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> Some really quick unsolicited feedback go for it... really appreciate it. > You say your model is "freemium" but I don't see a way to pay for anything on yo
by burtonator 8y ago
> Some really quick unsolicited feedback
go for it... really appreciate it.
> You say your model is "freemium" but I don't see a way to pay for anything on your website? That's not freemium, that's donationware.
Most apps that are freemium allow the user to use the app for free first and then convert later.
Right now the app will prompt you to upgrade once you hit a threshold.
Right now one of the challenges (with freemium) is that since we're a new app many people haven't fully integrated it into their work flow so asking them to pay for something which they are unsure about or uncommitted is a tough sell.
> nstead look for real-life examples of products like yours that people are paying an amount for that you'd be satisfied with (if you have examples like these I'd love to see them, I'd love for the model you're trying to actually be viable, I've just never seen it succeed).
Freemium has succeeded (github, evernote, etc) and OSS + freemium has too (Wordpress.org vs Wordpress.com).
> Finally, the business model for this product seems obvious to me: Charge a subscription for users that want to use sync more X than some threshold Y.
Yes... right now most of the users are still early so aren't actively using the sync feature.
I might step this up though and require more users to pay earlier than later.
Honestly the biggest challenge right now is distribution and user base.
We have a smaller user base (1500 active users, 4-5k monthly users) and I need to get this 10x at least. This is my goal for now. Without the larger user base all this other discussion is worthless honestly.
The challenges there have been around distribution. Improving our SEO, getting into the app stores, etc.
It's not as easy as it would seem. Takes a lot of science and testing unless you've had a ton of experience here before.
- robenkleene 8y agoGot it all makes sense, regarding "Right now the app will prompt you to upgrade once you hit a threshold." Is there somewhere you advertise what the threshold is and how much you'll be charged? I didn't see it on the site. That's the first thing I'd look for when evaluating a product like this, answering what's it going to cost me if I like it? (Not to mention it's comforting for me to know the owners have a plan for making a living maintaining it...)
- burtonator 8y agoNot yet but it's mostly because we're iterating and trying to figure out what will work. For example, I'm considering not charging at all, and instead charging just for private teams - at least in the future. That's a feature we haven't shipped yet. Like I said, my main goal right now is to get us to 30-50% month over month growth and then trying to get us to at least 30k users. Until then monetization is irrational for the most part. I might start a kickstarter with our user base as they might be more motivated by that rather than asking to pay directly since they're buying the vision of the project not the actual implementation.
- robenkleene 8y agoGot it makes sense, thanks for explaining. Good luck!