So today I received an email from some dude (we'll call him Bob) who writes a "Web 2.0 E-Letter" alerting me to the fact that he has just sent his email list of 600 a somewhat scathing review of Blinksale. In the interest of quickly diving into the good stuff, let's read some of the highlights, starting with the introduction:
Dear Blinksale,
I am the author of [title removed] which is an E-Book which gives an entrepreneur's point of view of Web2.0 and focuses on the various tactics, techniques and strategies that Web2.0 business requires now-a-days.
My book focuses especially on how Web2.0 businesses need to hide their monetization strategies as much as possible in order to be seen as "friendly" and welcoming enough for the thousands of customers to actually sign up and start paying for the service or product.
A common method of disguising monetization strategies is the new idea of "micro payments". This is when very small amounts of money are charged for individual aspects of the product or service on offer, instead of charging a large monthly charge for an account, such as your site.
After seeing your site from a large Web2.0 directory, I was extremely impressed by the design and concept of your website, which lead me to sign up.
On signing up, however, I was very surprised to find how "exposed" your monetization strategy actually I, which is why I am writing today.
Today, I wrote an email to my email list of 600 about an "Invoicing Web2.0 Site", not mentioning it was you I was talking about. I explained about how micro payments are what I see as a fundamental part of Web2.0 business strategy, and want to know your thoughts and ideas on the matter.
Wow... where do I start with this? Well, since he was kind enough to not mention Blinksale by name, I'm not going to mention his name or E-book either in my response. But really, we're just getting started. The real gem is the email itself sent to his mailing list (of 600). At first, I though I might break this down into smaller chunks, but really, it's best to read it in its entirety.
Dear [removed]
I have been observing Web2.0 sites and businesses for quite some time now, and there is something that keeps jumping out at me every time I discover a new "Web2.0 Start-up".
That thing is the apparent *overpricing* of the services or products that the company is offering. I mean, I discovered about this new Invoicing Web2.0 site the other day, which is an online application which you can use to send invoices, etc by email.
Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, then I went to the sign-up page to see what it was all about, and to my horror I discovered that their pricing strategy is somewhat "Out Of This World".
If you are a business, you're going to be sending a decent amount of invoices per month, right? Well, for this company's "Gold Plan", it was $24 a month just to send 250 invoices! The other prices included, $49/month for 1500 invoices and $12/month for just 50 invoices.
Now, consider the costs that this Web2.0 company has - designers, coders, not to mention the marketing and advertising teams; which needs to be fuelled with allot of cash.
If I was looking for a decent invoicing program online, then the initial impact of the homepage testimonials, program example and nice design would get me interested, however, I would be horrified at the prices! For that cost, I would expect an entire account application, which you don't get with the site I have in mind.
I have purposely not mentioned any names here, since I want to actually show this email to the site in question and see what they say, but think about where I am coming from here:
Web2.0 is the reinvention of the Internet. Therefore, you could potentially be getting ten's of thousands of members in a short space of time, all of whom are willing to pay for a revolutionary and quality service. Now, imagine how many of those potential customers will be put off by the super extortionate prices that you are asking for!
For any Web2.0 company, the aim is to conceal the monetization as much as possible, and so by adopting a "cost per product" scheme, I feel that many Web2.0 startups could actually become more successful. For the invoicing company that I have been complaining about, I would certainly adopt this strategy, and even make it so that more invoice features would cost more.
This way, perceived value of the product you are offering soars entirely and you will find that more people actually sign up for the free account, who can be marketed to with something else.
I guess what I am trying to get at is the idea of "micro-payments", which I have been discussing with some customers of [my e-book] on Skype. The idea of micro-payments is that only a small amount is charged for a product or service which otherwise would have been charged at maybe 500% of that. For example, with the invoicing site, why not charge $.50 for one invoice to be sent, and allow unlimited invoices to be sent from any account.
This not only makes it affordable to most people and means that with a lower cost, more invoices are likely to be sent than with the previously capped accounts.
This then can be disguised and offset by the perceived value of stationary that would be needed to send a normal invoice, with the paper, ink and postage costs. This would cover up and justify the costs that the Web2.0 invoices cost to send each, persuading more potential customers to become paying customers...
