I just posted Software Marketing News to
http://www.softwaremarketingreso ... e-newsletter52.html
Selling Software on Amazon
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I recently signed up with Great Mind Software to sell FeedForAll on
Amazon.com. With Amazon's new search coming I thought think this is a
great opportunity for small
developers to increase their exposure. Great
Mind Software acts as publisher of software products, for the purpose of
getting it listed on Amazon.com.
Kathy Salisbury of Pharos Games has launched this new service and I'm
glad that I jumped in early on, as the process was really quite simple.
In order to sell items on Amazon the item must exist in Amazon's
inventory. Items are catalogued using a unique barcode identifier. Great
Mind Software a subsidary of Pharos Games has setup a publi
shing company
that provides barcodes for developers interested in selling on Amazon.
For $ 99.00 Great Mind Software will review the title, setup the Amazon
listing and provide a barcode.
The developer then creates a seller account on Amazon. Once setup they
list inventory in their software and begin selling their title. I've
been very pleased with the response and the sales my listing has
brought. Additional information on Great Mind Software and selling on
Amazon can be found at:
http://www.greatmindsoftware.com
Avanquest
***********************************
One of the most brilliant software marketers I know, Phil Schnyder from
askSam has begun working with Avanquest. Avanquest is a global software
publisher and distributor based in Paris. They are currently launching a
new area of on-line software distribution.
Avanquest's reach is extensive covering territories in Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, Finland, France, Denmark, Germany,
Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden,
Switzerland, Spain, and the US. Their new on-line sales channel is
desinged to promote, market and sell products internationally. The
on-line sales channel will be launched in France and England in April
and will be expanded to other territories over the next 12 months.
Signing a publishing agreement with Avanquest will mean your software
marketing materials will be localized and published in local languages.
Avanquest's press department maintains close relations with all the
major publications in each industry. They will send press announcements
in local languages and setup special promotions including cover mount
CDs, special offer discounts, bundling opportunities and other online
marketing promotions, including distribution to an in-house mailing list
of over 2 million subscribers.
If you are interested in submitting your products for consideration for
distribution by Avanquest contact
pschnyder@avanquest.com include your
product name, description and web address so that your product can be
fully evaluated.
Additional details on Avanquest can be found at:
http://www.avanquest.com/ENG/
Protexis & CNET
*********************************
Through a multi-year commercial operating agreement CNET and Protexis
have bundled their offerings providing developers solutions for
licensing, ecommerce and distribution. Three pieces to a puzzle that
developers struggle with when selling software online. Protexis
specializes in licensing and ecommerce solutions while CNET holds the
keys to undoubtedly the largest software
download distribution network
on the Internet. Their properties include: download.com,
windowsmarketplace.com and zdnet.com. CNET has a vested interest in
Protexis' success, so it is logical that they would provide the power of
the CNET distribution network capabilities to Protexis clients.
Realizing that some developers have different levels of protection
already in place, the new Protexis protection system is designed to work
with existing systems or as a complete standalone solution. At this
point, if an existing protection system can pre-generate a list of
serial numbers, it can easily work with the Protexis system. Eventually
Protexis hopes to expand their support to other types of key generation
systems.
The key benefits offered by Protexis appears to be a very aggressive
e-commerce rate of 8-10%. In addition the software will be "wrapped" in
a very short time frame (15 minutes). The developer will not have to
integrate a complex SDK into their application to track sales, the
Protexis system automates the process, making what is typically a
time-consuming process, a turn-key solution.
I have not yet attempted to "wrap" any of our titles but will be sure to
let everyone know how it goes when I do. It will be interesting to see
how this agreement affects sales through traditional shareware
registration services. I will be interested to see how secure Protexis'
licensing is, when it becomes popular, and how flexible their ecommerce
solutions is. In particular, as I scrutinize their e-commerce system I
will be looking to see if developers are able to have custom order
forms, multi-tier pricing options, or add-on products? All which
ultimately have the ability to influence the sales volume.
And finally, the answer to the question everyone is asking, how will
this new service effect prices of product listings on download.com - it
won't. The end-user browsing listings on CNET's properties will not see
any discernable difference in the products wrapped using Protexis and
those not wrapped.
Additional Details -
http://www.upload.com/1200-21-5139580.html
Samurai Business Tools
***************************************
Scott Kane the moderator of the comp.software.shareware.authors group
has started a newsletter the Soft Zone. The Soft Zone newsletter is
dedicated to persons, companies and people interested in the selling and
marketing of software using the "Try Before You Buy" marketing model.
Soft Zone is FREE and you can unsubscribe any time you like.
Additional Details -
http://www.samuraibusinesstools.com/newsletter.html
Article
*******************************
Innovative RSS
While RSS was at one point only considered to be a means to deliver news
headlines, RSS has quickly become a powerful medium to disseminate all
kinds of information. As traditional marketers are attempting to rein in
content delivery, measuring e-mail open rates, click-throughs and
conversions, Internet users are fighting to gain control over the
content they receive. Savvy marketers and business owners are using RSS
as a way to improve corporate communication and increase their external
exposure and brand appeal.
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/article57.html
How is Podcasting Used?
Although podcasting is new, it is well on its way to becoming a
mainstream communication medium. Podcasting, simply put, is audio files
that are delivered via RSS. Many people believe that podcasting is
solely for the distribution of music files, but really, nothing could be
further from the truth. This emerging method of audio file distribution
has opened an array of marketing and communication opportunities to
businesses. Currently, most who are familiar with podcasting are
technically savvy, but it is clear that podcasting will be more than a
passing fad as many businesses are adopting podcasting and employing it
in unusual yet powerful ways. Podcasting can be used for talk shows,
tutorials, music demos, educational training, stories, comedy clips,
debates or even foreign language tutorials.
http://www.podcasting-tools.com/how-podcasting-is-used.htm
Hurry! Early Registration Discount for SIC
************************************
Registration is open for the 2005
Shareware Industry Conference. The
conference will be held in Denver, Colorado July 14-16. Early bird
registration is only $ 99! This special is only available until April 1.
Register now to receive the discount!
http://www.sic.org
Search Engine News:
****************************************************
Yahoo is 10 years old this week. A time line of Yahoo's life has been
created as a fitting tribute.
While pursuing doctorates at Stanford University, Jerry Yang and David
Filo begin to compile a list of their favorite Web sites. The list
eventually appears online as "David and Jerry's Guide to the World Wide
Web."
http://www.newscoast.com/apps/pb ... 50228/APN/502280581
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Software Marketing Resource -
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