Advice needed for marketing software

Hi All,

I am in the process of developing a software product which I would like to
market, and I need some advice in this regard.

1. Where can I obtain/buy lists of potential customers?
2. Do I just cold-call them and try to pitch my product?
3. Can I hire a marketing company to handle the marketing part, and if so,
what should I expect to pay them? Do they expect to get paid based on
product sales (a percentage of the sales), or a flat amount regardless
of sales? How do I go about locating a marketing company for this
purpose? A google search for "software marketing" comes up with loads of
hits for "software to assist in marketing".

Thanks in advance,
ksiva@sdf.lonestar.org

Hello,

>I am in the process of developing a software product which I would like to
>market, and I need some advice in this regard.
>
>1. Where can I obtain/buy lists of potential customers?
>2. Do I just cold-call them and try to pitch my product?
>3. Can I hire a marketing company to handle the marketing part, and if so,
> what should I expect to pay them? Do they expect to get paid based on
> product sales (a percentage of the sales), or a flat amount regardless
> of sales? How do I go about locating a marketing company for this
> purpose? A google search for "software marketing" comes up with loads of
> hits for "software to assist in marketing".

Try Software Marketing Resource http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com you
will find a daily blog, newsletters and a number of articles along with other
resources to assist you in marketing software.
There are a number of companies that specialize in software promotion, I would
suggest either Shareware Promotions http://www.sharewarepromotions.com or Dr
File Finder http://www.drff.com
HTH
Sharon Housley
NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net

>
> Try Software Marketing Resource http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com you

In addition to this you might want to join the Association of Shareware
Professionals. www.asp-shareware.org.

I'm not a member because we're in the web service biz... which is a bit
different from shareware, but lots of successful software folks are members
and will be willing to help you get started.

Al Canton

Adams-Blake Company, Inc.
***
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>In addition to this you might want to join the Association of Shareware
>Professionals. www.asp-shareware.org.
>
>I'm not a member because we're in the web service biz... which is a bit
>different from shareware, but lots of successful software folks are members
>and will be willing to help you get started.

I've owned a software company for twelve years now, and it's pretty
well-known that shareware marketing is not a winning idea. You ocassionally
get the person say that it is, but some of us wonder if that was not voiced by
some big software companies -- an intelligence campaign to send competitors
down a losing road. I have heard many shareware authors say that it just
wasn't a good idea to focus on shareware.

It works good for popular games, but that is for the "kids" market -- they
have the money to spend on games, or get them for presents, etc.



--
Robert Pearson
--
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net
http://www.rspearson.com/

>I've owned a software company for twelve years now, and it's pretty
>well-known that shareware marketing is not a winning idea. You ocassionally
>get the person say that it is, but some of us wonder if that was not voiced by
>some big software companies -- an intelligence campaign to send competitors
>down a losing road. I have heard many shareware authors say that it just
>wasn't a good idea to focus on shareware.

I guess it depends on who you ask. This is a recent story about a software
developer who markets via the shareware method and his revenue is expected to
exceed 20 million this year
http://www.softwaremarketingresource...-success-1.htm
perhaps you are listening to the wrong people.
Sharon Housley
NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net

S. Housley <S._member@newsguy.com> mumbled:
>
> Try Software Marketing Resource http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com you
> will find a daily blog, newsletters and a number of articles along with other
> resources to assist you in marketing software.
> There are a number of companies that specialize in software promotion, I would
> suggest either Shareware Promotions http://www.sharewarepromotions.com or Dr
> File Finder http://www.drff.com
> HTH
> Sharon Housley
> NotePage, Inc.
> http://www.notepage.net
>

I checked out the links you suggested including your notepage.net and found it
quite
interesting. Thanks a lot.

However, I am undecided whether to go the shareware route since the software I
have
in mind is primarily of use to enterprises and not individuals. I am not quite
sure
marketing as a shareware to businesses would get me a lot of sales. Any
thoughts on
this?

--
ksivaSPAMZILLA@sdf.SPAMZILLAlonestar.org
Remove "SPAMZILLA" from email to reply.

On 10 May 2004 22:48:39 GMT, "S. Housley" <S._member@newsguy.com>
wrote:

>>get the person say that it is, but some of us wonder if that was not voiced by
>>some big software companies -- an intelligence campaign to send competitors
>>down a losing road. I have heard many shareware authors say that it just
>>wasn't a good idea to focus on shareware.
>
>I guess it depends on who you ask. This is a recent story about a software
>developer who markets via the shareware method and his revenue is expected to
>exceed 20 million this year
>http://www.softwaremarketingresource...-success-1.htm

Let's not forget that revenue is moot. It's profit that is important.

Hmm, STOPzilla will have to *sell* around 670,000 copies of their
software this year to reach that projected revenue, and that assumes
that they aren't doing any packaged deals where someone else delivers
their software and STOPzilla makes less money but more volume. A
possible but lofty goal.

On 11 May 2004 16:00:45 GMT, ksivaSPAMZILLA@sdf.SPAMZILLAlonestar.org
wrote:

>I checked out the links you suggested including your notepage.net and found it
>quite
>interesting. Thanks a lot.
>
>However, I am undecided whether to go the shareware route since the software I
>have
>in mind is primarily of use to enterprises and not individuals. I am not quite
>sure
>marketing as a shareware to businesses would get me a lot of sales. Any
>thoughts on
>this?


Yes, you plan to sell software so call it software (not shareware).
Shareware is really only a method of selling - effectively "try before
you buy". You do not need to mention the word shareware at all !


--
Brian Flanagan Invest-Tech Limited, Ireland
<http://www.planware.org> <http://www.business-plan-guide.biz>
Extensive advice about business planning, finance, management & enterprise ...
Planning shareware, on-line financial planner, planning software store ...

>However, I am undecided whether to go the shareware route since the software I
>have
>in mind is primarily of use to enterprises and not individuals. I am not quite
>sure
>marketing as a shareware to businesses would get me a lot of sales. Any
>thoughts on
>this?

NotePage's flagship product PageGate is frequently sold via shareware marketing
method, enterprise clients appreciate the opportunity to evaluate the software
prior to incurring the expense. PageGate's software is not inexpensive and is
designed for business use not individual use. There is a sample listing of
customers on the site you might find interesting
http://www.notepage.net/customers.htm

IMO shareware marketing is inexpensive and can result in significant sales even
with business/enterprise applications.

Good luck with your venture.
Sharon Housley
NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net

>However, I am undecided whether to go the shareware route since the
software I
>have in mind is primarily of use to enterprises and not individuals. I
am not quite
>sure marketing as a shareware to businesses would get me a lot of
sales. Any
>thoughts onthis?

Shareware is good but provide it on a time limit. The user will have
the time to test the product. So if he is really interested he can go
ahead and purchase your product.
So give out your product trial with a time limitation on the usage.

Good Luck...

Jay
Web Response Grabber - Automate Web Form Processing
www.egrabber.com/wrgbiz/index.html