Thursday, November 1, 2012
How to Surf Smartly
Surfing the Net used to be footloose and fancy free but all
that has changed radically over the last few years. As the major players in the
Internet space, whether it be search, e-commerce, or social media, become ever
more powerful, you, the Internet surfer become weaker. And by weaker, I mean
compromised.
Each time you surf the Net you leave a little bit of
yourself behind and slowly but surely your privacy is stripped away. There are
people whose naivety has resulted in them posting information about themselves
online on such sites as Facebook. When this sometimes innocuous behavior or
uncommon hobby is revealed by a current or future employer it means the end of
their relationship with that party.
There are others who are somewhat aware of the dangers
lurking in cyberspace and would like to be more circumspect when surfing the
Net. They are sick of pop-up ads appearing and destroying their on screen real
estate every time they have made an innocent query. These are people who For those of you who do want to avail
themselves of the advantages and multitude of uses of the of the Internet yet
do not want to become victim to its gatekeepers.
For these people there is a solution and it is a solution
that is cheap, easy to implement, and simple to use. To defend yourself from
prying eyes when surfing the Internet all you need do is surf via a proxy server.
“What is a proxy server?” I hear you ask.
Let’s briefly explain what transpires when you conduct a web
search. You type in the search parameters to your search engine of choice which
sends that data to a server which gathers the relevant responses which are then
passed on to you or more specifically, your IP address. This enables those who
control and monitor the Net to know who searches for what from where and to
tailor responses to your queries.
Author bio: This article was written by the Proxy Toolbar Company GeoSurf.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Software Monetization Tools
Computers are an indispensable part of today’s world. They
are found almost everywhere and are responsible for amazing increases in
productivity and efficiency. The extent that we rely on our computers is
usually only apparent when they malfunction. Then, just like when we wake up in
the morning feeling sick, and long to feel good like when we are healthy, do we
realize how dependent we are on these technological marvels. However, what
would a computer be without software?
Why do you think that Microsoft, SAP, and Oracle rank as
some of the largest companies in the world? It’s called software. Software is a
highly lucrative business. Why? Because once the software is created, it can be
replicated almost infinitely at very little additional cost. For software
multinationals with the financial clout to design new software, the marketing
of their new product is handled by their marketing departments. However, for
individual or small teams of software developers, whose expertise is usually
limited to creating software and not marketing, getting their product
recognized and accepted in the market is a huge task. And, who’s kidding who,
what use is it creating the world’s next must have program, if you can’t sell
it? This is where software monetization comes into play.
Software monetization is the task of making money from your
software and it invariably involves the appropriate marketing of your software.
As a small fish in an ocean of sharks, you have to nimble and smart to get
ahead and make your product stand out. This can be achieved in many different
ways.
Perhaps this is not what Isaac Newton intended when penning
the famous quote, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulder of
giants,” however, by bundling your software with a better known piece of
software, you can use their already established market to gain quicker and
greater market penetration than attempting to go it alone.
Whether as a standalone operation or in conjunction with
bundling, you can divide your software into different versions with different
features and price points. This enables buyers or potential buyers to get a
feel for your product offering before fully committing. Similarly, you can
integrate a dynamic installer into your software to facilitate quicker and more
stable downloads as well as accessing revenues from Tier 1 advertisers.
All these software monetization options will cost you money
in revenue share but will save you money in the short and medium term in
marketing costs and should provide quicker market penetration than what you
could’ve achieved on your own.
Author bio: This article was written by software marketing experts at Somoto.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
What to Look Out for When Marketing Your New Software
You have invested your heart and soul into your latest piece of software. You are proud of your achievement but even more than that you are sure that you have created something that the world needs. However, this is where the real work starts – getting the word out amongst your target users that there is a new kid on the block and he not only deserves to be given a chance but must be given a chance, because it’s their loss if they are not going to use your product.
