You need to get into the shareware business, continued.

SoftwareCEO article continued.

By Bruce Hadley. As published by SoftwareCEO on August 12, 2003.

Tip #7: Don't over-develop.
" In this industry, sometimes good is good enough," Housley says. "22 percent of software buyers say that if the first thing they download does what they want, they'll buy it."

"Developers tend to be terribly anal, and they're terrible marketers. They'll keep adding and adding and adding to a product, so that the functionality and ease of use is gone."

Tip #8: Offer immediate and easy signup extras.
The emphasis of the previous point is that you should make your initial download experience as open an inviting as possible. Think of it as a trade show: Do everything you can to get people into your booth, without any discrimination or demands. Once they're in your booth, however, it's certainly OK to introduce yourself, shake their hand, and read their name badge.

It's the same with shareware downloads: "Once they've downloaded — or are downloading — they are more receptive," Collins says. "If at that point you display an optional registration opportunity that's tied to some level of support, they will almost certainly go for it. Once they've crossed the first leap of faith, it's OK to ask for more, as long as you offer more."

Tip #9: Provide sample data.
Your trial version needs to quickly show your software in a real-world situation; you can accomplish this through templates, data sets, and example reports.

"Give them sample data, so that customers don't have to create a database," Housley says. "Make part of the functionality a strong import feature. Include a sample data set and give them the possibility of creating their own. It shouldn't be an obstacle to using this model."

Tip #10: Crank up your documentation and help files.
A downloaded trial version that no one can figure out how to use does no one any good, and may actually do you serious harm.

"Having really thorough documentation can really minimize tech support," Housley says. "We released a product before the docs were done, and got way more phone calls.

"Our business model is, to some extent, never talk to the customer. Nowadays we never release a product until the docs are really beefy."

NotePage also sponsors and moderates a user discussion forum, where people trade tips and tricks and solutions online. "To some extent, your users become your sales force," Housley says. "They provide tech support for other users; all you have to do is pay for the forum, and watch over it."

Tip #11: Nag them. Nicely.
" Nags" can take the form of reminder screens when your software starts, pop-ups when certain features are accessed, or separate tips and tutorials and offers sent via e-mail. All are acceptable, and can work well, if used correctly.

"Use tips and nag screens throughout the software experience to remind people to buy now," Housley says. "You may even want to randomize the sequence, so that where a screen pops up at one point, it will pop up at a different point next time."

"You've got to get the balance, and there isn't a general rule," Collins says. "If your software is open on the desktop or server everyday, you've got a lot more room to move, but if it is something I open four times a day for five minutes each time, you probably don't want to pop something up every time."

Reminder notices about the amount of time left in the trial are probably the safest, Collins says, but even those shouldn't appear more than once a day. If you have a feature blocked out, another nag on top of that isn't necessary.

How do you find the balance? The same way you (hopefully) built your software: market research and beta test. "Beta test the shareware as you beta test the software," Collins says. "It really, really depends on the market. What is reasonable for a home consumer user might be highly intrusive for a corporate user.

And, borrow like crazy: "It's very easy to get a massive number of shareware applications to see how others are doing it," Collins says. "In general, though, I think you can lean towards leniency; if the software does what they want it to, they will purchase."

Tip #12: Include "buy now" buttons in the software.
" Users should be able to buy directly from within the application," Housley says.

"The button brings them to a Web site where they can buy online, then get a password or activation code via e-mail. Or, after the purchase is confirmed you can direct them to another URL where they can download a registered version."

Tip #13: Provide a "buy now" link on your Web site.
" Sometimes when people market via shareware, they lose sight of the direct purchases," Housley says. "You also have to provide a way to buy without downloading the trial version. Don't swing too far the other way."

Tip #14: Follow up consistently and often.
" The danger you face with downloads is that they're simply forgotten," Collins says. "In general, telephone follow-up is an extremely good idea for business apps. At a minimum, e-mail five days after the download with thanks, then again in another five days with tips and tricks — once again, it's all about finding the right balance."

"At the SIC, there were people with accounting systems and all kinds of business software," Schnyder says. "On those sales, the follow-up to the download is more important — my software falls in that category."

Schnyder sends out a series of three e-mails to all those who supplied an e-mail address when they downloaded. He gave us a Word-file that contains the askSam series of follow-up e-mails; SoftwareCEO Site Members can get a copy from the Marketing and PR section of our Downloads Library. The file name is "Post-download E-mail Campaign."

