Advice
-
Well, I need a bit of advice from you guys. This is the first time I'm doing something like this and it has me stumped. I have my own firm which I run with a friend and partner. We launched our first shareware app a few days back. Basically it's a popup blocker, banner ad blocker, blah blah. It well, got a few awards here and there too. So far, so good. Yes, the software has a couple smallish bugs, but 1.1 is on the way. The problem is that we are not seeing much in the way of traffic and downloads. People just don't know about us. Note that I'm not talking about sales. People will buy only if they like the thing and find it useful. Other similar products have got a much higher download count in fewer days than us. For example, while we are still struggling at 430 (yesterday's count), another similar one, released the next day, has got 11k+. :( And people are looking for this type of software too, as is evident from the download counts of other similar programs. So it's not like we made something nobody wants. Anyway, my question is, what do you guys do? I'm sure there are many of you here who make shareware type apps too, or something that you market on a regular basis. How do you market your products? These are the things I can think of: 1. Get listed on download.com. Done. Plus a lot more shareware sites. 2. Try to improve search engine ranking. Working on it. 3. Try to make affiliates who will sell your app and earn commission. We tried this but so far have managed to get only two affiliates and no results - neither in the form of downloads, nor sales - from them. 4. :confused: Money is scarce, so we don't have any advertising budget at all. Besides, I don't really think advertising on the web really works (plus, it would be against what our software is about :) ). And we don't want to bring in any investors either. Not that we are sure an investor would be interested either. So whatever. We need to bring people to our website and make them download and try out our software. If no one tries it out, no one is going to buy it, right? So how do we do it? What do you advise? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and biting my nails while days pass by, can I? :( Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Rohit Sinha wrote: So how do we do it? What do you advise? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and biting my nails while days pass by, can I? I have had great results with http://www.webhitsdirect.com[^] last year. Plus, have you thought of doing a press release? Later, JoeSox “Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today" - James Dean (ISTP) www.joeswammi.com ↔ www.humanaiproject.org
-
Rohit Sinha wrote: So how do we do it? What do you advise? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and biting my nails while days pass by, can I? I have had great results with http://www.webhitsdirect.com[^] last year. Plus, have you thought of doing a press release? Later, JoeSox “Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today" - James Dean (ISTP) www.joeswammi.com ↔ www.humanaiproject.org
JoeSox wrote: http://www.webhitsdirect.com[^] Thanks. :) I'll take a look. JoeSox wrote: Plus, have you thought of doing a press release? Yes, I did, but where do I send it? I don't think any editor will really be interested. :~ And what do I tell them? That we've released another one of those $30 apps? :rolleyes: Although I agree with you that if we could get one through the door, it could help a lot. Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
-
Well, I need a bit of advice from you guys. This is the first time I'm doing something like this and it has me stumped. I have my own firm which I run with a friend and partner. We launched our first shareware app a few days back. Basically it's a popup blocker, banner ad blocker, blah blah. It well, got a few awards here and there too. So far, so good. Yes, the software has a couple smallish bugs, but 1.1 is on the way. The problem is that we are not seeing much in the way of traffic and downloads. People just don't know about us. Note that I'm not talking about sales. People will buy only if they like the thing and find it useful. Other similar products have got a much higher download count in fewer days than us. For example, while we are still struggling at 430 (yesterday's count), another similar one, released the next day, has got 11k+. :( And people are looking for this type of software too, as is evident from the download counts of other similar programs. So it's not like we made something nobody wants. Anyway, my question is, what do you guys do? I'm sure there are many of you here who make shareware type apps too, or something that you market on a regular basis. How do you market your products? These are the things I can think of: 1. Get listed on download.com. Done. Plus a lot more shareware sites. 