Please help with an idea

I came across this forum a couple of weeks ago and have been really impressed with the quality of ideas and feedback posted here. So I decided to throw this idea out there and see what kind of feedback it will generate. So here goes:

Basically my idea is to offer internet marketers a sort of partnership with my custom web site development company.

Having been online for sometime now, I have come across some of the several thousand marketers out there and have noticed that alot of them are
offering/working with 'cookie cutter' sort of programs.

What I want to do is work with these people to offer them and their clients an avenue for custom designed applications that directly meet their needs.

My company would provide the expertise in development and they would provide the "endorsements" to their clients that know and trust them.

The marketer would receive a 15% commission for their part of the deal after the contract had been signed and initial deposit received.

If anybody has any thoughts not only on the idea itself but also on where/how/when to market this idea I would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Eric S.


Compleat Web Solutions

HI Eric,

I'm glad you enjoy the forum.... :)

The only possible problem I can see with your offer is that marketing and web design overlap quite a lot, as the web site design can alter how effective the web site is for sales....

I don't know if you've done much reading of books about writing direct response ads, but in a sense, there's a similarity here.... For example, it has been shown through testing that if you write a direct response ad and include a coupon, you'll get a better response rate than if you don't....

(This seems to even be the case if you're asking for phone-in orders rather than mail-in orders.... In his book "Marketing Secrets of a Mail Order Maverick," Joseph Sugarman gives an example of a split run test of this he did. The ad with a dotted line around the phone ordering information -- so it looked like a coupon -- beat the ad without the dotted line....)

Similarly, it's been tested that for printed writings, a serif font (such as Times font) is easier to read than a sans serif font (such as Arial font). However, results I've seen suggest the opposite for web sites -- in this case, people seem to rate a sans serif font as easier to read than a serif font, possibly because of the more limited resolution of our screens when we read things online.... (As screen resolutions get better, this result might change....)

As you can see, these are both marketing and design issues. However, I still think you should go for it.... :)

You should definitely add a section to your web site outlining your offer.... This is really a type of affiliate program so you also might want to list it with various affiliate program directories....

Good luck :)

- Dien

Also, to add to Dien's informative post...

What is your current pricing structure?

Quite often you will fair better if you offer the HOST a substantial amount of your profits too. 15% may get you orders, sure, but what would 50% do for you, order-wise?

Plus, the residual value or LTV of the customers generated would make up for the high perctage payout, again though, depending upon your current pricing structure.

Taylor

> HI Eric,

> I'm glad you enjoy the forum.... :)

> The only possible problem I can see with
> your offer is that marketing and web design
> overlap quite a lot, as the web site design
> can alter how effective the web site is for
> sales....

> I don't know if you've done much reading of
> books about writing direct response ads, but
> in a sense, there's a similarity here....
> For example, it has been shown through
> testing that if you write a direct response
> ad and include a coupon, you'll get a better
> response rate than if you don't....

> (This seems to even be the case if you're
> asking for phone-in orders rather than
> mail-in orders.... In his book
> "Marketing Secrets of a Mail Order
> Maverick," Joseph Sugarman gives an
> example of a split run test of this he did.
> The ad with a dotted line around the phone
> ordering information -- so it looked like a
> coupon -- beat the ad without the dotted
> line....)

> Similarly, it's been tested that for printed
> writings, a serif font (such as Times font)
> is easier to read than a sans serif font
> (such as Arial font). However, results I've
> seen suggest the opposite for web sites --
> in this case, people seem to rate a sans
> serif font as easier to read than a serif
> font, possibly because of the more limited
> resolution of our screens when we read
> things online.... (As screen resolutions get
> better, this result might change....)

> As you can see, these are both marketing and
> design issues. However, I still think you
> should go for it.... :)

> You should definitely add a section to your
> web site outlining your offer.... This is
> really a type of affiliate program so you
> also might want to list it with various
> affiliate program directories....

> Good luck :)

> - Dien