Software Marketing Newsletter Software Marketing Newsletter SMR - August 2004 Newsletter Hi, Welcome to the August issue of Software Marketing News. An HTML version can be viewed at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/author-resource-newsletter44.html . Emetrix Feature ***************************** Emetrix has been adding some great features that help track sales origins. They recently added a feature that allows clients to track Google and Overture conversions. The feature allows you to track sales that result from various keywords. Tracking conversions will tell you which key words are the most effective and help you to determine where to spend your advertising dollars, and obtain the best possible return! Details contact Emetrix - http://www.emetrix.com Software Marketing Forum ***************************** Software Marketing Resource has launched a brand new software marketing forum for software developers, publishers and webmasters! Consider participating in this innovative forum! http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/forum/ User Groups Donations ************************************ The Chicago Computer Society is the largest computer users group in the Chicago metropolitan area with over 1000 members. CCS is asking for software donations to be awarded as door prizes to attendees of their 20th anniversary meeting, scheduled for September 11, 2004. All donated products will get a special mention in our 20th Anniversary issue of the award winning CCS newsletter. Shipments should be received by September 1. Please send all shipments to: Al Cheeks Chicago Computer Society 1031 Roslyn Road Olympia Fields, IL 60461 additional details - http://www.ccs.org Software Success Stories *********************************** It started out in 1996; Dirk Paessler was looking for a load testing application. Unable to find one, he wrote his own tool. Within two weeks of cleaning it up and creating a web page, he had two customers send him $ 20.00 for the program. Dirk ran his shareware business part time for 4 years. Today with six applications, Paessler Software demands Dirk's full attention. With five full and ten part-time employees Paessler software has grown into a very successful business. Read Dirk Paessler's Software Success Story at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/software-success-5.htm What Are RSS Feeds ***************************** As the web has become more crowded webmasters have been striving to provide fresh and up to date content for their website visitors. Many webmasters have discovered they can easily utilize the information in RSS feeds to provide fresh web content. full article - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/article36.html Understanding Google AdSense ************************************* Google AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content relevant advertisements on web pages. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the website, the website owner is credited for the referral. Google's AdSense program essentially allows approved websites to dynamically serve Google's pay-per-click AdWord results. http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/article37.html   Codie Awards ****************************** Also, the 2005 Codie Awards call for nominations opened on Aug 2, 2004, http://www.siia.net/codies The 2005 Codie Awards call for nominations opened on Aug 2, 2004. Presented by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the Codie Awards celebrate achievement and vision in software, education technology and digital content. For 20 years, the Codie Awards have remained the leading honor for the software and information industry's finest products and services. Each year, Codie Awards judges work to identify the best-of-the-best from hundreds of nominees. More on Shareware Success - Editorial ************************************* I see this as a recurring theme on usenet. New developers entering the market want to know how much money can be made using the shareware model. Hobbiest or those who have not yet figured it out supply dismal numbers. The majority of shareware developers are private companies and are not obligated to share their revenue figures with anyone other than Uncle Sam (or their appropriate governing tax authority). Registration services don't want to violate the privacy of developers who use their services, thus the picture of shareware success stories is a shaded one. Even if a registration service boldly posted annual revenues and the number of developers responsible for that revenue, it would not account for developers using multiple processors or who supplement their online ordering with their own merchant accounts. At one point in time, many developers in the ASP would share their previous year's sales figures on January 1st. As the ASP has grown, the tradition has faded. The fact of the matter is that developers don't have a compelling reason to share. Why should they? The truth of shareware success stories is somewhere in the middle, its certainly not as dismal and depressing as its painted on usenet. In fact I know a number of developers who are extremely successful by anyone's standards. They survive on their shareware income alone and enjoy a lifestyle that many admire. The question being asked should not be who or how many developers are successful it should be, how can I be a successful shareware developer. Microsoft Search ****************************** Take a sneak peak at Microsoft's new search technology. A brand new algorithmic search engine -- built from the ground up -- on Microsoft technology. They are looking for feedback, be sure to tell them what