Marketing idea to generate lots of free publicity and sales.

Ruven

Well-known member
The following idea may cost you a little money... or it may make you a ton more by providing an instant jump in brand awareness once the internet picks up on the idea.
Its a simple marketing strategy.

Any customer who can show proof of purchase of the vBulletin 4 software can then purchase XenForo 1.0 for the price of 1 dollar.

Or something that has a similar effect.
The idea being that if you paid money for vB4 and it was not what you thought i was going to be... XenForo will give you their software for free. Because XenForo 1.0 ended up being what a lot of us wanted vBulletin 4 to be.

Sure you lose money on perspective customers dissatisfied with vb4... but in reality a lot of vb4 customers will find it difficult to move away from something they just dropped nearly 300 dollars into. So you might not have gotten those customers anyway.
IMO Right now the biggest target audience for xF1 is vB3 users who wanted a modern version of the software, but not the broken software that vB4 ended up being. Thats xF1, and so you will get a ton of those customers.
This idea allows you to also get a lot of the vB4 users you might not have gotten, plus it creates a ton of goodwill for XenForo LTD, as well as a huge marketing opportunity.

I expect admin/forum centered websites to run with this story and give xF1 a huge amount of good publicity.

Sure its a stunt, sure some may see it as taking a cheap swipe at Internet Brands... but at the end of the day its the consumer who is going to determine if its a cheap stunt or a valuable resource for those who already spent their money.
 
this has been suggested before. but it stands to be misused.

people would still retain their original vB license!

i was more looking for on online market place here on the forum where users can trade their licenses...

supposedly... i buy a license of XF but it does not work out for me, i can resell it.

and if it does work for me, i can sell my vB license to someone else who is looking for it.

for a slightly lower price in both cases of course. :)

of course the question remains... who would buy vB license here on XF forum. someone has to point me to an online service that does exactly that... barter/sell/buy such software licenses.
 
this has been suggested before. but it stands to be misused.

people would still retain their original vB license!

i was more looking for on online market place here on the forum where users can trade their licenses...

supposedly... i buy a license of XF but it does not work out for me, i can resell it.

and if it does work for me, i can sell my vB license to someone else who is looking for it.

for a slightly lower price in both cases of course. :)

of course the question remains... who would buy vB license here on XF forum. someone has to point me to an online service that does exactly that... barter/sell/buy such software licenses.
Makes sense that its been brought up before... im still kinda new around here. I guess i should have used the search button.

Another option would be for those receiving the free xF license to be required to turn in their vB license to xF.
Sorta like Cash for Clunkers, a program here in the states that allowed people to exchange their old vehicles towards cash to help pay for a new car.

A Cash for Clunkers type deal would work nicely too.
If you have purchased another forum software in the past 12 months and wish to switch to xF you can.
Merely trade in your vBulletin/IBP license and receive a credit towards the purchase of a xF license.
 
it would be absolutely rocking if the developers let some folks here on the forum a beta build to test on a public forum... and give out good discounts to early supporters!
 
Why do some people actually expect a sale where they get one product cheaper if they happen to own a competing product? People need to stop expecting to get a better deal from XenForo just because they feel they were ripped off by vBulletin.

Want to get XenForo without spending as much money on it? Buy XenForo, convert and then sell your vB license.
 
haha. well i am not expecting a discount because i am a disgruntled vB user. in fact, i had been looking for an alternative and looks like i found one.

i am expecting a discount because of being an early supporter and 'probable' switcher.

and i am just expecting a discount. not demanding one.

i like the product. a few things are not as per my need. but i am ready to switch my forum (which contributes a large part of what i make on a monthly basis) to XF. and i would probably pay what is charged for it as long as it makes financial sense to me...
 
Well, we are in the year 2010 not 1963. :)

And by expecting, I mean I am expecting from my side. I am not 'conveying that request' that to the developers. I am more interested in giving out feature requests and other suggestions that would make my migration less painful... Strangely, the atmosphere on the forum is getting tense. People here need to chill up on suggestions made by users. If you like it, press the like button. If you hate it, ignore it!
 
I was assuming there would be a very narrow window for "early adopter," and I wasn't thinking it would be half off or something, just less than full price. Although maybe money isn't even the best perk there. Suppose it was an extra X months of support, or access to the "early adopters only" forum on the support board, or something like that.
 
I almost dont want to comment anymore because there are always people who get a bit too territorial and holier than though about this sort of thing.
Look, im not asking for nor am i expecting any sort of discount because im a vBulletin user.
This was merely a suggestion to generate some sort of buzz for a company that is brand new.
Lets face it, the vast majority of people here are those who liked Kiers work at Jelsoft.
Most xF users will be people who buy because of prior knowledge of Kier/Mike/Jelsoft/vB, etc...
xF cant realistically compete with the entrenched market share of an IB or IPB.
Their biggest competition will probably be from the open source forums that are out there.
But since xF is for profit... how are they to make a name for themselves?
We know that simply being of the highest quality is not the answer.
And we know that those with online businesses who depend on their forum as a revenue stream will not be switching to a startup company run by a couple of dudes... no matter how talented the dudes are.

xF needs something that will make a splash and get them over the starting hump saleswise.
Something like this would create a huge buzz within the forum admin community.
And while it will quickly be looked down upon by the more entrenched licenseholders of other software.. the positive buzz would overwhelm the negative in no time.
Most people who hold forum licenses are hobbyists of some kind.
Or use the software to make a bit of money here and there.
And if you offer them that kind of deal within the first week of launching... i bet you end up creating a huge groundswell of goodwill.
Enough goodwill to carry xF into the next step of hiring more developers in order to expand the software to blogs, CMS, gallery, etc...

If xF does not get a suitable install base early on... i doubt any of that would be feasible.
 
I almost dont want to comment anymore because there are always people who get a bit too territorial and holier than though about this sort of thing.

Haha. Trust me, all my posts in the last couple of minutes/hours sort of include a disclaimer... If you do not like me, do not attack me! I am in the same boat.
 
I almost dont want to comment anymore because there are always people who get a bit too territorial and holier than though about this sort of thing.

Holier-than-thou about what? Giving away a product for free, to people who bought flawed software of their own free will - nobody was putting a gun to their head?

"And we know that those with online businesses who depend on their forum as a revenue stream will not be switching to a startup company run by a couple of dudes... no matter how talented the dudes are."

The license costs the same whether you're a big online business or a hobbyist, so why target the big business forums particularly? For the free advertising? Aren't they usually the first to go for the branding-free option?

A lot of these 'marketing strategies' are just plain self-serving. If you're running a gigantic forum that rakes in big bucks every month, then you can afford to buy a license. "Cash for clunkers" wasn't a program for people who wanted to trade their Cadillac for a Rolls-Royce, it was for people to trade their ancient junk car for a new Toyota.
 
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