Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been anxiously awaited for months now. The excitement in my house about this film is hanging in the air with every breath. Seriously, a day doesn’t go by that some discussion about the franchise occurs.My husband’s phone notification is a series of R2D2’s beeps and boops, for crying out loud.
But all of this hype and hullaballoo has got me thinking about the legacy of Star Wars. The enthusiasm from fans and the generational connections it has created are surely greater than any one film or any one character alone. There’s wide-ranging appeal in this franchise that spans the decades. There’s just something about it that makes our collective breaths catch in our throats when those words “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” scroll up the screen.
And while you may not be able to replicate this level of success in your personal WordPress-based business, you can certainly model your path toward success after it.
So, we already know you can create an empire with WordPress. But do you know how to create a legacy? Let’s take a look at the primary things that make Star Wars a legacy for guidance.
A Unique Platform
Star Wars, let’s face it, wasn’t all that original. How could it be given the foundation of its plot arc is the mythos of the hero’s journey? Even so, something about the story and its characters resonated with a generation, and that generation has since passed down this appreciation to their children. We now have about 40 years of collectively loving Star Wars.
The platform behind the franchise is what I think has largely driven its success. I mean, think about it. You’ve got a solid trilogy that spread out the film’s attraction over several years. Then, flash forward a nearly two decades, about 15 years, and you get the start of a prequel trilogy. Another fifteen years later and we’re starting up another phase in the franchise’s history. The ongoing saga is undeniably attractive.
With WordPress, you have a more literal platform with which you do your work, and it’s attractive because it has far-reaching appeal. Developers and users alike find WordPress intuitive to use. Those inexperienced online can install a theme and have a site up and running in mere minutes, and seasoned developers can build a theme from scratch to customize and change in a myriad of ways.
A Large Cache of Tools
We’re talking merchandise here. I talked about Star Wars merch a while ago, but it bears repeating: The Force Awakens merchandise is quite literally everywhere. From what you’d expect like action figures and lunch boxes to the more obscure like boutique glassware and lightsaber candles, the merchandise spans the gamut of human experience. If you have any interests at all or have a need for any product, it’s likely there’s a Star Wars version of it.
Because of the impressive array of available products, you’d be hard pressed to avoid Star Wars right now. And that’s seeming to be increasingly the case with WordPress, too. Now you’ve got code editors, plugins, themes, UI kits, APIs, and a whole host of other tools that make building sites simpler, faster, and more intuitive. No matter what sort of business you want to build, WordPress—either in core or as an add-on—gives you everything you need to make it happen. Building a legacy-level business has never been easier.
A Die-Hard Community
Ah, the Star Wars fandom. It’s rabid, it’s enthusiastic. Sometimes, it falls into squabbles over which film is best, but at the end of the day, the community is what makes Star Wars so great. Without the fans, the movies would be irrelevant. I mean, at the premiere for The Force Awakens, actors not in any way affiliated with the franchise got in on the fun by coming dressed as their favorite characters. I’m looking at you Joseph Gordon-Levitt. How can you not love that?
That sort of enthusiasm is precisely why WordPress is such an enduring force and toolset from which people can build business legacies. For instance, those involved in WordPress development see their work committed to core all the time. These bits of their work live on from version to version and add to their personal business legacy.
Beyond that, the WordPress community is incredibly helpful for those looking to build sites outside of the WP space as well. If you have questions on how to do something for your site, the community is there with answers. If you’re having trouble, they’ve got your back. So long as you respect their time, the WordPress community is there like a personal support crew, ready and willing to answer your questions, and assist you in building your dream come true business.
It takes a lot of hard work, but I can think of no other toolset more capable of helping people build businesses from the ground up that are designed to stand the test of time than WordPress. And I can think of no other franchise more capable of lasting for decades to come than Star Wars.
Agree? Disagree? Think another popular franchise is more suited to comparison here? Sound off below.
No Comments