Slide Bureau’s Innovative Subscription App Meets Hidden Market Needs

If you’re looking to get inspired by innovative content offerings in the digital subscription department, Jackson Fish Market never disappoints. Last year we profiled

If you’re looking to get inspired by innovative content offerings in the digital subscription department, Jackson Fish Market never disappoints. Last year we profiled its first subscription site, A Story Before Bed. This week, we spoke with CEO Hillel Cooperman about the company’s new subscription service — Slide Bureau, which allows small businesses and professionals to create unique and artistic slide presentations. Cooperman discusses why the iPad app is worth a subscription, why the company is eager to produce custom templates, and why humility is the best approach when launching a new digital subscription product.

Company Profile

Founded: February 2014
Parent Company: Jackson Fish Market
No. of Subscription Products: 2
Employees: 6 full-time
Business Model: Hybrid — subscriptions and one-offs
Paying Subscribers: Free for first 10,000 sign-ups
Location: Seattle, Washington
Websites: http://slidebureau.com/ to download iPad app
http://jacksonfish.com/

Target Market

Slide Bureau is targeting professionals and small businesses all over the world who use PowerPoint, KeyNote and other slide deck software regularly and want something more aesthetic and customized for their needs but can’t afford a designer. Notably, their tag line is “Your Professional Art Department.”

Through press reports, the company is initially targeting real estate agents, restaurant owners and teachers, but Cooperman admits that “we really don’t know [who our target audience is].” However, the company is willing to design custom slides and market to any vertical, from medical professionals to “environmental lawyers in Peru.”

Content

Slide Bureau is an iPad-only app that allows users to access a library of slide templates and create presentations that can be streamed either through a live URL or offline through the app itself, if the iPad is hooked into a projector. In addition, the app allows users to create presentations that use live, updated data from the Internet, from stock quotes to navigate-able maps to YouTube videos (all of which are a pain in the neck to embed in PowerPoint). And the slides can be embedded in websites.

Interestingly, the company has decided against creating themed slide decks. Instead, users can choose from individual slides that all look different. The app does group visually-similar slides, but as Cooperman stated, “Who decided there has to be one theme?” He and his co-founder (and head designer) Jenny Lam believe that to force the story you’re trying to tell into identical slides defeats the point. “Slides should complement what the presenter is saying with supporting imagery and text. Mostly imagery and a little bit of text.”

Free users would be able to choose from 25-30 slide templates, while paying subscribers could access the app’s entire slide library (currently with more than 150 slides). Slide templates cannot be altered for font or color. However, if subscribers don’t see what they need or like, they can request custom templates, which the company will turn around in a few days. While many may see this service as a headache, Cooperman says it’s great because the “customers are telling me what they want.” And any slide created will then be added to the Slide Bureau library and accessible to all subscribers. In addition, because the slides will be available via a URL and the app, any slide created will be available for the creator to use even if his/her subscription lapses.

When asked what makes the service pay-worthy, Coooperman responded, “Go Google ‘PowerPoint designers.'” When I did, the search returned more than 6 million results. “We know people are not satisfied with PowerPoint as it is, and are searching for templates and designers to make presentations look more polished and professional. We’re offering that entire experience for our service.”

Slide Bureau tentatively plans to add new templates each month, though the requests for custom templates may speed up that schedule. However, as of now, the company only has three full-time designers. “As we get more requests, we’ll staff up,” says Cooperman.

The designers are professional. In addition, the company has programmers who are able to use existing APIs to make it easy for Slide Bureau users to incorporate Internet data with ease.

“I think the most interesting part is that we’re looking to focus on verticals — restaurants, teachers, but we’ll also work with medical professionals, party professionals, any one. Right now, we’re getting a lot of requests from IT support staff. Great! We’ll do it. We don’t believe in one slide fits all.”

Revenue Streams

Obviously, it’s too soon to project or record revenues for a company that’s a month old. However, Cooperman did state that Slide Bureau expects to garner most of its revenue from subscriptions and short-term passes to access the slide templates that don’t auto-renew.

