A Software Marketing Blog

What Google Knows About You

Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Axandra has a really thought provoking post in their weekly search engine newsletter. The newsletter details each of Google's services and the personal information that could be collected through each service.

Much has been said about Google collecting personal information from web surfers. Some people are even so disturbed by Google's data mining that they have completely banned Google from their web sites.

What exactly does Google know about you if you use their services? In this article, we try to collect a list of things that Google knows about you.

Find out What Google knows about you

Newsletter Delay

Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:00:00 -0400

SMR's newsletter will go out June 2, as I received some new information that I want to incorporate. Thanks for your patience!

Copyrights and Ownership

Tue, 31 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I recently read a fascinating blog post about "Who Owns Blog Comments", this actually is much more complex than it seems. While the copyright issue in itself may be straight-forward there are many other issues that quickly cause confusion.

Who owns forum comments? What fair use guidelines apply? Is posting in itself an acknowledgement from the copyright holder, that others can use or reproduce their comments?

Both blogs and forums are often syndicated via RSS. Legally who owns the comments and are permissions required to reproduce the comments? Is permission required to index or "recall" the comments as search engines do? Should all blogs and forums require participants to license their content (comments) to the board or blog holder to prevent future legal action?

Read this very interesting post (and all the comments as they raise interesting issues)

CIA Overseeing 3-Day War Game on Internet

Thu, 26 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Not exactly related to software marketing, but considering how many software companies rely on the Internet the results of the Cyber War Game are bound to be of interest to developers and online marketers.

The CIA is conducting a secretive war game, dubbed "Silent Horizon," this week to practice defending against an electronic assault on the same scale as the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks.

The three-day exercise, ending Thursday, was meant to test the ability of government and industry to respond to escalating Internet disruptions over many months, according to participants. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the CIA asked them not to disclose details of the sensitive exercise taking place in Charlottesville, Va., about two hours southwest of Washington.

The simulated attacks were carried out five years in the future by a fictional alliance of anti-American organizations, including anti-globalization hackers. The most serious damage was expected to be inflicted in the war game's closing hours.

Complete Article - Cyber War Game

Irresponsible TechWeb Article on Yahoo

Wed, 25 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

According to the article headline Russians Use Affiliate Model To Spread Spyware, Adware realizing the extent of the spyware and adware problem and knowing Russian developers I find the title a bit misleading. Imagine the reaction from US developers if the headline read - Americans Using Affiliate Model etc... a little irresponsible of TechWeb if you ask me. The practice is very alarming and something the world should know about but the title is misleading.

In any event I hope that the following article does not adversely effect the honest Russian businesses out there.

An online business based in Russia will pay Web sites 6 cents for each machine they infect with adware and spyware, security researchers said Tuesday, calling the practice "awful."

iframeDOLLARS.biz, which according to a WHOIS lookup, is registered to a Nick Fedorov in Nizhny Novgorod, a Russian city on the Volga about 240 miles east of Moscow, will pay Webmasters to place a one-line exploit on their sites. The code exploits a number of patched Windows and Internet Explorer vulnerabilities, including some that go back as far as 2002. Systems that haven't been updated, however, would still be vulnerable to the exploit.

Complete Article

eFocusWorks and Outsourcing Development Jobs

Tue, 24 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

We've recently been contracting eFocusWork for some side development projects that we've needed done. I've been extremely impressed with their speed, professionalism and communication. I know this is something that is an issue for other developers and just wanted to share my positive experience. I've included a bio of eFocusWorks below.

The projects we've had done were relatively small but we were able to provide the concept and eFocusWorks developed the structure based on our concept. They managed to include all the little details that were not spelled out in the broad concept, delivering on schedule a finished polished product. I really like these guys!

eFocusWorks is information technology (IT) solutions company, dedicated to help businesses grow on the Internet. The company is segmented to provide complete end-to-end services in Application Architecture Design, Outsourcing Development, Graphic Design and build innovative software products that make our customers become efficient Internet enabled users.

eFocusWorks is the creator of Docs&Mail system, a product that helps effectively to organize document exchange in everyday emailing. It is an integrated set of WebToMail application and Document Management System, which is designed for improving efficiency of communications and document management within your team and between you and your customers.

more on eFocusWorks

Software Success Stories

Mon, 23 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I'm looking for software success stories. I would like to interview successful developers that will inspire software developers who are struggling or starting out. The interviews will be added to the current section of software success stories . The current stories include Abbyy Software, StopZilla, Alawar, MJT Net, Microvision, iolo and Agnitum. If you have a compelling or inspiring story and would like to be profiled in the software success section please drop me a note.

