With respect, you can't call someone a customer if they are not paying you. There is an enormous difference between a user and a customer (or a prospect and a c

With respect, you can't call someone a customer if they are not paying you. There is an enormous difference between a user and a customer (or a prospect and a customer). You should reserve the use of "customer" for folks who are actually paying you. Giving a service away doesn't create customers (it may be a part of your customer creation process but they become customers when they pay you). If a "beta customer" does not pay you they are not a customer (yet). There are distinct methodologies and processes for customer development in the same way that there are for product development: one excellent book on Customer Development is "Four Steps to the Epiphany" by Steve Blank, which is chock full of practical advice on developing early customers.