Interesting post. The title is a bit inflammatory but I’ll put that aside as click bait. 😆
I think it’s a mistake to believe that users or bloggers owe us anything be it time, attention or money. There are hundreds of products launching every day and it can be very hard to filter signal from the noise.
There is very good reason that marketing is one of the biggest industries in the world. Money talks and paid advertising works.
Users are earned and having a great product is simply not enough. "Build it and they will come" is not foolproof and you can not please everybody. What is best for one person may not be for someone else.
In the case of your MiDrive Transfer specifically I am in no doubt you have a great product but here’s some thoughts:
- What’s the catch? How do you make money? Why would you offer this for free?
- Who is MiDrive? Why should I trust them with my data? Where is it stored? Is it secure? Tucking this in a privacy policy is not good enough when your core service revolves around this. Large data is often important data.
- Where are the contact details? What if I have a problem? Why are they hidden?
I’d almost feel better using it if there was a paid plan as it would convince me that this was a operation with a plan for longevity and not going to disappear like so many other services.
These are all things that your stated competitor Dropbox communicate effectively through their brand, landing pages and marketing.
Your business clearly has a story to tell but communicating to us and IH is not enough. You can afford to put some more information on your landing page for a start without impacting UX. An about page with some FAQ might be a good start. 🙂
Check out WeTransfers about: WeTransfer
They are telling a story, building trust, establishing a relationship with creative industries and clearly have a business plan for the long term.
People aren’t going to support a file upload box but they might support a growing business with values, commitments and communication that aligns with their own beliefs.
If you want to appeal to people who are disapproving of big business then you need to build some messaging around that.