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Matterport hosting 'the one who shall not be named'18457

dave3d private msg quote post Address this user
Early, before coffee, thinking a lot about hosting....

I wonder what percent of people don’t charge at all. What is it we do and what is hosting? Why isn’t it brought up early all the time?

We make custom 3D tours. That often takes expensive equipment, going on site, staging, understanding when and how to get the best capture possible. (For this discussion I'm focusing primarily about tours created with Pro2 and Pro3 cameras.)

After production we do editing. We also deliver post production coding so that it may be used in numerous ways. We charge for this work. (Often too little).

Why? Is it because Matterport capture as typically used for real estate doesn't require knowledge of photography? It's more a technical capture set of rules?

Is it because the real estate application of Matterport is seen as an extension of real estate photography which had static images and a low price point and entry point on equipment? Is Matterport being presented to the masses from the perspective and delivery of still photography? Or is it because we expected properties to sell in 30 days and hosting was always short term?

Regardless of the why, we do a Matterport then what? Now it’s the clients. We’ve been paid. They can view it in perpetuity at no charge if transferred to a free account if captured on a Pro2 . They can even share it by letting someone else see it on their phone or Ipad. But they can never transfer it out of a free account or share it publicly.

At a cost of $9.99 per month for a starter account they can receive up to 5 Pro 3 transfers. They can't ever transfer these out. They can't ever publicly share them. But they have the work they ordered. (Why does this work for Matterport?

Because once they upgrade this account everything suddenly works. Matterport thinks that by being deprived of some the benefits of hosting they'll come to better understand the value of hosting.)
Let's call that scenario 1.

Now let’s move to scenario 2. This production is something your client wants to use to brag to the world, or use to educate the world, or use to sell products with for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Or they want to use it forever to bring customers in.

Do you really think that because a production was made for say $400 it will be presented to the world, with bandwidth allowing hundreds of simultaneous high speed connections, maintained securely on servers and drives with engineering support for free in perpetuity?

If Matterport is your product and you want to share it it comes with two distinct parts. Two real costs. Production and hosting. As a Matterport provider you build clients and tours, if you’re successful, providing “no cost” hosting will eventually shut you down.

We currently host over 1200 tours. Do the math. The more you grow the higher the cost. I guess the point is sell the value not just of the tour, but of hosting. Think of this like a website. You may spend a lot to create it. But you also pay monthly for the backend and bandwidth, the updates, the electricity, the engineers, security, and backups.

Matterport tours are more the website model than a photography model. They require high tech support from processing till they are deleted. They aren’t born from static images placed like photos.

Include some hosting with a project. Notice I didn't say "give away". I said include - say 3 months. This gives the buyer who believes Matterport may help, (and invests the money and time to get it done), a chance, for few marketing dollars, to try it, gauge the response, evaluate the ROI, and continue hosting or shut it down.

If it isn't being viewed end it. It's a waste of time and money. If ROI is there continue. You can provide the hosting or Matterport can. They believe in the value of their service. You have one site? OK - $69 per month. If you don't think bringing your product to the world is worth $69 per month, don't order one.

Sometimes it seems like we sell ourselves and our products short. Like we don't believe in the value of what we provide. In the business world back in the day I spent thousands of dollars a month to present a product to the public that I know received less viewership and had poorer response than what we provide customers for $10 or $15, or $25, or for that matter $69 a month. Matterport gets it. Some of us are missing the boat.

The value of hosting is real and its there. Understand it and sell it. Or, if it seems too hard, text the guys here, we'll handle it.

Or do what others of us do and give that business to someone else who understands its value - Matterport.

I apologize for the rant.....
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Suisun City, California
ScanYourSpace private msg quote post Address this user
Nice Article!

I have been on a classic account for years with my pro 2 and now have an additional Pro & Business account for my pro 3. It wasn't until maybe 6 months ago that I started charging some clients a "Monthly hosting, support, and maintenance" fee. some clients pay $10 per tour per month, some clients pay $40 per tour per month.

This has brought in a nice amount of passive income each month and the clients haven't really questioned "why".

thanks for the rant

Tom Sparks Scan Your Space (a Division of Sparks Media Group) Founder and CEO Tom Sparks |
www.ScanYourSpace.com | www.SparksMediaGroup.com
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rhelling private msg quote post Address this user
I offer 90 days complimentary - nobody has extended. I also question a lot about hosting. I feel like my retail clients like seeing the tours, they’ll pay for them - but they really just want the floor plan and aren’t willing to keep the tour for a monthly fee.
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Aeronautica3D private msg quote post Address this user
Thanks for the info!!
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WGAN Forum
Founder &
WGAN-TV Podcast
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Atlanta, Georgia
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user
@dave3d

Thank you for your insightful post.

WGAN Forum related discussions:

Tip: Offer Hosting, Maintenance and Support Instead of Transferring Spaces
Example of Charging for Matterport Monthly Hosting, Support and Maintenance
Tip: How to do automatic monthly billing
WGAN Forum discussions tagged: Recurring Revenue

Best,

Dan
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