ASP Advantage 1993

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DISK VENDOR'S GUIDE Copyright 1992 by Association of Shareware Professionals 545 Grover Road Muskegon MI 49442-9427 U.S.A. March 15, 1993 - CompuServe 72050,1433 A limited license is granted to reprint short extracts from this guide as long as credit is given and a copy is sent to the address above. Individuals may copy this guide for each other as long as no fee is charged. Others including disk vendors, BBSs and User Groups may distribute copies of the unmodified self-extract VGUIDE.EXE file as long as the file or its contents are NOT renamed, modified or made part of some larger work without the written permission of the ASP. A BBS may rearchive the unmodified VGUIDE.DOC file that is contained within VGUIDE.EXE as long as the resulting archive name is VGUIDE.ZIP, VGUIDE.LZH, VGUIDE.ARC, VGUIDE.??? ---- NOTICE: ALL INFORMATION, TIPS AND ADVICE IN THIS GUIDE ARE PRESENTED TO "GUIDE" YOU INTO AREAS FOR YOU TO RESEARCH AND STUDY IN MORE DETAIL ON YOUR OWN. IN NO CASE WILL THE ASP OR OTHER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM YOUR ACTING UPON INFORMATION THAT IS CONTAINED HEREIN. IN PARTICULAR, AN ATTORNEY SHOULD BE CONSULTED ON ANY QUESTIONS OF LAW BEFORE FOLLOWING ADVICE CONTAINED HEREIN. ---- The primary author of this document is George Abbott. Contributing authors are Nelson Ford, Eric Isaacson, Tom Wagner and many others. ---- To contact the ASP, write to Association of Shareware Professionals, 545 Grover Road, Muskegon MI 49442-9427, telephone 616-788-5131 or you can FAX to 616-788-2765 and ask for a Vendor Application kit. Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP Table Of Contents 1. Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.1 What Is Shareware? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.1 Identify Your Market Niche . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.1.1 Local Shows & Flea Markets. . . . . . . . . 6 3.1.2 Selling Shareware From Your Retail Store. . 6 3.1.3 Shopping Malls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.1.4 Mail Order Shareware. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.1.5 Rack Vendor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.2 Collecting Shareware Disks - Overview. . . . . . . . 7 3.3 Reviewing The Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3.4 Logos & Letterhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4. Preparing Your Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4.1 Honesty In Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4.2 Use A Good Word Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5. Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5.1 Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5.2 Do NOT Depend On 1.2m Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5.3 Disk Duplicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 6. Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6.1 Catalog-On-A-Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6.2 Compression Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 6.3 Disk Duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 6.4 Virus Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 6.5 DOS Tutorial Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 7. Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 7.1 Diskettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 7.2 Mailers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 7.3 Label Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 8. Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 9. Collecting Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 10. Providing Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 11. The Association of Shareware Professionals ("ASP") . . . . 34 1 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP Table Of Contents (Continued) 12. Summer Shareware Seminar (SSS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 13. Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 13.1 Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 13.2 Credit Card Merchant Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 13.3 A Banker's Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 2 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 1. Forward The purpose of this guide is to provide tips on how to start and run a shareware disk vending service. A shareware disk vending service (Vendor) is defined as someone or a company that gathers and maintains a collection of shareware evaluation disks (creates a library), keeps the library up to date, publishes a catalog (printed and/or on-disk) and sells evaluation copies to end users. Some vendors specialize in mail/telephone order, others operate booths at fairs, flea markets, booths in malls, etc. A variant of a disk vendor is one that places racks of shareware in one or more retail locations. This is usually referred to as a "Rack Vendor" as compared to a "Mail Order Vendor" as described above. The Rack Vendor shares a portion of the sales price with the owner of the rack location. Racks are often found in airport gift shops, convenience stores, retail chain stores like Walmart, K-Mart, book stores, etc. Further, the Rack Vendor replenishes the supply of disks in the racks. The racks vary from cardboard displays to fancy wire or metal racks. Another type of vendor are those that produce CD-ROMs that contain shareware software. This guide is going to folks who are considering starting a disk vendor business, so some of the points may seem obvious or elementary to experienced vendors. The information and opinions in this guide are drawn from talking to many vendors from the ASP headquarters and from the contributions of many ASP members. Many of the ideas and concepts in this document are discussed from time to time on the ASPFORUM on CompuServe. If you have access to CompuServe, GO SHARE to reach the ASP forum and "talk" to hundreds of ASP members. This document has been put together and freely distributed in the spirit of sharing. The ASP does not make money from it. All input, new information and corrections are gratefully accepted. 3 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 1. Forward (Continued) 1.1 What Is Shareware? Nelson Ford (one of the ASP's founders and historians) relates the following: "Andrew Fluegelman started the formal shareware concept (he trademarked the name Freeware for it). Andy did not say that everyone who spent an afternoon writing a program, uploaded it to a couple of BBSs and sat back and waited would get rich. He said that the freeware approach provides a way to let the users decide (rather than the people who control the advertising prices) which programs should succeed, based solely on the quality and usefulness of the program." Later, an article in InfoWorld used the term "shareware" and as far as we know, Bob Wallace (PC-Write) was the first to use it with a shareware product. Also during that time, Nelson Ford wrote a column called "The Public Library" for the late SOFTALK magazine. Nelson asked his readers to submit names for this new way of marketing software and the word "shareware" was the winner. Over the years, the ASP has fought trademark cases in several countries when someone tried to trademark the word "shareware". The ASP firmly believes that the word "shareware" should be freely used by anyone. Nelson continues, "Shareware is not some magic way to get rich from trivial or substandard, amateurish products of limited appeal or usefulness. Some shareware programmers who have failed prefer to blame the shareware approach rather than themselves. They think that millions of people are using their programs without paying and that the shareware concept just doesn't work." "To these people we always reply: If shareware doesn't work, how are Button (PC-File), Wallace (PC-Write), and others making over a million dollars a year at it? 'These are exceptions!' they reply. Sure they are exceptions. Anyone making a million dollars a year at anything is an exception. Many others are making lesser, but respectable, incomes. Not bad for a business that anyone can get into at virtually no up-front cost." "Yes, shareware definitely works. Like anything else, how well it works for you depends on hard work, ability, and even a little bit of luck. And even luck often boils down to being prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they coming knocking. We hope this guide will help you get prepared." 4 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 2. Introduction These days, it seems that many people that recently purchased their first computer and ran across the shareware concept think they can easily get into the shareware disk vendor business. They see the catalogs produced by other vendors and say "I could do that." Or, they realize that there are no disk vendors in their part of the country. Starting a shareware disk vending business is a lot more work than first meets the eye. There are hardware, software and knowledge requirements that must be considered and mastered. First, you need a shareware disk collection AND permission from the authors (copyright holders) to distribute the shareware. Next, you need appropriate hardware. Most importantly, you need a lot of marketing, computer and software knowledge to succeed. If you are just looking for a fast buck, are not willing to review the programs you carry, don't plan to get the latest versions, don't plan to prepare an organized catalog, GIVE UP NOW - you will probably fail in this highly competitive business. However, if you don't give up, realize that there are thousands of disk distributors in the world today. New ones start up almost daily. Unfortunately, vendors fail and go out of business fairly often. Where you will fit into the shareware picture is largely up to you and your efforts. We hope that after reading this document, you will either be a successful shareware disk vendor or you will have the detailed information to cause you to explore different profit opportunities. If you are already a shareware disk vendor, this document may give you tips on how to be more successful. Keep in mind that a shareware disk vendor does NOT own or control the copyright on the shareware programs, documentation and supporting files provided by the author. The author owns and controls the copyright. The author can select who will be allowed to copy his/her shareware and how it is to be distributed. The copyrights ARE enforceable. RESPECT the author's copyright. Examine every disk, not sent to you directly by the author, to see if the author has placed any copying restrictions on the disk. You will likely need to write to the authors asking permission to carry their shareware. You may get both permission AND the latest version. Some will even send major future upgrades. There are some authors that require that all RACK and CD-ROM vendors get written permission and SOMETIMES royalty payments BEFORE the vendor can place the author's copyrighted works on racks or CD-ROMs EVEN IF THEY SENT YOU THEIR DISK IN THE FIRST PLACE. FOLLOW ALL COPYING RESTRICTIONS OR RISK LAWSUITS 5 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 3. Getting Started 3.1 Identify Your Market Niche What got you interested in becoming a shareware disk vendor? What are your objectives? How much time can you devote to disk vending? What are your financial resources? Have you formulated a Business Plan? What level is right for you to start? How big do you want to get? Are you prepared to succeed? Are you prepared to fail? 3.1.1 Local Shows & Flea Markets. A really low cost way of starting is to take a card table to a local computer show, swap meet or flea market and set up a "booth". You have a box full of shareware disk copies, a list of titles and a cash box. Sounds easy? Well, a lot of work is behind that simple "booth". 