Libris Britannia 4/science library(b).zip/science library(b)/PROGRAMM/SHAREWAR/3900A.ZIP/STARGAZR.EXE/STAR4.TXT

Text File | 1992-08-14 | 10KB | 189 lines

On Incentives!

by

Michael E. Callahan
Dr.  File Finder


      OK.  Incentives.  YOU ASKED FOR IT!!  (dating myself) So
here goes.

      INCENTIVES are part of our lives from the time we are very
young.  I ask you all to just THINK about that.  You get the sucker
for being a good person at the doctor!  You get the colorful
toothbrush from the dentist for getting your teeth cleaned and
not biting Mr.   Dentist.  You get a hug from 'Daddy' for catching
the ball!  Those are all INCENTIVES.  To be good, to brush your
teeth, to try hard.  We accept them without question.  Moving on.

    Products.  BIG, Commercial products.  THEY use incentives.
It's the baking soda submarine in the cereal box.  It's the prize
in Cracker Jacks.  It's the Batman pouch for only $1 and 2 proof
of purchase seals!  As adults, the INCENTIVES come in a
never-ending flow.  It's the 25% MORE in a box of Tide.  It's the
40% off the Regular price.  It's DOUBLE and TRIPLE coupon days at
the supermarket!  It's a cheaper price for ordering 2 years of PC
Mag instead of just 1!  I could go on, but I think the idea is
clear.   Incentives are a part of our life, countless times a
day, every day, from birth till death.  WE expect them as
children -- we expect them more as adults.  THINK about that
basic fact, and it is a fact, and you are part way to the
solution that involves YOU..  ALL OF YOU!

       You expect incentives, I expect incentives, we ALL expect
incentives in our daily lives.  Why then, I ask, does anyone
believe that people who look at Shareware programs DON'T expect
them??  If anyone has an answer, a GOOD answer, I'd like to hear
it because I've given this very careful thought over many years,
and I can't think of ONE!

        You give a person a fully functional version of your
product.  You give them full documentation so they can use it.
Your program has context- sensitive help screens so they have
help.  And sometimes you give even more.  They HAVE the program
and EVERYTHING they need.  They have it ALL, there is no more.  I
ask this: WHERE IS THE INCENTIVE TO PAY YOU??  A 10 second
'reminder' screen when the program loads or exits?  Ridiculous!
That bothers someone about as much as a 10 second Budweiser
commercial or a very small mosquito.   After a relatively short
time THAT 'reminder' will be a part of the program that you have
so kindly provided for them.  The point is, if you give someone
the entire program, fully functional, and there is no more, they
have NO incentive to pay you.  None, zero, zilch, nada.

        Cripple the program?  NEVER!  That is not an incentive --
except perhaps to go out and find another program of the same
type that isn't crippled.  YOU gain nothing and lose much by
doing that sort of thing and I believe everyone agrees on that
point.

       INCENTIVES are a part of everyones life.  From car dealers
to computer stores you find incentives.  "Hey, buy the computer
and I throw in the mouse and some software FREE!" And you folks
KNOW they got that mouse and the software in a 'bundling' deal
-- it's costing them almost NOTHING while gaining them much.  YOU
can use INCENTIVES the same way.  Stay tuned.


        There are precedents in the very roots of Shareware.
Take PC-FILE!  I remember when Jim released the first version --
I have a copy.  Some portions of the documentation were not
included.  An INCENTIVE to register.  Take Bob Wallace and PC
WRITE.  A $25 commission on every registration that came in with
YOUR registration number on it.  Ahh, a way to MAKE money and get
back the cost of the program.  An INCENTIVE.  I could give a long
list, but again, I think you see what I mean.  A history of
incentives to attract the user into paying for the program.  YES,
some Shareware programs do just fine without incentives -- but
they are in the small minority.  For the most part it seems that
the user needs some kind of incentive to pay you.  Being able to
take credit cards is even a small incentive.   A nicely printed
manual is an incentive for some, but many users seldom use the
manual.  PLUS, you have given them the manual in the "Shareware"
version.  They can print their own manual, throw it in a binder
and Viola!  "Nicely printed documentation." WHAT is it that you
are trying to SELL them.  Ahhh, the PROGRAM!!!!!  Right.  Well,
then THAT is where the INCENTIVES need to be.  Stay with me for
awhile.  If you thought 1,200 pages in a book was a LOT, I was
just getting rolling.  (smile) AND, there were 400 pages they
couldn't fit in.  More to come.


