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Ask HN: Business model for my web-based mockup tool

9 points by matt1 16y ago

About two months ago I launched jMockups, a web based high fidelity website mockup tool [1]. I've been working on it pretty heavily over the last few weeks and am starting to see a bit of traction, which I'm thrilled with. That being said, I haven't had a lot of success making money from it yet. The current business model is to offer three mockups for free and charge $19/month for unlimited. Compared to the price of Photoshop (which is my main competitor), I thought this was a pretty good choice. But so far most people stop at three or less. I believe this is partially due to the tool not being good enough yet and partially due to the fact that most people don't need to create more than three mockups at once (there's nothing preventing you from deleting one of your mockups and staying below the freemium limit forever). I'm about to launch a tool that lets you import your website directly into jMockups. Using the jMockups editor, you'll be able to quickly experiment with new designs, new features, etc. It's going to save you a load of time vs manually recreating your site with jMockups or experimenting with new designs via code. Which brings me to my question: With the launch of this tool, I could change the business model completely: Option 1) Keep the current model (3 for free, $19/mo for unlimited) and let people use the import tool for free, thereby encouraging them to create more mockups. Over time as the tool keeps improving, I expect the conversion rate will improve a lot. Option 2) Let people create mockups for free ($0 for unlimited) and charge people for using the import tool (maybe like $10/import). I make a lot less per paying customer this way, but the existence of a quality, free mockup tool could help it gain a lot of traction. It's a major decision and I'm not sure what route to go. I've asked a few folks and gotten very different opinions--what would you do and why? [1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1829657

joshklein 16y ago
If you consider Photoshop your main competitor, I think you need to do significant customer development; this seems to me a very wrong strategic framing of your product. There are many competitors that would be more appropriate to think about - off the top of my head, Axure and Balsamiq come to mind - and I think examining how they do things would give you a much better idea of how to create a business around your tools.
- matt1 16y ago
  Photoshop is to high fidelity mockups as Balsamiq is to low fidelity mockups--would you agree? Axure (software based, one time $589 price) is in there, but I don't think nearly as many people use it as Photoshop. That being said, some more time on customer development is a great idea.
amoore 16y ago
Oh, that thing is cool! I'll probably use it to mock up my next site. Since it's the kind of thing I'd use once every few months or less, and I'd use it for one project at a time, I'd probably pay $10 to $20 one time for 3 or 5 mockups. Then, I use the best one mockup to make a site and quit needing the service for a while. I don't need three free ones since the demo gives me a really good idea of what I'll be getting for my money. Does that kind of pricing scheme sound reasonable? PS - after I buy that package, email me a few months or a year later to see if I'm ready to mockup another site. Also, refer me to someone who can take the mockups, improve them, and make websites out of them.
- matt1 16y ago
  Good ideas. And that's one thing I forgot to mention: Most individuals don't need to create mockups often enough to need a SaaS plan. Design firms and larger companies might, but they're also going to need an exception tool, which jMockups is not... yet. When you say you'd pay $20 for 3 to 5 mockups, how would you expect me to implement that? $20 for maybe a month of use? That's pretty much what it is now :) But I know what you're saying. The reminder email is a great idea too if I went down this path.
notahacker 16y ago
Taking a stab in the dark about your typical use case: How about option (3) - make the import tool free but make sharing, creating multiple mockups of the same page or even saving to come back to later billable. Basically, minimise friction in getting users to start using the tool and then charge them at the point it becomes useful. The "import your existing" page sounds like the kind of potential killer feature that deserves its own landing page too: mocking up from scratch and easy "on-the-fly" rearrangement of existing pages have different use cases and value propositions. - I also think you've oversimplified the pricing for the original service. Faced with a choice of 3 for free or "unlimited" for $19 per month, most people are going to think they fit into the cheaper bracket. If you end up with something remotely close to the old model, try something along the lines of: $19/mo Standard - up to 10 mockups $49/mo Pro - unlimited mockups Given the more expensive choice, the "Standard" option suddenly looks relatively inexpensive, and you might still get "Pro" signups for more cash. Although the actual numbers might want a bit more thought than my arbitrary increase. Possibly you should consider making the "also there's a free plan" a footnote and definitely reduce the mockups covered by it down to one or two. Probably the two pricing models can coexist, as a design/consulting firm might find $19 or even $49 per month to be cheaper than paying per mockup shared.
- matt1 16y ago
  Whoa -- excellent feedback. Thank you. Creating multiple mockups of the same page isn't viable because you can copy and paste the contents of one mockup to another. Also, it takes some time to create a decent mockup, so a one-time-use scheme would be hard to implement. Charging for collaboration might be viable, but my gut says there's a better way to make money. I feel like the import tool is huge too and I'm not sure how to sell it. I could reposition jMockups as a tool that lets you redesign your existing site--that might be an option. I've kind of been going down the hybrid path: Create a site from scratch or redesign an existing site (that was going to be my landing page headline, almost verbatim). But that's exactly focusing on a niche... Regarding pricing, I think a free version is essential. Yes there's a demo video and yes there's a demo mockup, but I'm not sure a lot of folks would commit to $x/month without creating at least one mockup of their own. I could reduce the free limit from 3 to 1, but I'm not sure that's the best solution either. But I think you're right that a higher priced plan is a good idea, both in terms of its value and in terms of making the cheaper plan seem like a better deal. Again, really good feedback. Appreciate it.
revorad 16y ago
Have you spoken to Peldi of Balsamiq? Sure, you're competitors, but I bet he will be happy to give some advice and share some experiences. With your import feature, you could possibly become a good complement to their product. Regarding your pricing, have you considered not having a free version at all? It sounds like your initial users may be poor startups, which is probably not the best target market. If you raised your prices, you could target more appropriate customers. Also, check out BidSketch by Ruben. His customers might be yours too.