3.1.2 Selling Shareware From Your Retail Store. You already operate a computer, book, or other retail store likely to be frequented by computer users (almost anyone these days). You operate like the flea market fellow except that you have counter or shelf space in place of the card table and you have a cash register rather than a cash box. 3.1.3 Shopping Malls. This approach is similar to the Flea Market approach except that you operate out of a small booth in the walkway of a shopping mall. 3.1.4 Mail Order Shareware. You put together either a printed or on-disk catalog for your customers to make telephone or mail order purchases. You advertise in trade magazines, local newspapers, local "shopper's guides" or you make blind mailings to targeted purchased mailing lists. You should be able to take credit card orders to succeed in telephone or mail order. 6 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 3. Getting Started (Continued) 3.1 Identify Your Market Niche (Continued) 3.1.5 Rack Vendor A Rack Vendor is one that places racks of shareware in one or more retail locations. The Rack Vendor shares a portion of the sales price with the owner of the rack location. Racks are often found in airport gift shops, convenience stores, retail chain stores like Walmart, K- Mart, book stores, etc. Further, the Rack Vendor replenishes the supply of disks in the racks. The racks vary from cardboard displays to fancy wire or metal racks. You can combine any or all of the above as dictated by your resources and situation. 3.2 Collecting Shareware Disks - Overview. Investigate the marketplace. See what others are doing. Determine how you want to tackle the market. Your disks must come directly from the author so that you get the latest and don't have copyright problems. However, you can obtain disks from the various sources below so that you will know which authors to contact. Make sure the list you put together IS of shareware or public domain and NOT ripped-off commercial or traditional retail type software. Section 9 will cover Collecting Shareware in more detail. Following is a quick overview of some of the ways to start your shareware list. 3.2.1 You have been involved with a large local User Group and have obtained a copy of their collection to build a list of authors. 3.2.2 You are an avid BBSer that has downloaded a lot of shareware to build a list of authors. 3.2.3 You purchase disks from various other vendors to build your list of authors to contact. 3.2.4 You obtain a CD-ROM disk containing hundreds or thousands of shareware and public domain programs. You use this to build your list of authors to contact. 7 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 3. Getting Started (Continued) 3.3 Reviewing The Disks Scan EVERY disk for virus infections. Be sure you also scan shrinkwrapped "retail" software as tens of thousands of infected disks are shipped by major retailers every year. They think viri are a shareware or BBS problem (NOT TRUE) and they are careless and sloppy in preparing their master disks. Know what is in your collection. Don't just quickly read the on-disk documentation. Many ASP authors have a VENDOR.DOC file that contains any copying or distribution restrictions, a list of the files that must be present and a catalog description. However, you should install the shareware and run it. By running the software, you may find that you have obtained a damaged or incomplete disk. If you distribute this disk, you will get expensive to handle technical support calls and you will have to give credit or send out another disk. Or the customer will call the author. Most authors send these customers a new disk AND recommend some other vendor to your PREVIOUS customer. The same authors also recommend other vendors if you insist on carrying old versions. If the software isn't better or different than what you are already carrying in your catalog, you may not wish to carry the shareware. Or, you may find the new system better and use it to replace an existing catalog entry. For example, YADS stands for "Yet Another DOS Shell" or menu system. Seems like everyone thinks they have designed the best there is. They haven't even looked at what is already available in the shareware marketplace. You just can't afford to carry all of the menu systems, screen blankers, clocks, tickler systems, etc. that are constantly being designed by the authors. LOOK FOR the author's distribution restrictions. Some authors will NOT allow you to carry the shareware unless you get written permission from them. As mentioned before, you should contact the author anyway as you will probably get the latest version if the author gives you permission. SOME authors not only require written permission, but may also require royalties from rack and CD-ROM vendors even though they may have sent you their disks in the first place. 8 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 3. Getting Started (Continued) 3.3 Reviewing The Disks (Continued) Look for files advertising other vendors. The files placed on disks the other vendor distributes are probably copyrighted by that vendor and you can not issue disks with that file. Further, you don't want to advertise that other vendor's service. Vendors can copyright "compilations" of many separate small shareware systems on one disk. This is often done with small utilities. The vendor can NOT copyright the individual programs and documentation (not written by the vendor), as the authors retain their own copyrights. BUT, they can copyright the compilation. Don't forget you still need permission from many of the authors to carry their system even in a compilation. You must build up your own compilations that don't infringe on the other vendor's copyrights. If you use disk numbers in your catalog, don't copy some other vendors numbering system. You could end up in court. Do your own thing. Don't use the program descriptions out of some other vendor's catalog. This is another way to look for copyright trouble. However, the same description may appear in many vendor catalogs IF they all use the author's description found in the VENDOR.DOC file used by many authors. You may use the author's description if it isn't pure hype. Be sure that you describe the shareware on the disk and not some retail product the author is pushing in place of the shareware. If you are/become a member of the ASP, you will receive the latest Official ASP Catalog each month that contains the author written program descriptions. 3.4 Logos & Letterhead If you really want to go into a business, get your ducks lined up first. Pick a company name. Coming up with a unique name could be a tough one, particularly if you use the word "shareware". Also, avoid the word "freeware" as Headland Press still owns the Trademark on that word. A lot of authors of shareware REALLY don't like to send their disks to an outfit with the words "public domain" in their name as that implies "free" (read that as no registration income). 9 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 3. Getting Started (Continued) 3.4 Logos & Letterhead A logo always looks good on your letterhead. If you are not artistic yourself, or do not have an artistic friend, go to your local college Art Department and see if you can find someone to design a logo. At least get some help laying out your letterhead even if you don't use a logo. Create a Business Plan. Prepare a budget for the next several years that compares your expected income with expected expenses. What advertising schedules will you use? Where are you heading or where could you head? Look at the market. What penetration do you expect? Go to your local IRS office (in the USA) and find out how to get a Federal Tax I.D. number. It costs nothing. Even if you have no employees, you will need it for your Tax Schedule C. Many states that have Sales & Use taxes will use the same number for your State Tax license number. Contact your State sales tax office. Get a business checking account. It makes it easier to track your costs and income for tax purposes. If you have a good history with your bank, you may be able to get a Master/Visa Merchant account from them. Being able to handle credit card sales is a real asset. Do you have a sharp looking business card to hand to the bank manager when you are applying for a credit card Merchant Account? You should be dressed in a business like manor. Have every phase of your image be business like. The image you present is very important. It conveys a lot about your drive and commitment to succeed. Send out professional looking letters to the authors and others. Many authors will "round-file" (read that - trash) letters not on letterhead paper printed with a 9-pin dot matrix printer in the draft mode. If you received such a letter, would you consider the sender to be "for real" and commit the expense to send disks? 10 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 4. Preparing Your Catalog If you are a Rack Vendor, your catalog may consist of a Table of Contents type of listing on your rack. You may only have the descriptions on the disk packages. If you are a Rack Vendor, you may be able to skip after you read Section 4.1. 