Often consumer online products need a critical mass of users to even know if the product is indeed working and adds value to the users. Most products start by offering the product/service free to attain critical mass and also get actively engaged users. No sooner does it gather enough engaged users, the juggernaut of “monetization” is on its way and the only model that might be feasible is the user-paid model. Most products usually have a well-thought road-map on how long the free model must continue and how to start some positive cash flow. When you move to a paid model, you could mess up totally by doing these:

– Convolute the user experience: This strategy only spells doom for the product. Alternatively, look at features you can carve out for paid users; the user experience of the product as a whole should be left in-tact. Sometimes it so happens that the whole set of existing features forms the perfect user experience and removal of any feature cripples the product so much so that it becomes useless. In such cases, the challenge would be to create new feature set – which are enticing enough for a segment of users to pay or create a limited time period for usage of the free product.

– Delay moving away from free: The conversion percentage from paid to free is usually a small fraction; running free version for a long period increases the cost of acquisition of paid users.

– Asking for “long-term” commitment: Users moving from free to paid should have a smooth “on-boarding” experience. Mandatory long period sign-ups (even if there is opt-out facility) causes high drop-out rates among users.

You build your user base with a lot of effort – let it not wither away when you need them the most.

 

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