Remember that little payment widget on Tumblr we talked about a couple of weeks ago? One of the things it’s used for are premium themes, which are (besides the fee for getting your blog featured in Tumblr’s blog directory) Tumblr’s first revenue generator.
Although monetization on blogging and microblogging networks is often mystified to the point that everyone expects something out of the ordinary, Tumblr took a very simple and basic route. Users have already had a big choice of “regular”, free themes. Now, those that want something more, or something specific (like the Photofolio theme, for example), now have a choice of 13 premium themes which cost from 9 to 49 dollars.
This addition comes hot on the heels of several other important updates, such as static pages, direct video uploads, and a BlackBerry app. Besides that, Tumblr posted some impressive numbers and milestones two weeks ago, showing that it’s still growing and carving an increasingly important niche with its “dead simple blogging” approach.
You can browse the Premium theme portfolio here.
