$1000 is a huge amount of money for what looks like a very basic landing page. In my opinion it would be better to just shell out $150 for the designmodo's startup framework, http://designmodo.com/startup/ and spend an afternoon tailoring it to your needs.
$1000 is a large amount of money to pay for a zip file with some HTML and assets in it. However, it's a heckuva bargain to get a really competent and well performing landing page for that amount.
This isn't entirely abstract either, most the sites that would hire out something like this would make that money back in a couple days if he was able to bump conversions up even slightly.
I don't think that $1000 is to much for a service like this. Having worked with many non technical founders I know about their pain of finding someone who builds a landing page for a reasonable about of money.
I also know quite a few solo founders with a technical background who have pretty shitty landing pages, even though they know (technically) how to build one and/or extended one from themeforest. They just forget about white space, proper padding and stuff, but hesitate to hire a designer for a day.
This can often times be summed up as a value-prop against opportunity cost and ROI. Do I have the time to create this page vs. doing something else? What direct return will I get if I spend $1000 and get x% increase?
I would like to create a landing page service using your landing page in a day service. When you design my landing page service page, please make it read "Landing Page in Half a Day". The cost will be $999.
I've found that landing pages are less of a design issue and more of a messaging issue, although having something attractive is certainly nice to have. If you're largely taking existing headlines and making them look nicer, you're missing greater opportunities for improvement.
I also don't think saying you get 10% - 17% conversion rates resonates at all. A lot depends on what you're optimizing for. I have landing pages that can routinely convert 70-75%, but that's a first step optimization for click-thru, not sale. I think it's best not to pigeon-hole yourself into a range and instead just say "I've increased conversions by x%".
Thanks for this—very insightful. I do include copywriting. For the case study, Justin already had copy that was in great shape. Other clients might not, so I'll provide writing from scratch in those cases.
As for the conversion rates, totally agree that the metric I shared is somewhat vague. Every project has different goals, and sometimes even a fraction of a percent is a major win, such as with major display advertisers.
Also, your point about showing the increase in conversions for my projects is way more powerful. Unfortunately, since this is brand new, I don't have better data to share. Hope to have some soon.
$1000 is a a huge amount of money to pay for a landing page when you can just buy a template for $5 (or get one for free?) and get a similarly nice-looking page in more or less the same amount of time, no?
I like the idea of offering the service for a flat fee. The "before/after" section is cool, too - although it reminds me of the "lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks" ads I see on Facebook :-)
Sorry to say but everything about this website feels cheap and generic to me: from the font to the use of huge font-awesome icons, to the texture in the background; to me this page looks like it's from 2012.
"Sound too good to be true? I wrote and designed this very landing page you're reading in 1 day."
Yeah, I can tell.
It's impossible to create a design that will stand on its own in a day, if only for the fact that you need to have looked at it for so much longer than 24h (which is probably more like 10h) to have any kind of perspective on what you've produced.
And, frankly, I feel like somebody who's been doing this for 10 years should know this.
To me, this whole thing just reads as an easy cheap hack for this guy to make more money.
This could just be my opinion, but you're selling custom design and using Courier New as your type - that's not very convincing. After browsing your other pages I was convinced you could design, but I would not have guessed that from this landing page.
Can't read the text at bottom "I wrote a popular design ebook, and write a weekly newsletter to thousands of subscribers." Green of green, and hover that link is white over light green...
Great stuff anyway, but the price put me down, at least for me, but I don't usually pay for nothing. I'm a bad customer (:
UI programming is different from UX design. If it is just programming 1000$ is too much, there are lot of other alternative options. If it is UX design I think lot more effort involved than you are assuming.
What would really sell me is if there was some hardcore copywriter/marketer behind it as well... that coupled with your great design skills would sell me!
I think what you're trying to say is: the page says jQuery is a framework, when really it's a library. Frameworks have more structure (Angular, Backbone, etc), and JQuery calls itself a library...
Neither your site nor the 'Case Study' contain a privacy policy and both use Google Analytics. Both are in breach of the TOS which is problematic, especially in pro-privacy jurisdictions (like Germany for example).