Anheuser-Bush looks to JibJab to boost beer sales

Mon, 23 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Anyone who has witnessed the JibJab creations know that Anheuser-Bush made a smart marketing decision by employing JibJab to draw attention to their brand. While the cartoon is not nearly as entertaining as the political animations the group has done I'm sure it will drawn attention to the Bud brand

Two brothers who created a wildly popular Internet video poking fun at Sen. John Kerry and President Bush during the 2004 election have agreed to produce online entertainment for Budweiser beer, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. said on Friday.

The move comes as the No. 1 U.S. brewer battles to protect its U.S. market share from rival Miller Brewing, a SABMiller Plc unit (SAB.L). The companies have used advertising as a key weapon in the often contentious fight, marked by ads where the two target each other by name.

Anheuser-Busch said JibJab, which produced the cartoon parody of the presidential candidates campaigning to the tune of Woody Guthrie's classic song "This Land is Your Land," created a 30-second video featuring the popular Budweiser lizards to kick off the partnership.

Complete Article about JibJab and Anheuser-Bush

Side note - I think that Arlo Gutherie wrote "This Land is Your Land" not Woody Guthrie but that is another story.

Valuable Content Portals

Fri, 20 May 2005 08:32:50 -0400

Highly targeted, focused sites that are related to specific market segments are highly advantageous and can often be created using existing web content. The key is to provide value.

Think of the time spent surfing the web gathering resources and information. By creating a topic-centric resource compiling information, webmasters are providing a service or value. In many cases that value is simply the compilation of topic-specific information in a single resource. The compilation of this information in itself is the value.

Read More on Valuable Content Portals

Syndicate Conference

Thu, 19 May 2005 07:35:28 -0400

I've spent the last two days at the Syndicate Conference in NYC. While the networking opportunities were amazing, the sessions were not what I was expecting. I'll be posting a detailed review of the conference. I think many marketers and business people tend to underestimate the power of face to face, meetings. Many of the people I chatted with at the conference I had emailed in the past and that personal connection made all the difference in the world.

I even met Robert Scoble! He is a God in the blogosphere and probably the most popular blogger in the world, amazingly enouigh in person he's a regular guy, and incredibly nice. Face to face connections break down a lot of walls.

New Service - Cool Posters

Tue, 17 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Kathy Salisbury just launched a very cool new service. Making full color posters from any pictures/graphics or images. The posters are economical and of excellent quality (we just had some done).
Additional Details on Full Color Posters

Launching a Software Application

Mon, 16 May 2005 06:32:20 -0400

Last fall we launched FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com a tool for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds. Having recently gone through the experience of a product launch I thought that I would take the opportunity to share my experiences and discuss what worked.

A key to FeedForAll's success was getting to market quickly, and the marketing began before the official product launch. We immediately jumped into creating buzz about RSS with newsletter mentions. We began blogs on multiple sites and RSS feeds so that we could actually measure traffic and interest in RSS. After a short time it was clear that the daily fresh content and interest in RSS was significant, and if we could help educate users to the power and potential of RSS we could drive significant sales.

During the beta testing phase we set up a web page inviting beta testers to email us if they were interested in receiving a discount on the released version. The e-mail established communication and a link to testers. The discount provided the incentive for the testers to initiate communication and allowed us to establish a relationship and dialogue with people who had an interest in the product.

More - Launching a Software Application

PS. Post will be light this week because I'm heading to New York City.

A Closer Look at Shareware Industry Award Nominees

Fri, 13 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The SIA Awards are known as the Oscars of the industry where, developers vote and nominate the best of the best. As a result most companies consider a nomination quite humbling. I thought it might be a good idea to take a closer look at the 2005 nominees:

Best Overall Utility
Beyond Compare by Scooter Software - Advanced file and folder comparison utility for Windows, helps visualize changes in code, keeps your directories in sync, and validates copies of your data.
TuneUp Utilities 2004 by TuneUp Software GmbH - TuneUp Utilities 2004 optimizes the performance of your computer, solves problems and helps you to customize your system to suit your needs.

WinRar by win.rar Gmbh - A powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce size of email attachments, decompress RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format.
WinZip by WinZip Computing, Inc. - Compression utility for Windows.