This email is not intended to advertise or to mock. It is intended to give you a real life example of how "micro-payments" can be employed in today's Web2.0 era. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to conceal monetization strategies in Web2.0, because the whole business could depend on it!
I'll send this e-mail to the company I am talking about and see what they have to say about their account structure, and let you know what they say.
Have a good day,
[Bob]
How's that for some buzz-word bingo? Have a good day, indeed. There are so many things wrong with this email that it's not funny. It's freaking hilarious. But wait, there's more. Here's how the email to us was wrapped up:
I could have easily edited that email because I believe it may be a little “harsh” on your pricing, yet I really want to raise a point with my list and want to be as transparent as possible.
Well, thanks...
I mean, I guess you could easily implement the payment structure to allow for micro payments for sending a single invoice, since you’ve created a really good application; but I really want to know why you have adopted the monthly payment scheme, instead of offering the ability of micro payments.I am not ridiculing your company in particular; I am simply trying to discover why you charge so much a month for your service, when you could get people such as some of my contacts who wouldn’t mind sending out variable amounts of invoices at say $.50 a go.
Please let me know your thoughts on this issue,
Yours sincerely,
[Bob]
Okay, since he signed his email "yours sincerely" I don't want to be a total jerk here, but Bob wanted to know my thoughts. So here they are.
First of all, Bob opens up explaining that Web 2.0 businesses "need to hide their monetization strategies as much as possible in order to be seen as 'friendly'". What the heck? Can I ask why, Bob? What's wrong with paying for something and getting something in return? My late grandfather, a businessman who died too young, lived by the mantra that if both parties are happy then it was a good business deal. It doesn't really matter what you paid and what you received in return if both seller and buyer are happy, does it?
Bob talks about wanting to be "transparent as possible" yet he is encouraging his readers to hide their monetization strategy. Bob also talks about micro-payments while ridiculing Blinksale's monthly subscription fees.
I don't have a problem with micro-payments. In fact, we run another website that makes a tidy profit off of micro-payments. I should note that IconBuffet also sells larger goods as well, but the bulk of our purchases are $5 or less. That said, we chose a monthly subscription model for Blinksale for a variety of reasons.
First, micro-payments are expensive to process. While merchant accounts exist that tailor to the needs of micro-payment processors, a typical credit card merchant processor takes $.20 to $.40 off a transaction plus 2-4 percent of the transaction. Bob suggests charging 50 cents an invoice for Blinksale. We'd lose about $.35 cents on that transaction in merchant feeds. That leaves us with 15 cents an invoice. Brilliant.
We lose about $.65 on a $12.00 charge. That nets us over $11.00. Much better.
Bob says our pricing strategy is "out of this world," and rips our Gold plan for charging a business $24 a month to send up to 250 invoices. Let's do some math. Our Silver plan cuts off at 50 invoices. So if you're on the Gold plan that means you're typically sending over 50 invoices a month. 50 invoices at $.50 a pop (as Bob suggests) would cost you $25. Then, we only would make 30 cents on the dollar due to the merchant fees, and we're left with about 8 bucks. Congratulations, you've now successfully created a business model where both the buyer and seller are getting screwed. The bank however makes out pretty well.
Of course, Bob might counter and suggest we simply track the number of invoices someone sends during a month and simply charge them at the end. This would work fine, if not for three things:
First, this only works if a subscriber keeps their credit card info up-to-date. If it's expired, then you're left hunting down payment for services already rendered. Pain in the butt. Second, if you've ever built a web app, you know that billing systems can almost be as complex as the app itself, if not more so. Finally, if we did it this way, Blinksale would still not be profitable. Let me explain...
Blinksale offers a Free plan that lets you send up to 3 invoices a month for free. No catches. Merry Christmas. Since we're selling Blinksale primarily to small business and independent contractors, we make the assumption that if you're sending more than 3 invoices a month you must be making a little money. Probably enough money to justify a monthly fee of $12 to send and track your invoices. We actually used to only charge $6 for the Silver plan. We found that $6 a month does not cover the cost of overhead for Blinksale. $12 a month does. And most folks who are willing to spend $6 a month for a business service are willing to spend $12 a month as well. We're talking about 3 Starbucks lattes here folks.
