My 10-Minute Pages Review
In last week’s What’s Up Wednesday, I covered a neat powerful plugin called HybridConnect. It’s a powerful plugin to help anyone make great opt-in pages, pop-ups, even squeeze pages. It even comes with options to do split testing and tracking, all for under $50 unlimited!
After that article was published, I had other colleagues point out to me newly released software offers launched last week. Supposedly, these did even more amazing things than the plugin I had discovered. So I went to those sites (sales pages, actually) and checked out those offers.
Checked out the offer
The one that stuck out the most for me was a newly released software product called 10-Minute Pages. It was an impressive intuitive product with drag and drop capabilities. And it could help you create a complete sales page in about 10 minutes (hence the product’s brand name). It wasn’t a plugin or theme you installed, but operated much like LeadPages. (a third-party service that creates opt-in and squeeze pages on their servers like a membership).
After listening to their nearly 15-minute video presentation and then watching more demos of what the product did for you, I finally arrived at the PRICE page where I was left in shock! Why?
The price they were asking for the unlimited version (that is the number of sites you can use the product) for just 1-year support was $297!!! For a page-creator? Really?
Pricing
To me, it’s absurd to pay huge amounts of money for page creations, opt-in form creators, whatever. If I were to do that, I would just buy a premium custom theme builder designed for Internet marketers that included unlimited usage for a reasonable price. The 10-minute pages software is impressive, but the price is outrageous and doesn’t match what you are getting (a page creator).
Besides, another online colleague of mine pointed out to me late last week a sales page creator that is customized for WordPress. It’s called Ultimate Click-to-Edit Content Builder for WordPress which is a plugin that does everything 10-minute pages does, but the price for unlimited usage is $67, not $297!
As you can see, this is a big difference!
My top dollar limit for unknowns
My personal philosophy: when it comes to new online offers, I have set limits on what I’ll spend. It doesn’t matter whether it is themes, plugins, software, whatever. And especially when it’s by someone I have never heard of before. My top dollar limit for an offer from unknowns is $49. If verifiable, then I will go up to $97 and usually no more.
I mean, really, they would need to be as reputable as Microsoft or Apple before I will sink over $100 into a software offer because of how many times I’ve been burnt in the past by offers like 10-minute pages!
In fact I did have an awesome drag and drop WordPress theme until the next WordPress version update, and then it stopped working. No updates, no response, just cricket noises.
I paid enough for it as well, and all was lost when that simple update occurred. As for the marketer and company that created the theme, both are still online peddling their wares, but I will not buy from either one again! (Hint: why it is important to promote valuable products with reputable known vendors to keep a good reputation yourself)
Stated background vs. proven background
Getting back to 10-Minute Pages, the programmer even bragged about learning how to program since the age of 8. Personally, I don’t care if he claimed to program R2D2 at the age of 3! It doesn’t mean squat if you are a completely unknown, unproven, and are asking for a premium price. Too many people and companies come and go daily!!!
My advice to you as a marketer; if you find something you like online, but don’t like the price, then look for an alternative. Even if you have to wait a few weeks or so. This is because if someone does release a great product (or whatever) with a price offer that is out of reach for you, it won’t be long before some other competitor will have a similar offer that does what the first one did, but it will be within reach!
As always, I encourage you to leave a message below and let me know what you think or leave whatever question you may have. 🙂
An after thought about 10-minute pages with all sincerity;
If you’re someone who promotes dozens of products or services, or have a large number of your own, with a need to constantly create a number of sales pages, then this software program would be of great value to you and would save time.
However, if you are someone who occasionally has a need to create a sales page (or just looking to create one page), then 10-minute pages is definitely a big waste of money for you.
Can really relate Michel. I have been trying sales page plugins and themes as well. Mainly because they were recommend by people I trust. While the first one did eventually work, with tons of helpdesk support, the page load time sucks. So I just requested a refund for that. Now off to try another plugin that looks more promising. It can really be a time drain trying to get some of these software plugins to actually perform.
Hey Sue,
That is an issue we all face when online, finding time savers that work without having to spend weeks trying to get it to do what was promised.