4.1 Honesty In Advertising Over the years, many of us in this shareware business have seen many of the sleazy shareware advertisements and catalogs touting FREE!, FREE!, FREE! Software. You don't find too many any more as most of those vendors have failed or have decided that honesty is the BEST policy. After all, the entire shareware industry is based on trust between the author, vendor, BBS and end user. You should prominently display a description of shareware and the registration process. This is also true for Rack Vendors. You must make an attempt to educate your customers on the nature of shareware. You can write this information in your own words or use the ASP recommended wording: a. "The fee paid to the vendor is a distribution charge and does not cover the cost of the program itself." This is important in maintaining customer satisfaction. Too often a customer purchases a disk from a vendor only to be offended when s/he learns that an additional payment is required. Customers should be fully informed before their purchase. Some rack vendors have failed when they were not honest up front with the user. The user thinks the price sticker is the ONLY cost of shareware. They get angry when they see the author's registration requirements, demand their money back from the store owner and the store owner dumps the trouble causing rack. b. "If the user finds a Shareware program to be of use, s/he is expected to send the registration fee to the author." Users are not "encouraged to register", they are "required to register". Please do not imply that a user registers only if s/he "likes" the product. Liking the product is irrelevant if the user continues using it beyond the evaluation period. 11 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 4. Preparing Your Catalog (Continued) 4.1 Honesty In Advertising (Continued) Registration is required for use beyond evaluation, and emphasis should be placed upon the individual author's registration requirements. The user's trial or evaluation license is determined by the copyright holder. This is a legal requirement, not an optional formality. c. "Registration entitles the user to various rights and benefits (depending on the author). These range from the legal right to continue using the software, to printed documentation and/or higher levels of service." Please do not make promises which the authors can not fulfill, such as stating that registration always brings printed manuals. Usually this is true, but the actual registration benefits depend upon the individual author. Each author has his/her own registration incentives. Actually, the above is a requirement, not just a suggestion, for ASP Vendor members. If you throw honesty to the wind, both you and the authors will get complaint calls and letters. Authors getting these complaints will almost always recommend some other vendor that the author knows believes in honesty in advertising. Another opportunity for failure in this business {grin}. 4.2 Use A Good Word Processor There are many excellent shareware word processors that will produce excellent looking printed catalogs (be sure to register {smile} ). Or you can use a good non- shareware word processor. There are excellent shareware Desk Top Publishing systems if you wish to include screen captures in your catalog. If you are preparing an on-disk catalog, almost ALL word processors can "print" to a straight ASCII file that contains no control characters except a Form Feed (ASCII 12) after line 59 on each page. Do not pad blank lines to make a full 66 lines per page. The HP laser printers (and compatibles) can handle only 59 or 60 lines before they eject the page. 12 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 5. Hardware 5.1 Computers At a minimum, you will need a computer with BOTH 5.25" 360k and 3.5" 720k disk drives. These days, a 100m hard drive is very reasonable in cost. You need a good computer to review the shareware and public domain software that you may place in your catalog. Get the latest and greatest that you can afford. At the time this document was last updated, fast super VGA computers with at least 100m hard drive could be purchased in the $1,500 (or less) range. You may also want to pick up an old machine with a Hercules type monochrome monitor to see if the color selections used by an author will give a readable screen on an old monitor. A laptop with LCD display may be another good test bench for the same reason. Some authors just don't take the time to shut off color so that the program can be used on the older monitors. Naturally many games these days are written for VGA as many serious gamers have up to date monitors. 5.2 Do NOT Depend On 1.2m Drives You MUST have a TRUE 5.25 inch 360k drive. You may also want a 1.2m 5.25 inch drive, but you MUST have a true 360k drive to make your 360k disks. ALL disk vendors distribute either 360k 5 1/4" or 720k 3 1/2" disks. A few distribute collections on 1.44m 3.5" disks. Very FEW vendors sell 1.2m 5 1/2" disks. Don't let a computer store or mail order outfit tell you that you can make 360k copies on 1.2m high density drives. Sure, sometimes you can. Often a customer will NOT be able to read the disk. You will get a LOT of calls from those to whom you have sent disks. It will cause you loss of big bucks, lost sales and frustrated customers. Sort of akin to the end of the world for a shareware vendor. Why? The answer is fairly simple. To get 1.2m on a 5.25" disk, the disk drive "paints" a track that is 1/2 as wide as the 360k drives so it can place 80 tracks on a disk rather than 40. Sure, you can ask the DOS FORMAT program to tell your disk drive to lay down only 40 tracks for a 360k format, but they are still THIN tracks. 13 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 5. Hardware (Continued) 5.2 Do NOT Depend On 1.2m Drives (Continued) If the disk was previously formatted, and often suppliers sell pre-formatted disks at no additional price, the vestiges of the 80 tracks are STILL there, even though your disk drive just wrote a 40 track 360k format onto the disk. A true 360k drive has a WIDER head and will easily pick up portions of bits from the adjacent unerased thin track that was laid down previously. The 360k drive reads garbled data and DOS gives up. Even if you make 360k disks with disks that have NEVER been formatted before, the tracks are too thin to be read by many 360k drives. A slightly out of adjustment 360k drive can read true 360k disks just fine, but will choke on one of those darned disks made on a high density drive. This problem does NOT exist with 1.44m 3 1/2" drives. The track width on both the 720k and 1.44m formats is the SAME. Eighty tracks are used for both 720k and 1.44m. The 1.44m format just has twice as many sectors to the track. 14 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 5. Hardware (Continued) 5.3 Disk Duplicators You can use the DOS DISKCOPY command to make copies from your shareware masters. If you are not familiar with DOS commands, most high schools have Continuing Education courses that will teach you how to use a computer. See Section 6.5 for training shareware. Hopefully, your sales will reach a point where you can no longer keep up with using a computer and DISKCOPY. Below are several companies that supply disk duplication equipment. Midwestern Disk o Has 4 and 5 at-a-time for Duplication Center 360k, 720k, 1.2m and 1.44m 509 W. Taylor disks. Creston IA 50801 o Carries the Ventuno line of 515-782-5190 3.5" & 5.25" bin autoloader 800-221-6332 type duplicators. FAX: 515-782-4166 o Call for prices. MediaFORM o Xpress autoloaders and disk 75 Uwchlan Avenue labelers for all types of Exton PA 19341 disk media. 215-524-7600 o Call for prices. 800-220-1215 o 12% discount for ASP members FAX: 516-363-3735 Micro-Technology o Axiomatic 4 at-a-time for Concepts 360k, 720k, 1.2m and 1.44m 258 Johnson Avenue disks. Brooklyn NY 11206 o Call for prices 718-456-9100 800-366-4860 FAX: 718-456-1200 If you are in need of disk duplicators, be sure to call all of the above companies to get the latest price and feature combinations so that you get just what you need. 15 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software 6.1 Catalog-On-A-Disk CATALOG-ON-A-DISK (from EmmaSoft Software Company, Inc.) makes it easy for your computer-using customers to buy from you. They can browse or search for products and order as they go along using only the (Enter) and (Esc) keys, arrows and numbers. The order form is sent to a printer or text file, with taxes and shipping calculated, to be mailed, faxed, called in, or sent by modem. The program is particularly appropriate for selling shareware because all your customers have computers, it's a unique and modern way to distribute the catalog, and the program itself is shareware. It's a fast way to get a catalog put together, and is less expensive to produce than a print catalog. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK also offers unique ways to distribute your catalog. Businesses distribute catalogs on floppy disks, on the hard disks of computers they sell, and even have customers download catalogs from their BBSs. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK makes buying easy because it is based on the (Enter) key to make choices, and the (Esc) key to back out. There are very few keys for the user to find, so ordering goes very quickly with no obstacles between your customer and your products. You make your catalog files with your favorite text editor, then compress the files using the Companion program. Compressed files fit an enormous number of products on a floppy disk. They are read directly into memory - no intermediate file is created so it displays fast and pricing and other catalog data is secure. You make the catalog screens to best represent your company. Opening Screens display your splash screen, tell about the catalog, your products, and your company. The Main Menu displays categories of products. The "Exit" menu is where customers print the order form, review an order, or view Special Forms (discount coupons, informational text or ordering details). You can set up your own help screens and a help bar. If your catalog is not in English you can translate the program's internal text. Address and date formats can be set for US or international use. 16 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.1 Catalog-On-A-Disk (Continued) You can also set your catalog to automatically calculate sales tax for one, all, or no states or provinces. You can also build shipping options into the catalog, letting the customer choose an option so the shipping will be calculated into the total on the order form. Trial shareware versions are available from: Electronic Service Area Library File Name CompuServe GO WORK 14 CATALG.EXE Genie HOSB 12 CATALGxx.ZIP* ESC BBS Files 1 CATALGxx.ZIP* *Replace the "xx" with the most current version number. Example: CATALG21.ZIP. Plus many vendors and BBSs around the world. 