Thinking of Going Freemium: Consider These Tips First |  |
- Thinking of Going Freemium: Consider These Tips First
- Amos Winbush of CyberSynchs: Connecting The Data
- GymnatiCorp’s Stock: Tumbled Again
- Bad Behavior And How it Threatens Internet Business
| Thinking of Going Freemium: Consider These Tips First Posted: 15 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT Going freemium has taken a few hits recently in major news outlets, with some questioning the validity and sustainability of the model. That being considered, the freemium model does have some advantages over others when it comes to promoting brand awareness. While it is not a silver bullet, there are a few specific strategies that you can use to help position your freemium software offering for success.
Leverage "Word of Mouth" Word of mouth marketing has long been known as one of the most effective ways to gain loyal customers. It is natural that people will look to their peers and respected companies to determine the most effective business strategies. However, many companies do not want to share information regarding their business tools. Freemium software is positioned for an advantage here. While businesses frown on the inclusion of a software company's logo on paid tools, it only makes sense to include it and other credentials in a freemium version. MailChimp – a company that found great success by going freemium – helps customers design exceptional email campaigns. I recently talked to Ben Chestnut, the CEO of MailChimp, and asked him about the freemium model:
Offer Clear Upgrade Benefits Consumers need a good reason to upgrade from a free model, or they simply won't do it. For this reason, it can be difficult for some companies with freemium offerings to find a balance, because the free version must be good enough to hook users, but not so good that they won't upgrade. Some services, like Evernote, have an upgrade path built in that attains greater perceived value as the customer uses the service and gains more benefit from it. Paying to upgrade for more storage doesn't make sense when a consumer is only using 1/10 of their free storage. When they are near capacity and have integrated the product into their lives, however, the urge to upgrade to a paid model becomes more and more prevalent. Don't Increase Price Without Increasing Value One of the worst things a freemium company can do is arbitrarily impose a cost upon a previously free service. This is not because the service is worthless, but rather because customers have already associated the value of "free" with the software. Changing that value while not adding any additional benefits will convince customers that a company is attempting to rip them off. While it was not a freemium service, the price hike of Netflix last year caused mass outrage amongst its many users, forever tarnishing what was once a near-flawless reputation. Customers are smart – unless you are offering software as part of a free trial (and you make that clear), do not charge them for something that was previously free. The freemium model may not be the perfect answer that some believe it to be, but it should not be dismissed as useless either. Companies with a model that can increase in value over time and offer clear reasons to upgrade may be able to gain more (and more loyal) followers by going the freemium route.
From Small Business Trends |
| Amos Winbush of CyberSynchs: Connecting The Data Posted: 15 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Quite often, the path that leads you to your ultimate destiny is a long and winding road. Those who stay the course reach their destiny much sooner than those who become distracted by shortcuts and crossroads. Amos Winbush, CEO of CyberSynchs, joins Brent Leary to share the story of the path to his destiny. A destiny that lead to the creation of a successful, first generation, universal data synchronization company. And guess what? Amos has a secret to share! * * * * *
Amos Winbush: I started the company in 2008 and, in short, we really focus on the issue that customers have with data splintering. What that means is most devices don't communicate with each other. You have a BlackBerry that doesn't communicate with your iPhone or doesn't communicate with your Windows mobile device. We developed a system that allows for all of your devices to communicate with each other. Not only a mobile device, but can also send content to a digital camera or an Internet enabled printer. That is what CyberSynchs is. We are a first generation universal data synchronization company. I am 28 and one of those kids that decided they did not want to be in college anymore. I wanted to go out and actually do. Of course, my parents hated it, but… Small Business Trends: They like it now, right? Amos Winbush: They like it now. But at the time, they did not like it so much. I am the youngest of three kids. Two older sisters, grew up in Louisiana, really focused on music a lot. My mom and dad both encouraged me to have that creative side. That creativity from music went into innovation and technology and I am all the greater for it. Small Business Trends: How difficult is it for people to have all of their data at the device of their choice when they need it? Amos Winbush: It is very difficult. Our main focus is to understand what the customer wants. If an enterprise has employees with BlackBerrys, iPhones, and Windows mobile devices – and those devices do not communicate with each other – then that is the reason why CyberSynchs exists. I think accessing the data is one thing. Having complete ownership and manipulation of that data is another. We're all about having complete access to that data. Meaning you are able to manipulate it, you are able to edit it, add it, delete it and it will also change in all of the devices that are associated with CyberSynchs and that particular piece of data. Small Business Trends: How did you get started at such a young age? You said your parents were unhappy when you decided to move on from school. But folks like Zuckerberg, Gates and Jobs did the same thing? Amos Winbush: Yeah, but when you look at the landscape, at that time I was a 19 or 20-year old kid, with parents who grew up in the late 50's early 60's. Upward mobility for them was having a stable job and having a college degree that you can fall back on. I always had the mentality that I did not want to work for anyone. But I did not know what that meant until I really started to focus on music. I am a strong believer in that, depending on where you are in life, it sets you up for the next stage. So if I did not focus on music, I would not have moved to New York City. I would not have started CyberSynchs. For me, it was being able to put the pieces together in the music industry. I was able to bring that into launching a tech company. Because it’s all about piecing things together at the right time and in the right place. Small Business Trends: How were you able to get to where you are today without having access to the kind of technology role models that some of the folks I mentioned had? Amos Winbush: I would be remiss if I said that it was not difficult. It was very difficult. I remember going into this one conference in New York City and being the only African American in a room of 800 people. When I first started CyberSynchs, I did not have those role models. I also did not have a major community of tech people that I grew up around. I did not go to a tech school, and I was not privy to having millions of VC dollars when I started this company. So the doors just did not sling open for me. I had to work really hard and I decided to build my own road. As difficult as it was, it was probably the smartest decision I had have ever made. The first year and half to two years of CyberSynchs existence, it was very touch and go. It was not all peaches and cream. Small Business Trends: When was the moment you said, “You know what? I think I am going to make it.” Amos Winbush: I think when we signed our first partnership in late 2010 with a company in Central and South America that brought on board over a seven year period 118 million dollars into the business. That was the first light that helped me to say, “I think we will be okay now.” Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about CyberSynchs and about Amos Winbush himself? Amos Winbush: I am always on social networking. On Twitter, @TechCEO is my personal account and @CyberSynchs is the company account. We like to communicate with people via Facebook. Small Business Trends: Can you tell us about the TV show you are going to be making an appearance on? Amos Winbush: Well, I can't say too much because I don't know if ABC would like that. But I took part in an amazing show where I go into a community and take on a different identity. I work with amazing organizations that are changing the way that not only their community operates, their state operates, but the country operates. If not the world. The show is called Secret Millionaire and it airs on ABC. This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.