Somehow these folks are not put off by "the super extortionate prices" we are asking for as Bob describes. Bob also advocates that we go to a cost-per-feature model, nickel and diming our users for individual features.
Yeah, besides creating a REALLY complicated billing system, that's a great way to hoodwink folks and piss them off. I think openness and honesty are still appreciated in this world. And surprise! I did the math on a cost-per-feature model as well, just to see what the numbers would look like. Trust me, it's not more profitable than a monthly-subscription model. Not by a long shot. Not even close. For a service like Blinksale, you'll make times over more revenue with a subscription model.
But wait, there's more.
Bob also asks us to consider the costs that Blinksale has: "Designers, coders, not to mention the marketing and advertising teams; which needs to be fuelled with allot [sic] of cash." Oh Bob, that's so not right. Marketing and advertising teams are soooo Web 1.0.
Guess what? I am the marketing and advertising team. I'm also the designer. JC and Scott are the coders. We all share support email. We're a lean, mean machine Bob. And I find it funny that you're writing your "E-letter" to a bunch of Web 2.0 hopefuls giving them instructions on how they can be a part of the revolution too. Then you tell them how it needs to be fueled with a lot of cash. Yeah see, we bootstrapped Blinksale out of our nights and weekends. We didn't have a load of cash to blow.
There are two personal qualities you need to make a killer product on the web: Talent and Determination. We have an ample supply of both around the studio here. In fact, an excess of cash may simply be masking a lack of those two qualities. I'm not saying cash doesn't play a part. It's just highly overrated.
I visited Bob's website. He sells an E-book. You know, the kind with the fake digital cover that's was someone's weekend Photoshop project? He calls it his "Web2.0 learning system." His homepage describes how his book reveals insider secrets and is "The World's First Step-By-Step Guide On How To Create The Next MySpace Or YouTube!"
I'm not making this up. Bob's E-book will also give you a "Detailed Explanation of What the Web2.0 Phenomenon Really Is." He'll tell you "What Web2.0 Concepts Are Crazily Popular with ALL Users," and the "5 Easy Steps to Web2.0 Wealth." Finally you'll "Discover How To 'Win Your Users Eyes' With Web2.0 Graphics Tips."
Okay, and did you notice how Web and 2.0 were ran together in all those sentences above. How do you spell "SEO" folks?
Oh, and did I mention he also pawns his DIGG Traffic Maximization Handbook on his site? Can I make one small request please? DIGG this.
You can get Bob's Web2.0 E-book, the Digg thing, plus his Web2.0 2007 Predictions for only $47.
Finally, I'll close with my favorite part of the site: The About page talks about Bob's plans to create an "Amazing Web2.0 site." Let me offer some advice Bob. Why don't you create something first, then you can sell us your amazing E-book. There's a vast difference between running your trap and building something great. Actions speak so much louder than words.
Personally, I don't blog that much. I should probably blog more often. But if my lack of noise is due to the fact I'm busy working on living, breathing products that make people happy and provide us a living, I can probably live with that.
Bob wraps his E-letter up by letting his readers know that he sent his email to us as well, and would let them know what we have to say. I can only hope he does. They need to hear a different story than the drivel that Bob is shilling.
Kevin Marvin says
Ha ha *snort*.
I'ma get Bob's book today! What's the URL? I have *allot* of ideas that I think would be Crazily Popular.
Terry Tolleson says
Well played, Josh.
When I was reading his description on charging 50 cents an invoice, my first thought was, "But won't it be sore for them to sit down afterwards?" I don't own a Web 2.0 business/site/anything, and I thought this guy sounded like a 3AM commercial for getting rich in real-estate with zero money down.
Lance E. Leonard says
HA! I mean, you didn't even mention the fact that a micro-payment system doesn't even make sense with a fixed service like invoicing. How would Blinksale even make money off of $0.50 per invoice? It's not like you can encourage your users to send more invoices like you can to buy/share more icons or charge per subscriber like Campaign Monitor. Invoicing is a pretty fixed thing depending on the size of the business. It isn't really your job to encourage them to make more money, therefore putting more money in your pocket. I guess you could encourage users to break their invoicing up further than 50%/50% and invoice in $10 increments.
