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Found on the Web: Short Rant Against Users of Free Web Apps
wraith808:
Lesson: when requesting permission to conduct e-mail marketing it's usually much smarter to ask people to opt-in rather than breeze them into accepting and later offer them the opportunity to opt-out. Many times, requiring people to opt-out of an automatic enrollment results in bad feelings and suspicion.
-40hz (January 05, 2012, 05:40 PM)
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I don't think he was referring to his original opt in preference, rather to the e-mail he sends out. From the article:
When creating the letter, I have people agree to my privacy policy before they finish. It says I may contact them from time to time letting them know when our other site’s open for the holiday season.
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i.e. you either create the letter and agree to let him contact you, or don't and don't. In effect, it's not really free. You're giving him the ability to contact you in exchange for using the service.
Renegade:
I have a freemium experiment coming out the moment I can finish some testing.
-Renegade (January 05, 2012, 06:58 PM)
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@Renegade - I have to give you credit. You are one of the few people I know who has worked very hard to come up with a creative business model for your customers and yourself that does right by all parties involved. Even though we've disagreed on various issues and ideas about the business side of software, I still think you deserve some very special credit for your ongoing efforts.
Best of luck finding that sweet spot in 2012. :Thmbsup:
(see attachment in previous post)
8)
-40hz (January 05, 2012, 08:03 PM)
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Thank you! I really appreciate that! :D
Just a quick peek at one of the things I've got in it...
I've got the pricing model set for micropayments and am using geo-location to determine prices. Yeah... I know... I've complained about this in the past, but hear me out...
I'm not looking to gouge people on prices. Quite the opposite. Instead, I've got things set to reduce prices to absurdly low levels for countries where people otherwise couldn't afford it. e.g. If you are in Malaysia, India, Viet Nam, or Iran (just for example), that's the bottom pricing tier, and the cheapest.
On the other hand, if you're in New Zealand, Kuwait, or Sweden, that's in the top tier, and the most expensive (or rather, a normal price).
The point is to make the premium version affordable for people that otherwise couldn't afford it, or would have to consider more carefully before purchasing. The point isn't to gouge people for cash just with some sort of justification like "whatever the market will bear", which in my opinion is merely a rationalisation for pure greed (for which I have nothing but contempt). My general rule of thumb when I made the list was to put countries in the cheaper pricing tier rather than put it in the higher one.
Anyways, wish me luck. I know that what I'm trying to do with this project is unconventional, and could fail entirely, but we'll see. I am somewhat fearful that my attitude towards delivering value to people and making things affordable rather than grabbing every penny that I can from people may very well turn out to work against me.
40hz:
you either create the letter and agree to let him contact you, or don't and don't. In effect, it's not really free. You're giving him the ability to contact you in exchange for using the service.
-wraith808 (January 05, 2012, 08:21 PM)
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I got that.
That's why I said "breeze them into accepting."
And I agree with you. It's not a free service because it comes with a price tag. The fact it's not a monetary price tag is immaterial. There's an enforced quid pro quo so you really can't call it "free."
That's one additional problem with free offers in general. Seems some folks just don't have - or refuse to have - a clear understanding of what the word 'free' means.
Free (to download).
Free (to evaluate).
Free - just pay separate shipping and handling.
Free - yadda-yadda-yadda!
Stop trying to make the word 'free' mean something it doesn't.
Want people to stop being confused about what 'free' means? That's easy. Just stop trying to confuse them...and maybe ban the word 'free' from our marketing vocabulary as one way of accomplishing that.
:-\
Renegade:
Stop trying to make the word 'free' mean something it doesn't.
Want people to stop being confused about what 'free' means? That's easy. Just stop trying to confuse them...and maybe ban the word 'free' from your vocabulary as one way of accomplishing that.
-40hz (January 05, 2012, 08:34 PM)
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Agreed, but it's hard.
Mostly, it's "free" as in "no money", but... with strings attached. I think most people think of "money" first. Most people don't consider surrendering their privacy to be a "cost".
The only really "free" software out there is that which comes for "free" as in "no money" AND has a GPL-type license (or BSD or whatever -- you know what I mean there).
superboyac:
Want people to stop being confused about what 'free' means? That's easy. Just stop trying to confuse them...and maybe ban the word 'free' from our marketing vocabulary as one way of accomplishing that.
-40hz (January 05, 2012, 08:34 PM)
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Seriously. I'm constantly arguing with people in my life about what this and that means. But the thing I always try to focus on is it doesn't matter what the legal definition is, or the dictionary definition, or the wkipedia entry of something. If a word or phrase means something intuitively to 99% of those who hear, and you knowing this, decide to use that term another way...then you are misleading them and intentionally trying to get away with something.
Sure, the word "free" can be used many different ways. but when you see a big button on a website for software that says "free" you are thinking about money. Nobody...not a single person in this world...is impressed by someone offering a "free trial" for software.
"Oh my gosh!! They are letting me try this software out for two weeks...for FREE. Quick, let me forward this to all my friends. They HAVE to hear about this one. Hey John! XXX company has a free trial on their software!"
"No way! Are you kidding me?! Hold on...let me call in sick to work. OK, now I have a day off. I'm totally going to take advantage of this. Honey! please bring me a glass of wine and my robe. I'm going to sit back...get my laptop...and check out this Filename Mangle and Destroy Commander Robot software."
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