Best Application
Advanced Installer Pro by Caphyon Ltd. - Windows Installer authoring tool which enables developers and system administrators to easily build reliable MSI packages that meet the latest Microsoft Windows logo certification requirements and follow the recommended Windows Installer best practices.
TurboDemo by Bernard D&G - Create demos and tutorials in minutes.
UltraEdit by IDM Computer Solutions, Inc. - Text, HEX, HTML, PHP, Java, Perl, Javascript, and programmer's editor!

Best Graphics Program or Utility
Axialis Icon Workshop by Axialis Software - A professional tool designed to Create, Extract, Convert, Manage and Redistribute Windows® Icons.
IrfanView by Irfan Skiljan - A very fast, small, compact and innovative graphic viewer
SnagIt by Techsmith - Capture screen images, text and video, edit and enhance images.

Best Desktop Enhancement
Microangelo Creation by Eclipsit Corporation - Feature-packed icon editor that composes images using multiple editing layers.
OceanDive by SCS Software - Unique combination of a 3D screensaver and a scuba diving exploration game.
Startup Guru by Lincoln Beach Software - Startup manager that will manage how your Windows computer starts up each time.

Best Photo Program or Utility
CoffeeCup Pix Converter by CoffeeCup Software, Inc. - Convert all your digital pictures to use on your Website, sending in email, posting on auction sites and lots more.
Images: In Context! by Liquid Mirror Software - Allows you to edit and stylize your pictures, quicker and easier than ever before without having to open complicated programs and without having to learn professional graphic tools.
PentaSuite DigiPhoto by PentaWare, Inc. - All the utilities a digital photographer will need.
Picasa 2 by Google, Inc. - Software that helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC.

Best Application Using .Net
Guitar and Drum Trainer 2 by Renegade Minds - Guitar and Drum Trainer2 lets you slow down music to make it easier to figure out difficult passages.
SourceGear Vault by SourceGear Corporation - A source control tool designed to be a compelling replacement for Visual SourceSafe.
Vacation Designer by Meliovation, Inc. - Takes you step by step through the process of planning vacations for you and your family.

Best Utility Using .Net
Code Library for .Net by fish - Code Library.
Filehand Search by Filehand, LLC. - Search your hard drive and network drives instantly.
Infragistics Net Advantage Pro by Infragistics - Enable automated testing of the presentation layer.

Best Sound Program or Utility
Blaze Media Pro by Mystik Media, Inc. - All-in-one audio and video converter, editor, recorder, burner, and much more!
Microsoft Media Player by Microsoft Corporation - Audio/video player.
TextAloud by NextUp Technologies, LLC. - Uses voice synthesis to convert text into spoken audio. Listen on your PC or create MP3 or WMA files for use on portable devices like iPods, PocketPCs, and CD players.

Best Vertical Market Program or Utility
Bell Commander by AcroVista Software - An innovative, patent-pending, audio scheduling application which uses standard PCs and low-cost hardware to create a powerful bell/intercom system.
Help and Manual by EC Software - Quickly create professional help systems, user manuals and e-books from a single source.
Registry First Aid by Rose City Softare - Scans the Windows registry for orphan file/folder references, finds these files or folders on your drives that may have been moved from their initial locations, and then corrects your registry entries to match the located files or folders.

Best Business Application or Utility
Black Hole Organizer by Lincoln Beach Software - An information manager for Windows that allows you to keep track of all your important notes and information.
InnoSetup - A free installer for Windows programs.
PayWindow Payroll by ZPAY Payroll Systems, Inc. - Payroll software solution for businesses.

Best Educational Program or Game
AceReader Pro by StepWare, Inc. - Reading Improvement software and reading assessment software.
Cherokee Trails by Pharos Games - Educational game! A wise Cherokee woman transports you from a roadside flea market to a ghostly trail where you can trade with the spirits and unravel the secrets of the Cherokee Trails.
TypingMaster Pro - Learn to type like a professional with TypingMaster Pro touch typing trainer

Best Hobby or Personal Interest
Performance Diet Pro by HealthKeeper, Inc. - Diet and fitness planenr.
Digital Physiognomy by Uniphiz Lab - Predictive methods of fortune-telling include physiognomy (study of facial characteristics) and phrenology (study of contours on the skull). Physiognomy, which claims to find correspondences between bodily features and psychological characteristics, often makes use of such supposed similarities.
Living Cookbook by Radium Technologies, Inc. - Manage your recipes.
PhotoMix by fCoder Group, Inc. - Create digital scrapbooks or collages quickly and easily with PhotoMix.

