Transitioning a free web app to a SaaS product?
Hi all, I recently launched timestamps.fm which is a workflow web app for DJs. Using it simply involves uploading a certain kind of file, and it's currently free for unlimited use. I'm interested in transitioning it to a proper SaaS product, but have no idea where to start!
My strategy up to this point has just been trying to get more weekly users (1 Use = 1 Upload). The site gets a few uploads a day, with 5-10 weekly users. It's hard to be precise, since there's no login.
I'd appreciate any thoughts on long term strategy. In the short term I plan to focus on growing the weekly user metric, but I'm not sure when I should transition to a real SaaS product, or how to execute it. For example, when should I introduce user accounts? I could incentivize account creation by limiting the functionality of the no-login free version, but I'm scared of introducing friction and losing my few users.
All thoughts and comments are welcome and appreciated :)
Thanks!
Hey man timestamp is awesome. I wish more DJs used it, figuring out which songs play when (as a listener) is a pain.
I built a tool with a similar model to yours. Also has "time" in the name lol:
timeblocks.co
It was a free tool for a while and I struggled with what you mentioned above. Though it's no success story by any means (It has just ~250 weekly active users. And is making ~$40/month) but hopefully I can share my thoughts on how I implemented the paid plan.
The first version had no log-in. Users could create agendas and save it locally. I spoke with users who talked about their needs and it gave me inspiration on what to implement next. I introduced sign up so agendas could be synced across devices. Some people opted for that. Later on I created the pro plan with features like live-syncing, sharing, and creating meetings. Some people upgraded.
On restrictions: I restricted saving agendas locally to see if it would drive sign ups, it did, but I'm actually going to roll it back. People will be happy to sign in if they are getting value. I don't see it as a deterrent. Just make sure there is some tangible value for them when they sign up.
Some things to keep in mind. I didn't spend enough time working through the user journey for upgrading. Pro features were hidden until you upgraded so users didn't know what they were missing. Shit, some didn't even know pro existed. So I think it's important to make sure you call it out properly when it's released.
On when to implement log-in There's no timeline really. I simply implemented it when there was a need to. Users needed features that required authentication. For implementing pro plan; I didn't limit too many features I had previously built for the free users. I simply spoke to them and saw what was missing, implemented it, and charged for it.
On long term growth: It's a fairly cheap product (for now) so I can't do any marketing that involves spending money. So here's what I'm going to be doing. Doubling down on the users that are getting a ton of value. Involve them with the building process by building publicly, sharing roadmaps, collecting / discussing feedback in a public forum, tweeting improvements, launching often.
Hopefully that helps some. Let me know if you have any other questions
Thanks so much for the detailed reply @tabansi! Super cool to here from someone on a similar path. Definitely appreciate the tip about thinking through the user journey for upgrading.
You mentioned speaking to users a lot. How did you get in touch with them, if there was no login? I'm in touch with a few who I reached out to, but there are many others I have no way to reach out to. I suppose I should start collecting emails or something.
Nice, cool to hear.
I like this approach a lot! Makes them feel like they're part of something.
Happy to help Mark!
To speak to users, I setup a live-chat widget and allowed them to contact me there. They would use it to ask for help or drop some feedback.
There was no need for them to leave emails unless I wasn't available to reply quickly.
I used chaport.com then, but I'd suggest getgist.com (I'm switching over to them. You can handle email marketing and live-chat in the same platform.
One tip — setup an automated message that will prompt them to leave feedback. In my case they use my app for meetings so I need to be careful not to interrupt. A lot of the feedback had to be asked for, as a lot of users wouldn't talk unless prompted to.
Congrats on launching and getting users for the product! Definitely a milestone to be excited about.
If you want to transition to SaaS, I guess the first thing you need to know is: Will people pay to use this? I would just throw a Stripe Checkout Form that requires the user to pay a few bucks to generate the timestamps. Just make it pay-per-use and see what happens. No accounts needed (you will get their emails via Stripe). Hopefully, you see repeat customers which would indicate there could be a SaaS play here.
I would go ahead and test if people will pay sooner-rather-than-later. It's easier to test things earlier when there are fewer users. Plus, you don't want to waste marketing on the wrong type of users.
User accounts should probably come after you confirmed some people will pay for it and you want to test an actual subscription offering. My guess is a free trial of some sort would work well here.
Go ahead and test these things now because if no one wants to pay for it, you will want to think of other strategies to make it sustainable (ads?).
☝️ Don't worry about this or you will make extremely slow progress. Just get used to friction from users.
Thanks a lot @baird! Testing the waters with pay-per-use sounds like a great idea, I will definitely try this out.
I'm considering offering lifetime free coupons to any current users I'm in touch with, in order to generally maintain good will during this transition, and thank them for being the first users. Does this sound reasonable?
Sounds great/generous but I would worry more about moving fast with testing and work with those people individually as they raise concerns.
Gotcha. This will be my focus for this week, thanks again for the guidance!
Anytime!