17 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.2 Compression Software It is a challenge for many authors to fit their entire system on one disk. They often use compression software that can squeeze the files to 50% or less than their original size. Compression software is always used on Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) to reduce download times and save room on the BBS hard disk drive. Phil Katz's PKZIP system is the most widely used compression system. For BBSs, the author compresses all of the program and documentation files into one ZIP file. For example the SmuggyWrap shareware (fictitious) Version 2.1 may all be ZIPed into a file named SMUGGY21.ZIP. Some authors send their disks to both BBSs and disk vendors as a single ZIP file. In this case, your job will be to run PKUNZIP to expand the compressed ZIP file out into the various program and documentation files so that you can evaluate the system. It may be the author's intention that you place all of the files in the ZIP (after uncompression) onto a single disk for your shareware distribution master. Hopefully, the author will communicate this to you with a letter or on-disk instructions. Authors often have a VENDOR.DOC file for this type of instruction. Other authors expect you to be a mind reader and this type author often gets few registrations due to poor packaging. If you plan to send out shareware disks to your customers, they will need to already have the PKZIP system or you will have to include PKUNZIP.EXE on each distribution disk that contains ZIP files. Further, your customer will have to figure out how to unZIP the compressed file. This is a REAL problem for end users. Those users that already understand how to unZIP a file probably obtain their shareware from BBSs and won't be your customer anyway. If you include PKUNZIP.EXE on your distribution disks, you will need a license from PKWARE (414-354-8699). To solve this end user problem, there is another type of compressed file used by many authors called a "Self- Extract Program". It is an executable program (.EXE) where the PKZIP software is at the front of the file and the remainder of the .EXE file that is the compressed data (normally in a ZIP file). 18 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.2 Compression Software (Continued) When you run this type of program, it uncompresses all of the author's program and documentation files to recreate the original files. It is the author's responsibility to get a license from PKWARE to send you this self-extract program file. You do not need to pay any further royalties to PKWARE as the author has already done so. Many authors include an INSTALL program or BATch file to properly install the shareware on the users hard drive. Therefore, you never want to uncompress the self-extract if the INSTALL program is looking for the self-extract files. Every disk or rack vendor should get a registered copy of PKZIP. Call PKWARE at 414-354-8699 to get your registered copy and ask them about royalty arrangements if you wish to send out disks with just the PKUNZIP program. Another popular compression system is LHA. It competes very favorably with PKZIP as far as compression rates and (as of this writing) has no royalty requirements. There are copyright notice requirements that must be followed. This software is available from most disk vendors and BBSs. 19 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.3 Disk Duplication You computer came with DOS. One of the DOS files is DISKCOPY.EXE. You can easily copy disks with DISKCOPY A: A: (Enter) to make one-at-a-time copies. You have to run it for each copy and each time, it needs to load your master disk. The following duplication software is available from several ASP authors. The descriptions are from the ASP Official Catalog. Product: Disk DUP Author: FormGen Corp., 416-857-4141 Version: 5.9a (11-08-90) Needs: IBM PC, DOS 3.2 or better. Registration fee: $25.00 Registration benefits: Printed manual, master disks, unlimited technical support, product discounts. Look for: DUP59A.EXE on BBSs; DUP59.EXE on CompuServe in CIS:IBMHW forum LIBrary 1 (or contact userID 70446,76 for assistance). Download size: 75k (about six minutes with a 2400 baud modem) Description: Speeds the duplication of disks. Master images are stored on hard drive, but data compression saves valuable space. Copies can be produced at lightning speed. Multi-disk option for up to ten drives at once! Disks can be serialized at your option. Many options, excellent user interface, full status screen. Very powerful, yet easy to use! If you need to make multiple copies of disks, DUP will make it quick and easy. Product: DISKCOPY Author: Feico Nater Shareware, 31 74 438373 Version: 1.0 (01-01-92) Needs: IBM PC, DOS 2.0 or better. Hard disk. Registration fee: $15.00 Registration benefits: Phone/mail support, free updates. Look for: DISKCOPY.* on BBSs; DISKCO.* on CompuServe in CIS:. forum LIBrary 0; DISKCOPY.* on GEnie in 0 forum LIBrary 0. Download size: 13k (about one minute with a 2400 baud modem) 20 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.3 Disk Duplication (Continued) Description: Copies an entire floppy disk onto a file on the fixed disk and back again. Provides: Easy copying of a floppy disk from A to A or from B to B, without the need to swap disks several times. Make many copies of a single disk without the need to use a source disk. Includes automatic formatting. Product: FormGen Utility Pak #1 Author: FormGen Corp., 416-857-4141 Version: 1.01 (10-30-90) Needs: IBM PC, DOS 3.2 or better. Registration fee: $25.00 Registration benefits: Printed manual, master disks, unlimited technical support, product discounts. Look for: UPAK1.EXE on BBSs; UPAK.EXE on CompuServe in CIS:IBMSYS forum LIBrary 3 (or contact userID 70446,76 for assistance). Download size: 146k (about 11 minutes with a 2400 baud modem) Description: 12 excellent utilities! QCOPY fast single drive copy, makes multiple copies, no swapping SERA secure file erase ** MEETS DOD STANDARDS ** DUMP high performance hex dump ENCRYPT/DECRYPT fast and very secure file encryption FEED/EJECT TSR page eject GDAY your morning smile SEARCH/GLOBAL multifile search/replacement LOCASE converts files to lower case ZIPPROC automated file processing TIMESYNC sets your system clock to time standard You can obtain the above systems from almost any ASP disk vendor or you can call the author's company directly. BE SURE you register all shareware that you use after the evaluation stage {smile}. 21 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.4 Virus Scanning YOU MUST CHECK EVERY DISK that you receive. Don't trust anything, especially the so-called "retail" shrinkwrapped software. Shareware authors, BBSs and vendors are routinely careful if they expect to stay in business. Before you even do a DIRectory of any disk, run your virus scanner software against the disk. Contact the person that sent you the infected disk as they may not be aware of the infection. You may never find a virus. They actually aren't as common as the press would have you believe. Second to retail software are the computer repair shops at spreading virus attacks. Some rarely, if ever, check a disk brought in by a customer that wishes to try out a new computer on the floor. Some don't check computers that they bring in for repair. The customer's hard disk could be infected and the repair person can easily infect the test disk used to diagnose the computer. Every computer checked by that test disk thereafter will be infected. Some retail computer stores re-shrinkwrap returned software and place it back on the shelf without checking it. Scary, isn't it? SCAN EVERY DISK! Integrity Master is an excellent easy to use, up-to-date, anti-virus, data integrity, change management, and security program. It provides a single comprehensive solution to assure that all your programs and data are safe. In addition to scanning for known viruses, it detects unknown viruses and unlike other products will detect files which have been damaged but not infected by a virus. Integrity Master protects you against all threats to your data and programs not just viruses! To order with Master or Visa card, call 800-788-0787 or 314- 256-3130. You can subscribe to several upgrade packages. Virx - A so called "free" demo of the of Datawatch's retail "Virex For The PC". The latest Virx version can be obtained from the VIRUSFORUM on CompuServe, many BBSs and disk vendors as VIRX.ZIP. It is only the scanner and will detect over a thousand viri. If a virus is detected, you are warned so you can send back or destroy the disk being scanned. However, if you want to remove the virus, you buy a copy of Datawatch's "Virex For The PC" which can be purchased through computer software stores and mail order houses or by calling Datawatch at 919-490-1277. 22 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.5 DOS Tutorial Shareware Many startup shareware disk vendors have little knowledge of the computers they are using. Further, the people that answer the phones have little knowledge of what they are sending out. They don't even have the knowledge to tell the user to do a DIRectory of the disk they sent to the user to look for .TXT and .DOC files that can be printed by the user. They even don't know how to tell the user how to COPY the README type files to the printer. There are several excellent shareware programs for learning the DOS commands. DOS Sumary Product: DOS Summary (Hypertext) Author: Computer Knowledge Version: 2.0 (02-15-92) Needs: IBM PC, DOS 2.0 or better. Registration fee: $25.00 Registration benefits: Printed manual with command examples not found in the software, master disks, bonus utilities. Shareware disks of other products. Look for: DOSSUM20.ZIP on BBSs; DSUM02.ZIP on CompuServe in CIS:IBMSYS forum LIBrary 1 (or contact userID 75655,210 for assistance). Download size: 150k (about 11 minutes with a 2400 baud modem) Description: DOS Summary is a hypertext tutorial and reference product which covers all DOS commands and drivers through MS-DOS 5.0. Also added are tutorials covering memory management and how DOS starts. The program can be used in standalone or resident mode. When started, you have the option of an alphabetical command menu or a menu where commands are grouped by function. You may also start the program with a DOS command name as a parameter and be taken immediately to that command. 23 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.5 DOS Tutorial Shareware (Continued) DosEA For a tutorial on using DOS, try "DosEA", which is a six-program hypertext series. Here are short descriptins of the six programs in the series. ************* ********* DosEA ********** ** Product Descriptions ** ** Order Information ** **************************** Langin Software offers a series of tutorials and a book to help users learn DOS. The tutorials are called "DosEA" and are a play on words for a dossier on DOS. "DosEA 1 -- For Absolute Beginners" is a tutorial which demonstrates the hypertext system used in the series. "DosEA 2 -- What is DOS?" is a tutorial which explains the development of DOS. "DosEA 3 -- 10 Easy Commands" is a tutorial with hands-on practice of 10 easy DOS commands. "DosEA 4 -- Find That Command!" is a utility which helps determine the appropriate DOS commands for various chores. "Beginner's Pak" is a package of the first four programs in the series (DosEA 1 through DosEA 4). "DosEA 5 -- All About MS-DOS 5" is a reference of the many additions, deletions, and changes in MS-DOS 5. "DosEA 6 -- Switched on DOS" covers the 238 DOS switches. "An Easy Course in Using DOS" is a humorous illustrated book for those who hate computer manuals. 