“Stop selling free,” says Linda Bustos of getelastic.com (@getelastic). In an article dug up from a month ago, Bustos devises a few strategies to help with premium customer conversion (in layman’s terms, getting those “free” customers to start paying up).

“If your product offers free and paid versions, users who choose the free option off the bat are likely are not your target for premium anyway (remember, there’s a difference between a free trial and a free version).“

However, much can be said about the positive benefits that go along with offering an “initially” free service – don’t throw away your idea of offering a free service just yet! Specifically, Bustos offers a clever tip work considering:

If you’re going to offer a free service, “bake conversion carrots into the free version. Show off premium features by making them accessible in navigation, but throw up an upgrade page when these carrots are clicked.” The idea itself is a little bit like a sneaky way of up-selling. Clever, no?

Bustos has more tips and strategies, though. Check out her article, Why Upgrade? How to Convert More Free Users to Premium.

-Christopher Lin, lexity.com