July 30, 2009
"
“Free” in the enterprise:
- Free is not a business model, it’s a marketing and distribution tactic. Don’t forget this, and don’t get distracted into thinking otherwise.
- Free is not an excuse to make a lesser product, in fact it forces you to make a better product or no one will ever pay.
- Free will expand your market size and scope instantly; make sure you’re prepared, and make sure you can survive and thrive if only a subset ultimately pay you.
- Freemium works when you know who will want to pay for the service and what extra bells they will pay for. This can be based on usage thresholds, ROI achieved, more features, better support, etc.
- Freemium also works because larger businesses have specialized requirements that they’ll pay for: more security, more users, better management, etc.
- Treat free as an advantage - learn from all those new potential customers of your product, pay attention and allow niches to emerge that you can sell to.
- Lose customers to yourself, not your competitors
Is Free The Future Of Enterprise Software? Yes And No."
