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Smile Software Launch Tries to Turn That Frown Upside Down

April 13, 2016 by Rob Bazinet Leave a Comment

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software launch

Last week must have been a terrible week for Smile Software and their software launch, one I never want to experience. In case you missed it, you can do a bit of searching around the web to see the result of a new and not well-planned one. The announcement was for a new version of TextExpander for Mac (v6) and iOS (4) along with a new backend service for syncing snippets.

We’ve updated our pricing model to match our new service. Instead of license purchases and upgrades on an irregular schedule, we’ve switched to a subscription model where you pay monthly or annually for your TextExpander service. This lines up with the regular costs to provide an online service. It also frees you as customers and us as developers from the upgrade treadmill. We can offer our apps free of charge. We can deliver incremental improvements as they’re ready rather than wait and package them all into a new big upgrade release. We’re really excited about what this change will allow us to offer our customers, and we hope you are too.

The problem being the new backend with monthly subscription, replacing the previous upgrade pricing. The result is a yearly fee that could be quite a bit higher than Smile Software customers were accustomed to. They welcomed feedback, and they got it.

I wasn’t happy and tweeted about it, as did many others. It appeared existing customers would be shut out from support of previous versions; either pay up, stick with unsupported software or find an alternative.

It would have been appreciated if existing customers were notified of the planned changes prior to reading a MacStories post. It seems I receive an email from Smile almost weekly, but this important news never hit my inbox.

Initial Reaction Triage

I would liked to have been a witness in the Smile headquarters as the immediate feedback started pouring in. I can only imagine there were some surprised faces. Smile did take the feedback and announce some revisions to their plans, a bit reactionary but an attempt just the same.

With regards to pricing:

Discounted upgrade pricing is available to customers of any past version of TextExpander. The details are found here. To take advantage of upgrade pricing, sign in to TextExpander.com, click your avatar at the upper right, choose My Account > Billing, and enter any prior serial number or license code. If you have any trouble, please contact support and we’ll help get it sorted.

For those happy TextExpander 5 customers:

For those who prefer to stay with TextExpander 5 for now, we intend to support it on El Capitan and the next major upgrade of OS X. Beyond that, neither we nor anyone else know what to expect of Apple or OS X. We also hope to encourage you to join the new TextExpander at some point in the future.

It didn’t seem to go far enough:

Your feedback is important and does matter. Expect an update on The State Of TextExpander (based on your comments) very soon.

TextExpander (@TextExpander)

April 11, 2016

Loyal customers are passionate and vocal when they feel they weren’t treated fairly. In a very short time Smile realized they had a passionate customer base.

Doing the Right Thing

One week later and I’m sure after some thoughtful conversations at Smile, I received an email with additional refined plan for the new TextExpander launch.

Our changes to TextExpander last week made a number of you unhappy, and many of you shared your passion for the product with us. We are equally passionate about TextExpander and have made these changes so that we can expand the customer base and continue to enhance the product for all users.

To some of you it may seem we don’t care about our individual customers any more and only care about business use. We care about both, and in the changing software world a single focus is not a viable long term strategy for TextExpander. We did not make these changes easily or lightly, but for the long term life of the product so we can all enjoy it and engage with it for many years to come.

Change is difficult, and we didn’t get some things right at the start. Our pricing for Life Hackers was too high. Our upgrade pricing was too high and did not extend long enough. We didn’t offer an option for users who cannot use third party cloud services or cannot purchase subscription software.

We’re listening to your feedback, and are making adjustments, effective immediately.

Standalone TextExpander:

TextExpander 5 for Mac and TextExpander 3 + Custom Keyboard, the most recent standalone releases of TextExpander, will continue to be supported, and available for sale.

We understand this is important if you need: – private-network snippet storage – sync via Dropbox or iCloud Drive

New Pricing:

You, and other current TextExpander customers, receive a 50% lifetime discount on the new TextExpander. This brings the yearly cost of the Life Hacker plan to $20, which is comparable to previous upgrade costs ($19.95). If you aren’t sure about the new sharing features, or just want to test the waters beyond the demo period, you can pay $2.08 monthly to experience the new features before committing to the discounted $20 annual plan. The cost for new purchasers of the Life Hacker plan is similarly reduced to $40 per year.

