Educational Software Cooperative 4/Educational Software Cooperative 4.iso/mxdb/software/base/r1533.txt

Text File | 1995-02-25 | 14.1 KB | 261 lines

 Pik A Program, Inc.
 13 Saint Marks Place
 New York, New York  10003
 PHONE: [phone]
 FAX: [phone]
 Compuserve id: 73730,2117


             COMPLETE ORDER FULFILLMENT SERVICES ARE FINALLY AVAILABLE FOR
             SHAREWARE AUTHORS!

Spend more time doing what you want to do.  A complete order fulfillment
service which includes a toll free order number, 7 day a week live phone
answering, 24 hour fax services, acceptance of Visa, Mastercard, and
American Express, duplicating, packaging, and mailing services is now being
offered by Pik A Program.  This is an especially valuable service for
authors from around the world looking to increase business in North America.
Your potential customers will now have an American address to call toll free
to order your products.  Your product will be shipped from within the USA,
and will be in their hands within days.  This can result in a dramatic
increase in registrations.

The cost for this service is well below the percentage taken by most third
party resellers and publishers. There is a basic item fee of $5.00 to cover
costs of taking the phone calls, writing up orders, etc.  Added to this is
10% of the registration fee, as well as a charge of $1.00 per double density
diskette, and $1.50 per high density diskette in the program.  $.25 per
sheet (double sided) is charged for duplicated inserts such as a short
manual or ad for additional products.  In addition, there is a $4.00 per
order postage & handling fee.  This goes directly to Pik A Program, Inc. and
covers shipping on their entire purchase.  Overseas shipping would be more,
based on costs.

Pik A Program is using the Software Creations BBS as our 'home BBS.'  All
shareware Pik A Program, distributes is uploaded to that BBS for you, as
well involvement in other mass distribution methods.  Pik A Program can also
take care of  requests for shareware copies of your programs, and can mail
brochures when customers call and request them.  You will be supplied with a
database of the users who have registered your program(s) through Pik A
Program.  This list would, of course, be yours to use for your marketing
efforts, list trades, upgrade notices, etc.


            Here is a brief overview of Pik A Program, Inc.

Pik A Program has been active in the shareware industry since 1990.  First
as a vendor, Pik A Program was among the first companies to package
shareware in an attractive box for display in retail stores.  An exclusive
installation program was designed for use with the programs Pik A Program
distributes.  It is customized for each package and aids customers with
installation.  Pik A Program also gives one of the fullest shareware
disclosures in the industry.  Each package prominently displays the original
author/publisher, as well as the registration fee.  As a result, customers
are aware of the registration requirements before they purchase a product,
resulting in less complaints about 'paying twice' and more registrations for
the authors.

In September of 1992, Pik A Program became the American distributor of
TommySoftware's CAD/Draw program.  At first the relationship began as one of
merely taking and shipping orders. Through Pik A Program's own initiative,
the relationship expanded to include helping design a new installation
procedure, changing registration requirements, and convincing the author
company to join the Association of Shareware Professionals.  Pik A Program
also promoted the software at the Summer Shareware Seminar, PC-Expo, and
Comdex.  With the next release of the CAD/Draw software, Pik A Program will
also be taking on added responsibilities with regard to distribution to BBS
systems, vendors, and the press.  In addition, Software Creations has been
added as a 'home BBS' for support of the programs which Pik A Program
distributes.  While not required to take on these added chores, Pik A
Program does all that it can to help sales with any of its partners.

Currently, Pik A Program is working closely with a retail store, Venus
Records,  with which it shares its space and labor force.  There are
currently a total of 13 people working at the location.  All of them are
trained to handle phone calls for orders.  This allows phone orders to be
accepted  7 days a week. A toll free number for orders is also available.
Orders are accepted by phone, fax, or mail, as well as e- mail on
Compuserve.   Payment by Visa, Mastercard (Eurocard),  American Express,
check, and money order are all accepted.

The president of Pik A Program, Inc. is Bill Shor.  He is also the president
of Venus Records. Venus Records started out in 1977 as a mail order importer
of records.  It grew into a retail store, which has been hailed as one of
the best independent record stores in the USA.  Along with the retail store,
Venus has expanded to include mail order, its own record label, and
international wholesale sales of records and compact discs.  Bill's work
with computers spans approximately 12 years, and includes setting up an
inventory system for Venus Records as well as co- designing the software Pik
A Program.  He is active on Compuserve in the various shareware forums, and
has also done volunteer work for the Association of Shareware Professionals.

Pik A Program intends to remain a trendsetter in the shareware world, and so
is very open to new forms of distribution and shareware.  Future expansion
will focus on working with more authors and foreign shareware companies as a
publisher/distributor for their products.  One of the most important goals
of Pik A Program is to serve the needs of the people with whom the company
is directly working. When discretion is needed, work can be done on a non-
disclosure basis until the time is right.  In all cases, the needs and
concerns of the client come first.

            For more information, contact:
            Bill Shor
            Pik A Program, Inc.
            13 Saint Marks Place
            New York, New York  10003
            phone: [phone]
            fax: [phone]
            Compuserve: 73730,2117
            member: ASP, STAR, ESC

            ______________________________


             Requirements for Fulfillment Service

  Price List: There is a basic fee of $5.00 plus 10% of the
            selling price of the program package. Added to this is:
            - $1.00 per low density diskette
            - $1.50 per high density diskette
            - $0.25 per double sided insert sheet
            - $0.15 per other normal insert (insert, manual, etc.)

