I have been goofing around quite a bit in this blog about the Next Tech Big Thing and how I will be launching it by the time my tech start up course is finished.
Well, the course finishes today and my Next Tech Big Thing is not ready for launch. However, there are a few things that I have a pretty clear idea about at the moment.
One of them is that it is not going to be free. I don't like to give out stuff for free, it gives the impression that is worthless or that it takes no effort to make; it makes business models reliant on advertising that, most of the time, undermine the quality of the service and/or frustrate users.
Nothing is really for free in this world so why should my service be free?
In the internet age we have grown used to getting stuff for free, namely apps and content. There are some signs that this is changing such as spotify restricting free acess.
Well I think that "free is bad" but I also think that setting a price is, well... inefficient. Prices have first and foremost one sure effect: alienate users that cannot afford the product and/or do not value it as much as the price we set. So if by setting a price we will lose customers and revenue, why bother?
The Next Tech Big Thing will not be free! And it will not have a price!
It will have a try out period so that users can confirm that they find it useful and/or fun after which they will have to pay a fee determined by themselves.
So depending on your income level, how much you value the service or even which way the wind is blowing, you will decide to pay whatever you think it is fair.
You will not have the Next Tech Big Thing for free. But you will be free to pay whatever you like!
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I don't completely agree. You can use freemium models quite successfully. Many of the top grossing apps in Apple's App Store are free, giving users a taste of the app at no cost and later giving the chance to upgrade or buy things from inside the app. More or less the same concept can be use in other channels. Take a look at it.
ReplyDeleteFreemium is a step in the right direction and it seems to be working ok so far.
ReplyDeleteHowever it has a few drawbacks: 1) it still alienates users that don't want or cannot afford to pay so much as the set price for the premium; 2) it descriminates users sending a message that there are 1st grade clients ans 2nd tier ones 3) makes it more difficult to provide a consistent user experience.
Technology enables to make some products for free like content, music, and many other stuff. So, it just about redefining business models. We all have to live from something. So it may be free for some but not for others (fremium, advertising, etc). Key is to be aligned with your business philosophy!
ReplyDeleteFor example, foodieSquare will be free for producers to use. We do want to support them! That is our business philosophy! Customers will have to pay though. Still our offer is way better than the alternative distribution channel, so everyone is happy, some got stuff for free on others gut a great deal!