ASH HN: How do I turn my Beta into Pay-ta | Hacker News Reader

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

25 pointspwoods19 comments

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?

Usually I just do what I would want done for me but I have never had this kind of momentum before.

Help.

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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.

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.

I appreciate that but I already posted it here and the response was mute.

It happens.

You have our attention now, though, so you should try it again.

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

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.

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

I don't think you'd sound disingenuous by simply stating things as you've done here: You had no idea you'd get such a strong response and can't possibly handle that many testers at one time. Clearly, hundreds of beta testers mean that you'l have to spend hundreds of hours responding to their requests. You'll never get out of beta. It's better for everyone if you get a product they can use to them faster.

I don't think anyone will deny you the right to make a living based on the fact that you said something overly specific in the past.

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.

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.

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.

Typical "conversion ratio" is 0-2%

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.

Why not just make it free?

"... 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.

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

"... 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?

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...

How'd you get that many applications?!

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

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