The Art of the Free Trial

Ah, the free trial. We see those enticing words, ‘free trial,’ plastered across various mediums in our everyday lives, from medication commercials to pop-up ads to highway billboards. The concept of the free trial is simple. A customer gains free access to a company’s product or service for a specific amount of time, and during this time they are exposed to the possibility of paying for continued use.

In theory, the free trial makes perfect sense for both buyer and seller. The buyer has a chance to try out a product without making a monetary commitment. The seller is given the opportunity to ‘showcase’ their product and demonstrate why the customer could simply not live without it. Unfortunately, there are a mixture of good free trials and bad free trials out there. Some trials are simply there to ‘net as many fish in the sea’ as possible and depend on a small percentage of people who forget to click ‘unsubscribe.’ Some trials are built on the placebo effect, leaving customers unsure of whether the product actually is working or not. There are good ones out there too though. Some trials efficiently and effectively allow a customer to try out a product and provide the tools to evaluate performance. These are the businesses that have confidence in their product winning over users.

The following is a list of both bad and good, with a concentration on (but not limited to) software technology trials. Feel free to add your own free trial experience to the list, as I’m sure everyone has attempted the art of the free trial.

The Bad

Jeff Paul’s Shortcut to Internet Millions: I’m sure we’ve all seen Jeff Paul’s stupefyingly horrendous infomercial, narrated by two bikini clad women and wrought with accounts of how users instantly became millionaires . It’s almost mesmerizing to watch the stuff, although after a few minutes it becomes difficult to stifle your gag reflex. The product claims to generate huge profits for its users in a matter of weeks. In reality, you simply will be given the ability creates several link-farm websites and then be placed on a call list so the company can attempt to scam you out of more money.

Worlds of Warcraft: The current king of massive multi-player online role playing games, Worlds of Warcraft (WoW), offers a 10 day free trial to experience an immersive online fantasy world. This is certainly a great opportunity to play WoW for free and have a incredible amount of fun. The problem with this one is WoW’s level of addictiveness – once you try it out for ten days straight, you may experience depression, fatigue, and mild nausea upon quitting. I recommend this one only for the strong willed (or those willing to give up their girlfriend/job).

Enzyte: The ‘once a day tablet for natural male enhancement’ is by no means a piece of software, but I thought I’d place it on the list anyways as a prime example of a bad free trial. Enzyte gives men the free chance to ‘enhance’ themselves with a thirty day trial. The clear goal of this is to take advantage of the placebo effect among men with low self esteem. The founder of Enzyte, Steve Warshak, got what was coming to him in 2008, convicted to 25 years in prison for conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. Unfortunately, the product still exists and seems to be advertising more than ever.

The Good

GoToMeeting.com Go to Meeting is an online web conferencing tools that allows a business to easily organize and attend online meetings. The 30 day free trial provides real exposure to the product, with most the of the main features available for use right away. Using this trial will let you know whether GoToMeeting is something your business could viably use as an ongoing conference tool.

Adobe Software Trials Adobe allows all of it’s cutting edge software to be trialed before purchase. Whether you are looking to design, edit, cut or clip, Adobe’s various software has long stood as the industry standard. Because the software can run pretty high in price, it’s a great policy to try it out before making the purchase.

NewtonSoftware.com Newton provides smart online software for a business’s hiring, recruiting, applicant management and applicant tracking needs. They provide a 30 day free trial for a company to immediately get started with announcing job openings, reviewing resumes as well as tracking and analyzing hiring programs. This is a great opportunity for a business to test out a no-hassle recruiting software solution and gain an edge in talent acquisition.

Salesforce.com CRM Saleforce’s customer relationship management software (CRM) is a reliable and proven technology that lets a business manage their customer information, activities and conversations. The company offers a 30 day free trial that offers full access to the software’s many features. This free trial is a perfect way for a business to test drive the most popular CRM out there.

How to Convert B2B Software Free Trial Users into Paying Customers

“We generate quite a few leads from the free trial of our software, but not enough leads convert into paying customers. What can we do?”

It’s a question I’ve been asked by clients, seen on LinkedIn and other online forums, and a problem I had to help solve while working in the marketing/PR department of multiple software companies. Since free trial offers are a main source of lead generation for many B2B software companies, it’s imperitive that these leads are converted if sales revenue goals are to be met.