As of now, Slide Bureau has planned for two possible subscription plans:

    • $99/year
    • $9.99/month

They are debating introducing a 72-hour pass for$6.99 or $7.99. This may be wise, depending on how consumers are using the site. A one-time 72-hour pass would allow busy professionals try out the app when they’re in a jam, perhaps right before a meeting. But at the same time, that’s also when conversion to a paid subscription would be most likely, so the pass may decrease overall conversions. Anyone considering a limited-time pass should first look at both user analytics and customer feedback/requests before deciding to introduce one. Furthermore, any limited-time pass should be a one-time deal (i.e., users can not get the pass more than once).

When asked about pricing, Cooperman stated that the company plans on conducting price testing, but they came up with these starting prices based on their “best guess of what small businesses could pay.”

Slide Bureau also plans on selling enterprise subscriptions to associations and organizations. See Group Subscriptions below for more.

Marketing Tactics

Slide Bureau is mainly acquiring new subscribers through heavy PR and a free, limited-time offer. It also employs SEO and other marketing tactics.

PR

Slide Bureau has gotten some friendly press coverage in consumer publications like The Seattle Times and GeekWire. The company has a dedicated PR person on staff who is actively pitching journalists. The plan is to start with general interest publications and then approach business and trade publications with stories that highlight the utility of Slide Bureau for certain verticals, like real estate agents and restaurant owners. Slide Bureau is approaching general interest publications first mainly because they’re remaining agnostic about which vertical they might attract most.

Augmenting their PR strategy is a focus on success stories. The company is very interested in gathering any consumer testimonials and weaving them into success stories. This is an especially smart tactic for companies launching innovative products because it allows prospects to get a real-life example of how they can use your new technology.

SEO & App Discovery

Slide Bureau has a dedicated staff member concentrating on SEO for their URL. When it comes to app discovery, Cooperman admits that options are limited. “You do your best to program the right keywords and cross your fingers. There’s no way to really know what you’re doing or fine tune it. It’s hard.”

Conversion Tactics

Slide Bureau biggest conversion tactic at launch is to offer free annual subscriptions to the first 10,000 people who sign-up.

Cooperman would not say how many had signed up so far, but we’ve written before about the pros and cons of this technique, most notably in our Case Study on Enigma, which had to sift through thousands of leads to find qualified prospects for its high-priced B2B service. However, in Slide Bureau’s case, this lead generation tactic is well-founded, mostly because they are offering a service geared to professionals and small businesses at a lower price-point. In addition, the company’s deep knowledge and expertise in technology and programming (Cooperman used to work for Microsoft) makes me fairly certain that they will not experience tech support issues.

Nevertheless, the company may want to consider reducing the stated number of free subscriptions. Consumers are notoriously suspicious of anything that’s too easy to get and a large number decreases any sense of urgency. Stating that Slide Bureau is giving away the first 100 or 1,000 subscriptions (while still giving away 10,000) might get them more immediate opt-ins.

Slide Bureau also has an email newsletter sign-up box at the bottom of their website. At this point, the company is not yet producing an email newsletter. But we would recommend re-locating that box to some prime real estate at the top of the page. This is for two reasons: 1) email marketing is by far the most cost-effective way to convert free users to paying subscribers according to our 2013 Online Subscription Benchmark Report and 2) Slide Bureau is only available as an iPad app and Apple does not share users’ emails with Slide Bureau. So no matter how many people download the app for free, Slide Bureau has no way of following up on such marketing power.

The site also lists Cooperman’s cell phone number on the top right corner of the site — a conversion tactic that proved helpful for Slide Bureau’s sister site, A Story Before Bed.

Group Sales

Cooperman told us that Slide Bureau is looking to eventually make enterprise sales to associations and professional groups. In doing so, they would create custom templates and a private library for association members.

Enterprise sales have not started, and as of right now, Cooperman is the entire sales staff.

Retention Tactics

Slide Bureau’s most effective retention tactic is to have its app subscriptions on auto-renew.

In addition, the company’s focus on quality technology and ease-of use is also a sure-fire retention tactic.

Because Apple does not share email addresses or credit card information, we strongly recommend Slide Bureau consider making their subscription a Web + digital bundle like The Week and Popular Science. That way, Slide Bureau would be able to sign people up via their website, acquire email addresses and credit card numbers, and then notify Apple to release the premium version of the app. This tactic also allows Slide Bureau to avoid the 30% cut Apple takes. And furthermore, it will allow Slide Bureau to create a more robust retention program with email reminders and Account Updater.

