Blogs
Rebranding self
While I'm going about rebranding ToBeWise™ for startups, I've been giving some thought to rebranding myself. Previously my tagline was "Advisor to Entrepreneurs", but "Startup Advisor" is shorter, uses the key word, more down-to-earth, and just seems more...
Who is the target user? What is the word?
I've been doing startups for a long, long time. Gotta be 60-plus years since the first businesses I started in college. Since then, I've done 7 of my own. And for the last 25 years I've been helping founder/CEOs with their startups. I'm not perfect, but I know a thing...
Is anybody out there?
Now that I can build anything, and can measure the effectiveness of product improvement as well as marketing activities, it became time to enter the dark and murky world of thinking more clearly about who is the target market, what they have to gain from the product....
Measure it to Manage it.
It was evident from the beginning of the ToBeWise™ adventure (ten years ago) that it would be important to be able to measure user metrics, that's just common sense. However, when we started with this project funding was severely limited and the timeline...
ToBeWise™ major changes afoot
I have long planned to reposition the app, but the time required to do a proper job of it seemed a huge hurdle considering the resources available to do the job. But in the fullness of time, the stars have aligned and I am committed to the project. The driver...
Meet the Team
Rio Pedersen is the spark that ignited the content discovery and organization. Tireless, dedicated, focused, and a real pleasure to work with. Namasté! Bitcot has earned an exalted place in app development history by achieving the rare trifecta of delivering a high...
Why and How To Use ToBeWise™
Why to use ToBeWise™ This 5-star app is completely free to use, ad free, spam free, and your usage data is never sold, period. So you can feel safe that your privacy is assured. The content of the app is a carefully curated collection of the wisdom of the ages,...
On the surprising lightness of being completely free…
On the surprising lightness of being completely free…
We started out to build an app that would help people
get their thinking to support a successful life and business.
Although the app was not intended to be a money making adventure;
the idea was to see if maybe it could support itself enough
to cover the costs of upkeep
(programming, website hosting, bug fixes, etc).
For the last couple of years ToBeWise™
came in two versions: Free and Pro.
The Free version was advertising supported.
The Pro had some extra features. was ad-free, at a price of $2.99,
It was this pricing scheme that positioned the app as a business.
A way to get a user’s money, either by paying for it,
or subjecting them to advertising in the app.
The disconnect with a business model for a free gift
kept me from doing much with it.
I was uncomfortable selling an app for 2 or 3 bucks,
first of all because it was supposed to be a gift,
and also because I didn’t need the money.cc
And I was uncomfortable giving an app away that
used advertising to convert users’ attention into money.
Additionally, there was the option to get Free users to upgrade to Pro for money.
From the users’ perspective, I could imagine them
feeling cheap by getting the Free version,
or feeling wary of buying the Pro version, even for only a couple of dollars.
And the ambivalence probably led to abandoning the decision completely.
The solution was most interesting:
Remove the Free version and make the Pro version Free with no ads.
(Thanks, Steve!)
At first I just couldn’t understand the suggestion.
After all, we already had a Free version,
so why make the Pro free, and eliminate the Free version.
In the end, you still have a Free version…
It was only after doing it that it became clear.
The simplicity of only one version,
and the complete detachment from any profit motive
gave me a totally different perspective,
and it energized me.
If there was never any intention to make money on the app,
then why did we charge anything at all?
We got started down the wrong path,
using an app model that was designed for profit making businesses.
Having only one version:
1. reduces user confusion and anxiety at the point of downloading,
2. eliminates the discomfort with being sold something,
3. possibly increases the likelihood that it will be downloaded.
4. eliminates buyer remorse if the app is disappointing, or not used.
5. increases likelihood that it will be recommended to others.
More importantly,
I feel a lot more positive about recommending the app now,
since there is no way I can profit from sharing it.
It’s truly a gift.
Download now!
Enjoy.
And then share it with a friend…
The Goal of Wisdom
In a delightful article by Wait but Why? the Goal of Wisdom is seen as the very best we can do in our short stay here on earth. It's a step in the right direction, for sure. Check out the article, here. Enjoy!
Open letter to friends and family
Monday, March 13, 2017 To my friends and family: For most of the last year, I've been creating a gift for you, in the form of an app for your smartphone or tablet... It's called ToBeWise (all one word). It's free, as gifts should be, and contains the wisdom of...