2. Try to improve search engine ranking. Working on it. 3. Try to make affiliates who will sell your app and earn commission. We tried this but so far have managed to get only two affiliates and no results - neither in the form of downloads, nor sales - from them. 4. :confused: Money is scarce, so we don't have any advertising budget at all. Besides, I don't really think advertising on the web really works (plus, it would be against what our software is about :) ). And we don't want to bring in any investors either. Not that we are sure an investor would be interested either. So whatever. We need to bring people to our website and make them download and try out our software. If no one tries it out, no one is going to buy it, right? So how do we do it? What do you advise? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and biting my nails while days pass by, can I? :( Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Two suggestions, 1. Send out review copies to both print and online magazines 2. Ring up some magazines and ask how you can get your software on a magazine coverdisk. (A free version with an upgrade option seems to be very popular). Michael 'Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.' - The Doctor: The Wheel in Space
-
JoeSox wrote: http://www.webhitsdirect.com[^] Thanks. :) I'll take a look. JoeSox wrote: Plus, have you thought of doing a press release? Yes, I did, but where do I send it? I don't think any editor will really be interested. :~ And what do I tell them? That we've released another one of those $30 apps? :rolleyes: Although I agree with you that if we could get one through the door, it could help a lot. Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
Rohit Sinha wrote: Yes, I did, but where do I send it? I don't think any editor will really be interested. And what do I tell them? That we've released another one of those $30 apps? Don't kid yourself. You have entered into the game of capitalism, whether on purpose or by accident, so you must play the game according to the rules. A Press Release is a pawn in the game, perhaps a Knight?:-D Later, JoeSox “Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today" - James Dean (ISTP) www.joeswammi.com ↔ www.humanaiproject.org
-
Two suggestions, 1. Send out review copies to both print and online magazines 2. Ring up some magazines and ask how you can get your software on a magazine coverdisk. (A free version with an upgrade option seems to be very popular). Michael 'Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.' - The Doctor: The Wheel in Space
Figure out a way to block those shockwave ads that take up your entire screen and you'll get some money from me!:-) Kevin Shaffer kshaff03@msn.com
-
Wow Meg, thanks a lot. :) :rose: I'm sure that'll help improve the search engine rankings. Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
No problem - hopefully it helps a little :)
Look at the world about you and trust to your own convictions. - Ansel Adams
Meg's World - Blog Photography - The product of my passion -
Well, I need a bit of advice from you guys. This is the first time I'm doing something like this and it has me stumped. I have my own firm which I run with a friend and partner. We launched our first shareware app a few days back. Basically it's a popup blocker, banner ad blocker, blah blah. It well, got a few awards here and there too. So far, so good. Yes, the software has a couple smallish bugs, but 1.1 is on the way. The problem is that we are not seeing much in the way of traffic and downloads. People just don't know about us. Note that I'm not talking about sales. People will buy only if they like the thing and find it useful. Other similar products have got a much higher download count in fewer days than us. For example, while we are still struggling at 430 (yesterday's count), another similar one, released the next day, has got 11k+. :( And people are looking for this type of software too, as is evident from the download counts of other similar programs. So it's not like we made something nobody wants. Anyway, my question is, what do you guys do? I'm sure there are many of you here who make shareware type apps too, or something that you market on a regular basis. How do you market your products? These are the things I can think of: 1. Get listed on download.com. Done. Plus a lot more shareware sites. 2. Try to improve search engine ranking. Working on it. 3. Try to make affiliates who will sell your app and earn commission. We tried this but so far have managed to get only two affiliates and no results - neither in the form of downloads, nor sales - from them. 4. :confused: Money is scarce, so we don't have any advertising budget at all. Besides, I don't really think advertising on the web really works (plus, it would be against what our software is about :) ). And we don't want to bring in any investors either. Not that we are sure an investor would be interested either. So whatever. We need to bring people to our website and make them download and try out our software. If no one tries it out, no one is going to buy it, right? So how do we do it? What do you advise? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and biting my nails while days pass by, can I? :( Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
If you are targeting Indian audience then I would suggest the following: How about including the tool along with PCQuest magazine CD version[^]. I know every month they provide hundreds of shareware tools on their CD. Find out the same for other countries.