Mike Rundle says
We need to firebomb him.
[Firewheel edit -- link removed, sorry.]
Josh Williams says
Hey Rundle, I hope you don't mind (cause I certainly appreciate the sentiment), but we removed the link from your comment simply because I don't feel like adding any Google juice to this fellow's cause. If someone wants to look it up for themselves, no problem with me. I'm just not going to fan his flames.
Greg says
I'm with Mike. I think we should pass that hat around and collect enough money to stage a party in Austin. We'll invite all these asshats and weasels to an exclusive event wherein we will liquor them up with cheap pink wine and then beat the everliving sh1t.0 out of them.
Hey, can we bring baseball bats on the plane or is that on the TSA list?
Keith says
Thanks for sharing this. Aside from the absolute fact that it's some really good comedy, there is a whole lot in here that small businesses (web 2.0 or not) could learn from. Like being honest, transparent and thinking things through before you put them out in public.
Stupid shit like this needs to be called out and exposed for what it is. I find this little better than spam or multi-level marketing, praying on people who don't know any better.
Manton Reece says
Wow, you really let him have it. :-)
I was one of those people who used to think that micro-payments would be great for some content, but they have continued to prove unsuccessful. Just last week, Bitpass closed its doors. And it makes even less sense for something like Blinksale.
Having said that... I'm a happy paid Blinksale customer, but I do think there is a limit to what most people are willing to pay for subscription web applications. It's not that any one service is a bad deal, but if every month you are paying for a few $20 services, that starts to add up and quickly dwarfs the price of traditional software.
Ryan Irelan says
This guy sounds like the Carlton Sheets of Web 2.0. Like Keith said, multi-level marketing crapola. Nice job debunking his drivel.
Jon says
Buy a vowel!
b tt m nch
David Halliday says
Guys, I think you might have been a little too harsh on Bob here?
hes putting his view across and theres no need to say his whole thing is bull just because of that.
David
Francis Wu says
"need to hide their monetization strategies as much as possible in order to be seen as 'friendly'"?
Whatever happened to just plain old honesty? Yeeesh, what a clown!
Ryan Irelan says
David Halliday writes:
hes putting his view across and theres no need to say his whole thing is bull just because of that.
You're kidding, right? Since when is it "harsh" to call someone out when you think they're full of it? Sounds like good ol' fashion discourse to me.
I've never been a fan of the "well, that's your opinion" crowd. Bob is full of sh*t and he got called out. End of story.
Jon says
...btw...what the hell is an 'E-Letter'?
Is that the same as an e-mail?
Or is it maybe some new Web 2.0 thingie that I'm just not savvy enough to have heard of?
(...buys the book, to learn secrets everlasting...)
In conclusion, to agree with Ryan, I will quote the venerable Michael Scott, the regional manager of the orifice on The Office, from the 'Basketball' episode:
'Oh ho ho!!! So, you can dish it, but you can't take it?!'
Jared Christensen says
What a clown. I wonder if he's harrassed Flickr yet.
Charles Martin says
I find it fascinating when someone like Bob decides to really "tell off the (small) big guys". They usually end up looking like jerks who have no better use of time than to complain about how companies are successful, but not as successful as they would be if he were piloting the ship. That really sounds like a disaster. As pointed out, he really needs to show that he knows his stuff by making it work rather than telling other companies his "opinions". After all, SMART people are willing to follow someone who can prove they know how it should be done. Everyone else will follow whoever they think will get them rich faster than if they actually put some muscle into it.
I love you guys and look forward to seeing your ship stay afloat while all the others sink (thanks to micro-cracks in their hull).
Billy says
Why not tally up the .50/invoice throughout the month and charge the user at the end of the month for all invoices sent?
Some will send one invoice a month, which means you only make .15, but they wouldn't have paid for a full subscription anyway. Something's better than nothing right?
Some will send 100 a month and you'll make a tidy $50 while still only paying a couple dollars in processing fees.
Call me crazy, but sounds like a pretty good idea to me.