Free Trials Alone Won’t Sell Software

I believe the root of this problem comes from the mentality of many software marketers that once a prospective customer uses their software they’ll love it, and once they love it they’ll eagerly pay money to have it. The prospect will convert from lead (free trial user) to paying customer without much influence from marketing or sales because the software will basically sell itself.

Unfortunately this way of thinking doesn’t take into account:

Prospects are probably not only using your free trial, they are also using other vendor’s trials for comparison Prospects are busy and may only spend a few minutes with your software then not use it again Prospects may not understand how to use your software correctly and therefore not experience its full value Most B2B software sales involve several people making the purchase decision, so unless all of them are using your free trial, you’re not influencing everyone you need to in order to close the sale

Focus on Lead Nurturing

Having a lead nurturing program specifically for free trial users is the most effective method I’ve found for converting them into sales. It’s important to note that free trial users are usually further along in the sales cycle than most leads, meaning they’re usually past the ‘information gathering’ stage and into the ‘evaluation’ stage. Follow-up contact with free trial users needs to focus on providing information that makes it clear:

How your software is different from and better than competitors How using your software is better than trying to solve their problem themselves

Lead Nurturing Tactics

There are many ways to nurture leads, but here are a few that I’ve found to be successful. If at all possible, invest in marketing automation software (such as Genoo) and a solid CRM system (like Salesforce.com) to ensure timely follow-up and the ability to track the success of your lead nurturing program and optimize it for even better results as time goes on.

Email

When prospects submit their personal information to register for your free trial, offer a simple way to opt-in to receiving emails from your company. To encourage prospects to opt-in, offer a valuable ‘how to’ guide or other marketing asset that they immediately receive.

Send a confirmation email to all prospects thanking them for registering for the free trial, and include a link to brief instructional materials or FAQ document that they can download to ensure they use your software trial correctly. If you offer customer support to free trial users, make sure to explain how to get help. Ask the prospect if there are other people in their organization who are evaluating your software who would like to participate in the free trial, and provide an easy, fast way for them to send the trial info to colleagues. If possible, send the email from the salesperson that is assigned to the lead, and provide that salesperson’s contact information.

If free trial users haven’t converted into buyers by a certain time period (whatever is appropriate for your particular software) and have opted-in to receiving emails, send them a link to a document, video, podcast, or other marketing asset directly comparing your software to competitors. You might also send a link to a case study describing the success of a customer that is similar to the prospect. One client I worked with had great success with a case study we did on a customer that had switched to their software from a competitor.

If it’s possible, send prospects a link to an ROI calculator or some method for prospects to calculate how much money or time they can expect to save or amount of revenue they can expect to generate, etc. by using your software.

Direct Mail

Use direct mail to send marketing materials discussed above to prospects who don’t opt-in to emails. You can send the materials themselves, or send postcards with links to get the materials online.

Phone

The salesperson assigned to the lead should call the free trial user 2-3 days after they register, simply introducing themselves and inquiring as to the user’s experience with the trial so far, if they have any questions, etc. Ask prospects what problem(s) they’re having that drove them to evaluate your software, which is a good way to break the ice and engage the prospect in a conversation about their needs and how your software can help solve them.

VOIP Vs Every Day Phone Service – Free Trial VOIP Solutions

For quite some time ever since its creation, the world wide web was no more than a virtual network for people to chat, communicate and meet each other all as through computer exchanged data. Besides bringing everyone together through message boards, emails and chat rooms, the internet just didn’t offer a clear solution to connect users verbally. This entire situation changed ever since the VoIP technology was introduced and gave users a wa to communicate not only through text but verbally as well.

In earlier days, the internet was known to bring excellent offers from companies who started to explore their possibilities by extending their business to virtual locations on web servers. As time went by, the Internet would be used more and more not only to purchase goods but to exchange information, this is why when many hear the word “internet” they are immediately reminded of “conversation rooms”. That is actually how the internet started to gain ground and popularity. People liked the way this emerging a new technology let them connect with they didn’t know, with friends, family, etc.

Most web users at some point or another thought “Email and chat rooms are OK but it doesn’t beat verbal communication”. This fact remained true for quite some time until application developers created software applications which allowed users to communicate verbally with each other through the net just like if they were sending data packets. In fact, voice as well as text can be transformed into computer data and sent over fiber optic cables or phone lines. This is how most people think of VOIP, and that’s in-fact very close to the way VOIP enabled devices work.