From Small Business Trends This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| GymnatiCorp’s Stock: Tumbled Again Posted: 15 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT
People who know I’m a cartoonist often say:
Normally, I just agree and nod and laugh politely, but very little of what my kids say makes it into my work. (Although my daughter calling an incubator an “egg-inator” is almost too good to pass up. “I’ll be bawk!”) What does end up in my work are scenarios and situations my kids encounter. For example, my daughter takes a beginning gymnastics class via the local park district, and one day they were showing off their tumbling. Which got me thinking about stocks. Which got me thinking that a gymnastics company might think differently about tumbling prices. Which is where this cartoon came from, sort of indirectly via my daughter. (Thanks, sweetie!) From Small Business Trends |
| Bad Behavior And How it Threatens Internet Business Posted: 15 Jun 2012 02:30 AM PDT Patent disputes and bad behavior are among the threats to Internet business today. Our roundup looks at some of the ways patents can hurt startups and customers, some recommended solutions, and how bad behavior by entities large and small are threatening business growth online. A Patent on InnovationA step in the wrong direction. Imagine finding a product vital to your needs only to have a rival company bring a suit for patent infringement against its creators. Critics say patents aimed at protecting intellectual property can sometimes stifle growth and innovation when suits are used simply to push competitors out of the market or grab a piece of a startup’s success. TechDirt Thoughts from a disgruntled customer. The story of four-year-old Maya, who cannot communicate with her parents except through a special app, puts a face on the way patent disputes over technology are affecting not only business growth but people. Here her mother recounts more details on how the technology had enhanced her life and how it feels to have it yanked away. Uncommon Sense Fixing a hole. There have been a couple of suggestions posed recently about how to cut down on the number of innovation-hindering patent suits plaguing almost any Internet or other tech company that has been successful enough to make itself an attractive target. TechDirt A better mousetrap. Professors Jason Schultz and Jennifer Urban from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, have put together more details about how open innovation communities might help address issues of intellectual property while avoiding the “thickets” of software patents threatening innovation. Social Science Research Network Spamming Social MediaThey ought to know better. Spamming is not limited, it seems, to small-time operators running sites of low quality. Some big media types are practicing what social site Reddit considers spamming by using the social platform only to promote their own content and not to participate in the community. Big publications like The Atlantic and BusinessWeek have been temporarily banned for being spammy, malicious, or for engaging in what Reddit calls “cheating.” The Verge Social media vampires. An associate editor and social media editor at The Atlantic, may have attempted to game Reddit to siphon off readers for the Atlantic at what Reddit says is the expense of its larger online community. It’s important to understand how some communities view this activity to avoid having your own accounts and URLs similarly sanctioned. An engaging forsensic read. The Daily Dot Are you a social media spammer? Well, you could be, especially on social sites like Reddit where the rules for participating in the community are pretty strict. The best advice is to know your community’s rules and to avoid being one of those people who is using a social media site for just one thing, self promotion. Instead, try becoming part of the community and you may be surprised what you get in return. The Daily Dot When social media spams back. Last week when LinkedIn sent out notifications to members about a problem with compromised passwords, about four percent, or a quarter of a million, were discarded as spam. The problem isn’t the content of the e-mails themselves, but that LinkedIn sends far too much e-mail to its users, according to the author of this article. Cloudmark Land Grabs and Poor PolicingWho will own the Internet? Critics complain that major players like Google and Amazon are engaged in a land grab for new domains like .app, .shop, .book, .love, .kids, and .pizza, with so many applications filed that they will gain an unfair online advantage and be able to lock out competitors. Domain owners can control who gains a domain name and what they can do with it, potentially rewarding their best customers and denying access to others. The Guardian Bad actors destroy business. Finnish social networking and virtual world creator Sulake has lost a key investor and garnered some very bad publicity over a scandal involving its Habbo game. An investigation reveals the company’s inability to control illicit content shared and hosted on its site that is clearly inappropriate for its 13 to 16 year old principal demographic. Inability to police and address problems like this can be very damaging to any online community. TechCrunch From Small Business Trends |
Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about CyberSynchs and your personal background?
Whether you’re growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]
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