A bit over a month ago, on March 1st, we announced that in April we would be changing our prices.
The price change was initiated for a few reasons:
- Being a self–funded company, we needed a bit more acceleration in our growth so we could get to profitability sooner and ensure blogstatic is self-sustainable
- Many of our own paying customers (some who have been with blogstatic the longest) suggested that we increase our prices because the value of blogstatic (and what one can do with it) had grown 10 fold.
- Some potential customers were looking at our prices and wondering if blogstatic is a serious business.
The third reason in particular was the biggest trigger: —I didn't want potential customers to think that blogstatic is not a serious company because the pricing is lower compared to the competition.
After all, blogstatic started as the alternative that makes blogging accessible to all.
The higher pricing change
Even though the new pricing wasn't too far out ($49/$99/$259 per year) — it seemed that new customers found it too steep of an amount to part ways with upfront.
What happened right after was that new trials immediately went down by 50% and new upgrades were pretty much non-existent (2 in about 10 days) — compared to the old pricing where we would get 1 to 2 per day.
Also, support tickets completely disappeared — depriving me of something I am very fond of — helping customers get situated and get the most out of blogstatic.
These signals were enough for me to realize that blogstatic customers, especially the new ones, were not amused by the new pricing.
"As if pressing a button!"
On April 13th, I reverted back to the old pricing, and lo and behold:
- New trials started to go up immediately
- Upgrades went back to their daily routine
- And support tickets began rolling in
As if I had pressed a button!
What does this mean financially?
Yes. New pricing, if it panned out would have gotten us quicker to self–sustainability.
Business wise, we just have to get the word out more. And you can help us with this.
Recommend us to your friends, the groups you belong to, and anyone who wants to start a blog and doesn't know where to turn.
Being a small self–funded company that we are, we can use all the help we can get — and word of mouth can go a long way.
What's new!
Well, as I already mentioned, old pricing is back, with a few more additions.
The Business Plan is now $99/year — down from $129/year — making it even more accessible for anyone wanting the whole ordeal. The Starter and Expert Plans go back to their original price of $19/year and $49/year respectively.
The $19/year Starter Plan now has even more features, making it even more valuable:
- Premium themes
- blogstatic branding removal
- The RSS feed
- Header + CSS injections
The Expert Plan ($49/year) and the Business Plan ($99/year) will continue receiving new upgrades as they always have. The pipeline has a few good treats coming up.
What happens next
blogstatic will continue as it always has: —Supporting customers with their blogging needs and constantly improving the platform!
An important note
If now, with pricing going back, you feel that you were pressured to upgrade during March by the upcoming price increases in April, please let me know and I'll issue you a full refund. This was not my intention. New increased prices were meant to be permanent, but our customers handed blogstatic the final verdict.
Customers who have paid with the new pricing will get a refund on the remainder or an extension, whichever the customer prefers.
As always, chat with me anytime if I have missed something or about any other questions you may have regarding blogstatic.