"Whidbey"..."Orcas"...Roadmap
This signature was created by "Code Project Quoter". -
Well, I need a bit of advice from you guys. This is the first time I'm doing something like this and it has me stumped. I have my own firm which I run with a friend and partner. We launched our first shareware app a few days back. Basically it's a popup blocker, banner ad blocker, blah blah. It well, got a few awards here and there too. So far, so good. Yes, the software has a couple smallish bugs, but 1.1 is on the way. The problem is that we are not seeing much in the way of traffic and downloads. People just don't know about us. Note that I'm not talking about sales. People will buy only if they like the thing and find it useful. Other similar products have got a much higher download count in fewer days than us. For example, while we are still struggling at 430 (yesterday's count), another similar one, released the next day, has got 11k+. :( And people are looking for this type of software too, as is evident from the download counts of other similar programs. So it's not like we made something nobody wants. Anyway, my question is, what do you guys do? I'm sure there are many of you here who make shareware type apps too, or something that you market on a regular basis. How do you market your products? These are the things I can think of: 1. Get listed on download.com. Done. Plus a lot more shareware sites. 2. Try to improve search engine ranking. Working on it. 3. Try to make affiliates who will sell your app and earn commission. We tried this but so far have managed to get only two affiliates and no results - neither in the form of downloads, nor sales - from them. 4. :confused: Money is scarce, so we don't have any advertising budget at all. Besides, I don't really think advertising on the web really works (plus, it would be against what our software is about :) ). And we don't want to bring in any investors either. Not that we are sure an investor would be interested either. So whatever. We need to bring people to our website and make them download and try out our software. If no one tries it out, no one is going to buy it, right? So how do we do it? What do you advise? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and biting my nails while days pass by, can I? :( Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
The others have given good advice and I cannot add much except this; I think the name of the product is, well, not good. I don't want to hurt your feelings but Browsy to me sounds childish, like a product targeted at kids or stay at home moms who need some company. Even the tagline, Meet Browsy, reinforces that. Meet Barney the friendly dinosaur. Meet Browsy the friendly browser. It reminds me of Clippy. This is a purely personal opinion and others may think it is a great name. I have never been a fan of juvenile names for anything actually so it may just be that. Don't be offended alright, nothing personal about it. Just my straight opinion as requested. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Miszou wrote: I have read the entire internet. on how boring his day was. Crikey! ain't life grand?
-
Well, I need a bit of advice from you guys. This is the first time I'm doing something like this and it has me stumped. I have my own firm which I run with a friend and partner. We launched our first shareware app a few days back. Basically it's a popup blocker, banner ad blocker, blah blah. It well, got a few awards here and there too. So far, so good. Yes, the software has a couple smallish bugs, but 1.1 is on the way. The problem is that we are not seeing much in the way of traffic and downloads. People just don't know about us. Note that I'm not talking about sales. People will buy only if they like the thing and find it useful. Other similar products have got a much higher download count in fewer days than us. For example, while we are still struggling at 430 (yesterday's count), another similar one, released the next day, has got 11k+. :( And people are looking for this type of software too, as is evident from the download counts of other similar programs. So it's not like we made something nobody wants. Anyway, my question is, what do you guys do? I'm sure there are many of you here who make shareware type apps too, or something that you market on a regular basis. How do you market your products? These are the things I can think of: 1. Get listed on download.com. Done. Plus a lot more shareware sites. 2. Try to improve search engine ranking. Working on it. 3. Try to make affiliates who will sell your app and earn commission. We tried this but so far have managed to get only two affiliates and no results - neither in the form of downloads, nor sales - from them. 4. :confused: Money is scarce, so we don't have any advertising budget at all. Besides, I don't really think advertising on the web really works (plus, it would be against what our software is about :) ). And we don't want to bring in any investors either. Not that we are sure an investor would be interested either. So whatever. We need to bring people to our website and make them download and try out our software. If no one tries it out, no one is going to buy it, right? So how do we do it? What do you advise? I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs and biting my nails while days pass by, can I? :( Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
I'll add your site link to an upcoming article from Vikram and I which includes CPian's websites catagorized. There are over 500K surfers coming out here, it might help some. Send me the following info: website, CP login name, short description (20-30-ish words), and category(probably Products) I can't give you a date when the article will be up, but it won't be too long from now.
