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.

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?

Risk Free Trials of Acai Berry Products Prove Costly

The acai berry has been causing a storm all over the world as health-food junkies discover the numerous advantages of an acai diet. The acai berry (pronounced aa-sai-ee) contains high levels of antioxidants, fiber and fatty acids. There are a large number of acai berry products on the market, including everything from juices to powders.

With the increase in popularity of these products has come a surge in the number of con artists looking to exploit the situation. Scammers set up websites offering “risk-free” trial period of acai berry products, but rather than finding themselves a great deal, thousands of people have ended up out of pocket after being stung for products they didn’t order.

“The number of scammers out there has certainly made it harder for legitimate businesses like ours, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t still want to get their hands on acai products. Although some people have been ripped off, the companies people should avoid have now been widely publicised,” said Bryan Nettles of Pure Acai Products, which markets acai berry supplements in America.

Celebs such as Oprah Winfrey and Rachel Ray have featured acai berries on their talkshows. However, with many people turning to the Internet to order these wonder-berries, many shoppers have fallen victim to the scammers.

“People who want acai products need only do a bit of research to find out that there are companies out there that aren’t going to rip them off,” said Nettles.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued a warning about acai free trial offer scams on January 6. Online fraudsters tempt Web surfers with offers of free trials, but when people try to cancel their orders, they find themselves having inadvertently signed up for more acai products than they bargained for.

The dodgy dealers put up and take down new websites every day, making it virtually impossible to keep track of them. Shoppers who sign up for these free trials have within an allotted period to cancel or else they end up with monthly deliveries of bottles and credit card bills of $85.90 each time. The trial period typically lasts only 10 to 14 days from the date the order is placed.

Canceling an order isn’t as simple as it sounds, however. Try phoning one of the companies involved and you will find yourself on hold indefinitely, if not cut off altogether. How can you cancel an order if you can’t get through to the company?

“These companies are simply abusing general acai berry endorsements from well-known, trusted celebrities by using it as a tacit endorsement of their company and products specifically,” said a BBB spokesman.

Acai berries are big business. Last year, sales of acai berry products were close to $15 million, while in November, Google recorded more than 1.5 million acai-related searches.

Acai products are sold in health-food stores and many regular grocery chains. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that drinks giants Coco-Cola and Pepsi are planning to launch a range of sodas containing acai.

Acai products come in various forms – juices, powders, capsules, jams and so on – and their popularity is showing no signs of slowing, despite the presence of fraudsters.

Free Acai Berry Pills – Free Trial Scams Exposed

FREE PILL’S GALORE

There are 2 main problems with signing up for free Acai berry pills online…

UNPURE ACAI BERRY

Because Acai berry works so well, it has become extremely popular, and because of it’s popularity, a lot of companies have started selling it. The problem with this is that a lot of these companies are diluting these pills until they are nothing more than about 25% low grade Acai pulp. The end result is the consumer does not lose any weight or get any increase in energy and so decides to cancel the free trial. But had they worked, the consumer would have gladly kept them and been billed $49.95 for every bottle they were sent after the first month.

CANCELLING ORDERS

This is where the scam side of things come into it. Most of the companies offering this free acai berry pills trial offer have made it next to almost impossible when it comes to cancelling a free trial offer. In most cases, you the consumer at your own expense, will need to make a non free calling, long distance call in order to cancel your free trial. One lady reportedly waited 72 minutes on hold before her cancellation was handled by an operator. And there are many more cases just like this occurring more and more every day.

HOW TO BUY ACAI WITHOUT GETTING SCAMMED

The most important thing is to buy from a reputable or recommended source. Also cancellation should be as easy as possible and should not require expense on your behalf in any way. The genuine companies will allow you to email your cancellation and it will be stopped immediately.

Since their rapid rise in popularity, free acai berry pills are being offered as a 14 day free trial everywhere you look these days. Given the fact that most Acai berry pills do actually work for most people, suppliers offering these free trials count on the fact that you will lose a decent amount of weight within those first 14 days and decide not to cancel your orders. But whilst the thought of a bottle of free Acai berry pills is appealing, trying to cancel an order through some of these suppliers can be anything but.