Matt says
Billy--
Because at the end of the month, what if the card has expired or otherwise been changed? Josh addresses that in his response: "First, this only works if a subscriber keeps their credit card info up-to-date. If it's expired, then you're left hunting down payment for services already rendered."
Paul Enderson says
Absolutely classic. If there's one thing I detest, it's twits who go around slating other businesses to fuel their own.
It would be like me (a slightly overweight, nearly-30, designer) trying to sell a fitness e-book to the ofter-60s. Pointless and unfounded.
Well done. I shall be signing up to both Blinksale and Basecamp shortly, and I may even have a dabble at IconBuffet too. It's nice to see a development team who's got 2.0 down to a tee.
Thanks for the laughs!
John Marstall says
Also, Billy, I think (and I think Josh does too) that a flat monthly fee is just easier for folks to get their minds around.
If the pricing were per-invoice, you'd never know exactly what you'd be spending on the service each month. That's a budgeting headache, and a little intimidating too.
Neo says
Uhm, you'd make $37.50 net if you used micropayments for a soft limit of 250 invoices/month and netted only $0.15 of each transaction. You charge $24 gross with a hard limit for 250 invoices per month, netting less than $24 obviously.
Micropayments:
Pro: If a user has a busy month and does bunco invoicing then you are compensated equitably. Good for me and you (if activity has a healthy baseline + random high points).
Con: If a user makes only a handful of invoices you generate only a pittance. Could be bad for you, but great for me since I only pay for what my demand actually is.
Monthly Subscription:
Pro: Guranteed revenue from *each* user no matter how few invoices they actually send. Add-on sales for users who have busy months and need more invoice capacity.
Con: What if I don't use all 250 invoice allotments each month, but get close? Is my account pro-rated or credited? Is credit rolled over? Bad for me, good for you.
iTunes is a modern micro-payment success story. Instead of monthly subscriptions or an "album" being the smallest unit, listeners buy songs as the smallest unit and actually own the file. All other models are falling by the wayside including subscriptions and physical CDs. Granted this is a service vs. product comparison, but still in the digital age on-demand purchasing should be the model to aspire to.
Oren says
Found it: [Ed: link removed -- sorry Oren... but points to you for good research]
Rob Mientjes says
His about page is also rather stunning. He has been making money off the web for two years now! Wowza! This sounds like an expert. Oh wait, he has been making money by trading things. Over eBay. Things are getting lacklustre, 'Bob', and that's just the about page.
It again shows that, the more popular something gets, the bigger the exponent will get in the exponential growth of spam goofs, ass clowns and frauds trying to make money by screwing over people. Exponential growth has only one advantage: it makes for neat graphs.
Oren says
No problem. I was just trying to show off my Web2.0 skillz.
Dan says
> I'm not going to mention his name or E-book either in my response.
Looks like the title actually appears in his mailing list message. If that's what he's been discussing with customers over Skype. Just an FYI.
Oren says
It's pretty damn hard to give details about something and keep its identity anonymous. People on the mailing list could have found blinksale easily enough as well. Google: gold plan $24 250, and the blinksale gold subscription page shows up.
Adrian Cooke says
Neo:
Maybe, but I stopped buying music on iTunes and started a monthly subscription-based account with eMusic precisely because eMusic offers a better deal, and the quality of the product is higher (higher bitrates and an open format - MP3). My behaviour may not be typical, but it is exactly the opposite of what Bob predicts for his readership. If they erad his book, Bob's reader's should probably also read The Long Tail...
Dan says
BTW, did this bozo cop his color scheme from Kiwi or what?
Robert C. says
Josh, I appreciate your commitment to openness and honesty with your customers. I don't appreciate being nickel-and-dimed by services, and I love to know what I'm getting.
The real funny thing here is that "Bob" bundles his books together. Shouldn't he be selling them individually--or better yet, by the chapter? Or better yet, by the sentence? Put your micropayments where your mouth is!
With that said, he's a blowhard, but I think he's also trying to be helpful and give you good advice, Josh. Those are good intentions.
Josh Williams says
Billy and Neo: Again, I don't have a vendetta against micro-payments at all. They simply would not work as well for Blinksale, and our subscriber numbers back that up.