Tip #15: For complex products and/or bigger sales, do an online demo.
" Overall, we close more than 10 percent of our 1,500 downloads per month," Schnyder says. "But if we do a demo online we're getting a 38 percent close rate.

"When we show them the product online and answer their questions, it's incredibly powerful," Schnyder says. "We've done 400 to 500 of these demos, so it's statistically significant."

Schnyder's product, askSam, doesn't do just one thing; lots of different users might download the full version — it's unlimited for 30 days — for lots of different things.

When choosing whom to target for a follow-up online demo, the askSam sales crew focuses on those who've checked off the need for any kind of site license or network version. "At one time I was doing it only for potential sales worth $1,000 or over, but I've since lowered it because the close rate is so high," Schnyder says.

The trick, Schnyder says, is making the demo relevant to the user. "It's difficult," he says. "My guys who are doing it know the product very well, and we can show them how askSam will work for what they're trying to do."

Tip #16: Focus on the conversion rate.
" Everyone who is successful nowadays with shareware follows up with a series of e-mails, and perhaps even sales person," Schnyder says.

"Getting more downloads is more expensive than increasing your conversion rate. One guy at the SIC said raised his conversions from the range of 1 to 2 percent to 5 or 6 percent, and the result was that he quadrupled his revenues."

If you think about it from a sales manager's perspective, this only makes sense: Downloads are qualified leads, oftentimes downright hot leads. You'll get a lot more bang for you buck focusing on those that you will trying to drive the masses to your site.

Tip #17: Put marketing in a Web frame of mind.
Of course, the previous tip assumes you have an existing funnel — i.e., people who are already downloading your software.

Although shareware marketing costs are comparatively low, it isn't free. "You still have a need for marketing and search engine optimization, because you still need to be found," Housley says.

Tip #18: Clock your conversion rates, but only against yourself.
Conversion rates are crucial, but have little relevance outside your own company. I.e., don't feel like a hero if you beat the 1 percent industry average we cited above, and don't feel like a loser if you don't match NotePage's 10 to 20 percent.

"It depends on how you're pulling in your traffic," Collins says. "Are you going to a broad audience with banners, or a targeted group via direct mail? I've seen downloads as low as zero and as high as 5 to 6 percent.

"The conversion rate depends on the software, what it does, and the price, as well as your model for your trial version. Some people may download your software to use it one time, and have no intention of buying it.

"Also, the size of download matters: Small files that are quick and easy to download will see a lower conversion rate.

"A figure that's often thrown out there is 2 percent. In the vaguest of vague sense of accuracy, that's a reasonable rate for conversion. If you compare that to refund rates, it sounds appalling that only one in 50 are going to buy — or, in a retail sense, 98 percent of your people will ask for a refund.

"However, remember that lots of downloads are never installed on that system. Also, there's a very different mentality involved with shareware: You're making it as easy as possible to have people download it. There's no money involved to make the transaction more serious."

Tip #19: Follow-up on the non-converts, too.
" One of the slickest ways to do this is with an uninstall survey," Collins says. "When the user goes to uninstall, you present a quick survey: 'We're sorry to see you go; will you please tell us why?'

"Most will click right past that, but a small number will give you some feedback. The advice that I give is that you won't get a lot of quality information there, but you may well find one gem that will make a big difference in sales — something your software is missing, for example."

As valuable as this exercise is, however, you should let marketing or support handle it, not sales. "Chances are, by the end of the trial period, it's unlikely you're going to achieve much conversion by chasing them," Collins says. "It's likely that most of your efforts are going to be wasted as far as turning them into sales."

Tip #20: Network with other shareware pros.
" Don't be afraid to ask questions — people really are good about sharing information," Housley says.

"Besides the SIC, there's the Association of Shareware Professionals. It has a closed forum that's available to members, but it's only $100 a year, and you won't get flamed there."

"There are a lot of relationships that form among shareware developers; most in the shareware community wear multiple hats. Lots of people start in shareware as a hobby, and if it works, quit their day jobs.

"But remember, everyone is a potential customer. You may be chatting with someone and think they're a nobody, and then find they're head of MIS at a large corporation that you're after, and this would be a huge buying opportunity for you.

"With the shareware model you need a Web site and you need bandwidth — that's it. Your product is going to sell itself. Compared to all the other things you're going to do to increase you sales it's very inexpensive to offer shareware.