With EssayTagger's growth and evolution it's time to revise our marketing emphasis and pricing model.
Reaching maturity
EssayTagger launched at the 2011 NCTE conference in Chicago as a bare-bones site that was built primarily around our innovative grading app. In the early days we were in "Open Beta" and all accounts were completely free. We then shifted to early adopter discounted pricing while continuing to expand our feature set at a nonstop pace. And because we are a cloud-based service every single feature upgrade we make is instantly available to all users (think how Google Drive constantly evolves vs installed software like Microsoft Word that forces you to buy upgrades).
The site is now a full end-to-end solution from configuring a Common Core-aligned rubric all the way to statistical analysis of your grading results and student-by-student Common Core-aligned progression tracking.
Instructors from nearly 1,000 different schools across 60 countries have graded thousands of essays in EssayTagger.
Shift in sales emphasis
We've also learned that while teachers love what we have to offer, we're all in agreement that this should be a service provided by school administrators. We will continue to work to get more and more teachers excited about EssayTagger, but the sales and marketing focus will shift fully to administrators. Teachers shouldn't have to pay for EssayTagger out of their own pocket. The features we've added around advanced data analysis and tracking--especially when it comes to Common Core alignment--now make EssayTagger a vital tool for administrators and school districts.
Pricing effective Jan 1st, 2013
We will end our early adopter discounted pricing and starting on January 1st unlimited use of EssayTagger will cost $20/month per teacher. Quotes are pro-rated for the remainder of the school year and are billed in a single installment (e.g. a quote for Jan 1st through June 15th for five teachers would be: 6.5 months * $20 * 5 = $650).
There will still be a bulk license discount for large license purchases, though we are not prepared to discuss specifics at this time.
Any quotes provided or contracts signed prior to 1/1/2013 will be honored at the original early adopter pricing for the duration of the contract.
And even though our emphasis will be on administrator-level contracts, instructors will still be able to purchase their own individual licenses at the new rate starting 1/1/13.
Existing individual accounts who are paying for their own license will not see a price increase and will continue at their previous early adopter pricing through the end of the 2012-2013 school year.
The usual caveat: We will continue to evaluate our sales and pricing efforts and adjust as needed. But we will always honor existing quotes and contracts even if our pricing changes in the future.
