There's this objection I hear about Hive Onboarding: "We're not ready yet."
Usually, it's uttered when people talk about mass-onboarding ideas. See, we want to onboard people and we're happy to discuss it. But when someone comes up with a viable option that requires resources, or when these options start to look serious, other people put on the breaks and say we're not really ready to onboard yet because of this or that.
It's not a constant objection. But it's one that I hear enough. The "this or that" they're referring to is usually the UI issues, complexities, or other wrinkles currently present on the various front-ends.
My solution is: Preboarding
What is Preboarding?
What's the difference between onboarding and preboarding? Nothing. They're functionally identical. The difference is us. How do we approach onboarding with "excuse the dust" caveat? By preboarding.
Get new users to at least start the onboarding process ...
| Name | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Hive.blue | free | 72 hours waiting time; Verify: email + website |
| 3Speak | $ 1 | Instant; No verifications |
| Esteem | free | Instant; Verify: email |
| HiveInvite | free | 12-36 hours wait time; Verify: varies |
| HiveWallet | € 1.50 | Instant; No verification |
| BlockTrades | $ 1 | Instant; No verification |
| BDVoter | 3 HIVE | Instant; No verification |
| BeeAnon | $ 3 | Instant; No verification |
Also see: signup.hive.io
Other Chains
There are other chains out there that are very similar to Hive. Anyone who gets an account on them has jumped through many of the hurdles. Getting an account on Hive has fewer obstacles for them because they've already gone through it.
Off-chutes of Hive are a preboarding opportunity, if Hive can differentiate itself.
The Snoot Factor
The problem is, instead of differentiating itself, Hive users sometimes look down on the previous "level" of users:
I mean, not universally. But there's a certain level truth in it, even if it's not strictly universal.
Say Our Name
Thing is, if we make an effort to market (onboard or preboard), regardless of the amount of resources applied, there are always people who don't join. So those people won't even see the "dust" if they wait long enough. Yet, in that scenario, marketing is still beneficial to us because it keeps our platform in the "Marketplace of Ideas" where we want to be. It's a constant reminder that we exist, which will benefit us if/when new users do decide to actually pull the trigger and join.
We had this problem during the Steem Regime, prior to Valentine's day. Once we were finally in the news cycle, a lot of people would talk about us as if we were irrelevant. Some even referred to Steem as "legacy crypto." We don't want that for Hive.
What To Do?
The thing I'm suggesting is, if there's a viable onboarding scheme, don't undermine it by saying, "We're not ready." If you really don't think we're ready for onboarding, just think of marketing at this point as "preboarding."