home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Fritz: All Fritz
/
All Fritz.zip
/
All Fritz
/
FILES
/
GRAPTIES
/
ANOTHER1.LZH
/
TMWPART1.EXE
/
lha
/
YOUROWN.DOC
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-08-28
|
14KB
|
282 lines
**************** YOUR OWN SHAREWARE PRODUCTS ****************
Many early users of my programs have asked questions
about how to get their products into the shareware market,
and I definitely have the answers for you:
First, let me tell you that shareware marketing does
work! Now, let me tell you that you probably won't make a
million dollars, and that it won't happen overnight. But,
this is a good way to bring in easy rainy day money, or make
sure you have extra money coming to you in your retirement!
Creating shareware is easy to do. All you need to do is
know something that others would like to learn about, or be a
good fiction writer, etc. And so, by using The Multimedia
Workshop, or Writer's Dream, you create a shareware product
containing some of your knowledge. For instance, if you know
about playing a trumpet, you can write a shareware tutorial
called BEGINNING TRUMPET LESSONS ON DISK. And then write
another called INTERMEDIATE TRUMPET LESSONS, and possibly
others such as ADVANCED TRUMPET LESSONS, PLAYING THE CORONET,
INTERMEDIATE TROMBONE LESSONS, etc.
BEGINNING TRUMPET LESSONS is shareware. You'll be
essentially giving it away, but in it you include an
advertisement for your other products, these other disks you
have written. The only way people can get these other
products is by sending you money.
Well, You probably see the idea and it's incredible
potential!
There are other approaches to shareware marketing. For
instance your tutorial might not advertise other products.
You might simply state that it is shareware and that as the
author, you expect the users who are happy with it to send
you $15. This works, but of course not as well as to ask for
$15 AND list other products available only from you.
Interestingly, if your knowledge is in a very specialized
field, you are not necessarily limited in the amount of money
you can make. specialized knowledge is very valuable. If
you can start someone on a new career, or can explain a
technique that can save a small (or large) company lots of
money, you have a product that will bring hundreds of dollars
for each copy. Hobbyists in any field have been known to
spend way too much to get exactly the knowledge they want!
And many shareware distributors have learned that even
very obscure titles sell well, because specialists will seek
these titles out! For instance, PET, a shareware disk for
veterinarians is a good seller. HYDROFLO, which has something
to do with designing pipes and valves for fluids, has always
been a good seller!
AND HOW DO YOU GET THE DISKS TO PUBLIC?
This is amazingly simple. All you do is make copies of
your disks, and send them to shareware distributors. There
are usually 50 or so advertising in the classified ads
section of COMPUTER SHOPPER magazine. The distributors are
hungry for new products and will be quite happy to review
your disks. If they feel that your material is interesting
and reasonably well done, and many shareware distributors
will take almost anything that works, they will list it in
their catalogs and start sending out copies to buyers.
The distributors don't send you any money, and you don't
send them any money. Whatever money you make, comes from
your advertisements within your shareware disks. And your
costs? Only the cost of a few blank disks and the postage to
mail them. You can send just to a dozen shareware
distributors, or to hundreds. Of course, the more you send
to, the sooner you'll start making real money. Here are some
good distributors:
GEMINI MARKETING INC
BOX 640
DUVALL WA 98019-0640
PC-SIG
1030D E. Duane Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
PD SELECT
BOX 1884
GASTONIA NC 28053
PUBLIC BRAND SOFTWARE
BOX 51315
INDIANAPOLIS IN 46251
ATTN R. JOHNSON OR D GARNER
REASONABLE SOLUTIONS
2101 W MAIN ST
MEDFORD OR 97501
SOFTWARE EXCITEMENT!
6475 CRATER LAKE HWY
CENTRAL POINT OR 97502
SOFTWARE LABS
3767 OVERLAND AVE #112
LOS ANGELES CA 90034
BOSTON COMPUTER SOCIETY
385 Elliot Street
Newton, MA 02164
FREE BOOTER SOFTWARE
BOX 19624
PORTLAND OR 97219
SIZZLEWARE
P O BOX 6420
LAKE CHARLES, LA 70606
Although there are some organizations for shareware
authors, you don't have to join any. This is not a union
shop. Anyone can participate without a license, without
paying dues or fees, and without waiting!
On the other hand, if you want to fully immerse yourself
in the shareware world, if you want to learn all you can
about the business, you might like to join the Association of
Shareware Professionals. The cost is $50 for the first year.