"The beat goes on.. da-da-dum dadum dum"
BW
-
The others have given good advice and I cannot add much except this; I think the name of the product is, well, not good. I don't want to hurt your feelings but Browsy to me sounds childish, like a product targeted at kids or stay at home moms who need some company. Even the tagline, Meet Browsy, reinforces that. Meet Barney the friendly dinosaur. Meet Browsy the friendly browser. It reminds me of Clippy. This is a purely personal opinion and others may think it is a great name. I have never been a fan of juvenile names for anything actually so it may just be that. Don't be offended alright, nothing personal about it. Just my straight opinion as requested. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Miszou wrote: I have read the entire internet. on how boring his day was. Crikey! ain't life grand?
Paul Watson wrote: Don't be offended alright, nothing personal about it. Just my straight opinion as requested. Just covering all your bases? :-D The kindest thing you can do for a stupid person, and for the gene pool, is to let him expire of his own dumb choices. [Roger Wright on stupid people] We're like private member functions [John Theal on R&D] We're figuring out the parent thing as we go though. Kinda like setting up Linux for the first time ya' know... [Nitron]
-
I'll add your site link to an upcoming article from Vikram and I which includes CPian's websites catagorized. There are over 500K surfers coming out here, it might help some. Send me the following info: website, CP login name, short description (20-30-ish words), and category(probably Products) I can't give you a date when the article will be up, but it won't be too long from now.
"The beat goes on.. da-da-dum dadum dum"
BW
Cool sounding article Brian, will be looking out for it. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Miszou wrote: I have read the entire internet. on how boring his day was. Crikey! ain't life grand?
-
Paul Watson wrote: Don't be offended alright, nothing personal about it. Just my straight opinion as requested. Just covering all your bases? :-D The kindest thing you can do for a stupid person, and for the gene pool, is to let him expire of his own dumb choices. [Roger Wright on stupid people] We're like private member functions [John Theal on R&D] We're figuring out the parent thing as we go though. Kinda like setting up Linux for the first time ya' know... [Nitron]
:) Names, logos and copy are often more personal to the creator than say finding a bug or simply not liking their product. Rohit is an adult but hell we can be touchy at the best of times :) regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Miszou wrote: I have read the entire internet. on how boring his day was. Crikey! ain't life grand?
-
The others have given good advice and I cannot add much except this; I think the name of the product is, well, not good. I don't want to hurt your feelings but Browsy to me sounds childish, like a product targeted at kids or stay at home moms who need some company. Even the tagline, Meet Browsy, reinforces that. Meet Barney the friendly dinosaur. Meet Browsy the friendly browser. It reminds me of Clippy. This is a purely personal opinion and others may think it is a great name. I have never been a fan of juvenile names for anything actually so it may just be that. Don't be offended alright, nothing personal about it. Just my straight opinion as requested. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Miszou wrote: I have read the entire internet. on how boring his day was. Crikey! ain't life grand?