While Adrian sums up my thoughts on iTunes in general, we actually had that same discussion here yesterday, and I think it's important to point out that selling music via iTunes is not Apple's primary model. It's simply a leader. Their real model is selling iPods, which are much more profitable. Apple can afford to make less money on micro-payments because they know they're gonna make $200 in pure profit when you buy that new iPod.
Robert: I appreciate your thoughts. I want to be very careful to not knock somebody's livelihood and be sensitive to someone offering "advice". At the same time, I feel very strongly about the things I wrote, and simply hope I came off as jerk-free as possible.
And you know what they say about good intentions...
Andrew Hedges says
Anyone else find it ironic that he says you should charge $0.50 an invoice, then charges $47 for his "e-book"?
Phillip Winn says
Compulsive man that I am, I created a spreadsheet comparing Bob's pricing with Blinksales pricing for between 1 and 1500 invoices (where, it appears, Blinksale maxes out).
From a *customer's* perspective, I could save money with Bob's micro-payment scheme if I issued between 4 and 23 invoices in a given month. At 24 invoices I pay the same either way. For less than 4 or more than 24 I would pay *more* with Bob's plan than what Blinksale charges!
To Billy and others looking at things more from the Blinksale perspective, consider that customers have to be kept happy. I'm not going to appreciate being charged for every invoice, especially if I invoice for small amounts. While charging per invoice might be more profitable from a pure dollars and cents perspective, Blinksale would likely have a lot fewer customers if they did that.
Also, a monthly charge is important from a cash-flow perspective, because it can be largely counted on. On a large enough scale, a company like Apple can count on iTunes sales being roughly the same (or slightly increasing, actually) month to month no matter what, but at smaller scales, the wide variability starts to be a serious problem. A monthly subscription evens that out.
Keep up the fine work, Josh! Hey, you guys are in Southlake? I'm in Carrollton, a hope skip and jump past the airport. :-)
awardtour says
I'm still trying to figure out what mix of "ego" and "hack" you need to possess to think that a 600 person E-letter (whatever that is) grants you both the title of visionary and man-of-the-people?
Maybe he could give his book away for free in order to appear "friendly" and then charge 50 cents for every third page. three cheers to the future of online commerce!
Swissfondue says
Yes, his green site is a bit Rich, don't you think ;)
Swissfondue says
Another site says this about him: " (Bob) has spent the last 4 MONTHS training himself on the *hidden secrets* of Web 2.0, and putting them all into his highly –acclaimed step-by-step guide on web 2.0 business"
WOW! A rags-to-riches (sic) story (just check all the dollar signs on his 2.0 ** cough** website in just a few months!
beth says
Dear Blinksale,
You silly people. How dare you try to make a living on your products and services. Very un-web2.0.
Keith S says
Shut up, Richard!
pauldwaite says
Bob scares me, for 3 reasons.
1. He says "monetization strategy". I thought we already had a word for that: "price."
2. He thinks that customers will like you if you hide your price. Yeah. Customers love that. No way they think that's shifty.
3. People who might want to pay me for web stuff one day might think Bob knows what he's talking about.
Peter Ricci says
Hello, my name is Peter Ricci and I operate a small independent web development company. I have been using Blinksale for over 12 months now. I love its ease of use and simplicity. I would love to see an integrated app that allows for expenses (petty cash and purchases) spreadsheet to be added in due course. However I was paying an accountant $220.00 a month before Blinksale, let's face it, I hate accounts, I am a web developer. So to me $24.00 a month sounds so much better and the product is always advancing.
I also use Basecamp at $49 per month, I would prefer that to be around the same but they also host 1 GIG of files.
Yes Blinksale is in its infancy, but NO it is not overpriced.
The problem is so often these so called 'experts' very rarely have any real world experience.
Oh and by the way, if he says he has 600 on his mailing list, he probably has 60 - so often these Web 2.0 writers try to hide ore inflate their subscriber numbers to sound more important!
Daniel Wintschel says
I think Blinksale is one of the best (urgh, dare I say it) Web 2.0 apps that I've had the pleasure of using. As soon as I start sending more than 3 invoices a month, you can bet that I'll be paying the exorbitant monthly fee (insert other sarcasm here) for the Silver plan.