From their Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html the language is crystal clear "You must post a Privacy Policy and that Privacy Policy must provide notice of Your use of cookies that are used to collect data. You must disclose the use of Google Analytics, and how it collects and processes data..."
I'm surprised by the number of sites that ignore this. I wish you good luck with the product launch but privacy and legal compliance are hot topics lately and I think you should consider bring your site, and especially your client's sites, into compliance.
BenBradleySmith|11 years ago
michaelbuckbee|11 years ago
This isn't entirely abstract either, most the sites that would hire out something like this would make that money back in a couple days if he was able to bump conversions up even slightly.
sebslomski|11 years ago
I also know quite a few solo founders with a technical background who have pretty shitty landing pages, even though they know (technically) how to build one and/or extended one from themeforest. They just forget about white space, proper padding and stuff, but hesitate to hire a designer for a day.
SmeelBe|11 years ago
studiofellow|11 years ago
It provides more style options than designmodo's and fewer components, but I think they are both great options.
ssharp|11 years ago
scottcanoni|11 years ago
ssharp|11 years ago
I also don't think saying you get 10% - 17% conversion rates resonates at all. A lot depends on what you're optimizing for. I have landing pages that can routinely convert 70-75%, but that's a first step optimization for click-thru, not sale. I think it's best not to pigeon-hole yourself into a range and instead just say "I've increased conversions by x%".
studiofellow|11 years ago
As for the conversion rates, totally agree that the metric I shared is somewhat vague. Every project has different goals, and sometimes even a fraction of a percent is a major win, such as with major display advertisers.
Also, your point about showing the increase in conversions for my projects is way more powerful. Unfortunately, since this is brand new, I don't have better data to share. Hope to have some soon.
christudor|11 years ago
itengelhardt|11 years ago
This is productized consulting at its best.
oliv__|11 years ago
"Sound too good to be true? I wrote and designed this very landing page you're reading in 1 day."
Yeah, I can tell. It's impossible to create a design that will stand on its own in a day, if only for the fact that you need to have looked at it for so much longer than 24h (which is probably more like 10h) to have any kind of perspective on what you've produced. And, frankly, I feel like somebody who's been doing this for 10 years should know this.
To me, this whole thing just reads as an easy cheap hack for this guy to make more money.
philbarr|11 years ago
Can you give an example of a decent landing page?
spitfire|11 years ago
Everyone talks about how successful their startup is selling books on how to be successful in startups to hopeful startup founders....
Another ebook? really? and +$200 for the video supplements.
turbostyler|11 years ago
acconrad|11 years ago
nathanpowell|11 years ago
rubiquity|11 years ago
This does seem useful though. I've probably underestimated the impact a landing page can have on idea validation and conversions.
ttty|11 years ago
Great stuff anyway, but the price put me down, at least for me, but I don't usually pay for nothing. I'm a bad customer (:
timme|11 years ago
girinambari|11 years ago
marketingadvice|11 years ago
crixlet|11 years ago
studiofellow|11 years ago
jpallares|11 years ago
wat
rgbrenner|11 years ago
I think what you're trying to say is: the page says jQuery is a framework, when really it's a library. Frameworks have more structure (Angular, Backbone, etc), and JQuery calls itself a library...
Author might want to fix that.
ulisesrmzroche|11 years ago
vishalzone2002|11 years ago
Cognitron|11 years ago
jebus989|11 years ago
instakill|11 years ago
axg|11 years ago
studiofellow|11 years ago
untog|11 years ago
dfurlong|11 years ago
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hellbreakslose|11 years ago
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tombrossman|11 years ago
From their Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html the language is crystal clear "You must post a Privacy Policy and that Privacy Policy must provide notice of Your use of cookies that are used to collect data. You must disclose the use of Google Analytics, and how it collects and processes data..."
I'm surprised by the number of sites that ignore this. I wish you good luck with the product launch but privacy and legal compliance are hot topics lately and I think you should consider bring your site, and especially your client's sites, into compliance.