are new themes. I have used solostream theme in my website http://www.iwebie.com
I want to change to the new theme now.
On Oct 15, 2008, vincent codework said:
i never get time to post comment but i have to. I really enjoy your free video tutorial and theme. Your work is wonderful. I really need more video and ebooks. I love solostream…
On Oct 20, 2008, Brooks Van Norman said:
As long as Michael’s influence and insanely good customer service remain a part of the brand, I trust this will be a good thing for the community of loyal WP users. I love his work and still think it’s the best WP themes out there. While I miss not being able to communicate with him directly, it still matters that I know he is involved. But if Michael is gone, the business is gone. I would follow Michael to his next project for sure. I might even invest in it.
On Oct 20, 2008, Brooks Van Norman said:
And more thing - you guys REALLY need some better affiliate banner ads. For the quality of the blog theme, they just don’t do your brand justice. May I kindly suggest that you consider investing in some new 125 x 125 banners at least?
On Oct 20, 2008, David said:
Hi Michael, this is great news and indeed you deserve it. Your attention to detail and customer support are superb!
I wish you the very best going forward with the new venture and please keep your uniqueness and quality first and foremost.
-David