you think! How does your site do? Microsoft Search Technology Free PAD Validation Tool ************************* Just a brief note to let you know Shareware Promotions released an update to their PAD File Validation Tool. The new tool uses PAD specification 2.01, and offers detailed advice on any errors or possible issues encountered with your PAD file. The PAD File Validation tool may be found at the following URL: http://www.sharewarepromotions.com/PAD_Validation.asp New Press Release Distribution ********************* MyPressReleases.net - Send your shareware press release to 3600+ magazine and newspaper editors and PC User Groups reviewers all over the world! Prices start at only $100 US. Info at http://www.mypressrelease.net/ Conferences *********************************** ISDEF - This year ISDEF conference will take place in "Holiday Inn" (Vinogradovo, four kilometers far from MKAD (Moscow Circular Highway), Dmitrovskoye schosse, September 16-19, 2004. Software marketing has been declared to be the dominant theme of this year. http:// www.isdef.org/en European Shareware Conference - The fourth annual European Shareware Conference will this year take place on the 6th and 7th of November 2004 in Strasbourg, France. The conference offers a unique opportunity for developers, distributors and companies providing related services to meet, exchange ideas and build beneficial relationships. With a variety of different sessions and panels, numerous networking opportunities, and a chance to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by the software industry today, the European Shareware Conference is the premier European event for software developers and companies embracing the try before you buy marketing method. http://www.euroconference.org IGDA - September 9-10, 2004, Austin, Texas. The Austin Game Developer's Conference expands to 7 tracks dedicated to multiplayer online games, mobile game development and console game development with more than 100 speakers. Detailed technical, design, service, production and business sessions. Network with industry veterans, friends and colleagues in a casual environment. http://www.GameConference.com/ Upcoming Schmoozes *********************************** Grand Rapids Michigan Schmooze - September 16-18, 2004 Get together in an informal settings with other industry professionals to discuss marketing, development and life as a shareware author. http://www.grandriversoftware.com/schmooze/ Austin Schmooze - October (dates still to be announced) informal gathering of shareware developers and professionals. Details soon! http://www.sharewareschmooze.com News Alerts *********************************** MSN NewsBot - A new way to find news. MSN Newsbot (beta) is an experimental, automated news service. Newsbot gathers news from over 4,800 sources on the internet to speed your discovery of the news and information you care about most. Newsbot clusters related news headlines and photos to allow you to compare coverage from multiple sources. More details - http://uk.newsbot.msn.com/about.aspx Google News Alerts - Google News Alerts are sent by email when news articles appear online that match the topics you specify. Some handy uses of Google News Alerts include: monitoring a developing news story keeping current on a competitor or industry getting the latest on a celebrity or event keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams Create your News Alerts with the form on the right. More details - http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en   Search Engine News ************************************* Ask Jeeves - extended a deal with Google to allow the 'search king' to provide sponsored links on its sites and portals until 2007. The earlier three-year agreement let Google feature its paid listings advertising service on Ask Jeeves Web sites such as Ask.com, Ask.co.uk and Teoma.com. The new deal will also cover several companies Ask Jeeves has acquired since then.   Publishing Reviews ****************************************** The Online Software Guide is looking for software reviews. If you would like a review of your software published please contact them at: http://www.OnlineSoftwareGuide.com/ Ranking Tool ******************************** Found this tip in Shareware Promotions blog last month.. The site called Microsoft Watch http://www.microsoft-watch.org allows users to enter an url and generates three numbers. The second number is Alexa's traffic rank for a domain on the web. The third number reported by this web ranking tool is a count of total external backlinks from Yahoo. Copyright Infringement ******************************* CopyScape - http://www.copyscape.com - Find copies of your content on the Web. You can use Copyscape to identify sites that have copied your content without permission. Copyscape will also show you who is quoting your site. Simply type in the URL of your original content, and Copyscape does the rest. Spread the Word ******************************* If you are a member of a software organization, active in a software development forum or user group, please feel free to republish this newsletter (including all links), either online or in a printed publication. Help spread the word about the Software Marketing Resource. Subscribers need only send a blank email to webmaster@softwaremarketingresource.com with subscribe as the subject line inorder receive the SMR newsletter each month. Thank you for your continued interest in SMR. Sharon Housley Software Marketing Resource - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com NotePage, Inc. - http://www.notepage.net Small Business Software - http://www.small-business-software.net