24 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 6. Software (Continued) 6.5 DOS Tutorial Shareware (Continued) US$ Price Total --------- ------ DosEA 1 -- For Absolute Beginners 10.00 ______ DosEA 2 -- What is DOS? 10.00 ______ DosEA 3 -- 10 Easy Commands 10.00 ______ DosEA 4 -- Find That Command! 10.00 ______ Beginner's Pak (DosEA 1-4) 25.00 ______ DosEA 5 -- All About MS-DOS 5 10.00 ______ DosEA 6 -- Switched on DOS 10.00 ______ An Easy Course in Using DOS 18.00 ______ Shipping and handling (US) 4.00 ______ Shipping and handling (non-US) 5.00 ______ TOTAL ______ Prices subject to change without notice. Credit card orders: -- Mastercard -- Visa -- American Express -- Discover Phone: 713-524-6394 * These numbers * Toll free: 800-2424-PsL * are for * FAX: 713-524-6398 * ordering * CompuServe: 71355,470 * only * ---- Mail: PsL P.O. Box 35705 Houston, TX 77235-5705 The above numbers and address are for the Public (software) Library and are for ordering, ONLY. For information about dealer pricing, volume discounts, site licensing, shipping of product, returns, latest version number or other technical information, see "Langin Software" below. Cash orders: Send check or money order to Langin Software at address shown below. Non-US payments should be drawn on US bank. Traveller's checks accepted. Canadian postal money orders accepted. Include your Name and Address and disk size. Mail to: Langin Software 532 W. 3rd St. CENTRALIA, IL 62801 USA CompuServe: 73770,615 Fax: (618) 532-0075 Voice: (618) 532-4899 25 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 7. Supplies The following information was obtained from messages on the CompuServe ASPFORUM over the years, companies that were at the annual Summer Shareware Seminars and from information sent to this author by various companies. This list is by no means complete and you will need to do your own research to decide just where you will obtain your supplies. 7.1 Diskettes There are countless suppliers of disks. Many (if not most) obtain their disks from Taiwan manufacturers. The quality of disks can vary widely from one supplier to another. This document will list no disk suppliers as they seem to come and go due to the highly competitive nature of this market. Check computer magazine ads and try 500 or so from several suppliers. Keep track of the failure rate. Switch vendors if the failure rate is more than several percent. Pick a supplier that has a good replacement policy for bad disks. Make sure they pay the postage if they require that you return the bad disks. This writer once had 48 disks fail out of one package of 50 disks. That supplier got blunt phone calls. If you pay extra for pre-formatted disks, be sure that your duplication software does a CRC check (DISKCOPY /v) as even pre-formatted disks can have a bad failure rate. You can't afford the returns when you send out faulty disks. Keep up with what is going on in the computer industry. Subscribe to several computer magazines. A lot of folks got caught not being able to obtain 3.5" disks in the Spring of 1992 when Microsoft had their Windows 3.1 and DOS 5 and IBM had their OS/2 major upgrades AT THE SAME TIME. Microsoft and IBM gobbled up every 3.5" disk in sight. The ASPFORUM was full of panic messages from both authors and vendors that got caught. This writer was down to only 7 disks while in the middle of a major upgrade on a shareware product. Normally, you can get almost any quantity in several weeks. So, be aware! Don't let your stock of disks get too low. 26 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 7. Supplies (Continued) 7.2 Mailers Consider the following as a starter for obtaining disk mailers and other supplies. Calumet Carton Sterling Disk Duplication Company 11495 N. Pennsylvania Ave, P.O. Box 405 Ste 204 16920 State Street Carmel IN 46032 S. Holland IL 60473 317-575-3390 708-333-6521 FAX: 317-575-3389 FAX: 708-333-8540 Pack & Wrap Mailers 466 Derby Avenue 40650 Forest View Road W. Haven CT 06516 Mt. Zion IL 60099 800-541-9782 800-872-6670 203-389-1983 708-872-4842 FAX: 203-389-9416 FAX: 708-872-6677 The Sirgo Company Mail Safe P.O. Box 58 4340 W. 47th Street Schereville IN 46375 Chicago IL 60632 219-865-6092 708-872-6677 FAX: 219-322-5194 800-527-0754 FAX: 708-872-4842 Quill Office International Media & Supplies Products 3501 Coffee Road, Suite 9 P.O. Box 94080 Modesto CA 95355 Palatine IL 800-835-5515 60094-4080 FAX: 209-571-5757 708-634-4800 FAX: 708-634-5708 7.3 Label Stock With font programs, you can make small quantities of laser labels at a low cost that look like they were custom printed. Nelson Ford feels that Avery Label Pro is the best laser label program. Paul Mayer recommends CompUSA for laser labels. If there is not one near you, you can call them at 817-261-7702 or 800-342-7638. They accept mail orders through this number by credit card. Prices on 6/1/90 were: 8-1/2 x 11 sheets (100) $17.99 Stock #853262 5-1/4" disk labels (840) $26.49 Stock #853901 3-1/2" disk labels (630) $26.49 Stock #853892 27 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 7. Supplies (Continued) 7.3 Label Stock (Continued) Avery will send you a sample pack of laser labels for the purpose of getting your software to work with them. Write to them at 777 East Foothill Blvd., Azusa, CA 91702-1358 or call 800-541-5507. The Computer Label Company, 800-332-4223 (619-322-3030) and MEI, 800-634-3478 (614-481-4417) have good prices on standard 3.5" by 1" labels. You can also call United Ad Label at 800-423-4643 (714-990-2700) and ask for a free catalog and sample label kit. They specialize in audio/video labels but they do have both pin-feed and laser sheet labels for 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disks. Another good source for labels is Lyben Computer Supplies 313-268-8100. They have the Avery labels. They are also one of the few suppliers that carry the continuous fanfold label stock that can be used for 3.5" disks. The labels are 2 3/4 by 1 15/16 inch and are Stock # 0300. Almost all types of label stock can be obtained from Quill (see above for address). 28 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 8. Trademarks Generally, if you start using your company name without a (TM) notice by the name, you lose the trademark protection. So spend the extra four keystrokes and put it on. The trademark office requires that you send them copies of artwork currently being used with the TM indicated next to your word or phrase. The patent & trademark office will then issue you a paper telling you that your word or phrase is now a Registered Trademark and then you have the right to use the circled R in place of TM. CompuServe has a service called IQuest (GO IQUEST) that will allow you to scan the Trademark Data Base for about $35 to $150 depending on how many ways you search. The search cost depends entirely on the exact mark and goods involved, how many "hits" come up in the search, etc. This may a quick way to check on whether or not someone else has already registered your words. However, the experienced lawyer may well find more information than the novice searcher and save you a lot of problems later. The Association of Shareware Professionals currently uses Lance Rose for copyright and trademark advice. Lance has handled the ASP's lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. and was instrumental in having a bill modified that otherwise would have virtually eliminated any copyright protection for shareware. Lance Rose 87 Midland Avenue Montclair NJ 07042 201-509-1700 Lance told us that "properly speaking it's not the words themselves that are registered, but the mark at issue for specific goods or services. The whole question of registration, of course, does not exhaust the issues raised by the question of can I use the mark? An unregistered trademark won't come up on an IQuest-style search, but the owner of the mark can sue someone who starts using it later. In this case, neither the registration search, nor registration itself, will keep the second user from getting beaten by the first user. They will want a copy of your package and need to know the first sale of the product with the "trademark" used." It can pay to shop around for a lawyer. ASP members have reported paying $200, $700, and over $1000. However, the $200 is impossible these days as the filing fee is now $200. For information about Trademarks call the Dept. of Commerce at 703-557-3158 for a copy of Basic Facts About Trademarks. 29 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 9. Collecting Shareware You need to build a list of the types of shareware you wish for your catalog and you need to collect a list of author addresses. Where do you get your shareware disks? o From another disk vendor o From BBSs o From large local User Group o From a CD-ROM o FROM THE AUTHOR DIRECTLY Guess which this writer considers the best source? You are right, the authors. You get the latest and greatest version and will probably be placed on the author's mailing list for updates and new products. Further, you won't infringe on the "library" or "compilation" copyright of some other vendor. If you have no collection at all, you may want to begin creating your subject and author list by purchasing many disks from several other disk vendors. ONLY use these disks to get the addresses to contact the authors. You must look in the authors documentation to learn of any copying restrictions stated by the author. Under the copyright laws, you may be prevented from distributing additional copies without getting permission from the author. Some authors place no restrictions on copying and others have very strict restrictions. YOU must determine this from examining the authors files. SOME authors require special written permission and SOME require royalty arrangements from rack and CD-ROM vendors even if they sent you the evaluation disk in the first place. If you are into BBSs, this may be a good source. Be SURE you use BBSs that are properly networked with the authors and other BBSs so that you will be downloading current versions of the shareware. Local isolated BBSs may have very old versions and the author addresses will be out of date. Again, examine the disks for any author imposed copying restrictions. Also look for vendor and BBS files that are not part of the authors system that you will want to remove. User Groups may also have out-of-date versions and care will need to be taken. Again, use this as a source to build your author address list so you can contact the authors. 