We’ve got some public case studies for companies like Dateline PLC and a few other UK general sites but I’ll be able to release some case studies for US sites next month.

Without slagging off the competition, the difference in conversion between white label platforms DOES vary significantly – we’re public about our conversion rates because we’re proud of them and our partners back it up.

I’d direct you and your readers to http://www.makingamillion.net/recurring-commissions/2008/12/03/ as an example – Tim Rees was the CEO of our main competitor until the middle of last year when he left and set up his own sites on our platform as he knew our platform converted better than that of our competitor.

Re. importing members – we’re able to cater to most situations and import members from other platforms without trouble. We can provide custom fields for each partners (for example, certain niches will have fields that aren’t relevant to other niches).

There WILL BE concessions that need to be made – you can’t do everything on a white label platform that you can do on a bespoke platform.

HOWEVER – when deciding what solution is best, I urge partners to consider how much revenue they want to generate and whether REVENUE is the priority or not.

It’s very easy to get caught up trying to recreate a bespoke platform perfectly on a white label system but unless a certain field or feature will result in more revenue for the partner (and the white label provider) then in all honesty it’s unlikely the white label provider will be incentivized to implement the feature. It’s not all about revenue – a good white label provider understands the importance of strategic reasons for the partner and will take that into account.

The main thing is – HAVE A CONVERSATION AND ASK.

We’re still picking up partners who have known us for years but didn’t think they could use us because, for example, they had an unusual billing mechanism or wanted to import members or wanted to own the data – all things that we can do.

In part, this is down to our messaging – we need to market ourselves better and understand prospective partner concerns so that we can address them overtly.

Fundamentally, a white label platform provider only makes money if you make money – using a white label platform eliminates all your costs with the exception of marketing and means you can be far more profitable than is possible using your own infrastructure, customer support, etc.

We’re now approaching 60 employees who are all focused on generating revenue for our partners – this means we can have the kind of expertise on hand available for partners that couldn’t justify having that skillset in-house.

I appreciate that dating software developers advertise on this blog and I do believe that software has it’s place – if your focus is pure, genuine small niche then software is a good solution.

If your focus is revenue then a white label platform is a good choice but be aware that not all white label providers are equal – we convert a lot better than any other platform, we pay our partners twice a month (our main competitor hasn’t paid partners for months now) and we have 60 people full time in our offices who are dedicated to growing partner revenue.

And if in doubt – have the conversation and ask. My contact details are generally available to partners who need them and I can also be reached by anyone interested in the white label platforms at:

rwilliams
AT
globalpersonals.co.uk

Hope this helps to stimulate debate,

Best wishes,

Ross