The other issue is the learning curve, how much time will we spend to get it to work correctly. 🙂
Love this review Michal, I too have had crickets over themes. Heck I put a support ticket to a well known pop up provider in May 2011 and I’ve yet to get a reply… Support is a big thing and not all of us want to faff around with code that should work in the first place!
Hello Sarah,
I agree, we should not have to know code to get something to work that should already be working. Too bad the customer is often the lab rat used to experiment with the product until it works without compensation for it. The one way to make sure it doesn’t happen is not to buy it until the product becomes proven (or they have a generous refund policy).
Michel, you saved me a bunch with your knowledgeable and specific comments. As I’ve said before, “I.O.U.!” I owe you big time! Thanks for your evaluation of Ten Minute Pages and related remarks.
Hi Marilee,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I am glad to be of help!
Hi Michel,
One of the dangers of producing software, especially when it’s script based is that pretty soon someone will reverse engineer it or just change enough to make it slightly different and put it out at a lower price, with little danger of being caught. The first guy to produce something will have probably taken a lot of time to discover the ways, but the second will have it so much easier. Which is probably the reason for higher prices if you are first to market a particular idea.
Still no excuse for $300 software for a relatively simple idea that had already been done, and better!
Thanks for the honest reviews though. Makes a real change from unending praise that many seem to do.
Regards,
Steven Lucas
Hi Steven,
Thanks for your comment. I do agree and sympathize with product and software creators when it comes to pricing and protecting their creation. However, I also have a problem with those who use it as an excuse to greatly inflate the price just to make a quick buck. That is why I recommend buying from a known vendor who is proven to back their products.
Thanks for this review Michel Great review. The first thought came to mind regarding your comment to Steven Lucas above – “recommend to buy from known vendor with proven record” was how to get proven record while still new. Then I answered my own question – get product reviews from people we trust or whom trust us. Meaning, give it away for ‘free’ in return for solid testimonials n great reviews. Am I on track??!! ;p
Yes you are on track, Sandy. You can also offer it for a large discount from normal price, or create a your first valuable product at a very low price to entice others to buy from you. Once they have it and see the quality, they will not hesitate to buy from you again, even at a higher price (if it is worth what you say it is). New businesses, even establish businesses will use the technique called ‘loss-leader’ strategy which is to offer a popular product below their market price (at a loss) to bring in more business and hope that customers will buy other items to make up for that loss. 😉
Trust is a major factor of course. But to be honest and fair to developers, developing software that will work on the majority of servers is a huge challenge.
I know quite a few people like Optimize Press, but I was turned off by the idea of having to pay a yearly fee for updates and support. I look forward to the day that developers finally start treating their business like a business. For example, when you buy a new tech gizmo, the warranty might be for 1 to 5 years, but the software updates continue to be free as long as the device is supportable.
One thing I have noticed from some of the more trusted developers is that they are making optin forms and sales pages that do not have to be hosted on your server (kind of like Lead Pages). Now this is great because these won’t slow your site down like other plugins. Most are based on monthly or yearly fees (some even have a lifetime one-off option), so you really have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages.
Hello Dawn and thank you for your comment.
As I mentioned to Steven, I do sympathize with product and software developers. No doubt that Software developer do have a challenge, but it is based on what operating software the server uses to run on, not the server itself. So you can have dozens of different server manufacturers and not have to worry about that.
However, I do agree with you that I am not thrilled about having to renew with a software based product either each year or more frequently. But unfortunately, that has become the norm. Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, Intuit (Quickbooks), and so on all have continuous updating schemes that cause (force) you to pay for that update. Now less known developers have jumped on that bandwagon because of the income it can generate.
Maybe we will get to a point where all software updates will be free as long as the device remains usable, but I doubt it. Take WordPress for example, WordPress (the product) is always updating to a ‘new’ version which technically is like a new product release. So the developers of themes or plugins could charge for each version release, rather than cover it for a year (WordPress’ agenda is to release new versions at least twice per year).
What I did here, was take a look at this particular application. I did see options and weighed the advantages. And I came to the conclusion that I would rather pay $47 for a plugin that does everything 10-minute pages does instead of paying $297 that only lasts for a year of support. 🙂