30 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 9. Collecting Shareware (Continued) CD-ROMs are very expensive to create and some are updated infrequently. Further, you may not know if the CD-ROM producer made any effort to contact the authors to get either permission to distribute or the latest version. Before you even consider using a CD-ROM for your source of author addresses, examine the date stamps on the shareware executable program files (.EXE). If they are older than one year, you know this will not be an up-to-date source of addresses. After you have created a draft of your catalog, and made your author address list, contact the authors to obtain the shareware. If you are a RACK or CD-ROM vendor, let the author know that when you write to them. If you ALSO are a catalog (printed or on-disk) vendor, let them know that too. SOME authors will require special permission and SOME may require royalties for you to place their copyrighted shareware on racks or CD-ROMs. They may or may not require this special contract or royalties for your catalog operation. These special requirements are the AUTHOR's requirements, not requirements of the ASP or any other trade organization that this author knows of. The ASP takes NO position on any of these special author requirements or any royalty requirements and offers NO opinion except to warn the vendors that the author's copyrights are legally enforceable. 31 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 10. Providing Technical Support Hopefully you will have customers that have purchased disks from your library collection. Note that they are buying your library and disk copying services - NOT the right for unlimited use of the shareware. Many of your customers will be first time shareware users. They will not know how to do a DIRectory of the disk to look for README type files and how to copy them to their printer. YOU MUST provide some type of instruction to allow YOUR customer to figure out how to find the author's installation instructions. If the author placed no installation instructions on the disk either place your own instruction file on the disk, or don't carry that disk in your library. Develop a sheet you can send with each order that will give the novice user getting started instructions. Don't get excited, you are not expected to provide support on the author's programs, just on the package YOU sold. They have to be able to install the author's stuff so they can contact the author for support on the author's programs and documentation. You are responsible for only the front end of the installation so the user can get to the author's instructions. Some authors provide little or no instructions on getting their shareware installed and only a dedicated computer nerd could do it. Just don't sell these disks. Don't let the author's problems become your problems. If you wish to add a general purpose Help program to the shareware disks in your library, take a look at the following: Product: Simply Help! Author: SimpleWare, 709-489-3757 Version: 1.0 (01-07-91) Needs: IBM PC, DOS 2.1 or better. 384k RAM, hard disk recommended. Registration fee: $35.00 Registration benefits: Latest version with shareware notices removed. Support by mail. Look for: SIMHLP10.ZIP on BBSs (call 709-489-6018 to download it at no charge). Download size: 285k (about 21 minutes with a 2400 baud modem) Description: Create stand alone help systems or add help to any program. Editor has pull down menus, dialog boxes, mouse support, on-line help, block operations, line drawing, import/export, reports, and many more. Edit your file and instantly RUN it to see the results. 32 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 10. Providing Technical Support (Continued) Simply Help! (Continued) Compiler creates EXE files or TSR files with your choice of hot key. A library for QuickBASIC 4.xx is included. Applications include TSR help for existing programs, catalogs, readme files, manuals, on-line help for QuickBASIC programs. You MUST register Simply Help! if you are going to place ANY files created by Simply Help! on any disk copies you sell. You can have an instruction on all disk labels to show how to run your help program created with software like "Simply Help!" Or, you can print the instruction on the disk sleeves or an instruction sheet sent with each order. You can't expect your customers to be computer experts. If you are going to survive in this business, you must list a daytime support number. You may only need to tell the first time user to read your instructions on starting shareware. If you get too many calls, your instructions are inadequate and you must improve them. If you do not provide a "real live" support person, your customers will go elsewhere and you risk going out of business. Too many shareware vendors think that this business is an easy fast buck venture. They think they can make big money operating evenings out of their home. Like the authors, you can start that way if you are willing to have the money come in slowly at first. Eventually, you will need at least one or two people working full time reviewing new disks and handling technical support. You will need another person to handle the orders. This is a tough section for many folks wanting to get into this business. However, it is good advice gathered from many sources and is intended to help you decide if you want to invest further in shareware vending. 33 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 11. The Association of Shareware Professionals ("ASP") The Association of Shareware Professionals ( ASP is a Registered Trademark ) started with an organizational meeting hosted by Nelson Ford (PSL) on February 27, 1987 in Houston Texas. Successful authors such as Jim Button (PC-File), Bob Wallace (PC-Write) and Marshall Magee (Automenu), along with major disk vendors like Public (software) Library (PSL), Public Brand Software, PC-SIG, BBS operators, CompuServe sysops and many others participated in this meeting. These people could have adopted the attitude that they were already successful enough without such an organization, but they did not. They paid their own way to the Convention even though they were the featured speakers! Button was elected the ASP's first (and second) Chairman of the Board of Directors. Magee became the first President. None of these are "honorary" positions; they involve a great deal of time and effort. The ASP also owes thanks to the sysops of IBMNET on CompuServe. Sysops Conrad Kageyama and Don Watkins were at the Convention and arranged, on the spot, a place on IBMNET for the shareware authors to meet electronically and continue our plans. We have been meeting there daily ever since in what must be a record for longest continuous business meeting. The ASP has grown into a group of shareware Authors, Shareware Publishers, Disk Vendors, Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), User Groups, Press members and others working together to improve the image and marketability of shareware as an alternative way of purchasing high quality software. The shareware marketing concept is just a different way of marketing software. It is quite different from other forms that usually include the Software Manufacturer, Distributors and Retailers AND a LOT of expensive advertising and mark-ups that often cause prices in the $500-$1000 range. The shareware channel consists of 4 distinct groups: 1. The shareware Authors who write and hold the copyrights on the software. Some authors have shareware Publishers to handle the marketing. 34 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 11. The Association of Shareware Professionals (Continued) 2. The disk copying services (Vendors) which build and maintain collections of shareware and public domain software, thus providing a convenient source from which users may obtain software for evaluation. The disk Vendors charge for the disks to make a profit while covering library, advertising and other costs. User Groups contribute to shareware distribution and are usually not-for-profit providing low cost disk copies for members. 3. Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) which help to distribute software by maintaining libraries of downloadable programs. BBSs also provide a means for users to communicate with each other, recommending programs, providing technical assistance, reporting problems, and more. 4. The software user who is the underlying reason for the existence of groups 1, 2 and 3. What are the benefits of being an ASP member? 1. Author and Publisher members benefit by the user's recognition of the ASP MEMBER logo. Author and Publisher members benefit from the experience of other members. They work together to help each other with programming, marketing and support issues. Members help each other find better sources of supplies, to promote each others products, to pool their buying power to obtain better prices, and more. Author and Publisher members benefit from ASP public relations efforts. Author and Publisher members receive a subscription to ASPects, the ASP newsletter. 2. Disk Vendor members benefit by the user's recognition of the ASP Approved Vendor logo. Author and Publisher members are encouraged to send updates and new programs to ASP Approved Vendors and to allow ASP Approved Vendors and User Groups to distribute their products without requesting permission from the author or publisher. Vendor and User Group members benefit from the public relations efforts of the ASP. Vendor members receive a monthly catalog listing ASP member products and current version numbers. Lists of ASP Approved Vendors are made available publicly and users are encouraged to look for ASP Approved Vendors as the best source of high quality, up-to-date shareware. Vendor and User Group members receive a subscription to ASPects, the ASP newsletter. 35 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 11. The Association of Shareware Professionals (Continued) 3. BBS members benefit by the user's recognition of the ASP Approved BBS logo. Author and Publisher members are encouraged to provide updates to ASP Approved BBSs either by mail or by uploading directly. BBS members benefit from the public relations efforts of the ASP. Lists of ASP Approved BBSs are made available publicly and users are encouraged to look for ASP Approved BBSs as the best source of high quality, up-to-date shareware. The ASP is a team of Authors, Publishers, Vendors, BBSs and User Groups working together to improve the image of shareware as a respectable alternative to high priced retail software. ASP members work to educate the public, to let users know that shareware is available for them to actually use and evaluate before making a decision to purchase. How do I join the ASP? Join the team today! To obtain your free ASP Membership application kit, write, call or FAX the ASP and ask for the Vendor Application Kit. Association of Shareware Professionals 545 Grover Road Muskegon MI 49442-9427 USA FAX: 616-788-2765 Voice: 616-788-5131 (8:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. USA Eastern) If you join the ASP as a Vendor Member, your address will be published to all of the ASP authors and the authors are strongly urged to send the ASP vendors their disks. It is the author's responsibility to send you their disks. Each month, many ASP authors that are sending out major upgrades or new shareware products to the ASP disk vendors join together to send their disks. The authors drastically reduce their postage costs by combining all of their disks for the month in one box to each vendor. Further, PSL (who performs this service) will optionally copy and label the disks for the authors. This popular service has resulted in anywhere from 10 to almost 50 disks a month being sent to the ASP vendors. Included each month is the latest on-disk ASP Official Catalog listing over 1,000 shareware products produced by the ASP authors. The ASP Vendor members also receive the ASP's monthly (approximately) newsletter and can use the ASP trademarked logo in their catalogs and advertising. 