9 points by matt1 16y ago

joshklein 16y ago

If you consider Photoshop your main competitor, I think you need to do significant customer development; this seems to me a very wrong strategic framing of your product. There are many competitors that would be more appropriate to think about - off the top of my head, Axure and Balsamiq come to mind - and I think examining how they do things would give you a much better idea of how to create a business around your tools.

matt1 16y ago
Photoshop is to high fidelity mockups as Balsamiq is to low fidelity mockups--would you agree? Axure (software based, one time $589 price) is in there, but I don't think nearly as many people use it as Photoshop. That being said, some more time on customer development is a great idea.

amoore 16y ago

Oh, that thing is cool! I'll probably use it to mock up my next site. Since it's the kind of thing I'd use once every few months or less, and I'd use it for one project at a time, I'd probably pay $10 to $20 one time for 3 or 5 mockups. Then, I use the best one mockup to make a site and quit needing the service for a while. I don't need three free ones since the demo gives me a really good idea of what I'll be getting for my money. Does that kind of pricing scheme sound reasonable? PS - after I buy that package, email me a few months or a year later to see if I'm ready to mockup another site. Also, refer me to someone who can take the mockups, improve them, and make websites out of them.

matt1 16y ago
Good ideas. And that's one thing I forgot to mention: Most individuals don't need to create mockups often enough to need a SaaS plan. Design firms and larger companies might, but they're also going to need an exception tool, which jMockups is not... yet. When you say you'd pay $20 for 3 to 5 mockups, how would you expect me to implement that? $20 for maybe a month of use? That's pretty much what it is now :) But I know what you're saying. The reminder email is a great idea too if I went down this path.

notahacker 16y ago

Taking a stab in the dark about your typical use case: How about option (3) - make the import tool free but make sharing, creating multiple mockups of the same page or even saving to come back to later billable. Basically, minimise friction in getting users to start using the tool and then charge them at the point it becomes useful. The "import your existing" page sounds like the kind of potential killer feature that deserves its own landing page too: mocking up from scratch and easy "on-the-fly" rearrangement of existing pages have different use cases and value propositions. - I also think you've oversimplified the pricing for the original service. Faced with a choice of 3 for free or "unlimited" for $19 per month, most people are going to think they fit into the cheaper bracket. If you end up with something remotely close to the old model, try something along the lines of: $19/mo Standard - up to 10 mockups $49/mo Pro - unlimited mockups Given the more expensive choice, the "Standard" option suddenly looks relatively inexpensive, and you might still get "Pro" signups for more cash. Although the actual numbers might want a bit more thought than my arbitrary increase. Possibly you should consider making the "also there's a free plan" a footnote and definitely reduce the mockups covered by it down to one or two. Probably the two pricing models can coexist, as a design/consulting firm might find $19 or even $49 per month to be cheaper than paying per mockup shared.

matt1 16y ago
Whoa -- excellent feedback. Thank you. Creating multiple mockups of the same page isn't viable because you can copy and paste the contents of one mockup to another. Also, it takes some time to create a decent mockup, so a one-time-use scheme would be hard to implement. Charging for collaboration might be viable, but my gut says there's a better way to make money. I feel like the import tool is huge too and I'm not sure how to sell it. I could reposition jMockups as a tool that lets you redesign your existing site--that might be an option. I've kind of been going down the hybrid path: Create a site from scratch or redesign an existing site (that was going to be my landing page headline, almost verbatim). But that's exactly focusing on a niche... Regarding pricing, I think a free version is essential. Yes there's a demo video and yes there's a demo mockup, but I'm not sure a lot of folks would commit to $x/month without creating at least one mockup of their own. I could reduce the free limit from 3 to 1, but I'm not sure that's the best solution either. But I think you're right that a higher priced plan is a good idea, both in terms of its value and in terms of making the cheaper plan seem like a better deal. Again, really good feedback. Appreciate it.

revorad 16y ago

Have you spoken to Peldi of Balsamiq? Sure, you're competitors, but I bet he will be happy to give some advice and share some experiences. With your import feature, you could possibly become a good complement to their product. Regarding your pricing, have you considered not having a free version at all? It sounds like your initial users may be poor startups, which is probably not the best target market. If you raised your prices, you could target more appropriate customers. Also, check out BidSketch by Ruben. His customers might be yours too.