FREE online courses on How To Start Your Own Dot Com Company - Ground Rules - Rule 18. Launching beta releases lets you work out links and attract fans

Software companies have long used ‘beta' releases to let customers try out a product prior to the official release. Web companies do the same. They launch in beta, with no PR, no ad campaign, and let customers tell them what works and what doesn't.

 

If you don't launch in beta, you're probably making the million-dollar mistake as beta customers tend to be more forgiving than others. NextPlanetOver recruited 300 beta testers from Net newsgroups like rec.arts.sfsuperman, luring them with NextPlanetOver.com T-shirts and mugs.

 

Beta testers help you probe the site for weaknesses like a cumbersome registration process, a search function which is unforgiving with abbreviations and punctuation, few images and descriptions of products. They help you prioritize what to do next. It's a great, cheap way to get fundamentally critical feedback.

 

Beta tests also produce customers -- ones energized by the process of helping a Web venture in its early days. To customers, a beta tag on a site is simply an acknowledgment that the site is still a work in progress.