4 ms·

The only thing is that this is not a free service, so I want just a couple users to flesh things out and get some new opinions, before releasing something that

by vbtemp 14y ago

The only thing is that this is not a free service, so I want just a couple users to flesh things out and get some new opinions, before releasing something that flops and gets a bad rap.

mattmanser 14y ago
How are people going to magically discover said service? Or the signup page? You seriously don't have to worry. And if your service is so amazing and wonderful that people are frantically sharing your signup then you have a very good problem to deal with. Even then you can shut it down in an instant and even (shock, horror) email the people who you don't know and tell them you're really sorry but you're disabling their account because it's a private beta. And you'll let them know as soon as it's live. And they can get immediate access then. Because if you're sending out invites you know who you sent them out to right? As for it being a paid service, make it clear on the signup page it's free now but you'll be charging for it as soon as you're out of beta. No-one;s going to complain. Give a rough price if you feel like it, but make it clear it's rough. You're making a mountain out of a molehill here.
ismarc 14y ago
Make a signup page to be part of the beta, include the disclaimer that it's free during the beta but once the service is publicly available it will be charged for and the fees are waived during the beta in exchange for bug reports, possible issues/downtime, etc. Then, whenever someone signs up, just automatically send them an invite. You don't limit the people who want to use it in the beta and can provide valuable feedback and you set expectations appropriately for leaving free status and to the state of the application. And if you think that you may get a bad rap for being in "beta" and it not being as good as Google's beta, just call it "alpha" instead.

4 ms·

The only thing is that this is not a free service, so I want just a couple users to flesh things out and get some new opinions, before releasing something that

by vbtemp 14y ago

The only thing is that this is not a free service, so I want just a couple users to flesh things out and get some new opinions, before releasing something that flops and gets a bad rap.

mattmanser 14y ago
How are people going to magically discover said service? Or the signup page? You seriously don't have to worry. And if your service is so amazing and wonderful that people are frantically sharing your signup then you have a very good problem to deal with. Even then you can shut it down in an instant and even (shock, horror) email the people who you don't know and tell them you're really sorry but you're disabling their account because it's a private beta. And you'll let them know as soon as it's live. And they can get immediate access then. Because if you're sending out invites you know who you sent them out to right? As for it being a paid service, make it clear on the signup page it's free now but you'll be charging for it as soon as you're out of beta. No-one;s going to complain. Give a rough price if you feel like it, but make it clear it's rough. You're making a mountain out of a molehill here.
ismarc 14y ago
Make a signup page to be part of the beta, include the disclaimer that it's free during the beta but once the service is publicly available it will be charged for and the fees are waived during the beta in exchange for bug reports, possible issues/downtime, etc. Then, whenever someone signs up, just automatically send them an invite. You don't limit the people who want to use it in the beta and can provide valuable feedback and you set expectations appropriately for leaving free status and to the state of the application. And if you think that you may get a bad rap for being in "beta" and it not being as good as Google's beta, just call it "alpha" instead.