36 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 12. Summer Shareware Seminar (SSS) Many ASP members as well as non-ASP shareware authors, vendors, BBSs, User Group representatives and others also attend the annual 2 1/2 day Summer Shareware Seminar hosted by Public Brand Software in Indianapolis, Indiana each June, usually the weekend (starting on Friday) just before the NY-PC Expo. Contact Bob Ostrander at 317-856-6052 for more information. This annual event is an excellent opportunity to "rub elbows" with lots of other shareware folks. Here is the CompuServe message announcement for the 1993 Summer Shareware Seminar: #: 205638 S10/Member to Member [ASPFORUM] 11-Sep-92 00:29:16 Sb: 1993 SSS Fm: Bob Ostrander(SCoop/PBS) 72241,455 To: All I signed the contracts today with the Adam's Mark for the 1993 Summer Shareware Seminar (that means you all had better darn well show up). The bad news is that it is a week earlier (than the weekend before the PC-Expo NY). Sorry, but this is evidently a bigger convention town than we had realized. (PC-Expo is June 29 - July 1). TENTATIVE schedule: Thurs June 17 evening SSSASPirilla Gettogether II Fri June 18 day - "Marketing through Shareware" sessions \ Distributor sessions (Vendor, BBS, UG) \ Exhibit area open evening - Hosted reception \ fun and games \ Exhibit area open Sat June 19 day - "Marketing through Retail" sessions \ Newcommers sessions \ Exhibit area open evening SIA awards banquet II Sun June 20 morning Misc. sessions afternoon ASP luncheon II 37 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 12. Summer Shareware Seminar (SSS) (Continued) The main addition will be an organized Exhibit area during the entire day Friday and until 5:00 Saturday. If we forgo rods and curtains we should have room for about 40 exhibitors. One or two day rentals will be reasonably priced and aimed at the "little guys" who want to sell stuff as well as just for authors, disk vendors, etc to show off our wares. Hopefully it will function as a focus for "schmoozing". Also, I intend that the "Packaging" session will return. The thought is, at this time, that a day be devoted to "Retail" selling (ie Packaging, Royaltyware (traditional retail), Rack vending, Contracts, Advertising). As usual, the heavy planning will start in January with detailed announcements mailed out in March. ALL SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME! There's time to work in special events and your favorite sessions. Just let me know. Bob DO contact Bob at 317-856-6052 and get on his mailing list for the 3rd annual SSS 1993. 38 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services NOTE: The information in this section is subject to change at any time. This information was put together several years ago and these price structures change often. Contact the telephone carrier for the latest arrangements and prices. Your Yellow Pages should list the long distance carriers that serve your local. 13.1 Telephone AT&T has a low cost 800-line service called the Ready Line which is relatively inexpensive. For about 23 cents a minute out of state, about 35 cents a minute in state (for Texas), you can have a fancy 800 number just like the big boys. Most of the good acronyms are already gone, but you should still be able to come up with something. At the PsL, our number is 1-800-2424-PsL, which we think is easy to remember. However, we were not able to get anything like 800-PsL-DISK or 800-SHRWARE, which would have been better. Another shareware distributor has the number 800-IBM-DISK, but IBM clamped down on them for trademark infringement and they no longer advertise the number that way, so we suggest that you not waste time trying to work "IBM" into your acronym. The Ready Line 800 number is assigned to your regular telephone number, so you do not even have to get a second line, unless you just want to be able to know for sure if someone has dialed the 800 number. An AT&T competitor, Sprint, has cheaper rates, although only time will tell if their service will match AT&T's. Sprint's rates are as follows: $10/month Rates vary with distance and total number of hours: 0-5 hours: $.2125-$.23 5-25 hours: $.195-$.205 25-75 hours: $.1775-$.19 75-150 hours: $.1775-$.1875 Call 800-347-3300 to order service. (Rates above are as of 1990 and are subject to change.) 39 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.2 Credit Card Merchant Accounts MasterCard & Visa MC/Visa Merchant accounts can be very difficult for mail-order merchants to get, more so in some parts of the country than in others. If you have had a business checking account for your business for several years, get to know your branch manager well. Try them first. If that fails, your next step should be to check ALL your local banks. It's possible that many of the local banks are processed by the same clearinghouse who sets the rules for member banks about acceptance of mail-order merchants. American Express While MC/Visa are the big guns, American Express is worth contacting after you get your Master/Visa account. 13.3 A Banker's Perspective Following is a document prepared by Eric Isaacson that may help you convince your bank that someone in the shareware business is worthy of consideration for a Merchant Account: ------------------------------------------------------- Shareware Marketing of Software: A Banker's Perspective by Eric Isaacson Copyright 1991 Eric Isaacson. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to shareware businesses and members of the banking industry to freely copy and distribute this unmodified work between and among themselves. Your comments are welcome! Send them to: Eric Isaacson Software 416 E. University Ave. Bloomington IN 47401-4739 (812)339-1811 40 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued) The Purpose of This Booklet In the past ten years a new approach to marketing computer software has emerged: shareware. Shareware is relatively small compared to the overall software market, and it is very different. It has been poorly understood by bankers wishing to evaluate shareware businesses. This booklet explains the shareware business from the banker's point of view. Why Software Is Different A computer has two components: the hardware and the software. The physical machinery comprises the hardware: the main box, various disk drives and circuit boards mounted inside, and the keyboard and monitor connected via cables. Computer programs comprise the software: the operating system, the word processor, the spreadsheet, the accounting package, the database manager, etc. The marketing of computer software poses unique problems. The value of software is intellectual: it comes from the hundreds-to-thousands of hours spent preparing the program and making sure it works perfectly for all users. The price of the floppy disks that carry the software is tiny compared to the intellectual value. This makes the computer software industry similar to the video-movie industry: both have problems with unauthorized copying. But the problems of computer software are worse: first, most computers have the built-in ability to duplicate software using just one machine. Duplication of movies requires two tape decks placed next to each other. Second, copies of software are perfect duplicates of the original. With videotape, there is significant and annoying degradation when copying is attempted. To combat unauthorized copying, some software publishers attempted to make their software difficult to copy. This "copy protection" was common in the early days of personal computing. But publishers have never succeeded in devising a protection scheme that doesn't annoy the legitimate purchaser of the program. 41 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued) Today almost all computers have high-capacity ("hard") disk drives onto which all software is copied. If a user can't copy the software to the hard drive, that user isn't likely to buy the software. Copy-protected software has almost disappeared from the marketplace. Other software publishers have taken the completely opposite approach to the problem: they market their software as shareware. What Is Shareware? Shareware is the opposite of copy-protection. Rather than trying to prevent copying, the software publisher actually encourages the user to make copies and "share" the program with anyone interested. Complete documentation is placed onto the floppy disk along with the program. In the documentation there is an explanation of shareware. Anyone who receives a copy of the program is encouraged to try out the program. If they like it, they should send payment (usually called a "registration") for the program directly to the publisher. Thus the ability to make perfect copies of the program becomes a tool for marketing the program. Note that shareware authors retain a valid copyright to the program. The author establishes the conditions under which the program may be copied. The author may also establish a specific amount of time for evaluation of the program, beyond which the user is legally required to either pay the registration fee or stop using the program. The validity of a shareware program's copyright has been tested and approved by the courts: a Missouri shareware author successfully sued a Texas distributor for violating his conditions for copying. Also, a shareware author was invited to testify before a U.S. Congressional committee evaluating software copyright law, and the law was reworded to recognize explicitly the existence and validity of shareware. Shareware is still a small segment of the whole software industry, but it is growing rapidly. Annual revenues connected with shareware are estimated to exceed $100 million in 1991. 