     Give a fully functional version -- it's the American way AND
it represents GOOD SHAREWARE.  BUT, and that is a very emphatic
BUT (Please, no bad jokes, Paris) OFFER them some "extras".  Some
BONUS features.  Some good, old-fashioned INCENTIVES.  My God, you
people are programmers and some of the BEST it's ever been my
pleasure to work with.  I WORK with you.  You COULD think of an
easy way to just HIDE a few of the existing features.  I won't
know that they're there.  The USERS won't know because they won't
SEE them.  OR, take a few of those NEW features for the "next
version" and don't put them IN the Shareware version.  And in
that README.1ST file you say, "HEY, sports fans, WHEN you buy
the REGISTERED version of this product, I'll toss in this
feature (Whoa) and THAT feature (Golly..) and oh what the heck,
8 really neat features that will set you on your ear if you
think what you're looking at is GOOD!" JUST exactly like that
FREE mouse and software from the computer salesman -- it COSTS
YOU NOTHING!  AND it gives that user, who is looking at and using
at a very nice, fully functional version of your program, that
INCENTIVE that they need to get them to PAY you!  They can SEE
what they have, but people want what they DON'T HAVE!  They WANT
those neato features that they get.  They WANT the submarine in
the cereal box!  They want the $1,000 rebate on the car.  They
want to have some INCENTIVE!  Bear with me.

        Give the people what they want -- and get more of what
all of you really want.  They get to evaluate a good program and
when they pay you, by gosh, you GIVE them some neat EXTRAS.  What
a guy.   What a gal.  (used in the context of the 40's, not in a
Chauvanistic way).  What a human being you are.  AND, to make
everyone happy, YOU get your money.  That is NOT a "bait and
switch" -- you haven't baited them with anything and you haven't
switched anything.  You've shown them a GOOD program and you toss
in some extras when they buy.   Like the car salesman 'tossing
in' the radio if you close the deal on the car today.  HE's
getting the radios on a deal with the factory -- YOU control
what is in your program.  Shareware is a MARKETING concept...  so
MARKET your products like you wanted to make money.   Not like
you are some nut who gives things away for FREE.  OH, you DO give
things away when you are happy ...  and you are happy when people
like your product well enough to PAY you for it.  Heck, you'll
toss in those extra features and some nice features they are too!
I can hear people yelling, "I'LL BUY THAT ONE!" and just waiting
to get their copy that has those EXTRAS.  Hang in about one more
screen and I'll stop to allow for responses.

      In the course of this long note I've kept it light -- made
a few jokes, been the guy at the midway trying to get you to
play the game.  NOW, I'm going to be dead serious for a minute.

      At this point, I've spent nearly ONE-FOURTH of my life
working with Shareware.  I have worked very closely with MANY of
you.  I can recall the first release of AsEasyAs and FormGen and
EZFormat and HDM and PCal and Boxer and QEdit and countless
more, as easyily as I can that of PC-FILE.  I've looked at tens
of thousands of programs.   Read, God, maybe a million messages
online.  I pay attention to what users say and I try to pass that
on to YOU.  I've STUDIED this market ..  this INDUSTRY.  My heart
is a part of it.  It HAS become my life.   I've seen programs
come...  and GO and NOT because they weren't good programs.  They
disappeared because the authors could NOT get users to pay them.
I've seen 'CrippleWare' and 'DemoWare' and every kind of "Ware"
there is.  It's really so very simple and I say this after giving
it very careful thought.  OK, one more screen, I promise.

        Almost every aspect of our lives is touched by
incentives...   WHY NOT SHAREWARE?  YOU write the programs, YOU
control what is in them and what is not, and YOU, and only YOU
can give users the incentive to REGISTER.  People can be tickled
pink by the simplest things.  Hell, they give you 25% more Tide
for FREE.  They also made the scoop that comes inside marginally
bigger.  (smile) YOU *GIVE* your products away and HOPE that
having the Shareware version equal to the Registered version
will entice them.  NOT ENOUGH.  TOO LITTLE TOO LATE.  CLOSING
THE BARN DOOR AFTER THE HORSES ARE OUT.  People will buy two
packs of cigarettes to get a FREE PEN!

      I say to you, ALL OF YOU...  THINK about it.  Think about
all of the many incentives you see each day -- in magazines, on
television, and when YOU go to buy things.  Hey, don't those
little incentives help to push you over the edge?  Hey, it's a
free mouse and software.   It's double coupons.  It's 10 extra
features when you BUY!  You'll earn more, you'll be held in
higher esteem, and perhaps we won't see some excellent programs
(and programmers) disappear forever over the horizon because the
Shareware horizon looked too bleak.  This is the time when
Shareware is going to become HOT!  You can help to heat up the
market and increase the interest.  William Blake once said, "No
bird soars too high, If he soars with his own wings." Use your
heads, spread your wings, and FLY to success.  I'm here to help.

                                         Take Care......

                                       Dr.  File Finder~~~~~~~~~~~~(tm)
                                      Michael E.  Callahan