Advisor Alliance
Neither Murph nor I have had any experience with DesignForest, so we decided make this installment of our Advisor Alliance series a simple Q&A, so I connected with Luke Jordan, the company's Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer to learn a little bit more about the company and their offering for advisors and their clients.
IA: First off, what is DesignForest and what is the name of your "Advisor Alliance" offering?
LJ: We design and host websites which can be fully customized solutions or less customized, but fully functioning subscription based sites. We are a great solution for advisors who have clients who need ecommerce capable websites. Our partner program is named DesignForest Partner Program. Catchy, huh?
IA: Very catchy, indeed! What should our audience consider being a part of your Partner Program?
LJ: By being in our program, advisors are able to refer corporate web design, eCommerce web design, and QuickBooks integration needs and projects over to us – hassle free. Many advisors have dozens of clients under them who need help and don’t know where to go. Now there’s an answer.
IA: Is there a fee to be a part of the DesignForest Partner Program?
LJ: There is no fee to be a part of the DesignForest Partner Program.
IA: While our audience is certainly familiar with technology and not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty in code, I don't believe too many of them are web designers. Do they need to be? What is their role as a member of your program?
LJ: The advisor is both a reseller and lead generator. They receive the benefits of simple lead generation and referring while at the same time grabbing the benefits of higher commission payouts of a reseller.
IA: Do you have some advisors signed on currently in the program?
LJ: We currently have about 20 across the country, including Woodard Consulting and Jim Savage. I mention them because they have clients we are working with currently. The other advisors are building their pipelines.
IA: So what is the payout structure?
LJ: We have a great commission structure for our services. For customers who need large design projects done, where the project is typically paid in full and is owned, advisors receive 10% of the project total and that is paid in milestones. For advisors who have customers using our subscription based websites, they receive a 10% residual commission for the life of their subscription. Most customers have a life cycle of 2 to 6 years or more. Residual commissions begin paying after the first month’s subscription payment is complete. Residuals are paid out monthly by check to advisors.
IA: How does the advisor connect you with the account and what are the typical residuals or referral fees advisors receiving currently?
LJ: The only specific requirements are that they set a meeting up with us and their clients or forward direct contact information over. The average monthly residual on our subscription websites per customer are $45 a month. The average commission on a large custom designed website is $2,000.
If this seems like an opportunity worth exploring for you and your clients, you can visit www.mydesignforest.com and Click “Web Design Services” to learn more about the offering for you and your clients. DesignForest will be at Scaling New Heights too, so you can stop by and see them if you are at the show.