a single source, nothing corroborates it

Brand the free output and charge to remove it

Stamping your own address on whatever the free tier produces creates a small, obvious purchase that a share of users make immediately, and it turns every free user into a billboard. Price the removal as its own upgrade and watch what it does to average order value, since it is often the single paid action most buyers take. Reserving attribution removal for the top tier keeps almost every customer working as an acquisition channel.

The method

1. 01

   Monetize a free tier by stamping your own branding on the output and charging a small fee to remove it.

2. 02

   Watermark the free output with your own site address and charge a small fee to remove it, which both sells directly and pushes people toward your other paid options.

3. 03

   Sell removal of your attribution link as a top-tier privilege only, so that almost every customer you add keeps working as another acquisition channel.

4. 04

   A single upgrade price can carry your average order value, so test the one paid action most buyers take.

What it returned

• $2.00

  A $2.00 charge to strip branding from free place cards produced about 2.5 sales a day, roughly $150 a month, versus the $400 a month he had projected.

• 13

  Live from June 13, 56 people paid $2 to remove the watermark for $112 of extra revenue, and paid design purchases rose as well; the month did 1,704 sessions, 226 sales and $810.90 on 8 hours of work, with sessions down 28% while revenue rose 36%

• $2.25

  Zue lifted the branding-removal price from $2.25 to $5.00 during August's final week, which drove the 22% rise in average sale price

• The author says he added link removal to the Premium plans reluctantly

Sources

• Storemapper: Bootstrapped to $50,000/year in 2 years (with live metrics) - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · The powered by link (SaaS viral superpowers) · 2014-08-23
• The Long Road to Passive Income Part 3: Expectations vs RealityCory Zue · coryzue.com · Plan Part 3: Monetizing the Free Tier · 2018-07-24
• A Tale of Two MonthsCory Zue · coryzue.com · 2018-07-02
• That strange feeling when everything sort of seems to be workingCory Zue · coryzue.com · Revenue · 2018-09-30