If you’ve already purchased an annual upgrade plan, we’ll apply two months of credit to make up the difference. Please give us a few days for this to be reflected in your account.

From our team to you, thank you for being part of the conversation that makes the community around TextExpander what it is, and helping us continue to develop and improve TextExpander.It seems Smile could have avoided the unnecessary criticism with a better planned launch. Of course, it easy to tell someone else what they should have done. I’ve handled or been part of a few software product launches myself and try to do things a bit different.

This email probably contained most of what should have been sent to customer before the MacStories post was published, days before the launch.

My Software Launch Checklist

This should be common sense, but maybe not:

  • Communicate well from the beginning – Once you have a plan for a new release, make sure everyone is on the same page. This doesn’t just include those people on your team and in your company but, more importantly, your customers. Make them aware early, before the press and social media gets ahold of it. Hopefully your customers can give you feedback before the larger world has a chance to tear you apart.
  • Step into your customer’s shoes – Given the plan, how do you think your customers will react? Maybe there’s nothing to react to, but maybe there is. In the case of Smile, there was a lot to react to. Current customers are why you are where you are now and they should be treated as such. In the case of a pricing change, loyal customers should know their appreciated, reward them for their loyalty.
  • Be clear why the update is better – Again, this is about the customer and not about your company. You may be changing things to improve your aspects of your business such as cashflow or support, but give current customers the reasons this will be better for them. We screwed up our pricing and need more money is not a very good reason, unless of course you want to reset your customer base and start over.
  • Provide a special offer, if applicable – If pricing or service terms are changing then reward the loyal customer. Give a discount or even grandfather existing users. They will appreciate you are thinking of them and in-turn know you appreciate them.

My approach isn’t magic. It isn’t revolutionary but reflects what I’ve learned over the years. Planning and communication trump bad surprises every time.

I still haven’t decided if I will upgrade to the new TextExpander. I’m not clear on why I should; features aren’t better than I have now but the pricing is fair. The story from Smile isn’t complete, they are still busy fixing things.

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Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Apple, bootstrapping, smile, Software, textexpander

8 More Great Bootstrapping Podcasts to Jumpstart Your Day

May 19, 2015 by Rob Bazinet Leave a Comment

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bootstrapping podcasts

I listen to a lot of bootstrapping podcasts throughout the year, trying new ones and retiring those that stop producing new episodes or I lose interest. I wrote up a list a while ago about bootstrapping, 7 Great Bootstrapping Podcasts to Jumpstart Your Business Today, and thought it was time for an update.

8 Great Bootstrapping Podcasts

I?m not including any bootstrapping podcasts from my previous list, only ones I?ve discovered and listen to on a regular basis today. The old list still includes some favorites so you should check that list out too.

This list is not me pulling together a quick list but is curated since the last list. I have probably reduced 50 podcasts down to this final 8. ?I hope you find some new gems here.

ConversionAid

ConversionAid podcast has turned out to be one of my favorites. Hosted by Omer Khan, who is an ex-Microsoftie and runs ConversionAid to help companies ?create software that sells”.

Omer interviews entrepreneurs who have taken an idea and oftentimes a unique approach to finding paying customers. The format gives listeners answers to the questions we all have trying to start and run a software or service business. Each episode seems to introduce a business and founder I never knew existed. Discovering new businesses, business models and their leaders gives new perspective to how I think about my business.

Every episode has been great and makes me look forward to the next.

Website:?conversionaid.com/podcast

TropicalMBA

TropicalMBA is:

a popular podcast and blog dedicated to the growing movement of location independent entrepreneurs worldwide.

I?ve been listening to this podcast for a while and always learn something new and valuable. Each episode is focused, addressing a particular question or topic. Some episodes resonate more than others. Recent gems include:

  • Start a Business This Weekend Using the Software With a Service (SWaS) Business Model
  • Ask Us Anything (Business) : Starting Productized Services, Offshore, Our Future Plans
  • Starting With Productized Services: Learn a Skill, Package It For Sale, Then Scale
  • An Episode For Those Who Need a Business Idea

I advise you visit the website for each episode you listen to. If you just listen in iTunes or other podcast application you?re missing out. The show notes are as valuable, if not more, than the audio itself. You?ll find tons of shows notes, links that reference other episodes with similar content and not to mention the great comments from listeners.

