The Money Making

Techniques
Every Start-up
should know.

boardofinnovation.com
@boardofinno by @nickdemey
cc flickr zizzy
In this slide deck

17 36+
Techniques Examples
 Training.
otca m ps .
Bo

...
We help corporates
innovate like startups.
www.boardofinnovation.com
@boardofinno

Enjoy the presentation!

All feedback is welcome.
@nickdemey
 The #1 question
innovators ask us:
“What revenue model should I use?”
= the wrong question to ask.

“Why will people pay me?”

= the right question.
First understand why people
put their money on the table.
 First understand why people
put their money on the table.

Only then explore how you can

capture that value with a
strong business model.
 17 Why people pull
reasons out their wallet:

. Like a Boss . Just like me

. Be part of a Mob . Serve me
. Mystery & Thrills . The clock is ticking
. “I own this Sh*t” . Reduce guilt/ fairness
. Collection Completion . Mine is bigger
. Keeping secrets . Show me the numbers
. Harder, better, Faster! . Call me maybe?
. the VIP-treatment . Fear of missing out
. Push the buttons What is missing?
tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey
 ta rt w it h the
Let’s s
t te c h n i q u e
firs

Like a Boss
People want to look professional.

cc flickr Thompson C
People want to look professional.

Example: Chocolat App

If you don’t pay $49 the
font of this Mac text editor
will change to Comic Sans.
The horror.

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 People want to look professional.

vs

Example: Windows Vista

You don’t want to be that manager/sales lady/... who
opens up “Home Basic” in a meeting, right?

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People want to look professional.

Example: Slideshare.net
The only reason why we
ADS pay Slideshare $190/year
is that our decks wouldn’t
look like this...

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People want to look professional.

Example: Slideshare.net
The only reason why we
pay Slideshare $190/year
is that our decks wouldn’t
look like this...
< but like this.

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey

People want to look professional.

Example: Flickr.com
Some people pay $25/y
just to have the PRO badge.

and so on...
you get the message.

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 Be part of a Mob
People want to belong to a group, something bigger.

cc flickr Natural-Heart
People want to belong to a group, something bigger.

Example:
Founderscard.com
A €495 membership to get
access to exclusive perks
for entrepreneurs.
You have to know
someone (referral code) to
get access. #smart

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People want to belong to a group, something bigger.

Example: App.net
Would you pay to use
Twitter? Some do! App.net
offers a paid alternative.
But on twitter you’re a
user, here you’re a
member, starting at $5/m.

You share a common goal:

open ad-free social network

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People want to belong to a group, something bigger.

Example: Kickstarter.com
You’re not a user, member
but a backer on kickstarter.
You pay (donate) money to
become part of a
movement.
For some the actual
product is optional. Being
part of the process is more
important.

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey

Download all slides as PDF
PDF

More inspiration & tips?

@boardofinno @nickdemey
 Mystery & Thrills
To experience and discover new things

cc flickr dominiqueb
To experience and discover new things

Example: Zynga Farmville

What’s in the box? To
discover the contents
gamers could
spam 10 friends or
pay 20 Farm Coins
($10 = 55 Farm coins)
This is one of the most
lucrative ‘gambling’
techniques used in Free-
to-play games these days.

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey c - yanidel.com

To experience and discover new things

Example: Carrot Todo app

This paid iOS app ($0.99)
has an attitude. It might
get mad at you, tease you,
and so on...
Very smart tactic to
differentiate the app from
the thousands of other
Todo apps.
Many in-app purchases are
available.

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 “I own this Sh*t”
People hate to lose things.
People hate to lose things.

Example: Pinboard.in
Yahoo decide to close
down the free service
Delicious.
Pinboard quickly launched
a paid alternative to save
your bookmarks.
10$ - one time fee

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People hate to lose things.

Example: Gmail.com
When Gmail is full, you
don’t won’t to sort out
thousands of mails to see
what can be deleted. You
just pay.

Starting at 5$/y for 20Gig

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 Collection Completion
People love to complete a set when possible

cc flickr alexnako
People love to complete a set when possible

Example: Fontshop.com
You might have enough
with 3 fonts version. (italic,
bold,...) but when there are
16 variations in total some
people will just buy them all.
Just to be sure and for the
sake of completeness.

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey cc flickr Natural-Heart

People love to complete a set when possible

Example: Humble Bundle

The pay-what-you-want
model is already smart but
in order to have all 9
games, the full package,
you have to pay more than
average.

An easy nudge to put more

money on the table.

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey cc flickr Natural-Heart

 Keeping secrets
Able to control privacy

cc flickr verbeeldingskr8
Able to control privacy

Example: Livestream.com
Remove your videos from
the public stream or the
ability to set a password
are Premium features.

$333/month.

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey cc flickr verbeeldingskr8

Able to control privacy

Example: Godaddy.com
Cheap domain names are
nice but if you want to
keep your registration info
private you pay extra on
top.

$9.90/y (without discount)

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey cc flickr verbeeldingskr8

 Harder, better, Faster!
To speed things up

cc flickr scubabrett22
 To speed things up

Example: Rapidshare.com
This file sharing services
limits the download speed
of free users. Parallel
downloads are also only
available for paid users.

€8.33/m

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey cc flickr scubabrett22

 To speed things up

Example: Evernote
The files stored by
Premium members are
processed faster than free
members.

For €40/year people can

go Premium.

