[mendicant]

We gave free trials. One of the most important things for us was image. We work with oil and gas companies and getting a couple of Canada's top producers on board was paramount for us.

We needed the "well if big guy X" is using it then maybe it's worth checking out.

We met with some big guys and asked what else they would need to make it work for them. A few tweaks later and a 6 month free trial (plus discounted first year) and we were off to the races.

There are some customers who love us because we love feedback and work hard to implement the really good ideas.

Providing a free trial + personalized tweaks gave us the start we needed. It worked doubly well because we targeted the companies who have respect in the industry first.

[keeptrying]

Canadas top oil and gas companies needed free trials? Wow.

[arethuza]

At most large companies it's not spending money that is a problem but the approval/budget process - its probably a lot easier to get approval for something that is already being used on a temporary free trial basis than going through the usual formal product selection process.

[mendicant]

The money wasn't the issue. The fact that there was literally not a single company signed up was the issue. Why would a top company pay for a service that -- as of that time -- no one was using.

The fact of the matter is, it was two guys coming up to a massive company saying "Hey! We've got this site where you can advertise all these items you want to get rid of... but we've got no traffic and you will be the first person on it." There's literally no incentive for them.

Our service depends on having clients to be valuable. So there wasn't any value in our service at the time. However, as soon as you get one of the big guys signed up and putting their items on our site, we instantly add value and get the "hey, if Company X is putting their stuff up there, I want to be there too!" effect.

[keeptrying]

That makes more sense :).