The complete guide to Freemium business models

free

The idea of offering your product or a version of it for free has been a source of much debate.

Pricing is always tricky. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t give it enough thought. They will often copy the pricing strategy of similar products, base their decisions on pompous statements made by “experts” or rely on broken rationale (we worked hard so we should charge $X).

Free is even trickier and with so many opinions about it, we thought it would be refreshing to take a critical approach and dive deep into why some companies are very successful at employing the model while other companies fail. We’ve looked into economics academic papers, behavioral psychology books and strategies that worked for companies to come up with the key concepts below.

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Cyborg Beetles powered by a wing and a piezoelectric prayer

beetle-generatorrrr

Remember this day, friends. Remember when the cyborg beetles early first took flight in our labs and flew right into their world domination destiny. Look! Even now one of the brood is stealing a quarter, no doubt for financing purposes.

But total world domination won’t happen just yet. First, their human scientist handlers must perfect the way that the tiny piezolectric generators implanted on their backs create energy using nothing but the insect’s own wing flaps.

How’s it going so far? Pretty good for the beetles, reports Discover…

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Groupon offers discount on University tuition

groupon logo000

What will hit Groupon next?

A private, Chicago-based institution will be the first to put forth a deeply discounted deal on tuition via Groupon.

In an effort to bolster interest in its graduate teaching program,National Louis University will offer would-be teachers a Groupon for nearly 60% off tuition of an entry-level graduate teaching course…

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@Walmart Labs – Wal-Mart’s effort to become undisputed leader of social commerce

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDYpF7V0Xe8&hd=1[/youtube]

Wal-Mart is starting to turn heads in the tech world — and that may have important implications for the way we think about the future of the shopping experience. Once known for a soul-less retail store experience and a hyper-efficient supply chain that delivered “everyday low prices,” Wal-Mart has been fusing together innovations from the mobile and social networking worlds to create the foundation for a radically new type of hyper-personalized shopping experience.

 

 

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Doodling may help students learn science

doodle-4-google

Google holds a doodling contest for kids every year.

Google has a yearly doodling contest for kids ages k-12.  Why shouldn’t  teachers encourage kids to doodle while in class?  Well, there seems to be a method for this madness and educational researchers from three Australian universities have shared their studies in the August 26, 2011 journal Science.

 

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Toughest competition unemployed face is the underemployed

part time work

There are 8.8 million part time workers wanting full time jobs.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. is 9.1 percent but the job market is actually worse than that.  The 14 million unemployed in the U.S. aren’t just competing with each other they are also competing with the 8.8 million people that are part-timers who want full-time work.

 

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Less than 7% of smartphone users shop online through their phones

mobile shopping

Mobile shopping, so far is more buzz than buy.

As the number iPhones and other smartphones users continues to grows, companies selling everything from hardware to high fashion are touting all the new applications they’re rolling out that enable shoppers to do anything from check a store’s inventory while in the dressing room to order prescriptions.

 

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Seeing a Supernova could be the best part of Labor Day Weekend

After all the boozing and barbecuing on America day off from labor, take a sec to look up. What you’ll hopefully see is A supernova burning bright more than 21 million light years away.

The type 1a supernova is actually an exploding White Dwarf that scientists discovered last in the Pinwheel Galaxy, and it’s the youngest of its kind ever to be discovered…

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How to sell your company

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Negotiation is worthless. Sales is everything.

I’m a pretty good salesman, but I’m the worst negotiator. If I say, “buy my car for $10,000” and someone says “$8,000,” I’d just shrug my shoulders and say “ok”. In fact, that happened.

Some people could be good at both. But I think it’s very hard. By definition. When you’re a salesman you want the other guy to say “yes.” When you’re a negotiator you have to be willing to say “no”, regardless of what the other side says.

So although they aren’t total opposites, the goals are completely different. But big picture:

Negotiation is worthless. Sales is everything…

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