Life-time employment is sort of on the decline in Japan, and it was never as big as the popular press had it, but be that as it may I have a job which implies lifetime employment and am considered fairly valuable to my company (particularly for my age). I was pretty honest with them when I started that I could promise them 2 ~ 3 years and we'd reevaluate where we were then, and it has been 2.5 years and I have reevaluated.
That said, they've been good to me and I don't want to burn bridges or poison the well for their next foreign employee. (By, for example, doing what I'm entitled to under Japanese labor law and just giving them two weeks. Sure, the contract says I can do that, but the social relationship is the real contract. One thing I've learned over the years is that that is true in America, too, but we're less cognizant about it.)
So, if they want me to stick around a little while to help them finish a project or two, I'm inclined to attempt to be flexible.
Patrick you really need to do some work on the bingo card creator website. Even though I knew you had an online version from your posts here, it took me ages to find out where I could use it on your site.
The site seems to suggest that the online version is merely a trial version for the desktop, which I know isn't the case.
Rather than:
- Buy now $29.95
- Download free trial
- Try now no download
It might be better to simplify:
- Try now
- Download now for your PC
also you don't have any screenshots of the online version.
I always appreciate people giving me advice on my website, even if I don't end up taking it. It is unlikely that I will take your advice.
Here is my reasoning: the audience of my website might hypothetically include programmers who know me from off-site and are looking for the online version, but, well, y'all don't pay my rent. The people who do pay my rent are overwhelmingly non-technical 30 ~ 50 year old women who are arriving from a Google search. The page is optimized for them to comprehend what I'm offering in 5 seconds or less. And what I offer is "A solution for the problem you were just searching for", not a download and not an online version.
You are right, some people do get the impression that the online version is the trial and the downloadable (or CD version) is what they are paying for. I get email to that effect. You'll note that that miscomprehension doesn't hurt either the customer or myself -- they get two more-or-less functionally equivalent ways to access the software they paid for, I get $29.95 either way. On the other hand, I have tested more explicit (and longer) explanations of the relationship between the two than what I have currently, and it just decreases conversion rate to both options. There is a lot to be said for being succinct.
The Buy button you simplified out of the redesign makes me ~$1k a month -- in a non-trivial number of instances, before the customer has even tried the software.
I do not have screenshots of the online version because the primary purpose of the screenshot is to demonstrate that I really have software to sell and am not an Evil Internet Scammer. (I sell to people who fear the Internet and their computers.) Letting them try it instantly assuages that fear for the online version. (Besides, it looks fugly.)
I always appreciate people giving me advice on my website, even if I don't end up taking it.
Ok, here is what I would do. Dramatically simplify the whole experience:
* The front page says "Make bingo cards on your computer" in large print
* The front page has a word list form directly on it. This form can be filled either with one of the predefined wordlists, or manually.
* There is a button that says "Make Preview" that generates a PDF with the unprintable flag set. Put a gray "PREVIEW" across the pages if you are worried about nerd sons stripping out the flag.
* There is a button that says "Make Printable Cards" that requires payment and generates a real PDF. Along with the payment form, offer or require a sign up so that they can retrieve their saved cards and word lists.
Basically eliminate all the stages, even the one that takes you from front page to using the software.
I couldn't see your buy now button at first, I scrolled all the way down and went back up to find it.
Maybe it is just me but the combination of shape and colors and placement was hard for me to read, I might just be more used to a button on the right and screenshot on the left type layout though.
Edit: To clarify shape I think my brain just assumed they were ad boxes and moved on.
Sure, the contract says I can do that, but the social relationship is the real contract.
Completely agree. I had to serve a three months notice period when I quit my last job. Everyone outside the company that I mentioned that to was shocked and said that I should just do a month at the most and leave. But I liked my company and the people and didn't want to screw them. So I stayed to finish my projects and left on a positive note. Plus the extra savings didn't hurt.
That said, they've been good to me and I don't want to burn bridges or poison the well for their next foreign employee. (By, for example, doing what I'm entitled to under Japanese labor law and just giving them two weeks. Sure, the contract says I can do that, but the social relationship is the real contract. One thing I've learned over the years is that that is true in America, too, but we're less cognizant about it.)
So, if they want me to stick around a little while to help them finish a project or two, I'm inclined to attempt to be flexible.