There are several benefits. They can duplicate and mail your
disks to distributors and BBSs for you (for a price). They
have an ongoing conference between shareware authors and
distributors on CompuServe. They have rather strict rules
with which your shareware must comply, essentially forcing
you to turn out a professional, financially effective
product. Using the ASP name and logo adds a professional
flavor to your shareware. Write to them for details:
Jan Abbott - Executive Director
Association of Shareware Professionals
545 Grover Rd
Muskegon MI 49442
AND HOW MUCH HOW SOON?
I can't give you figures set in concrete, but here's some
ideas. The worst case I have heard of is a guy who makes $10
or $20 per month in registrations of his product. Is that ok?
Would you settle for the price of a nice meal or a new pair
of shoes every couple of months for something you did in your
spare time? (and of course the time required to copy and mail
1 or 2 disks a month)
On the other hand, another author is making $5,000 per
month. There are a few shareware authors who have made over a
million dollars, but they are by no means average. My guess
is that the average author has to put out 10 good products
over the course of perhaps three years before reaching an
income of $25,000 per year. But there is no ceiling. You
can keep improving and writing more!
Regarding time, you can't be in a hurry. It takes a
while for a distributor to print up new catalogs including
your new disk. It takes a while longer to get these catalogs
to the public. It takes another while for the people to
order your shareware disk, and then even more time before
they decide to send you money. You really shouldn't expect to
start taking in much for about one year. We have one new
product, which did not bring a single registration for 3
months. Eventually, checks started coming in regularly from
that product.
Late breaking news: Some shareware authors report good
and relatively fast results by uploading their programs to
several major BBSs (electronic Bulletin Board Services). Of
course, the big national ones like CompuServe, Genie, Delphi,
and America On-line are the best. A company called Megapost
offers this service for you. For approximately $90 per 100
kilobytes, they will upload your shareware to many of the big
BBSs. You can write to them for more information:
MEGAPOST
c/o Andrew M Saucci, Jr.
641 Koelbel Ct.
Baldwin, NY 11510-3915
Of the big boards, CompuServe is probably the biggest. An
account now costs only $7.95 per month and includes unlimited
access time. However, many services are at extra cost. One
of these services is uploading files. The cost is $12.40 per
hour if you have a 2400 bps modem, but it seems well worth
it. CompuServe customers download our programs at the rate
of several hundred users per month!
HERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT NEED DOING:
Tutorials in playing all standard musical instruments.
How about a tutorial in reading sheet music?
Illustrated, disk-based cook books are sure to be a hit.
Car repair manuals.
All aspects of home sewing.
All crafts and hobbies.
Of course, the first few people who put art, drawing,
or cartooning lessons on a disk will do quite well!
Anyone want to tackle the subject of television repair?
How about computer repair?
Or how about a general course in electronics?
Chemistry? Biology? Anatomy? Herbal medicine?
How about making a clip-arts and clip-sounds library for use
with The Multimedia Workshop, as a separate and independent
shareware release?
An illustrated separate, independent tutorial on the use of
The Multimedia Workshop. Probably just about anyone can
write something better than this text-only manual you are
presently reading!
PITCH
We have a disk-based book about shareware marketing. It
covers all the inside tricks and successful design, mailing,
advertising and registration strategies that I have learned
through personal experience, plus considerable research of
the results gained by many other shareware authors. It
uncovers all sorts of important information ranging from
toll-free 800 phone numbers to registration delay screens, to
bulk mailing rates. Also, a thorough study of what works and
what doesn't. Plus a chart of 10,000 shareware disks sold,
broken down into categories to illustrate what topics the
American public is interested in. It is called SUCCESS WITH
SHAREWARE. You can succeed without Success With Shareware,
but why learn the hard way, the costly way, the
time-consuming way, when you can have your own copy of
SUCCESS WITH SHAREWARE for $29.95?!
To get your copy:
Send $29.95 plus $3 postage (Canada - $5, Overseas - $7) to:
SOFTWARE EXCITEMENT!
1475 Crater Lake Hwy
Central Point, OR 97502 USA
Or phone them at 1-800-444-5457 or 503-826-8082
(Works in any IBM-compatible computer)
(Please specify if you need 3.5" disk size)
And of course, there are other marketing strategies
besides shareware. You can sell your disks directly to retail
stores, you can advertise through the mail, you can teach
courses or workshops and sell your disks to your students. My
own favorite way is shareware, however, because in terms of
numbers of people who can gain from your work, nothing else
comes close. Sure, by direct sales you might sell thousands
of copies, but your shareware product will be seen by a
million people!
The point is this: Why keep what you know bottled up
inside yourself, or teach it to a handful of students? Why
work very hard to write a manuscript only in hopes that you
can interest a publisher, and then hope the editor doesn't
trim it to pieces? Through shareware, your story WILL be
told, and it will be told YOUR way to a huge audience!
_____________________________________________________________
end of chapter