Yeah, as a once-upon-a-time dreamhost customer, I was pretty annoyed to have paid $119 for a years hosting only to see that they discount it 98% every now and then. Definitely not a good feeling.
I think what I'm thinking is more a long the lines of "actually" giving away a non-free plan. So whatever your entry level paid plan is, just lower it a little more, and then be prepared to charge money for it, but anytime you want to do a marketing push, give it away for free. So its not going to be like some secretly free plan. The whole point is to give something of value away for free. I think all customers would appreciate that.
Lastly, I like how 37 signals has a lowly-advertised ass-basic free plan. It's still free, but they make it a point to really imply that "it aint all that great". I like this because it implicitly reminds every customer that deals with 37 signals that their product costs money for a reason. It's kind of like thinking about it backwards...why would I think this company is worth anything if they give everything away for free? Actually...thats EXACTLY what I think about dreamhost now. I have to say back in the days I thought dh was a good company because it was better than the godaddy account I came from. But I've come to realize they absolutely whore out their plans (98% wtf) and its literally at a direct cost to their full-paying customers.. (shared hosting) I am officially not a fan of dh and I am that burned enough to leave a negative comment about them in a public forum as I'm doing now ... Give your customers something of value!!
I think what I'm thinking is more a long the lines of "actually" giving away a non-free plan. So whatever your entry level paid plan is, just lower it a little more, and then be prepared to charge money for it, but anytime you want to do a marketing push, give it away for free. So its not going to be like some secretly free plan. The whole point is to give something of value away for free. I think all customers would appreciate that.
Lastly, I like how 37 signals has a lowly-advertised ass-basic free plan. It's still free, but they make it a point to really imply that "it aint all that great". I like this because it implicitly reminds every customer that deals with 37 signals that their product costs money for a reason. It's kind of like thinking about it backwards...why would I think this company is worth anything if they give everything away for free? Actually...thats EXACTLY what I think about dreamhost now. I have to say back in the days I thought dh was a good company because it was better than the godaddy account I came from. But I've come to realize they absolutely whore out their plans (98% wtf) and its literally at a direct cost to their full-paying customers.. (shared hosting) I am officially not a fan of dh and I am that burned enough to leave a negative comment about them in a public forum as I'm doing now ... Give your customers something of value!!