#2 is best (and i don't like #1 or #3), maybe keeping the bonus amount of time offered relatively small though, so you aren't losing what you're raising on the back end.
or making it simply the same flat benefit no matter how much you spend - like everyone to purchase any amount of paid time in april gets an extra free # of time/credits. or maybe some sort of permanent designation on their profile, though access to an actual feature or more paid time is cooler and more appealing.
what you did when accounts first went on sale might be effective: sell at whatever the current rate is, and let it be known that after april, all the rates will be increasing a little. (so people will want to buy/top up before the end of april.) i know things are always well thought out around here though, and the current rates have probably been finely calibrated to be set at what they are. so, if it's unwise to raise them yet, forget that one.
another idea: temporarily put a moratorium on the free codesharing community, if that's even possible, for the month - as well as on generating free codes at all. then, there'd be greater incentive to purchase time to create new accounts, even if it's with the smallest entry amount possible. personally, i hate this idea though. :( for many reasons, but mostly that it's sad and counter-dw-culture and unfair to people who haven't even tried the site yet.
i really strongly prefer the ideas of promoting paid features and the ability to gift a free user/community, out of everything so far.
not as keen on products (even though it'd be cool to have them - especially stickers), simply because (a) it will cost money and (b) this is a short-term effort. so, maybe later for all of that. however, for designs (beyond the swirl, the d, and 'dreamwidth' in the official font), why not reproduce some of the dw icons collected on the wiki during closed beta (mostly the red and white ones) and some dreamsheep? if the people who created the icons don't mind. it'd be cool if you could pick which ones you wanted and on which items.
or maybe something like... you design one sticker (or small iron on patch or whatever) - something flat and small, that won't take up much space in your offices or cost much to mail. (unless you could find some sort of partner to automatically ship it out triggered by your own payment processing? i dunno if that exists.) send one to everyone who purchases paid time in april and only to those people. limited print run. when it's gone it's gone. you could do it again sometimes in the future though, if needed. key would be the exclusivity of the item. if there were future promotion periods, you could either reprint the same design or use a different one each time, creating a series of exclusive items. downside is all the people who can't purchase in a particular month, who'll be really sad to miss out on the only dw merchandise in existence. (probably including me, most of the time.) and that it's a little... mcdonald's flintstone glasses. lol
yeah. i'm not very capitalist, so this isn't really my area - as is probably clear by now - but if i think of anything else/better, i'll come back.
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or making it simply the same flat benefit no matter how much you spend - like everyone to purchase any amount of paid time in april gets an extra free # of time/credits. or maybe some sort of permanent designation on their profile, though access to an actual feature or more paid time is cooler and more appealing.
what you did when accounts first went on sale might be effective: sell at whatever the current rate is, and let it be known that after april, all the rates will be increasing a little. (so people will want to buy/top up before the end of april.) i know things are always well thought out around here though, and the current rates have probably been finely calibrated to be set at what they are. so, if it's unwise to raise them yet, forget that one.
another idea: temporarily put a moratorium on the free codesharing community, if that's even possible, for the month - as well as on generating free codes at all. then, there'd be greater incentive to purchase time to create new accounts, even if it's with the smallest entry amount possible. personally, i hate this idea though. :( for many reasons, but mostly that it's sad and counter-dw-culture and unfair to people who haven't even tried the site yet.
i really strongly prefer the ideas of promoting paid features and the ability to gift a free user/community, out of everything so far.
not as keen on products (even though it'd be cool to have them - especially stickers), simply because (a) it will cost money and (b) this is a short-term effort. so, maybe later for all of that. however, for designs (beyond the swirl, the d, and 'dreamwidth' in the official font), why not reproduce some of the dw icons collected on the wiki during closed beta (mostly the red and white ones) and some dreamsheep? if the people who created the icons don't mind. it'd be cool if you could pick which ones you wanted and on which items.
or maybe something like... you design one sticker (or small iron on patch or whatever) - something flat and small, that won't take up much space in your offices or cost much to mail. (unless you could find some sort of partner to automatically ship it out triggered by your own payment processing? i dunno if that exists.) send one to everyone who purchases paid time in april and only to those people. limited print run. when it's gone it's gone. you could do it again sometimes in the future though, if needed. key would be the exclusivity of the item. if there were future promotion periods, you could either reprint the same design or use a different one each time, creating a series of exclusive items. downside is all the people who can't purchase in a particular month, who'll be really sad to miss out on the only dw merchandise in existence. (probably including me, most of the time.) and that it's a little... mcdonald's flintstone glasses. lol
yeah. i'm not very capitalist, so this isn't really my area - as is probably clear by now - but if i think of anything else/better, i'll come back.