
SaaS: 4 Mistakes We’ve Done During Our Beta And How To Avoid Them - efounders
http://blog.frontapp.com/saas-4-mistakes-weve-done-during-our-beta-and-how-we-could-have-avoided-them/
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aytekin
tl;dr

Mistake 1. They have collected beta invitation email addresses but did not
send any emails until the launch. Some users forgot about the product when
they received the invitation 3-6 months later.

Mistake 2. They used spreadsheets to track user cohorts and that was too time
consuming.

Mistake 3. They focused too much on features instead of benefits.

Mistake 4. They weren't able to find ways to get exposure from blogs.

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movingahead
Everyone starting up should print this out on a paper and stick it over their
desk. I have made all of these mistakes myself. Collectively, they suck out
usage from your product when you need it most.

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programminggeek
If you are going to collect emails to promote your app launch, send out a
useful email to your list every week or two. Your open rates and click through
rates will be MUCH higher on launch.

Also, if you are "too busy" to communicate with your customers before launch,
you probably won't have many customers after launch.

~~~
efounders
Thks for the tip!

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Turing_Machine
#5: Writing large blocks of text using a tiny gray sans serif font and
expecting people to read it.

Sorry, my eyes just won't hack that this early in the morning.

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caractacus
5\. Saying "Done" in the title instead of "Made".

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efounders
thks I'll correct it. Sorry for it.

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jobnobber
Beta invitation and getting subscribers pre-launch is in many cases a flawed
strategy. It is really, _really_ hard for an unknown startup (amongst hundreds
of other unknown startups) to stay 'top of mind' for more than a week or so.

For the beta and pre-launch startups I sign up for, I remember only half by
the time I can register and use the service. I register for about 5% of those
I still recognise. For the rest, I simply don't care any more.

Rethink the pre-launch and onboarding strategy. Just because others say you
should doesn't mean it will work for you. THINK FOR YOURSELF.

