The Joy of Paying for Premium Services

Dec 9, 2011 By Mark Evans in Social Media 3 Comments

In a world dominated by free services, I find myself increasingly embracing the “mium” part of freemium by happily paying for more services.

Dropbox, Skype, Freshbooks, Performancing and Vimeo have become part of my premium portfolio, and I suspect there will be several others in the near future. (Note: Another product that I use on a regular basis is Connected. It was a paid product that went free after Connect was purchased by LinkedIn. If LinkedIn decided to offer a premium version, it would probably be something I’d seriously explore)

Why?

These services have become must-have components of my professional and personal life. I get so much value and utility that upgrading from free to paid makes complete sense.

It’s an interesting shift in direction because I love a free lunch – and free service – as much as the next guy but free only gets you so much. If you want more, it makes sense to pay for it.

At the same time, I’ve embraced the idea of paying for a service because it means the company that’s offering it has a way to support the service and develop new features. I also like supporting entrepreneurs if they provide a good service that meets a specific need.

What’s interesting is that in the scheme of things, these premium services cost about $50/month in total. Compared with my wireless, cable and broadband bills, this is a relatively modest amount for services that deliver great value.

While most people will stick with free services, I’m hoping premium services become a more attractive option. The expectation of getting something for nothing makes sense to a certain point but it is a difficult business proposition to sustain unless a company can attract enough traffic to attracting advertising.

In contrast, a company that can get even a modest amount of people to pay for a service can create a viable business.

As I work with more startups, I’m encouraged to see how many of them are focused on selling services while offering a no-frills free service or not offering a free service at all. Having paying customers can give a startup traction from a brand awareness, financial and investment perspective.

While most people will use free services, my enthusiasm for paid services goes against the grain but in a growing number of cases, it feels like the right thing to do.

Why Registration Forms Need to Delight

Dec 8, 2011 By Mark Evans in Startups 1 Comment Tags: delight, registration, sign up, startups

I talk a lot about how startups need to delight users to have any chance of success in a fast-moving world with no lack of competition.

The delight needs to happen throughout the user experience, not just when someone starts to use a service. One of the most important (and probably an area that doesn’t get the attention it deserves) is the registration/signup process.

Too often, registration for a service is treated as a necessary evil. You get someone’s name, e-mail address and some other details so they can get to the “Sign up” button.

But the reality is the process needs to be about the user, not about how quickly a startup can get someone in the door. It means creating an experience that is user-friendly, straightforward, informative and, yes, delightful. If these goals can be achieved, a startup has a better chance of getting someone to complete the registration process and, as important, set the right tone as the user moves into the service itself.

If a startup blows the registration opportunity by making things too difficult, complex or demanding, do not be surprised to see a high abandonment rate.

So, who’s got the registration process nailed? Here are a few examples of companies that should be emulated.

What I like about MailChimp is it’s simple and clear messaging. After people come from the home page, which makes it clear what MailChimp does, the registration process gets them signed up in no time, and cements the experience with some positive messaging.

OneReceipt is another good example of a delightful registration process. In this case, what I particularly like is the “benefits sell” on the right hand side. You have to remember that new users need positive encouragement at each step along the way, so OneReceipt’s willingness to make this happen on the registration page is smart, smart, smart.

Glitch also hits the mark with simple and fun registration form that gets new users into its multi-player game in no time at all. I like the “Go go go….” text rather than using “Create” or “Create My Account”

To some people, the registration process is simply an administration step but I see it as being an important part of the user experience that should not be dismissed or treated as an afterthought.

What do you think? Do most companies pay enough attention to the registration process?

When Technology Struggles to Find a Solution

Dec 7, 2011 By Mark Evans in Startups 4 Comments Tags: ali davar, meshwest, startups, zite

In the wake of Zite’s success and sale to CNN a few month ago, Zite founder Ali Davar made an interesting comment at the meshwest conference earlier this week when he said the company spent “five years in start-up hell” as it searched for a solution to take advantage of its technology.

For Zite, it was the emergence of the iPad that finally delivered the platform the window of opportunity. When asked how Zite was able to last so long before the iPad came along, he said having a low burn rate was a key consideration.

Having worked for a startup that fell into the “technology looking for a solution” category, Zite was lucky to have been able to hang on for so long until the iPad became its salvation.

For many startups, however, this scenario doesn’t work out as well. Instead, they spin their wheels for too long in the expectation it can develop a service that will resonate with users. In the startup in which I worked, this approach involved adding more features to provide the service with better usability. In the end, it didn’t attract enough users even though you could do a lot of things.

Putting Zite’s success aside, the reality about the “technology look for a solution” scenario is, for the most part, it doesn’t work. While the technology may be interesting and the entrepreneurs involved remain optimistic about its potential, it doesn’t matter much unless the technology can be leveraged in some way.

This isn’t to suggest this type of technology should be ignored or an attempt shouldn’t be made to capitalize on it, but startups need to determine fairly quickly whether something interesting enough can be developed to get the technology into the hands of people.

