| softBiz.eZine |
| Issue #2: May 31, 2001 | |
Table of Contents -Thank You |
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| Thank You! I would like to thank those of you that have chosen to subscribe to the softBiz.eZine. Feedback and subscriptions over the past week have been much better than anticipated. If you like this publication and know any other authors that may benefit from it, you are invited to forward it (in its entirety) to spark awareness. If this eZine has been forwarded to you from a friend, and you would like to subscribe to the softBiz.eZine, please visit http://www.rytechsoftware.com/softbiz. The softBiz.eZine is a free weekly publication, and by subscribing, it will be sent directly to you via email each week. ZDNet Update As mentioned in last weeks issue of softBiz.eZine, ZDNet and CNET have underwent a database merging process. Some common problems experienced during the merge included corrupt download counts, missing software titles, and replacement of existing versions of software with previous ones. While the download counts have not yet been corrected, ZDNet/CNET did say they were still working on the issue. To their credit, CNET/ZDNet has been posting corrections and re-submissions with a very short turnaround time. Also, the moderators on ZDNet's download forum have been doing pretty good job on keeping up with inquiries about the changes. One issue that is new to the ZDNet support staff is the flurry of posts from users regarding problems downloading some of the software titles. In the past ZDNet had hosted the files on its own server. Now that they have replaced their links to point to the developers' web sites, they are finding many have outdated links, bad server connections, or have simply gone belly-up. Editorial: Going Vertical! How many times have you felt like banging your head against your computer screen trying to think of the one piece of software that every user needed, and nobody else had yet developed? As a shareware author, it is easy to feel that the only way to make "real" money is to create products that have mass appeal and hope for mass registrations. Products that target a broad user base are often referred to as horizontal products. One example of a horizontal software application is a word processor. Whether you are a programmer, an accountant, or a typical home user, you would probably have reasons for needing a word processor. It has broad appeal. The mentality of "appealing to the masses" is often fueled by discussions of download-to-registration ratios. While there has never been an extremely accurate way of measuring this ratio, an accepted estimate for an average, horizontal product ranges from .5 - 2%. Therefore, if you sell a $25 product and are hoping to gross $500 per week, you can estimate you will need about 2,000 downloads per week (using a 1% registration ratio). Many shareware authors today are finding more success in developing vertical market applications rather than horizontal market applications. A vertical market product is one that targets a specific industry or niche to fulfill a more specific need than a typical horizontal application can provide. An example of a vertical market application is software that tracks driver logs for the trucking industry. Or, an application that specializes in tracking bugs, enhancement requests, and customers for us software authors. How do vertical applications "make it" when they have such limited market appeal? Probably the most prominent factor is pricing. The more specialized a software application is to cater to a specific type of user, the more you can usually charge for it. Why? There are a couple of reasons. The first is that it is "worth it" to the customer to have software that "exactly" fills their need. It often saves them the time and frustration of having to figure out alternative methods using multiple horizontal applications, or even having to hire custom programming. Another reason is from a lack of viable competitors. The more vertical your application is, chances are likely there will be fewer competing products. One more benefit of vertical applications is that the download-to-registration ratios are typically higher than those of horizontal applications. The reasoning for this is quite simple. The users that download the software in the first place are likely in the niche market your application targets. Having customized your application for their needs, they are likely to be more satisfied with your software than with others horizontal products that fall short on the details. All in all, there is a lot of merit in both horizontal and vertical applications. If you already have expertise in a particular niche market, a vertical application may be an easier path to finding success in shareware. However, the one thing you want to avoid is writing software specialized for an industry you know nothing about. In the News... Infonautics and TuCows
Sign Definitive Merger Agreement Cyber Cops Nab 90
Fraud Suspects The U.S.
Government seems to have this internet sales thing
figured out...
Articles of Interest... Selling at the Highest
Level. Turn Clickers into
Customers
Recent Quotes... "Intellectual
property has an interesting problem - it lasts
forever" Author Information Resources Npsoft contains valuable
resources and information for shareware authors. It is a
highly recommended site that I personally added to my
Favorites. |
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