42 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued) The Shareware Author's Business Most businesses publishing shareware consist of a single person: the author of the program. Many authors develop programs on evenings and weekends, while retaining a full time job weekdays. The author invests mostly time and not money: a good program takes many hours to prepare, but it takes at most only a few hundred dollars to market. Marketing a shareware product consists simply of placing it into the shareware distribution stream -- transmitting the program to free or low-cost dial-up computers called "bulletin-board systems", transmitting or sending it to nationwide services like Compuserve and Prodigy, and sending copies to companies that catalog and distribute shareware. If the product is good, enthusiastic users will spread it themselves, so that an initial distribution of a few dozen copies will proliferate into many thousands of copies. A significant number of those thousands result in registrations (money) sent to the author. What are the advantages and disadvantages of shareware marketing? The disadvantages are that a program takes time to build up sales volume, and the volume will usually be much smaller. Also, a program must be very good to succeed as shareware. It might be possible, via skillful marketing and advertising, to fool the public into buying a mediocre program when it's shrink-wrapped on a store shelf. But the user can try out a shareware program before buying it -- if it's mediocre, the user won't use it and hence won't register it. The advantages of shareware are low risk and low overhead. Through traditional (non-shareware) distribution channels, it takes from $200,000 to $500,000 to properly launch a software product. Markups must be granted to both retail outlets and their supplying distributors, so that the publisher might get only 15% of the retail price, and the author even less. 43 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued) Some shareware programs fail: they aren't good enough to generate registrations. But the author doesn't thereby go bankrupt. He or she simply loses the modest, out-of-pocket initial disk-and-postage investment. There are hundreds of shareware authors who make enough money from shareware to substantially supplement their regular job income. About 50 authors are making a living from shareware receipts, and have gone full-time with their shareware business. Many of them can make a handsome profit without even needing to hire anyone else to help out. Some shareware businesses grow into full-fledged companies, with dozens of employees and multi-million dollar annual sales. To reach that level, the author typically supplements the shareware marketing with traditional advertising and dealer distribution. But even for those companies, the risks are low because the author moves into traditional distribution only after the product is generating significant revenue through shareware marketing. The expansion is financed via existing profits, rather than venture capital. Shareware Businesses and Banking Shareware marketing is completely unique -- the only other business with its try-before-you-buy philosophy is Public Television; but Public Broadcasting stations do not enjoy the low overhead that shareware authors do. The uniqueness of shareware makes it poorly understood in the banking industry, especially those handling credit-card merchant accounts. Shareware has some of the characteristics bankers normally associate with poor risk: payments are made almost entirely by mail or telephone, and all but the largest shareware businesses are operated out of the author's home. 44 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued) In reality, however, shareware authors are ideal credit-card merchants from the banker's point of view. Unlike other mail-order businesses in which the customer doesn't see the product until it arrives, with shareware the customer already has the product. If the customer isn't happy, he or she simply stops using the program, and never pays the author in the first place. If the customer wishes to defraud the author, he or she simply uses the program and never contacts the author. Thus, all of a shareware author's paying customers are both happy with the product and honest enough to pay for it. The level of customer complaints and chargebacks is close to zero. Credit-card fraud for shareware is non-existent. If a banker knows about shareware, he or she should welcome a shareware author's business. How can a banker identify a bona fide shareware business? To start, the banker can ask the author for a copy of the program. If the banker doesn't feel "computer-literate" enough to verify that it's a genuine, non-trivial program, he or she can ask for references. Many shareware authors are members of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). The ASP screens applications for membership, to ensure that only legitimate authors of non-trivial shareware are admitted as author-members. The ASP would be happy to verify any claims of membership -- they can be reached at (616)788-5131, weekdays 8--5 eastern time. Other prominent authors have chosen not to join the ASP, but their programs are listed in the catalogs of shareware distribution companies such as Public Brand Software, P. O. Box 51315, Indianapolis, IN 46251; or the Public (software) Library, P. O. Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235. Shareware Distribution Companies Bankers should be aware of another major component of the shareware industry, distinct from the authors: the shareware distribution companies. These companies take advantage of the fact that copying of shareware is allowed, by providing a cataloguing and distribution service of shareware disks. Customers of distribution houses are sent lists of available programs, for which they can pay a copying fee of between $1 and $5 per disk. 45 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued) There is no business arrangement between authors and distribution houses: authors neither receive any royalties for disks sold, nor do they pay anything for the publicity given them. Customers understand that they are not paying for the software, but merely for the distribution service. Most shareware authors allow distributors to handle their programs, because it spreads their programs even further. From a banker's point of view, the shareware distribution houses are closer to traditional mail-order businesses. Their profit margins are much lower than authors', because their overhead relative to revenues is higher. They must advertise in order to build business. Some distribution companies haven't charged enough for disks to cover their overhead costs, and have thus gone bankrupt. But others, such as Public Brand Software and the Public (software) Library, have built solid, profitable, multi-million-dollar companies from shareware distribution. A banker wishing to evaluate a shareware distribution company can use many of the usual criteria: length of time in business, size of business, profit sheets, etc. There are a couple of pointers specific to shareware distribution that can enhance the evaluation: first, companies should be charging at least $3 per disk in order to be profitable. There can exist "Mom and Pop" outfits, run out of homes, that make some money charging less; but if they try to expand into real businesses, their overhead almost always overwhelms them. Second, a banker can check the distributor's integrity by asking for a catalog and for advertising copy, to make sure that they are adequately explaining to the customer that they are a shareware distribution service and are not selling the software itself. If the customers understand what they are getting, the level of complaints and chargebacks will be much less than that of the average mail-order business; if they don't, it will be as much or greater. 46 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP 13. Services (Continued) 13.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued) For More Information The booklet "Shareware `Try Before You Buy' Software" by Rob Rosenberger describes shareware from the consumer's point of view. You may purchase it by sending $4.95 plus $1.75 S+H to Paradise Publishing, 3111 S. Valley View Blvd. Suite B-105, Las Vegas, NV 89102; or calling (702)253-1940. For free catalogs listing the best available shareware programs, you can write to Public Brand Software or the Public (software) Library at the addresses already given, or call them at their respective numbers: (800)426-3475 and (800)242-4775. ------------------------------------------------------- End of Eric's article. 47 Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP Index 1.2m Disk Problems . . . . 13 Rack Vendor Definition . . 3 800 Numbers . . . . . . . . 39 Registering Shareware . . . 11 American Express . . . . . 40 Registration Incentives . . 12 ASP . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Shareware Compilation Catalog . . . . . . . 9 Copyrights . . . 9 Association of Shareware Shareware Copyrights . . 5, 8 Professionals . . 34 Shareware Definition . . . 4 Banker's Perspective . . . 40 Shareware Description . . . 11 Catalog Software . . . . . 16 Shareware Registration . . 11 Catalog, ASP . . . . . . . 9 Simply Help Shareware . . . 32 Catalog, On-Disk . . . 12, 16 Software . . . . . . . . . 16 Checking Account . . . . . 10 Catalog . . . . . . . 16 Collecting Disks . . . . . 7 Compression . . . . . 18 Collecting Shareware . . . 30 Duplication . . . . . 20 Compression Software . . . 18 Summer Shareware Seminar . 37 Computer Equipment . . . . 13 Supplies Copyright Disks . . . . . . . . 26 Compilations . . . . . 9 Label Stock . . . . . 27 Shareware . . . . . 5, 8 Mailers . . . . . 27, 28 Credit Cards . . . . . . . 10 Technical Support . . . . . 32 Definition Trademarks . . . . . . . . 29 Freeware . . . . . . . 4 Tutorial Software Shareware . . . . . . 4 DOS Summary Description Of Shareware . 11 (Hypertext) . . . 23 Disk Collection . . . . . . 7 DosEA . . . . . . . . 24 Disk Mailers . . . . . 27, 28 Vendor . . . . . . . . . . 3 Disk Organization . . . . . 8 Vendor Advertizing . . . . 9 Disk Suppliers . . . . . . 26 VENDOR.DOC File . . . . . 8, 9 Disk Vendor Definition . . 3 Virus Scanning . . . . 8, 22 Duplication Software . . . 20 Virx/Virex-PC Scanners . . 22 Duplicators . . . . . . 14, 15 Visa Card . . . . . . . . . 40 Federal Tax I.D. . . . . . 10 WATS Lines . . . . . . . . 39 Fluegelman, Andrew . . . . 4 Word Processor . . . . . . 12 Freeware Definition . . . . 4 Help Software . . . . . . . 32 High Density Disk Problems . . . . 13 Integrity Master Anti-Virus . . . 22 Label Stock . . . . . . . . 27 Letterhead . . . . . . . . 9 Library Collection . . . . 7 Logos . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Mailers, Disk . . . . . 27, 28 Market Niche . . . . . . . 6 Master Card . . . . . . . . 40 Merchant Accounts . . . . . 40 Niche, Market . . . . . . . 6 On-Disk Catalog . . . . 12, 16 Rack Vendor . . . . . 3, 7, 11 48