Will your service save your target customers time and make their lives easier or make their work more effective? If so, charge for it! Even if only a small amount, don't undersell yourself. If its not worth paying for, they probably won't use it for free either. You should definitely consider a free trial if nothing else but keep it in their minds that your service offers value. If you have paying customers you will…
But on the other hand without the users the value of the platform is next to nothing.
That's why in the MVP I have developed all the social features that are commonly available - A professional profile (linkedin) live chat and messaging, notifications (facebook) and groups for forum chat.
My aim was to develop a community first to whom I can sell the further services much easier.
Do you think this is flawed? (fremium model?)