Website:?tropicalmba.com

Bootstrapped Web

Hosted by fellow CT resident Brian Casel and left-coaster Jordan Gal, Bootstrapped Web is a podcast that chronicles the journey Brian and Jordan take bootstrapping their own businesses.

Episodes discuss aspects of their businesses, updates and business lessons learned along the way as well as interviews with fellow entrepreneurs that compliment their own journey. I appreciate the candidness in each episode. It is so easy and natural to discuss all the wins we make each day but I think more important to reflect on the failures too so that we learn from them. Their guidance is solid and battle tested..great podcast.

Website: bootstrappedweb.com

Chasing Product

Hosted by Chris Hawkins, Chasing Product is an interview style podcast with people who have taken the leap to create software products. Chris reflects on his own pursuit of a product and the challenges he faces with a seemingly simple, yet elusive task. So many software developers are in jobs they don?t like and have that idea in their head they would like to create and live off of for years to come.

These interviews profile many that have done just that; left their job and are living the dream. OK, maybe the dream isn?t exactly as they had envisioned but it is independence just the same. Great stories and Chris has a great radio voice. Enjoy!

Website:?chasingproduct.com

Rocketship.fm

These are generally short interviews, 30 min or less, with entrepreneurs from the companies you have probably heard of before. The questions are laser-focused and give listeners actionable items to try in their own businesses.

Each episode is has a single theme or takeaway but inevitably, you learn much more. These folks are entrepreneurs themselves and produce a lot of episodes, more than I can listen to..not sure how they do it. The win for me is the variety.

Website: rocketship.fm

Art of Value

A tough concept to grasp for so many is providing products and services to our clients in terms of value. Value is the language of business owners. As a software developer, I am learning this lesson. It?s easy to create things we think are worth building but no matter what we build, it has to have value to our customers or they won?t buy.

Art of Value is all about creating those happy customers and earning more money. Episodes are interview format and talk with people from all types of businesses but focus on one theme..value.

Transitioning from hourly to value pricing is my #1 focus in my own business today. Showing customers the value I can deliver vs. the commodity hourly resource my company has been over the years. This podcast has been key in my thinking about the why and how to make that move.

Website: artofvalue.com

Marketing Optimization

Marketing is hard. Marketing is especially hard for developers and Marketing Optimization really helps distill down the concepts. Topics are broad but include everything from SEO to UX design to conversion optimization and beyond. ?Each episode is pretty deep, so at least for me it takes some focused listening.

Another nice touch is that each episode has a video so you can watch the interviews.

Website: marketingoptimization.tv

Rogue Startups

This is a new podcast with episodes starting the first of the year. Newer episodes have two hosts and they interview entrepreneurs who have specific skills (productized consulting for example) or they discuss topics important to running your business. Episodes are roughly and hour and packed with good content and happy dialog:

Never before in history has it been easier for talented individuals to escape the confines of the rat race society and go down their own path. ?Our hope is to inspire and educate you on how successful startup entrepreneurs have done that. ?This is no pie in the sky podcast with esoteric BS about business, Make Money Online schemes, and any other ?flash in the pan? type business. ?This is for people just like you and me who know there must be a better way, and want to find it.

Website:?roguestartups.com

Hack the Entrepreneur

I?ve only been listening to Hack the Entrepreneur for the past couple months but look forward to all new episodes. The format for this one is interview style but takes unique approach:

Hack The Entrepreneur ?is a show which reveals the fears, habits, and inner-battles behind big name entrepreneurs and those on the path to success. Hack The Entrepreneur is released three times per week on Monday,Tuesday, and Thursday mornings.

On Hack the Entrepreneur we know that everyone is unique and has to find their own path to success, but after speaking to entrepreneurs every day as part of my own successful business I became obsessed with the idea of finding the ?replicable? things behind leading names and people on their way up to try to find patterns.

The insight you gleam from each of these interviews is really priceless. It?s nice to learn about the angle we don?t normally hear about.

Website:?hacktheentrepreneur.com


These are the bootstrapping podcasts I?ve found and stuck with since the last list. I try new ones all the time and forget about the ones that don?t resonate and add value to my own pursuits.

Suggestions are always welcome, please add those to the comments so I can give a listen. Thank you.

