Comments on: playing devils advocate AGAINST single click signups http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2008/12/playing-devils-advocate-against-single-click-signups/ Alex Hillman Writes Here Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:50:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chris Nagele http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2008/12/playing-devils-advocate-against-single-click-signups/comment-page-1/#comment-1152 Chris Nagele Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:12:45 +0000 http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/?p=814#comment-1152 <p>We've discussed this internally regarding Beanstalk. I remember hearing from Carson that the average of free to paid is about 1 - 2%.</p> <p>I think this is perfectly fine. The best demo you can offer is letting someone actually use the system. If the person is inactive they either did not find it useful or were not ready to convert. The important thing is that they can easily convert later if they want.</p> <p>From a business perspective, the bottom line always depends on paid accounts, so that is the number you can focus on first. There are also some metrics you can pull out of the free accounts. For instance, we know the exact dollar value of every sign up in the system because we can clearly calculate the paid to free percentage.</p> <p>The other benefit is continued communication. Since the inactive users still have accounts, we can send them updates about the service. This might eventually convince them it is worth the effort.</p> <p>As of today, Beanstalk has a 6.58% conversion rate for free to paid. Our goal is to continue increasing that to bring more value from the many free/inactive accounts in the system.</p> We’ve discussed this internally regarding Beanstalk. I remember hearing from Carson that the average of free to paid is about 1 – 2%.

I think this is perfectly fine. The best demo you can offer is letting someone actually use the system. If the person is inactive they either did not find it useful or were not ready to convert. The important thing is that they can easily convert later if they want.

From a business perspective, the bottom line always depends on paid accounts, so that is the number you can focus on first. There are also some metrics you can pull out of the free accounts. For instance, we know the exact dollar value of every sign up in the system because we can clearly calculate the paid to free percentage.

The other benefit is continued communication. Since the inactive users still have accounts, we can send them updates about the service. This might eventually convince them it is worth the effort.

As of today, Beanstalk has a 6.58% conversion rate for free to paid. Our goal is to continue increasing that to bring more value from the many free/inactive accounts in the system.

]]> By: Chris Nagele http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2008/12/playing-devils-advocate-against-single-click-signups/comment-page-1/#comment-2328 Chris Nagele Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:12:00 +0000 http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/?p=814#comment-2328 <p>We've discussed this internally regarding Beanstalk. I remember hearing from Carson that the average of free to paid is about 1 - 2%.</p> <p>I think this is perfectly fine. The best demo you can offer is letting someone actually use the system. If the person is inactive they either did not find it useful or were not ready to convert. The important thing is that they can easily convert later if they want.</p> <p>From a business perspective, the bottom line always depends on paid accounts, so that is the number you can focus on first. There are also some metrics you can pull out of the free accounts. For instance, we know the exact dollar value of every sign up in the system because we can clearly calculate the paid to free percentage.</p> <p>The other benefit is continued communication. Since the inactive users still have accounts, we can send them updates about the service. This might eventually convince them it is worth the effort.</p> <p>As of today, Beanstalk has a 6.58% conversion rate for free to paid. Our goal is to continue increasing that to bring more value from the many free/inactive accounts in the system.</p> We’ve discussed this internally regarding Beanstalk. I remember hearing from Carson that the average of free to paid is about 1 – 2%.

I think this is perfectly fine. The best demo you can offer is letting someone actually use the system. If the person is inactive they either did not find it useful or were not ready to convert. The important thing is that they can easily convert later if they want.

From a business perspective, the bottom line always depends on paid accounts, so that is the number you can focus on first. There are also some metrics you can pull out of the free accounts. For instance, we know the exact dollar value of every sign up in the system because we can clearly calculate the paid to free percentage.

The other benefit is continued communication. Since the inactive users still have accounts, we can send them updates about the service. This might eventually convince them it is worth the effort.

As of today, Beanstalk has a 6.58% conversion rate for free to paid. Our goal is to continue increasing that to bring more value from the many free/inactive accounts in the system.

]]> By: Alex Hillman http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2008/12/playing-devils-advocate-against-single-click-signups/comment-page-1/#comment-1151 Alex Hillman Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:16:57 +0000 http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/?p=814#comment-1151 <p>@<a href="#comment-64935" rel="nofollow">Mark Jaquith</a> & @<a href="#comment-64975" rel="nofollow">Chris</a>: thanks for sharing your thoughts on the ratio, helps a lot!</p> @Mark Jaquith & @Chris: thanks for sharing your thoughts on the ratio, helps a lot!

]]> By: Alex Hillman http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2008/12/playing-devils-advocate-against-single-click-signups/comment-page-1/#comment-2327 Alex Hillman Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:16:00 +0000 http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/?p=814#comment-2327 <p>@<a href="#comment-64935" rel="nofollow">Mark Jaquith</a> & @<a href="#comment-64975" rel="nofollow">Chris</a>: thanks for sharing your thoughts on the ratio, helps a lot!</p> @Mark Jaquith & @Chris: thanks for sharing your thoughts on the ratio, helps a lot!

]]> By: Chris http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2008/12/playing-devils-advocate-against-single-click-signups/comment-page-1/#comment-1150 Chris Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:11:42 +0000 http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/?p=814#comment-1150 <p>That ratio is a completely arbitrary metric. It only means something if it seems relevant to your particular situation. You could just as easily measure "users active in the past 120 days" to "users active in the past 60 days" and it might be equally as useful to your business. I don't think any investor is going to penalize you for having a lot of inactive accounts as long as there's a clear understanding of why they're inactive.</p> <p>CM</p> That ratio is a completely arbitrary metric. It only means something if it seems relevant to your particular situation. You could just as easily measure “users active in the past 120 days” to “users active in the past 60 days” and it might be equally as useful to your business. I don’t think any investor is going to penalize you for having a lot of inactive accounts as long as there’s a clear understanding of why they’re inactive.

CM

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