Netflix’s sneaky “free trial”

Have you ever shared your Netflix password with a friend?

Netflix used to turn a blind eye to that kind of thing.

But no more. Their recent crackdown means that users will have to pay extra to share their account with friends or family outside their own household.

The result (for Netflix): An increase of 5.7 million subscribers, according to recent reports. That's almost triple their expected increase of 2 million.

Sure, there's the usual moaning from people who took advantage of the lax enforcement to get something for nothing.

But viewed another way, the password sharers were, for years, getting what amounts to an unofficial free trial.

In fact, way back in 2016, their CEO said password sharing was a "positive thing" because it exposed more people to the service and eventually led them to subscribe themselves.

5.7 million of them, apparently.

Here's the thing:

If you want to run a successful organization with a positive cash flow — and you probably want that — you can't go around giving everything away for free.

But sometimes you can.

If you're confident in the value you give to your members and constituents, a free trial membership might actually be a winner for you.

It's not a simple matter. You'll need to do some careful planning.

But if you're setting clear goals and measuring results along the way, and if your predictions and measurements start to line up, it's worth considering the upside.

All the best,
A.