An easier way for your friends to try out App.net

by

Update: we have since released V2 of the invite experiment that removes the credit card requirement. Learn more.

A question we have commonly heard in the App.net community is: “How can I buy a month of service to give to a friend?” We considered the mechanism by which an App.net user could purchase a month on behalf of someone else, and decided there might be an easier first step.

So, as of today, community members can invite their friends to a trial period of App.net in which the first month is free.

Here’s how it works:

  • App.net members on a yearly plan have access to a small number of invitations.
  • These invitations can be used by App.net members to invite specific friends they think would appreciate a one-month trial period of the service.
  • The recipient of the invitation will be able to click through a link contained within an email and create an account.
  • During the signup process, the invitee will be asked to enter credit card information and to select a plan that only takes effect once the trial has ended. The invitee will not be charged during the trial period, and can easily cancel their account at any point.
  • When invitees sign up for an account after clicking on an invite, they will automatically follow the person that invited them, and vice versa.

If you are an App.net user on a yearly plan, click here to see how many invites are currently available to you.

As a company, we have methodically experimented with changes to the account creation process. For example, our price drop, the introduction of a monthly plan, as well as developer test accounts. This trend will certainly continue.

In this specific case, we’ve intentionally released only a limited number of invites, and we’ll track the program’s performance closely. If successful – that is, if these invitations have a positive effect on the community – then we’ll plan on expanding it.

As always, we want your feedback. Please send comments to @ADN.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=59202403 Aaron Harpole

    I can understand from a business standpoint why you’d want to collect CC numbers as they sign up for a trial, but customers hate it, even if you really do make it easy to cancel. Don’t collect credit card numbers to start the trial. You’ll get more people trying it out, and even if your conversion rate ends up being lower, you’ll have fewer people who accidentally forgot to cancel. Creates less ill will.

    • http://john.onolan.org/ John O’Nolan

      +100

      I will not be using this feature as a result of the approach, which is basically “Hey why don’t you sign up for this cool thing which you’ll almost definitely forget about and be billed for even though you don’t want it.” – that’s not a particularly nice way to treat “friends”.

      It’s also a generally sleazy business model which is pretty unbecoming of App.net and its mantra of transparency.

    • Dalton Caldwell

      I understand your point, but as the post says, this is meant to be a small iteration, ie something easier than the current other option for folks that want to try out App.net: pre-paying for a month. We aren’t sure how widely used this feature will be, and have kept the number of available invites quite limited. Our philosophy is to make iterative changes to what is available in the status quo, and learn at each step.

      • http://twitter.com/gavincostello Gavin Costello

        While I tend to agree with Aaron (I’ve recently dropped the “opt-out” model from my own product for this reason), I think in this trial period it’s fine. The people who will likely take up this offer are going to be curated by us to be those less likely to see this as a problem.
        I would be surprised if, following the trial you decide to widen the reach of this offer, the credit card requirement remains though.
        Dalton, if you want more info on what I learned running both the opt-in and opt-out models in my business and what we’ve learned, feel free to give me a shout

    • Simon Hampel

      Provided that App.Net sends out timely reminders that their credit card is about to be charged and give them plenty of notice to cancel their account if they don’t want it to happen – I think asking for a credit card is a far better way of filtering out tyre kickers who were never going to pay in the first place. It is also an important anti-spam feature, I don’t want people to be able to come and join for free for a month and send spam.

      • http://dlo.me Dan Loewenherz

        I suppose it’s possible that an existing App.net user could invite a spammer, but I don’t think it’s likely.

  • http://twitter.com/waynedahlberg Wayne Dahlberg

    I feel the App.net community at this time is best suited for trial period customers who are ready to be invested in the community. It’s not quite ready for picky eaters easily dissuaded by a CC form. Keep it. :D

    • http://walid.damouny.com/ Walid Damouny

      No that doesn’t make sense. The whole point of the invitation is to showcase ADN to people who may or may not want to join. It will go either way. Presuming that they are ready to be invested in the community means that you should point them to the yearly plan, not the trial month supported by you. Give that free month to someone who is not sure whether to pay or not.

  • http://walid.damouny.com/ Walid Damouny

    By the way, the timing is perfect and the holidays are knocking on our doors ;)

  • Pingback: App.net Podcast: Episode 3 | App.net

  • i3zooz

    It is not “inviting” if it asks for a friends CC.

  • Stelter

    People tend to react allergic to things that cost them money if they forget to act upon something within a certain time frame. It’s not like they don’t trust you, they don’t trust themselves.

    Wrote some friends about this, invitations available, praised app.net extensively. Is there a catch? Yeap, if you forget to cancel you get charged. “No, thanks but no”.
    I don’t think the part with the credit card is the problem, it’s the automatic billing.
    E.g. you could have said the credit card number is mandatory to prevent fraud, spam, fake accounts. Then after a month, users could have been presented with the available plans.

  • http://foomandoonian.net/ Foomandoonian

    I invited three friends when this was announced. All three are avid Twitter users and people I know personally. Each asked me for an invite when I offered them to my 2,000 followers on Twitter. Two of them are very geeky and would fit in with the culture here, and the other had expressed an intrest in ADN before. All are employed and could easily afford to pay if they wanted to.

    So far none have joined.

    I assume it’s the asking for credit card info, though I haven’t asked.

  • http://twitter.com/ShamADN Sham

    I have asked quite a number to join, pointing to this blog and the podcast, and so far only one has accepted (and thus will get the email invite). From how i see it, the CC is one major factor that i suspect is the reason why so many rejected. I can understand how this might reduce the likelihood of bogus accounts, but opting out instead of in after the trial period would at least be less objectionable.

    This is not the only reason of course, as they have also asked about the value of ADN compared to so many other sites that are springing up. The users here are very engaged and i believe are willing to share their experiences with others. But the approach may be a bit too daunting despite the intention being good. My 2 cents.

  • http://www.twitter.com/diontelove Dionte Love

    My friends won’t try it if they have to enter credit card info.

  • http://kevingh.com/ Kevin

    I know I am late to the discussion, but I think requiring a credit card is a good thing. Instead of only trying to entice new users, you also need to keep in mind on how it affects the existing community by offering easy free trials. Forgive me for the lack of a better example, but World of Warcraft saw a surge in spam after they began offering free two week trials. It became a trivial matter for spammers to create a new disposable account, allowing them to spam, get banned, and create yet another new trial account. I believe that requiring a valid credit card is a great way to mitigate any damage that may be done by spammers.

    With that said, I do believe some greater mind needs to come up with a way to make it easier for new users to try ADN, while also keeping spammers at bay. Amy did recommend something interesting ( https://alpha.app.net/amy/post/1872994 ). She recommended that invites (I am assuming that she meant credit card free invites), which end up as banned accounts, penalize the account responsible for the invite. The idea may have its own risks that I have not thought of, but it sounded like a pretty decent idea.

  • John Gilkey

    I am interested in joining, but haven’t yet discovered a friend who is using it. If any of you would be willing to toss an invite my way, I’d be much obliged.