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Filed Under: Bootstrapping Tagged With: bootstrapping, Business, motivation, podcast, startups

7 Great Bootstrapping Podcasts to Jumpstart Your Business Today

May 16, 2013 by Rob Bazinet 6 Comments

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Bootstrapping2

I love podcasts. ?I listen to them in the car, walking or sometimes even when working. ?I can’t get enough of the good ones and you probably can’t either.

Since attending MicroConf last week I can’t stop thinking about creating products, recurring revenue and talking about all the facets of running a product business.

I thought I would pull together my short list of the podcasts for boots trappers, entrepreneurs, startups or whatever you might call yourself, that I listen to and gain value. Some of these I have just recently discovered, while others, I have been a fan since their inception. ?

If there are some podcasts that should be on this list, please feel free to point them out in the comments.

I hope you find as much value in these as I do:

Startups for the Rest of Us

Rob Walling and Mike Taber, creators of MicroConf?have been producing this podcast for a long time. ?Startups for the Rest of Us is exactly what it sounds like, a podcast for regular people trying to startup a business. ?

The format of the show begins with Rob and Mike talking about what’s going on with their own businesses and related products. ?Each show follows a theme where the duo discusses the focused topic. ??

Bootstrapped.fm

Ian Landsman of HelpSpot fame and Andrey Butov?recently started Bootstrapped.fm and after listening to a few episodes I find myself looking for new episodes in iTunes.??

The format of each episode is similar to Startups for the Rest of Us, where Ian and Andrey discuss their bootstrapping adventures. ?It’s nice to hear different aspects of different types of bootstrapped software businesses, Ian with his SaaS application and Andrey with mobile applications. ?

Lots of topics crossover, whether doing SaaS or mobile applications but there’s always valuable lessons to learn.

Bootstrapped with Kids

Bootstrapped with Kids ?is also a recent addition to my podcast collection. ?Brecht Palombo?is the host and?who also gave a great attendee talk at MicroConf.?

The topics are dear to the hearts of boostrappers and include product ideas and other aspects of the trade.

Product People

Kyle Fox and Justin Jackson?are the hosts of Product People, a podcast I only recently discovered. ?It is quickly becoming one of my favorites. ?

The interviews are with, you guessed it, people who are successful product builders. ?The interview style is very dynamic and doesn’t follow a script as you might have heard in other interview format podcasts. ?I continually find myself thinking of the questions I would ask the guests and as it happens, these guys are asking those questions. ?I’m sure the people who see me walking each day and nodding my head in agreement think I’m crazy.

Some recent interviewees include:

  • Amy Hoy
  • Nathan Barry (two parts and fantastic)
  • Hiten Shah
  • Jason Fried
  • Brennan Dunn
  • Rob Walling
  • Patrick McKenzie

Mixergy

Mixergy is actually an old favorite I have mentioned here before. ?Andrew Warner does a fantastic job of interviewing entrepreneurs from all different industries and all different stories. ?

Andrew is the marathon man of podcasting with tons of episodes and counting. ?Plenty of backlog to go through and enjoy.

If you prefer the episodes are online and can watch the videos of Andrew interviewing his guests. ?The benefit is see the guests facial expressions, small but nice sometimes.

Kalzumeus Podcast

Patrick McKenzie?is a highly respected bootstrapped entrepreneur in the software industry who speaks at a few conferences and draws a crowd. ?Patrick has discussions with various entrepreneurs ranging from angel investing to sales and marketing. ?The episodes are not very frequent but they are solid and very much worth the wait. ?Patrick includes transcripts in the podcast page so if you would rather digest the great material at a slower pace, it’s there.

Entrepreneur on Fire

This is another relatively new discovery for me. ?The format is a series of interviews with entrepreneurs who have a wide range of skills, backgrounds and business types. ?Entrepreneur on Fire is a very active podcast and publishing episodes at a feverish pace (5 days a ?week), not sure I can keep up.

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: bootstrapping, Business, podcast, startups

MicroConf 2013 was Freakin’ Awesome

May 7, 2013 by Rob Bazinet 2 Comments

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250px Welcome to fabulous las vegas sign

I had the opportunity to attend this years rendition of MicroConf in Las Vegas, NV, run by Rob Walling and Mike Tabor and attended by many great people. All I can say, I will be back next year.

MicroConf is a conference not for startups who took venture funding but rather those of us shoestring it and bootstrapping everything we do.