More:

- A Smart Bear has a good post on how a bad idea can eventually resonate as it evolves into something people actually want to use.

- TechRepublic also has a post on the technology looking for a solution scenario. It suggests the solution is to “continually ask yourself what problem the technology is solving, and if the cure is better than the disease.”

Eternal Optimism and the Startup Entrepreneur

Dec 5, 2011 By Mark Evans in Startups 1 Comment Tags: entrepreneurs, optimism, startups

In Saturday’s Globe & Mail, Margaret Wente had a good read on how most people tend to be optimistic even when it’s pretty obvious they’re not going to be successful.

“Optimism is the engine of capitalism,” she wrote. “It is the signal trait of entrepreneurs. One survey found that 815 of entrepreneurs thought their chances of success were 7 out of 10 or better. A third of them said their chance of failing was zero. In reality, only about 35% of small businesses will survive for five years.”

This is the wonderful thing about entrepreneurs and startups. Every startup entrepreneur I’ve met firmly believes their product or service is going to be successful.

It doesn’t matter if they’re entering an ultra-competitive market, or whether their product/service is half-baked, or of whether their idea is more of a feature or hobby than a viable idea.

Optimism is what keeps the entrepreneurial world ticking, whether it’s an online startup, a new restaurant, bar or clothing store. If you don’t believe you’re going to make it, it’s not worth pulling the trigger.

In the online world, the combination of optimism and low barriers to entry go a long way in explaining why there are so many startups cropping up, and so much enthusiasm about becoming an entrepreneur. Meanwhile, the corporate world offers little stability so the risk in doing a startup is less of an issue.

With my consulting business mostly focused on startups these days, I come across many entrepreneurs who have good and bad ideas. I love the enthusiasm but it doesn’t take long to get a sense about whether there is even a small chance of success.

But who am I to discourage someone who wants to take the entrepreneurial plunge. You can try to get an entrepreneur to consider some other angles but if they’re really serious about going for it, they’re going for it.

It’s encouraging to see so much entrepreneurial excitement because it’s good for Canada and good for the high-tech sector. The reality is many of the startups being launched are going to fail but it won’t be for a lack of trying or optimism.

Pressly Pressing the Right Buttons

Dec 2, 2011 By Mark Evans in Startups No Comments Tags: Browsers, pressly, publishers, tablets

In addition to writing this blog, I write a twice-a-week online column for the Globe & Mail’s “Start” section about entrepreneurs and start-ups. With the growing number of interesting start-ups, I’ve been writing profiles on a growing number of companies.

This week, the column is about Pressly, which has created a technology that lets publishers offer their content on a tablet browser with the same “swipe and read” features as an app. Pressly has resonated with publishers because it means they don’t have to make a large investment in creating a stand-alone app and, as important, it opens up new advertising opportunities.

Among the highlights of the interview with Pressly co-founder Jeff Brenner is there’s growing line-up of customers, including The Economist Group and NBC Universal, and the Toronto-based company will be actively looking for venture capital early next year to take the business to the next level.

You can read the entire column here.

Long Live the Newsletter!

Dec 1, 2011 By Mark Evans in Advertising/Marketing, Startups 1 Comment Tags: content marketing, freshbooks, newsletters

When you think about the e-newsletter, it seems like an old-school marketing tool. With inboxes overflowing, who would be willing to sign up for a newsletter and, as important, who has time to read them?

Well, it turns out newsletters are not only alive and well but apparently thriving. At a time when we’re multi-tasking, flitting from one service to another, and not really paying attention, newsletters have emerged as an effective way to reach existing and potential customers.

I subscribe to five or six newsletters that arrive on a daily or weekly basis. Some are quickly scanned, while others are combed through for information on ideas. In some way, they provide value, particularly because they come to me rather than me having to go to them.

The role and value of the newsletter jumped into the spotlight recently when I started to receive one from Freshbooks, which offers online invoicing.

What I like about the “The Leaflet” is it’s customer-centric, and offers stories about how customers are using and benefiting from using Freshbooks’ service. It also provides a smattering of interesting content. The “sell” for Freshbooks service is soft, which is the right way to go because signing up for the newsletter means Freshbooks has my attention.

For startups looking to connect and engage with customers, a newsletter should receive serious attention. When done well, they can become valuable sales and marketing tools that don’t necessarily have to consume a lot of time and resources if structured properly.

Newsletters are way to keep a company front and centre by letting existing and potential customers know that you’re interested in providing them with value-added information, you’ve got interesting things happening, and you want stay connected.

So the next time you dismiss the idea of a newsletter, you may want to think twice.

What do you think? Do newsletters work? If so, what do they need to include or be structured to be effective.

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Mark Evans Tech

Thoughts on Startups, Entrepreneurs and the Web

When Technology Struggles to Find a Solution

Eternal Optimism and the Startup Entrepreneur

Pressly Pressing the Right Buttons

Long Live the Newsletter!