This is an annoucement for threddie's users, but it contains a few thoughts about how free users can sap a single founder's limited resources. So I thought I'd post it here too.
It only saps your resources if you allow it to. What are they gonna do, badmouth your product because you didn't implement the feature they wanted when they're not even paying for it? It's not a bad article, I just think it overlooks the fact that the point of freemium is not to make additional money, it's to get people in the door. Unless a product is absolutely outstanding and/or used by my friends (< 1%), I will not try something that doesn't have a free option. I'm even hesitant to do "free trials", because I don't want to get hooked on something that I will have to pay for when my trial runs out. I know, I know, that may not be in my best interest because I may never discover a product that's worth paying for, but that's how I am and a lot of people are like me. The internet is just too full of free stuff that in most cases you CAN find someone that gives you what you want for free.
Freemium, i.e. having a free option but having a premium, paid option that gives you additional features, WILL get me in the door and I might upgrade later. Paid only, I just hit "back" and move on to something else. I don't even look at it to see what it does for the most part.
Now I can understand the tendency to listen to ALL your customers (even the free ones) and how that can be draining on your resources (and sanity), but that's up to you to set the bounds, not your customers. If you can't set your own limits on who you're willing to cater to, you can cut off all your free customers if you want, but don't kid yourself about the fact that a lot of people that might have tried your product now won't.
Wow, thanks a lot for taking the time to write such a well thought reply.
I would see no faults with your argument for freemium, if this was a service aimed at the Consumer. If it was, you'd be 100% right.
As it stands, thought, with threddie being geared towards small companies rather than individuals, I think it may be worthwhile to experiment in customer selection. I know a few people who run small businesses, and they seem to prefer to go straight to the 30-day trial of an app, rather than endure the limits of a free version. Maybe for those kinds of customers, a half-assed freebie is actually a turn-off. Who knows? I need to find out.
As for the feedback issue, normally I would agree with you. It should be easy to decide which feedback to listen to and which to discard. But, being a bootstrapped single founder who has to juggle a day time job, a social and romantic life, plus a startup and a couple side-side-projects, judgement can become quite clouded sometimes.
More than once, I found myself getting all worked up about stuff suggested by free users, only to realize (much later) that it went against my objectives and was a big waste of time. Leaving those voices out of my head will definitely help me focus.
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[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 22.2 ms ] threadFreemium, i.e. having a free option but having a premium, paid option that gives you additional features, WILL get me in the door and I might upgrade later. Paid only, I just hit "back" and move on to something else. I don't even look at it to see what it does for the most part.
Now I can understand the tendency to listen to ALL your customers (even the free ones) and how that can be draining on your resources (and sanity), but that's up to you to set the bounds, not your customers. If you can't set your own limits on who you're willing to cater to, you can cut off all your free customers if you want, but don't kid yourself about the fact that a lot of people that might have tried your product now won't.
I would see no faults with your argument for freemium, if this was a service aimed at the Consumer. If it was, you'd be 100% right.
As it stands, thought, with threddie being geared towards small companies rather than individuals, I think it may be worthwhile to experiment in customer selection. I know a few people who run small businesses, and they seem to prefer to go straight to the 30-day trial of an app, rather than endure the limits of a free version. Maybe for those kinds of customers, a half-assed freebie is actually a turn-off. Who knows? I need to find out.
As for the feedback issue, normally I would agree with you. It should be easy to decide which feedback to listen to and which to discard. But, being a bootstrapped single founder who has to juggle a day time job, a social and romantic life, plus a startup and a couple side-side-projects, judgement can become quite clouded sometimes.
More than once, I found myself getting all worked up about stuff suggested by free users, only to realize (much later) that it went against my objectives and was a big waste of time. Leaving those voices out of my head will definitely help me focus.
We'll see how it goes. Cheers!