Phil says
I personally am frustrated by services or products who hide their pricing. Price is a big consideration for a lot of people. It's helpful for me to know up front what I'm getting into, *before* I start filling out forms.
Eric says
I agree that services that hide their pricing are confusing to the consumer. It reminds me of the points system Microsoft employs in Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live Marketplace.
Instead of say purchasing a song for the going rate of $0.99, you pay 79 points. You can only buy points in certain intervals (the lowest is $5, which buys you 400 points).
The Apple Matters Web site ran a story on this not too long ago so I won't go into great detail, but 79 points and $0.99 are approximately the same thing.
If that is the case, then why add this layer of complexity to something that should be easy as buying a song? Sure 79 sounds less than 99, but why go through all that trouble? Is the goal to make the customer they are saving any money, when really they aren't?
Warren says
No the goal is to cross currency barriers.
Honestly sometimes 'Americans' never consider that most of the world is actually outside of your borders, and don't deal with $US.
The points system has a clear advantage when you take into account its running globally.
Paying in advance makes micro transactions possible.
The complexity that would be introduced by having multiple currencies, and then taking into account exchange rates would be a nightmare.
I think the points system advantage will be come more and more clear if/when they roll out wider purchasing options.
Josh Williams says
Warren, you also have a very good point. We were discussing XBOX Live the other day here as well. It is a very successful micro-payments service, but it succeeds largely in part because you buy the points "in bulk." And rarely do you ever "clean your points out" so you end up reloading them.
It's a good move for Microsoft, even if the points to currency situation can be a bit confusing.
Rocketeer says
Tssk tssk, he had it coming. This guy is trying to spin his opinion off as the authoritive way to do things.
Joshua Hughes says
Super extortionate prices eh? I'm not sure where 'Bob' has been these last few years, but $12 for 50 invoices sure ain't ripping anyone off. You can always spot the rookie a mile off, because their first comment is "oh! that's a bit expensive!". Quality doesn't seem to come into the equation - just price. If you care about the quality, then price takes a back seat. These kind of comments come from the same camp that rips copies of Adobe CS 'cos it costs too much'. Why can't people grow up and realise the work that goes into these apps? I'm sure they wouldn't mind the prices if THEY were the ones who'd got the ideas and expertise to build something as great as Blinksale. Fair play to them I say...
Jason Liebe says
Yeah Bob is obviously a nutter. However, as a freelance programmer every other client I get wants Web 2.0 this and that. Most are highly clueless and offensive people and I wouldn't feel bad selling these chumps a ball of hype for $47 myself. My last two customers wanted "some ajax" despite having no use for it whatsoever execpt to pay me but I still discouraged its use.
Oh brother what times we live in...
I'd also like to note I use Blinksale, and for me it's truly perfect for what it doesn't have. I previously used a pimped out version of Quickbooks and basically used it as a spreadsheet. For invoicing I can't think of what else I would want Blinksale to do. I think putting in my hours or occasional flat fee item and emailing it off is a piece of cake, no need to make it harder. As for the price I think it's pretty inconsequential when you're billing at least a few thousand bucks per month. $12, $24 who cares?? And it's always nice to have a monthly expenses that are fixed.
John Watson says
Man $47 is tooooooo much for his e-book. It should be around $5 (per his web2.0 philosophy - "conceal the monetization as much as possible". Free?).
And I am not sure if I will be interested in all of his three books but he didn't allow me to select any single book. Where is the practice that he preach????
Lee Haskings says
Because I am so passionate behind Blinksale I just have to contribute my 2c (micro-payment!) to here.
In my business we have two divisions and each on has its own blinksale account to help keep track and create our invoices. It works brilliant and have been doing it for a few months this way at all.
Whilst 'Bob' speaks of the pricing of the service being too high I think he fails to see what market/industry I think Blinksale is really aimed towards. From what I have evaluated is that it is aimed towards business professionals (such as website developers) that have a lower amount of invoices then other business that are usually high amounts. Therefore at 50c an invoice most of us don't care about the cost involved as we know we are giving our client that bit of extra service by emailing an invoice and being able to track any change on it online.