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey cc flickr scubabrett22

 the VIP-treatment
Let people be first/ focus on exclusivity

Know a better example? - tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey cc flickr dcmetroblogger

Let people be first/ focus on exclusivity

Example: Steam
Some gamers pay to play
unfinished games solely
for the right to experience
the game first.
Do note: It’s not a pre-sale.

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Let people be first/ focus on exclusivity

Example: Plex Media App

A subscription on the plex
pass (starting €3.99/m)
gives users early access to
new features.
To iOS app itself costs
already $4.99.

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 Push the buttons
Give users the right to tweak/ control
Give users the right to tweak/ control

Example: Yammer.com
In order to manage a large
user base or to change
specific settings many
services provide premium
paid features for admins.

Yammer: 3$/user/month
Give users the right to tweak/ control

Example: Appmakr.com
This app iphone builder
offers Premium users the
ability to add custom lines
of codes and to tweak the
HTML.

$79/app/month
 17
reasons
You are halfway!
. Like a Boss . Just like me
. Be part of a Mob . Serve me
. Mystery & Thrills . The clock is ticking
. “I own this Sh*t” . Reduce guilt/ fairness
. Collection Completion . Mine is bigger
. Keeping secrets . Show me the numbers
. Harder, better, Faster! . Call me maybe?
. the VIP-treatment . Fear of missing out
. Push the buttons What is missing?
tip us @boardofinno or @nickdemey
 Just like me
Let user personalize their experience
Let user personalize their experience

Example: Wetransfer.com
This file transfer service
offers numerous options
to personalize the
branding & experience.

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Let user personalize their experience

Example: Windows 7
As a bad example,
Windows 7 Starter edition
(the cheapest version)
didn’t allow customers to
change the desktop
background.
A bad decision that created
a lot of frustration.

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 Serve me
People will always pay for convenience
People will always pay for convenience

Example: Shoeboxed.com
This app takes away the
hassle to keep track of
receipts & expenses. You
take a picture, the
scanning services does the
rest.

Starting at $9.95/m

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People will always pay for convenience

Example: useSold.com
A newcomer in the field of
e-commerce. Just take a
photo of an item you want
to sell. They do the rest
(from price setting to
shipment).

They take a (secret)

margin on top of your
payout.

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 The clock is ticking
Add enough time pressure
Add enough time pressure

Example:
Business Model Hub
The faster you joined this
online writing community
the lower entry ticket was.

The fee started at $24 and

rose gradually to $243.

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Add enough time pressure

Example: iBood.com
One of the easiest tricks of
the book. Deals or
offerings that are limited
in time. iBood has 1 offer
available per day.
Take it or leave it.

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 Reduce guilt/ fairness
People want to limit negative feelings.
People want to limit negative feelings.

Example: Godaddy.com
When buying domain
names (or other impulsive
products) people might
feel guilty. To reduce this
‘negative‘ feeling you could
link your product to
charity.
The “round up” approach is a
nice way to tackle this.

cc flickr kenstein
People want to limit negative feelings.

Example: iTunes
Many people still buy
music because it “feels
right”. They don’t think it’s
fair to download music via
torrents.
For some products it helps to
emphasize that “you did the
right thing.”

cc flickr kenstein
 Mine is bigger
Some (men) like to brag or show off.

cc flickr gioxxswall
Some (men) like to brag or show off.

Example: I am Rich app

Remember this extreme
case? Several people
actually paid $999.99 to
have an app that does
nothing more than
showing a red diamond,
just to show off.

cc flickr gioxxswall
Some (men) like to brag or show off.

Example: ARGirl
There should be an app
category: “show off at
parties”. Many small paid
apps have only one goal.
Trying to impress friends
with the next (paid)
gimmick.

cc flickr gioxxswall
 Show me the numbers
People like to get insights

cc flickr seenoevil
People like to get insights

Example: Polar app

While this health tracking
app is free you have to pay
to have a better
understanding of the
figures.

$5 for 5min status check.

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People like to get insights

Example: Runkeeper Elite

You can track your
workouts with Runkeeper
but to get detailed insights
in your performance you
have to upgrade.

$19,99/year

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 Call me maybe?
Let people communicate/ connect

cc flickr nnova
Let people communicate/ connect

Example: SinglesAroundMe
This app scans your
neighborhood for matches.
But the number of messages
you can send is limited.

Paid in-app upgrades are

available to continue the
conversation.
Up to $19.99 per package.
Let people communicate/ connect

Example: Facebook.com
Facebook is experimenting
with paid conversations (if
you want to message
strangers).

$1 to reach the inbox

 Fear of missing out
People want to get notified

c - yanidel.com
People want to get notified

Example: unfollowed.me
Would you pay $4.99 to
get notified when people
unfollow you on twitter?
This paid service believes
you will!

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People want to get notified

Example: Netvibes.com
This social media
monitoring services has
premium alert features to
get notifications & alerts.

The service ain’t cheap:

$499/month

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People want to get notified

Example: TomTom GPS

An expensive in-app
purchase of €29.90 to
have access to 1 year of
traffic alerts.
This update is the #1 paid
feature for this app (on top
of the 1 time €89.99 fee to
install the car nav app).

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Smart digital revenue
models combine a
selection of these

17
Techniques
 Time
Pressure
Example!

Collection
Completion

Thrill to
win.
Doing
Good

Public list,
to brag. People have
control.
 Go!
It’s up to you!
We give training to corporates on
Business Model Innovation
& Intrapreneurship

www.boardofinnovation.com/training

www.boardofinnovation.com
@boardofinno @nickdemey