Such arrogance will not be tolerated when marketing your software but if you don’t believe in yourself and your “baby” then who will? There are many things of which you must be aware when marketing your new software, starting with the old adage that if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
In many respects, the marketing profession is the polar opposite of the software developer profession. Marketers are usually brash, big talking salesmen – the antithesis of programmers. And although there are many reputable practitioners, there are also fly by nighters who will promise the earth and deliver little. Do not be swayed by a pushy, fast talking software marketer. Take your time, do your research, and make sure that they not only talk the talk but also walk the walk.
As a software developer, you may be best sticking with people of your own kind – software developers. There are software developers who have developed successful products, crossed the chasm, and incorporated a marketing arm to their business plan. By bundling your software offering with their product you can leverage off their already established marketing capabilities and captive market. These people will speak your language and appreciate your situation. It is almost always easier to deal with such people.
Another marketing ploy is to offer you access to Tier 1 advertisers. Not every company is capable of providing this caliber of advertiser. Being associated with such advertisers gives your product a credibility that it so desperately needs when entering the market. Similarly, they guarantee that your software will remain pristine. This means that when it is downloaded, it will not be with unwelcome additions such as malware, spyware, and the like.
Marketing your new software can be and should be a positive experience. Be cautious, do your due diligence, and trust your instincts, and the marketing of your new software should be as successful as the software itself.
Author bio: This article was written by software marketing experts at Somoto.
Monday, May 14, 2012
BitsDuJour 100% Off Promotions
BitsDuJour is known for it's 50% to 90% off exclusive software discounts, we have lots of
vendor information on all that if you're interested.
But what about discounting your software 100%? Well we've constructed a way to actually make it profitable.
The concept is simple. You provide us with a list of registration codes, we hand them out to our customers - free of charge - for a 24 hour period. In return you get the email address of the customer. Add them to your list, offer them upgrades, cross-grades, and whatever else you've got to sell. It's that simple.
Check out this short clickthrough, it'll show you exactly what to expect...
No, neither of us make any money up front. But we went ahead and did the math for ourselves. Our conclusions? Sacrificing one of our promotional slots for an influx of new customers is absolutely worth it. And we think it will be for you, too. We've already done some testing and found that quadruple-digit registrations are a reasonable expectation. That's potentially thousands of pinpoint-targeted customers. Not to mention a whole bunch of free PR!
Interested in participating? Sign Up and we'll get you on the 100% schedule as soon as possible. Setup is quick and easy, and comes with the same professional attitude, whiz-bang copywriting services, and attentive comment moderation that you've come to expect from Bits. That part is on us :)
The concept is simple. You provide us with a list of registration codes, we hand them out to our customers - free of charge - for a 24 hour period. In return you get the email address of the customer. Add them to your list, offer them upgrades, cross-grades, and whatever else you've got to sell. It's that simple.
Check out this short clickthrough, it'll show you exactly what to expect...
No, neither of us make any money up front. But we went ahead and did the math for ourselves. Our conclusions? Sacrificing one of our promotional slots for an influx of new customers is absolutely worth it. And we think it will be for you, too. We've already done some testing and found that quadruple-digit registrations are a reasonable expectation. That's potentially thousands of pinpoint-targeted customers. Not to mention a whole bunch of free PR!
Interested in participating? Sign Up and we'll get you on the 100% schedule as soon as possible. Setup is quick and easy, and comes with the same professional attitude, whiz-bang copywriting services, and attentive comment moderation that you've come to expect from Bits. That part is on us :)
Thursday, June 2, 2011
eSellerate Announces Integration with Amazon Fulfillment
eSellerate announced today that software vendors now have the ability to send shipping requests directly to Amazon Fulfillment. Software Vendors manage their Amazon account separately, but he tie-in is an interesting alternative to existing fullfilment methods. This marks eSellerate as the first of the software e-commerce platforms to implement this feature, will others follow suit, or has eSellerate delivered something unique?