About Hillel Cooperman

Hillel Cooperman worked for Microsoft for years before branching out on his own in 2006 and founding Jackson Fish Market with Jenny Lam (also a Microsoft veteran).  As Cooperman once told me, Jackson Fish Market sees itself more as a technology company than a content creator or publication. When asked how that may affect the company’s approach and outlook, he responded, “I think of us as a service, and the canvas on which we provide that service is technology. I think what really matters to us is that customers feel they’re getting the attention they need. It doesn’t really matter to us how they think of us.”

Thus, Slide Bureau was born out of feedback from Cooperman and Lam’s many public presentations when audience members would ask, “How did you make your slides? They’re gorgeous.” Cooperman would respond, “Thank you so much. Jenny designed them. Too bad Jenny can’t design everyone’s slides.” Then the company began to ask, what if Jenny could design everyone’s slides?

His biggest surprise has been how many people have requested custom templates. “Some may see it as more work, but they’re telling me what product they need. They’re doing the work for me!”

In accordance with his wait-and-see approach to the launch of slide bureau, he refuses to give advice to other publishers. But he did say it’s important for a company to have approach a new product launch with humility. “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. So the customer is going to tell us. It’s not like we don’t have lots of ideas. But it’s just speculation. Just put the thing out and do what they ask – with quality and alacrity.”

Vendors and Technology

All of Slide Bureau’s Web design, Web development and content management is done in-house. The majority of its slide template design is also done in-house, although the company is happy to work with freelancers, not out of a need to outsource, but rather out of a desire to know cool artists and incorporate their work into the app’s portfolio.

Hosting –Amazon Web Services http://aws.amazon.com/ App Creation — Ruby on Rails http://rubyonrails.org/ Payment processing — Apple https://developer.apple.com/ipad/sdk/ Email management –Mailchimp http://mailchimp.com/ App Analytics — Google, App Figures https://www.google.com/analytics/mobile/ http://appfigures.com/ Site Analytics — Google Analytics http://www.google.com/analytics/

Insider Analysis

First of all, how awesome is this idea? Seriously, if you haven’t caught on yet, we think subscription services for content that simply can’t be replicated in print is GENIUS. Plus, it’s a definitely subscriber benefit to be able to integrate Internet data and embed slides with ease. Furthermore, Slide Bureau seems to have a good understanding of what need it’s trying to meet, without getting caught up in the marketing lingo of demographics and niche-targeting that often trips up other tech start-ups. When dealing with new, innovative technology, it’s best to allow your customers to tell you how they want to use your product. To that point, we think it’s great that the company is willing to take requests from subscribers. We saw in our recent Case Study on Boardroom Insiders how fulfilling subscriber requests can do double-duty of making your site invaluable AND building your library of offerings.

On the down side, there is already some competition in this space, particularly free templates. Slide Bureau has some advantages — better design, the ability to integrate live data and videos with ease, etc. But they will need to augment their marketing tactics in order to really stay competitive, primarily by focusing on the member benefits of subscribing. Given the amount of free templates out there, we would advise against the 72-hour pass and just stick with the freemium model of offering 25-30 templates for free.

We would also recommend that Slide Bureau move its email newsletter opt-in box to the top of their Website page (and start sending out a regular email newsletter). Also, while we think it’s great to give away free subscriptions to early adopters of a new technology, the site may want to market this smarter by creating a sense of scarcity and offering only 100 free subscriptions (but continue to take up to 10,000 names, or extend it each time they hit 100). But our strongest recommendation would be that Slide Bureau start offering a Web-based service or benefit in order to create Web + digital bundle subscriptions that would allow them to register subscribers through the website, and thereby acquire email addresses and credit card information and keep the 30% commission Apple usually takes for subscribers acquired through an app.

Lastly, we love the idea of pursuing enterprise sales; we suspect that associations and universities will be eager to jump on offering Slide Bureau to members and teachers. We would recommend hiring a salesperson for this side of the business exclusively, since other digital content sites like Katie’s Cards found that B2B sales can make up to 80% of revenues. But in the spirit of Cooperman’s humility, we’re also reticent to give any hard-and-fast advice. A technology this innovative will likely find the most success through a wait-and-see approach.

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