There is an overwhelming theme I noticed after talking to attendees; virtually everyone is doing some form of freelance consulting and wants to get out of it and move on to a product business. One speaker asked how many were on this path I would say 90% raised their hands. I think that says a lot.

Much of the move to a product based business from consulting almost always raises the question of how to begin the transition and how to replace the lucrative consulting work with paid products. Some demonstrated success with writing ebooks and using that revenue to replace consulting or as a launchpad for their SaaS offering.

Brennan Dunn?exemplifies taking this path.

For those who have never written a book it can be hard to imagine you have enough knowledge and experience to produce something of value. Patrick McKenzie was asked about this and his reply was “you know more than you think you know”. Solid advice for sure and provides encouragement for developers to consider this avenue of starting the product business.

Rob Walling started the first day with a challenge, where he asked attendees to create 3 actionable items from the event. I think I can boldly share mine:

  1. Stop consulting and be 100% products by MicroConf 2014
  2. Create and market and ebook?topic to come.
  3. Finish and launch SimpleMailr.

As part of these goals I plan to generally improve my business skills in several areas:

  • Marketing – this such a broad area but includes driving traffic to my business, by SEO understanding and implementation as well as better use of advertising (Google, Facebook and LinkedIn).
  • Copywriting – honing skills of creating eye popping copy to pull people in.
  • Design – this has always seemed like a black art to me. I plan to not become a designer but rather be more aware of design and the process to effectively create good design. It’s important to have enough skills to communicate the business needs to a qualified designer. It would be helpful to better understand design to take what a designer has to say to then relate to the business.
There are a good number of other accounts of the event from attendees so I won’t rehash everyone else’s thoughts. ?One site in particular by Christoph Engelhardt is worth reviewing. ?He took great notes on every talk:

Notes on the talks

  1. Jason Cohen?s Opening Talk: ?Designing the perfect bootstrapped startup?
  2. Josh Kaufman: ?Shut up and take my money? (still needs a lot of editing)
  3. Joanna Wiebe: ?Copywriting that converts?
  4. Ben Yoskovitz: ?Measuring What Matters?
  5. Guest Speaker ? Patrick Thompson: ?Bootstraping an App Business?
  6. Guest Speaker ? Sherry Walling: ?Don?t Burn up in the Launch?
  7. Guest Speaker ? Jody Burgess: ?Dude. Marketing is not your thing.?
  8. Guest Speaker ? Josh Ledgard: ?Getting your first 989 Customers?
  9. Rob Walling: ?How to 10x in 15 months?
  10. Erica Douglass: ?How to Measurably Move the Needle With Your Software Company?
  11. Dave Collins: ?SEO Demystified?
  12. Hiten Shah: ?Killer Content Marketing?
  13. Mike Taber: ?Enterprise Sales Tactics?
  14. Guest Speaker ? Nathan Barry: ?Zero to $5,000 / month?
  15. Guest Speaker ? Brennan Dunn: ?The Long-Tail Sale?
  16. Guest Speaker ? Brecht Palomo: ?How a Non-Technical Founder Built a 6 Figure SaaS App Using Only Free Public Data Sources?
  17. Guest Speaker ? Cameron Keng: ?Taxes for SaaS?
  18. Patrick McKenzie ? ?Building Things To Help Sell The Things You Build?

Christoph followed up with What You Can Learn From MicroConf 2013 – Even If You Did Not Attend (great use of copy hack from Joanna Wiebe‘s talk)

Some attendees wrote up their take or takeaways from the conference as well:?

  • Hiten Shah
  • Ben Curtis
  • Scott Watermasysk – Lessons from MicroConf 2013
  • Scott Watermasysk – MC Lesson 1: Cash Flow and Yearly Billing
  • Scott Watermasysk – MC Lesson 2: Always Be Emailing
  • Scott Watermasysk -?MC Lesson 3: Long Tail Marketing
  • Tim Cull
  • Robert Graham

I’m sure this list is far from exhaustive, but you get the idea. ??

The bottom line for me is this was a great conference that I will be back for next year. ?I walked away from this event with more excitement and to-dos for my business than ever before. ?If you didn’t attend this year, you should next year?*after* I have my ticket in hand.

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Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: bootstrapping, conference, microconf

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