"Normally, publishers selling physical products through eSellerate take care of all the fulfillment duties, from receiving shipping requests to shipping the products and marking the orders as fulfilled. As an alternative, we now offer the ability to integrate with Amazon Fulfillment, a service that enables merchants to outsource fulfillment of their products. Publishers who use this option can set up their eSellerate stores to send fulfillment requests to Amazon when orders require shipping. After shipping the items, Amazon sends "Your order has shipped" e-mails to the customers, and notifies eSellerate that fulfillment is complete. We then mark the orders as fulfilled." - eSellerate
"Normally, publishers selling physical products through eSellerate take care of all the fulfillment duties, from receiving shipping requests to shipping the products and marking the orders as fulfilled. As an alternative, we now offer the ability to integrate with Amazon Fulfillment, a service that enables merchants to outsource fulfillment of their products. Publishers who use this option can set up their eSellerate stores to send fulfillment requests to Amazon when orders require shipping. After shipping the items, Amazon sends "Your order has shipped" e-mails to the customers, and notifies eSellerate that fulfillment is complete. We then mark the orders as fulfilled." - eSellerate
Labels:
e-commerce
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Definitive Marketing Jargon List
This is a submission from Hunter Richards, who blogs about online accounting software and other systems for Software Advice.
Streamline business processes. Enhance workflow. Increase visibility. Do these really mean anything? Let’s face it – ERP, CRM, and accounting system vendors talk a lot of nonsense about their products. Inspired by Gartner‘s magic quadrants, I’ve decided to put this marketing jargon in its place. The quadrant below classifies the most common phrases, sorted by degree of overuse and lack of meaning. Hover your mouse over a given phrase to see my snarky comments.
Note that we find a lot of straight-up gibberish, a fair amount of creative garbage (my favorite), a little bit of acceptable marketing, and no helpful description whatsoever. No wonder the software selection process is so grueling. But hey, that’s what we’re here for – to dig through all the fluff. So, what methodology did I use, you ask? Well… it was purely subjective. Don’t like how I judged your favorite phrase? Leave me a comment.
This originally appeared on the Software Advice blog: A War of Enlightenment Against Marketing Jargon.
Labels:
marketing
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Upcoming Software Conferences
This season's upcoming software conferences are as follows:
Affiliate Summit East 2011
New York, NY
August 21-23, 2011
http://www.affiliatesummit.com/
WordCamp
Conferences several locations
Seattle, Washington, April 16, 2011
Atlanta, Georgia, May 6-7, 2011
Orange, California, May 14, 2011
Raleigh, North Carolina, May 21-22, 2011
http://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/
ISDEF Spring 2011
Independent Software Developers Forum
Kiev, Ukraine
April 22-24, 2011
http://www.isdef.org/en/conference/
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2011
Los Angeles, California
July 10-14, 2011
http://www.digitalwpc.com/
Business of Software 2011
Boston, Massachusetts
October 24-26, 2011
http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2011/01/business-of-s
oftware-2011-dates-announced.html
European Software Conference
London, England
November 19-20, 2011
http://www.euroconference.org/
SIC
Software Industry Conference
TBD - After 20 years the conference may not go ahead this year
http://sic.org/
Affiliate Summit East 2011
New York, NY
August 21-23, 2011
http://www.affiliatesummit.com/
WordCamp
Conferences several locations
Seattle, Washington, April 16, 2011
Atlanta, Georgia, May 6-7, 2011
Orange, California, May 14, 2011
Raleigh, North Carolina, May 21-22, 2011
http://central.wordcamp.org/schedule/
ISDEF Spring 2011
Independent Software Developers Forum
Kiev, Ukraine
April 22-24, 2011
http://www.isdef.org/en/conference/
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2011
Los Angeles, California
July 10-14, 2011
http://www.digitalwpc.com/
Business of Software 2011
Boston, Massachusetts
October 24-26, 2011
http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2011/01/business-of-s
oftware-2011-dates-announced.html
European Software Conference
London, England
November 19-20, 2011
http://www.euroconference.org/
SIC
Software Industry Conference
TBD - After 20 years the conference may not go ahead this year
http://sic.org/
Labels:
conferences
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