R
obin Hood was a contradictory hero; stealing in order to provide for those less able. If you were to read
the tabloids one could think that this form of business is alive and well in the banking sector. The problem with Mr. Loxley’s tale is that the poor were unable to fend for themselves. This instilled a need for someone else to become the provider and to become dependent upon their services.
Today I believe that business has evolved from the old adage of “stealing from the rich and giving to the poor” into “selling to the rich and enabling the poor”
At the beginning of the new century, the idea of a ‘Freemium’ business model where users gain access to excellent technology, online services and magazines began to take hold. Each product or
service utilised
different ways of monitising their business.
In the current marketplace, some of the biggest brands have utilised this idea of Free-Premium products. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Skype and even Wikipedia (via a donations service) have achieved this.
Here are a few companies that follow the same principles. Here, I have rated each company out of five in true Robin Hood style with bags of gold. Enjoy!
create bespoke event listings pages within their network. The USP for users is that EventBrite will ‘manage’ the registration process whilst processing payments for tickets.
The beauty of the system is that it allows the consumer to pay the EventBrite booking fees on behalf of the company. This means that you do not need to outlay any cash until you have received the revenue.
EventBrite only charges the user IF the event is a ‘pay-to-attend’ event and will only charge on a percentage of the ticket price. The beauty of the system is that it allows the consumer to pay the EventBrite booking fees on behalf of the company.
This
means that you do not need to outlay any cash until you have received the revenue.
The system is easy to use and has some excellent add-ons. It allows the following plug-ins to its system to enhance reporting and track conversions through Mail Chimp, Google Analytics, SaleForce, SurveyGimo and WordPress.
It
also offers an extensive catalogue of features such as ticket widgets, countdown clocks, reminder emails, QR code registrations and Google maps of the venue.
http://eventbrite.com
The Model - Free to use, pay when you have received revenue
It is also fully adjustable and offers great reporting.
The need for the Surveys and reporting may not be the highest priority for many businesses, but I would argue it should be. Without knowing what
your audience,
customer base, shareholders and employees think about the services/ products on offer, a company is flying blind.
SurveyGizmo offers an extensive library of templates and data collection tools to fulfil your inner geek. Combined with its open API, HTML editable pages and the ability to track users across platforms, this is an exceptional tool.
The Model - Free monthly usage up until a certain quota of responses
This one is clearly King of the Jungle. MailChimp is an extremely clever (and surprisingly fun) way of emailing your
customers. The system has various email templates and spam checker features that you would expect from a world leading system. Where it stands out is it’s integration into other technologies.
This excellent tool beats its nearest competitor Survey Monkey hands down.
Also founded in 2006,
Launched in 2006 by Kevin and Julia Hartz with the help of Renaud Viasge, EventBrite allows companies to
20 entrepreneurcountry
SurveyGizmo is a data collection tool which allows users to create in-depth and interactive surveys and polls.
MailChimp will track each email with unique links which are picked up by Google Analytics, it will inform EventBrite of any users who have come via an email (improving conversion tracking and email ROI) and most crucially, social media.
MailChimp allows users to send up
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