We have all heard that there is no such thing as free lunch. In a highly commercial-oriented society, free is rarely an option. And here is the problem: Some things pretend to be free when they are not.
Case Study #1: TeuxDeux
You have probably come across this wonderful desktop (and now mobile) to-do app by SwissMiss and Fictive Kin
https://teuxdeux.com/
What you might not know is that back in the day it was free. And I mean not only for a 30-day trial period. It was actually free. Until one lovely morning I got THE EMAIL. I'm not going to cite it here but bottom line was: Sorry, we cannot handle maintaining and improving the app (what's to improve, it works just fine) and we need your money. So we're putting an end to free accounts. You have a month to subscribe and continue using the app or say good-bye.
Case Study #2: Dunked
Dunked (http://dunked.com) is a beautiful and extremely user-friendly platform for creatives to showcase their work. Awesome templates. Again - basic version with 25 projects was free, if space wasn't enough or in case you wanted a custom domain, you could upgrade for a small sum. Everything was going great until one day I got THE EMAIL: Sorry, we don't have millions of funding, we can't keep up..etc..etc.. We're putting an end to free accounts. Bottom line: We need your money.
In this case the dreadful e-mail was followed by a second apologetic e-mail, which did explain some additional, but totally useless details, offered a "generous" discount for loyal users but basically said the same thing as the first e-mail: We need your money.
Don't get me wrong. I do like to pay for stuff. I actually pay for quite a lot of stuff I don't even use. But that's not the point. It's about fair play and knowing what customer experience and care looks like.
Truth is, doing cool things for free is hardly an option these days. Cool things, especially the ones that work well, should have a way to monetize their coolness. However, switching from free to paid subscriptions in the middle is just distasteful. And not because people won't pay the small fees. It's because you lied to them. And you cannot expect loyalty from customers if you lie to them, right?
If I am joining your new venture I see it as two parties signing a contract. And I expect each party to stick to the rules, not change them as we go. If I get the email that says how hard it is to keep up and how much you need the money, all I am thinking of is that you didn't do your homework. Deciding on how to monetize your idea should be an integral part of the planning process before starting a business, and if you didn't do that well, or things didn't turn out as you expected, it is not my fault, right?
You can't give a baby a lollipop and then suddenly take it away without him crying. People want stuff. They want it free and they want it now. It sounds cliche but it's true. What is also true is that people will give lots of money for brands they love and trust. Do you think your brand is to be trusted any more?
Here's a hypothetical situation: Say I pay the newly introduced subscriptions (no matter how small they are) and continue using both services. How do I know you won't change the terms again in a couple of months? I mean you did it once already. You know how it is, fool me once....
Now a little more from a branding perspective: there are certain aspects in your brand image you can control (mission, vision, look and feel, touch points, voice, etc.) and there are some you can't control - e.g. how people perceive your brand or what they say about it. In a community that is online 24/7 you've got to be quick, fair and honest. From the start. Every online user has to make a million decisions every day, choose between hundreds of identical apps, buy different stuff, buy the right stuff. He doesn't have time to waste, or read your apologetic emails. He will just leave because it's that easy. One click away.
I know you are thinking that people who truly enjoy your product/ service will stay but at what price. Everyone got THE EMAIL and read it. And what that email says (stripped down of the sobby stories) is that you want our money. And not because you can't support your business, but because you want bigger revenue. Or you have witnessed an interest in your audience (perhaps one you didn't expect) and decided to go for the profit.
Whatever the case, having a strategy to monetize your online venture from the start is a must. A go-with-the-flow-and-see-what-happens approach is immature and rarely successful and it does drive people away. Fast.
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