The Good Patrons of 750 Words

1 cup

The monthly subscription model means you either maintain a 30-day streak or you don’t get your money’s worth. In ways, it’s a good incentive to make the most of the service, and those keen on maintaining a streak, for example, are positively reinforced by this scheme, but not every user wants to use the service in the same way.

Some people don’t have the time to commit to the service every day. Some people purposely only want to use the service infrequently (eg. for weekly reflections or as a dream journal). Some people actively dislike the stress associated with maintaining a streak and purposely avoid maintaining one. Also, a sudden change of personal circumstance could cause a change in habit in anybody’s use of the service.

It feels that, just because some people work at a different rate to others, they would end up paying more for less. Personally, I don’t like the pressure of needing to assume a certain behaviour as a user in order to capitalise on what I bought, and I’d wager I’m not alone in this.

Personally, I would much rather pay a small cost per entry as and when I make them, or purchase a bulk quantity of entries (that aren’t restricted to certain dates) in advance and consume them as I make entries. I wouldn’t even mind if the average cost per entry was slightly higher to accommodate for the probability of larger word dumps per entry or the higher uncertainty surrounding user loyalty (this is a business, after all!). That said, offering new subscription models may expand the range of potential customers even if they interact with the site less regularly; I, for one, have been aware of 750 Words for roughly two years, but resisted creating an account for a long time for the very reason of not being sure if I would suit the subscription model. I’m still uncertain if I will stick with the service because of the current subscription option, but I thought to highlight the concern in case it makes a difference.