Really, I could go on for ages but this page already gives my scrollwheel a workout but I promise one day soon to do my big review of Blinksale and comparing it to other services we have tried and show why it is the best product out there for us.
Grant Blakeman says
I think 'bob' is missing the point. I find Blinksale to be a deal for me and my business. I can put it in my budget, know what it's going to cost, and I don't have a nagging feeling every time I send out an invoice that I'm being charged extra $$. Sure, I probably could've found a piece of invoicing software that I could put on my computer, but Blinksale makes it so easy to track everything, sort through my invoices, contact customers about their payments, receive payments, interact with Basecamp etc. Plus (bonus) this info is available to me (and my customers) via any computer at any time - I use multiple computers in multiple locations; I'd be lost if all my info was only on one machine.
All of these advantages (and more I haven't mentioned) are what Blinksale is selling. It's about more than simply e-mailing an invoice. To me, that's worth what I pay every month!
Chet says
Gotta love when people criticize your site and services. It's appreciated but NOT requested ;)
jordan says
I guess inventing a blinkpod that is the only device that would print your blinksale invoices which you could say sell for $299 is out of the question? I could buy invoices on a blinksale site --of course per invoice at 99 cents or 13 for $9.99-- and then print them on my blinkpod. Your invoices would be exclusively encrypted to ONLY work on the blinkpod... Oh and cool...add a phone to it and charge me over $600 dollars for it...freakin' genius.
Ep says
Bob wastes too much time in his life. Bob needs to recognize. I would easily pay for this service -- if I needed it. I actually tried to make up a way I could use it, even though I'm no longer freelancing.
J.Y. says
I plan to buy Bob's book as soon as he offers the option of buying single pages, at the cost of .375 cents per page. I mean, I have no intention of reading the colophon, why the heck should I have to pay for it?
Seriously though, I'm glad this guy bothered you enough to get you to share your insights on payment and profitability strategies. It's always interesting to see real data from a company. Thanks for letting us peek inside your financial model.
It's important to respond to the Bob's of the world, and even more important to listen to your customers. Seems like you're doing both. Off to sync my blinkPod...
Mike says
Grammar Cop:
While I appreciate the emotion and frustration surrounding this topic, let's remain civilized. There's no reason to drag down the King's English. :)
"allot/alot"...there is no such word(s). "A LOT"
Thanks, Mr. Daniels (7th Grade English, Cook Jr High 1976)
Danny says
I like J.Y.'s response. Hahaha!
Danny says
I think Josh made a good stand especially in pointing out the various costs that can build up from merchant processing. In small agencies it's the little things that amount to a lot. (This is both a good and bad thing.)
jonny18 says
jonny11
Jeff Coleman says
I found Bob's site, and another amusing thing is that each of his URLs is something like 35 characters long containing 4 to 6 words! I wonder if he recommends that kind of site naming strategy in his amazing books!
kabari says
oh man...that was rich. What percentage does he think $12mo is out of the 50 invoices you can send out? It's like nil% of the profit along with it's ease of use. Not to mention the fact that I can sync (sort of) my Blinksale with Basecamp! I'm sure Bob's never heard of Basecamp though...
classic.
Jake says
FWIW
Your website was down all morning. Hope all is okay.
Rene Vazquez says
Man that was awesome. I am really glad you posted that on your site. [Bob} can suck it. I am a proud user of Blinksale and I have no complaints. Rock on Josh!!!
Name says
First off, I agree with [Bob]'s main point that for a price comparable to your monthly fees I can purchase a piece of software to do the same as Blinksale, if not more. Carry over the monthly costs and Blinksale can easily become the more expensive option.
That said, your responses are equally valid, and I agree with your pricing structure. However I'm taking issue with your approach to the situation. Yes, this is business, and you made your points. But by holding on to your indignation and being a bigger jerk about it than [Bob] put me off and I'll not be considering Blinksale for my needs.
Josh Williams says
Anonymous: I'm sorry you disagree with the way I approached this situation. I try not to make it standard fare to call folks out, but selling lies is something that should be confronted.
Travis Seitler says
Okay, I did a little bit of Googling and found out who it was. I subscribed to his e-Letter list (with a temporary "junk" address) to be sure I don't miss his reaction. ;)