I have to agree with Paul. I have never produced shareware software, but as a downloader "Browsy" and the cute little dog picture do not peak my interest. The first two things I look for when downloading are features and screen shots. Your features look good, but your screen shots are too childish (I mean this to be constructive not personal). One other thing you may have noticed with other similar software are names with stopper, killer, smasher... Browsy it too positive for a popup blocker. Good Luck! Jerry
-
The others have given good advice and I cannot add much except this; I think the name of the product is, well, not good. I don't want to hurt your feelings but Browsy to me sounds childish, like a product targeted at kids or stay at home moms who need some company. Even the tagline, Meet Browsy, reinforces that. Meet Barney the friendly dinosaur. Meet Browsy the friendly browser. It reminds me of Clippy. This is a purely personal opinion and others may think it is a great name. I have never been a fan of juvenile names for anything actually so it may just be that. Don't be offended alright, nothing personal about it. Just my straight opinion as requested. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Miszou wrote: I have read the entire internet. on how boring his day was. Crikey! ain't life grand?
Finally. :) OK, you are right, this might be the reason. Or at least one of the reasons. While I can't change the name and logo now, I can sure change the tagline. About the name and logo, yes it's a bit childish and all that, but I asked around before settling on these. People chose these for me. Apparently people do like things like Clippy and Browsy. :rolleyes: It looks like we programmer types are the only tough lot. ;P Thanks for the comments Paul, I was looking for what we were doing wrong than what we were missing. :) Nothing to be offended about. I like my software, but I'm not too hung up about it, OK? Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
-
Two suggestions, 1. Send out review copies to both print and online magazines 2. Ring up some magazines and ask how you can get your software on a magazine coverdisk. (A free version with an upgrade option seems to be very popular). Michael 'Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.' - The Doctor: The Wheel in Space
I've been trying to do that, but drawing a blank response till now. :( Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
-
If you are targeting Indian audience then I would suggest the following: How about including the tool along with PCQuest magazine CD version[^]. I know every month they provide hundreds of shareware tools on their CD. Find out the same for other countries.
"Whidbey"..."Orcas"...Roadmap
This signature was created by "Code Project Quoter".cough Indian audience. Buy software. With their credit card. Yeah, right. Looks like you've been in the US for too long, Kant. :) Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
-
I have to agree with Paul. I have never produced shareware software, but as a downloader "Browsy" and the cute little dog picture do not peak my interest. The first two things I look for when downloading are features and screen shots. Your features look good, but your screen shots are too childish (I mean this to be constructive not personal). One other thing you may have noticed with other similar software are names with stopper, killer, smasher... Browsy it too positive for a popup blocker. Good Luck! Jerry
Screen shots as in the screenshots of the interface or the logo? Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
-
I'll add your site link to an upcoming article from Vikram and I which includes CPian's websites catagorized. There are over 500K surfers coming out here, it might help some. Send me the following info: website, CP login name, short description (20-30-ish words), and category(probably Products) I can't give you a date when the article will be up, but it won't be too long from now.
"The beat goes on.. da-da-dum dadum dum"
BW
Will do. I mean here it is. http://www.daRiteSite.com[^] Rohit Sinha (rohit@daRiteSite.com) Browsy is your complete browsing companion that can work with any web browser. It can block pop-ups, cookies, banner ads, flash, iframes and images. It can reduce gif animations to one loop and protect your online privacy and conceal your surfing habits. Category um, I don't know what are the available categories, so considering this is CP and not download.com, do you think it should be End User Products or something like that? Thanks Brian. That should help too. :) Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
-
Rohit Sinha wrote: Yes, I did, but where do I send it? I don't think any editor will really be interested. And what do I tell them? That we've released another one of those $30 apps? Don't kid yourself. You have entered into the game of capitalism, whether on purpose or by accident, so you must play the game according to the rules. A Press Release is a pawn in the game, perhaps a Knight?:-D Later, JoeSox “Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today" - James Dean (ISTP) www.joeswammi.com ↔ www.humanaiproject.org
:omg: You are right. Either I play by the rules or I might as well go and start selling burgers now. OK I admit I know nothing about press releases. What did you do? And how did you do it? Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
-
Figure out a way to block those shockwave ads that take up your entire screen and you'll get some money from me!:-) Kevin Shaffer kshaff03@msn.com
cough Browsy does block those on more than 95% of the sites. Regards, Rohit Sinha Meet Browsy
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa