

ASH HN: How do I turn my Beta into Pay-ta - pwoods

Ok so fool on me, I thought I'd found a nice little niche market that needed to be fulfilled which I could do easily.  You know, something small and simple.  So I built it, and launched the site looking for Beta Members to try it out, of course offering those that qualify free access.  That was last Friday.  Today, Monday I have over 13000 hits and 4000 beta applications and growing at about 1000 a day.  So what the heck do I do with the other beta applicants to entice them to become clients?  What kind of buy-in can I expect?  30%, 5%?  And does anyone have any ideas on how I can suggest this to the other applicants without turning them all away or insulting them?<p>Usually I just do what I would want done for me but I have never had this kind of momentum before.<p>Help.
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run4yourlives
First, what's your site's url? There could be many more beta testers here that
would be valuable. Also, what you're selling certainly guides how you want to
go about handling this issue.

With that stated, generally, I'd say close the beta application process and
let in the first x number of applications you got. Send each application a
thank you note and tell them that you'll let them know once you've moved out
of beta. You may piss off a few people here, but 100% of zero is still zero,
so you're better off with the money.

That's my take, but again, background information would be nice.

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pwoods
I appreciate that but I already posted it here and the response was mute. That
aside, I'm keeping it quiet until I launch as I still want people to sign up
so I can at least market to them when it goes live. Besides, I have already
set a close date at the end of the month and I'd hate to sound disingenuous
from the start.

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smoody
Under a different user name? I checked out your three posts and none of them
seemed to mention your site.

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pwoods
Yeah and I'm ashamed I did it... It's just that I didn't want it to be affect
by what I say online as a developer. I guess I'm uber paranoid that all this
good fortune is going to run disappear because I posted something stupid.

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woodsier
Well, the decision is yours, but we can hardly help you without context. Post
the website, everyone else does so freely!

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mixmax
I think a "Jolly good going", a pint at the pub and a pat on the back is in
order here. Those are great numbers - it really seems like you made something
people want.

It's really hard for us to judge what kind of buy-in, etc. you'll have without
knowing what you're offering. For porn it's 0,1% or less - for Rolls Royce
engines it's 50%.

I would use the momentum you have and compose a mail telling your beta
applicants, and potential customers, that everything is going much better than
you could ever hope to excpect, and that you're happy that you can solve so
many problems for so many people yada yada, and that you don't have space for
more betatesters but will soon be offfering the real deal, and will send them
an e-mail when this happens. And don't wait too long, they'll have forgotten
about it in a month.

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phil_KartMe
can you invite them in waves? send 500 invites, see how many join on day 1,
maybe assume 50% more will join over the next week. Repeat to get to the
number you want in the beta.

also, many will sign in once or twice and never come back. not all beta
members will be active members.

Be open & honest with those you turn down. until you can invite them, keep
them in the loop with a periodic newsletter. maybe even poll them if you need
customer input.

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muratny
Tell the people who are signing up that the premium service is free for 30
days, after which they can either keep on using the free service or join the
premium service for 25% off. Put everything in big fonts with no small print
or ambiguity and probably 5% will be up-sold.

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yrashk
Typical "conversion ratio" is 0-2%

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callmeed
We had a similar situation with one of our apps–although not with the numbers
you quoted.

If it's a monthly service, I'd say offer a 30 day free trial (if you don't
already) and possibly a small ongoing discount.

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ca98am79
Why not just make it free?

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bootload
_"... Why not just make it free?... I have over 13000 hits and 4000 beta
applications and growing at about 1000 a day. So what the heck do I do with
the other beta applicants to entice them to become clients? What kind of buy-
in can I expect? 30%, 5%? ..."_

Because the question is how do I increase paying users and the (unstated
constraint) growth is increasing which costs. At some time the service has to
become ramen profitable.

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ca98am79
you can sell advertising or you can raise capital - if you are growing that
quickly you should have no problem raising capital. Charging people is one way
to drastically halt your growth, though - if that is what you are after

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bootload
_"... if you are growing that quickly you should have no problem raising
capital. Charging people is one way to drastically halt your growth, though -
if that is what you are after ..."_

Good point.

Do you think it would it deter users if they wanted extra features? Casual
users might want to stick with zero cost but I wonder if business users might
be willing to be charged for extra features that free users cannot use?

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gumbah
Make it free and develop a iPhone app people can buy. Or limit the free
version and ask a (small) amount for the premium services...

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mstefff
How'd you get that many applications?!

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pwoods
I was featured in a few industry blogs and it has caught on like wildfire.