            Shareware version mailing:

We will fill a customer request for a shareware copy of the program for
$5.00 each (single disk program only).  This fee is paid by the customer.
We will also tell them where they can get it on-line instead.  This includes
duplicating the program and mailing. This does not include keeping this
person on the mailing list.  This cost will not be deducted from the
registration price later on.

            Brochure mailing:

We will fill a customer request for a brochure for the program for $1.00
each.  This includes duplicating a single sheet brochure (black & white
photocopy) and mailing. This does not include keeping this person on the
mailing list.  This cost should be absorbed by the authors.  We will prepare
50 (or more) brochures at a time, and charge the author accordingly.  When
we run low on the 50, we will bill the author for an additional 50 set-ups.
If you do not wish to use this service, the customer will be told that no
literature is available.

            Distribution of shareware:

We will be participating in several distribution services. Depending on the
costs to us, there will usually be no charge to the author, but for some
paid distribution services, we will have to pass along a nominal fee.  The
services involving a charge will be optional to each author.

            Phone support:

This is still in the final planning stages, but should be available in early
July.  We will require authors to give some form of free support, preferably
on-line with Compuserve and the Software Creations BBS.  We will also be
offering for the convenience of the users a pay by the minute type of phone
support.  We are still working out the details, but there will be a higher
charge for non-registered users than registered users of the programs we
distribute.  All fees involved in this service will be paid by the users,
and should cost authors nothing.  This service will give users extra
security that the program is well supported, and not a 'fly by night'
operation. Toll Free order numbers:

We have a toll free number of our own.  Some authors may wish to have their
own toll free number which will go directly to our phones.  The advantage of
this is that if you ever set up your own full time office, or switch
services, you can bring your toll free phone number with you anywhere in the
USA.  Of course the disadvantage is cost. There are phone companies that
will not charge an installation nor monthly service fee, but their per rate
charge is higher than some others.  You may list our toll free number for
orders only at no additional charge to you.  All costs involved in having
your own 800 number will be paid by the authors, and may also involve a
deposit for advance payments on the phone line.

            Press fulfillment:

If a member of the press requests a free copy of the program, we will fill
the order, and charge you the $5.00 plus per disk & packing fees, as well as
postage.  We will not charge the 10% of the cost of the package (which makes
sense since the charge to the press is $0.00). This is the best form of
advertising you can get.  Odds are very good that if a member of the press
contacts us for a review copy, that there will be a mention following.
Occasionally, we will also get a request from the purchasing office of a
corporation.  We will generally fill these requests as a press request, as
this can result in a large order. Using our judgment, we may just send them
the shareware version.  These requests will be added to the mailing lists.

            Other services:

In addition to the normal services above, you can arrange for additional
services as well. You can have Pik A Program negotiate publishing deals with
various low cost retail and shareware vendors. Mailings can be arranged.
Printing of manuals and boxes can also be coordinated.  With some programs,
you may also negotiate a publishing deal with Pik A Program in which all
costs are paid for all of our services, and you would just receive royalty
checks.  If you are interested in any of these higher levels of service,
feel free to ask.

            What is required of the author:

Before we can begin to work with any program, we have to see it. Preferably
we would like to see both the shareware and registered versions.  We will
suggest ways to improve the wording of the docs, as well as the program.  We
will also try to add in the proper wording for our services within the
registrations sections. If you do not already have one, we always recommend
an installation program to be added to your product.  You should also be
prepared to supply some form of free technical support.  This can be through
Compuserve or a USA BBS (we recommend the Software Creations BBS, which we
use as our home base). We generally prefer to be able to have you send us a
master copy of everything, so we won't run out.  When shipping is required
from a foreign country, it can easily get delayed.  A lot of customers call
if they don't have their order within a week (especially if they phoned or
faxed the order in). We try to always ship within 2 business days - often on
the same day.  There are several ways we can work out with you to verify
sales.

We also need you to put into the program files a mention of the Software
Creations BBS, with their phone numbers.  Something like the following:

The latest version of XXXX is available from Pik A Program's home BBS,
Software Creations.  You can reach this BBS at the following numbers:
[phone] - 2400 Baud V42 MNP5
[phone] - 14.4K V32(BIS) DS
[phone] - 16.8k HST USR

They give us special treatment for doing this.  They are a huge 'feeder'
bbs, supplying files to a lot of other BBS systems and vendors.

Expect it to generally take a bit of time for us to set up our distribution
for you.  Please, do not list us as a registration source until we give the
OK.  We do not want to be in the position of having orders sit unfilled for
weeks while the final version is prepared. Once you have signed up for our
service, we still have to get the masters from you, look them over, send
suggestions back to you, have you implement any needed changes, and send it
back to us for a final approval.  We also have to set up technical support
for your product(s), which means that if you do not already have a listing
of bugs, common problems, solutions and workarounds, you will need to spend
some time on this.  If there is a basic phone script you wish for us to
follow, this also has to be prepared and approved (any phone script may not
be exactly followed depending on the thoroughness and questions of the
customer on the other end).  Often wording has to be changed for the US, as
well as some symbols and conventions (dollar signs and date format for
example).  If you opt for your own phone number, this may take time (usually
an 800 number can be connected within a few days).  We will try to help with
all of these details, but the help we can give will vary from program to
program.

I am usually in the office between noon to 5pm weekdays (NYC time)
if you wish to reach me.  I also log on to Compuserve most weekdays to check
for messages.  Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions
you may have. Thank you.

            Bill Shor
            Pik A Program, Inc.
            13 Saint Marks Place
            New York, New York  10003
            phone: [phone]
            fax: [phone]
            Compuserve: 73730,2117
            member: ASP, STAR, ESC