TalkingParents · B2C · co-parenting communication app
Keep the website free and charge a monthly fee for the mobile apps
Started at $4.99/month; founder now thinks it was priced too low
Mixedpaywallpricing
What they did
Core messaging stayed free on the web. The mobile apps (with notifications the web lacked) became the paid incentive, at $4.99/month. The free web version still satisfies court orders.
What happened
Monetization finally worked from 2015-16, but the low starting price created legacy customers that were hard to move up later.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · From Consultancy to $10M in ARR — Vince Mayfield, TalkingParents“And so we said, "Okay, so now we're going to give the mobile apps, and the incentive is going to be, well, if you want to use mobile apps, then we're going to charge you for that on a subscription basis."”
“And when we released the first app, I personally felt like we were charging too little for it, which caused some problems later on”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- TalkingParents: Stop relying on ads and courts; charge the parents who use the appBecame the base of a ~$10M ARR subscription business
- TalkingParents: Fly a co-founder around the country to pitch judges and court clerksAbout 60% of users are now ordered onto the app by a court
- TalkingParents: Ask customers what they'd pay for, then build those features into paid plansEvery price rise bundled features customers had asked for
- TalkingParents: Double the price for current subscribers, but add a feature they asked forLost about a quarter of subscribers vs. half expected; some came back
- TalkingParents: Add a $24.99 plan with video calls and a set bundle of minutesAttracted less price-sensitive customers, mostly on iPhone; some couples both pay $24.99
- TalkingParents: Charge each co-parent separately, so one's video calls nudge the other to upgrade
- TalkingParents: Sell free users copies of their records for court, digital or printed and bound
- TalkingParents: Track each visitor from first site visit to paying, using your own dataFounder says it's 'paying dividends' after two years; no numbers
- TalkingParents: Host regular webinars with outside experts who also take over your social and blog
- TalkingParents: Reply to every app review with a real, caring answer, even off-topic rantsFounder says people feel heard and stay subscribed; no numbers
- TalkingParents: Swap a cheap startup transcription vendor for one that scales and bills per callCut transcription cost in half and gained features
- TalkingParents: Run your main calling feature on a small startup vendor instead of TwilioStartup couldn't scale; flagship feature broke and they moved to Twilio
- TalkingParents: Use your consulting firm's income to pay for building your own appTook ~6 years and ~$1M before subscriptions worked; lean times along the way