The only problem at the time was that such programs were unable to place actual phone calls but rather all communication was conducted through a PC to PC interface which is still used today by may applications. Phone companies became aware of the possibility clients would turn their backs on their service and started offering Voice Over IP communications as an alternative choice.

Other companies emerged such as Vonage, Packet8, VOIP, BBtelsys, Cordia, etc. These companies used this technology to offer alternatives to consumers. Many people have decided to use their Voice over IP solutions because their cost is a lot lower compared to regular phone services, which sounds good but since it is a new concept many people are not sure if this kind of technology is for them.

That’s why finding VOIP companies which offer free trials is very useful. Some of them provide the service for free, as a second line which can be tested side by sides against the user’s existing phone service and after thirty days the user can decide which way he/she wants to go. As you can see this is very convenient because if the service turns out to be not what you expected, you can just cancel and owe nothing.

This technology is also used by businesses because it reduces their communication expenses by a significant amount. But aside from being a financially smart decision, voice over IP solutions have all the features we use every day such as: caller ID, call waiting, conference calling, call forwarding, redial, call transfer and logs, message waiting, hold and speed dial. So as you see it is not that different from our current service which makes voice over IP easy to understand and use.

Acai Berry : Acai Berry Free Trial Scams

Acai berry is selling like a hot cake since its being offered free of cost. I have seen several complaints from people who say that they were charged for the diet.

The Reality Behind The Free Acai Berry Diet

I do not blame people for not reading terms and conditions. Most people see the big public figures like Oprah and Rachel and sign up with even being bothered to read the details. Although the Acai berry supplement is good for health and also helps in weight loss, it does not come for free. There are several genuine Acai berry supplements being sold online and offline.

Most of the Acai berry diets being sold online sign you on their auto ship program. This means if you do not cancel, your card will be charged and you will be shipped the product every month.

So if you are really serious about weight loss and have money to spend, then I would recommend its usage. Try the diet by paying only shipping and handling and if you are not satisfied with the results, just cancel the subscription. I have used the Acai berry supplement and have lost 34 pounds in 10 weeks. But I would like you to know that I had to pay for the supplement as I knew there is no free lunch in this world.

Why Should You Try Acai Berry Supplement

Acai berry is called super food because of its contents and its positive effect on health. It contains Vitamin A, B1 and D. It helps control appetite and metabolism which in turn helps in weight loss. If you are overweight and would like to shed off those extra pounds from your body without going through a lot of pain, you should go ahead and order the free trial of this wonder product. Make sure to cancel within the trial period if you are not satisfied.

I have used this diet personally and have only the positive experience. However, the results vary from person to person. I used the diet and made sure I walked in open air for 10 minutes each day after dinner. It helped me lose weight at a warp speed.

Adobe Photoshop Free Trial ? How To Download CS4 For Free

Have you been thinking about downloading Photoshop CS4, the image editing software from Adobe? Maybe you’re a photographer who wants to touch up your prints. Or a graphic designer who wants to add some splash to your portfolio. Whatever your reason, Adobe offers a simple way to try out their software without spending a cent.

For years, Photoshop has been the gold standard in the image editing software department. The new CS4 version contains many significant upgrades from the former CS3. It’s easier to use and more versatile than ever. Photoshop Extended now provides extensive three-dimensional tools for those working in film and graphics.

The full version of Photoshop can retail for as much as $1000. That’s quite a bit of money for students and young professionals just starting out. Fortunately, Adobe offers a free download for a thirty day trial period. To do this you must first create an Adobe account. Registration is required for activation. After that, the software download is fairly effortless. After thirty days you must either purchase the full version of Photoshop or your copy will no longer work correctly.

If your interested in other Adobe products, Adobe offers free trials of complete suites. These include the CS4 Design Premium or CS4 Master Collection. These software bundles contain many top programs, such as Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver and more. These packages are different in that they are not available for free downloads. You must purchase a low-cost DVD set, usually ten to fifteen dollars, and install the programs manually. After thirty days the same conditions apply. The advantage to this system is that the DVDs can act as backup files after you fully purchase the software.

Aside from the Photoshop free download, there are other options to save you money. Adobe offers steep discounts to educators and students. But be careful, these editions are often hard to upgrade in the future. So if you’re interested in Adobe, but you’re just not sure, check out the free trial. What do you have to lose?