Best Internet Enhancement
FTP Voyager by Rhino Software, Inc. - File transfer software.
GetRight by Headlight Software, Inc. - Accelerate your downloads and can recover downloads if errors occur.
TheBat! by RITLABS - A powerful email client with a friendly, neat interface. It has every feature that an advanced user will ever need.

Best Internet Communication
AliveChat 3 by Website Alive - Live chat support software solution.
FeedForAll by NotePage, Inc. - Allows users to easily create, edit and publish RSS feeds and podcasts.
Skype by Skype Technologies S.A. - Free Internet telephony software.
Trillian by Cerulean Studios - A fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC.

Best Web Enhancement
AI Roboform by Siber Systems - Password manager and form filler.
BrowserBob Pro 4 Professional - Authoring tool for creating standalone applications with the tools of the web via Drag & Drop. Create everything from custom browsers via interactive presentations to DVD menus and shopping portals.
CoffeeCup Flash Form Builder by CoffeeCup Software, Inc. - A drag and drop program that creates forms
HTML Match by Salty Brine Software, Inc. - HTML comparison tool.

Best Server Program or Utility
DNS4ME by Rhino Software, Inc. -Turns your computer in to a web server, mail server, FTP server, or any other service available on the Internet.
Quick 'n Easy FTP Server by Pablo Software Solutions - A multi threaded FTP server for Windows 98/NT/XP.
Servers Alive by bvba Woodstone - An end-to-end network monitoring tool.

Best Non-Action Game
CrossCraze by ORT Software - A new word game for your PC.
Pretty Good Solitaire by Goodsol Development, Inc. - 610 different solitaire card games
Diamond Tetris by Plutosoftware - A tetris game.
No Limits Roller Coaster Sim - Roller coasters simulation game

Best Action/Arcade
Action Solitaire by Goodsol Development, Inc. - Action Solitaire is played for points against the clock in timed rounds.
Arcade Lines by Lobstersoft - An extremely addictive and very relaxing puzzle game with brilliant graphics, pulsating music and a great variety of different game modes.
Astrogeddon by ORT Software - Asteroid-blasting arcade action featuring fully rendered 3D graphics
PacFish by Suricate Software - A colorful takeoff on the PacMan- style maze games.

Best Program for PDA's
CacheMate by Smittyware - Database for tracking GPS cache hunts
Google Mobile by Google, Inc. - Google search, in the palm of your hand
TealDoc by TealPoint Software, Inc. - Read, edit, and browse documents, Doc files, eBooks and text files with TealDoc, the enhanced doc reader.

Repost - Beta Dogs Testing with Corrected Url

Thu, 12 May 2005 12:56:58 -0400

BetaDogs is a new beta site. Developers are encouraged to submit their beta application. Users are encouraged to frequent the site and to beta test posted applications!

Shareware Industry Award Nominees Announced

Thu, 12 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The 2005 Shareware Industry Nominees have been announced! This years nominees include a wide variety of applications, some well known others not.
Check out this years nominees.

Windows Mobile 5.0 Released

Thu, 12 May 2005 09:02:00 -0400

Chairman Bill Gates unveiled Tuesday the newest version of the Windows Mobile software platform at the company's annual mobile and embedded developers conference in Las Vegas.

New features in Windows Mobile 5.0 touted by Gates include stronger memory storage for data management, more platform flexibility for customizations, updated Microsoft Office software for enhanced productivity, and Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for more multimedia options.

New Beta Test Site

Thu, 12 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

BetaDogs is a new beta site. Developers are encouraged to submit their beta application. Users are encouraged to frequent the site and to beta test posted applications!

Tucows New Look to Match New Attitude

Wed, 11 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Tucows has launched a new site design. The site design is both user friendly and developer friendly.

New Site Design
Tucows is committed to making your computing and Internet experience as easy as possible. With that in mind, we have redesigned our site to include more editorial content. We have added articles to explain how you can get the most out of your computer, the Internet and the software that we make available for download.

How Tucows Fights Spyware
Tucows stands firm in its commitment to bring you software that is safe. We test every title to make sure it runs on a variety of systems. We check every program for viruses before placing it online. We run a virus scan on every single file in our system weekly as an added level of protection. Therefore, it only makes sense that Tucows also tests every file to ensure that there is no spyware or adware contained in the program.

Check out the NEW Tucows

Evolution of Google AdSense

Tue, 10 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The dot-com balloon is said to have burst but savvy publishers have grabbed the coat tails of the Google search monster and employ Google AdSense on content-rich websites. Google AdSense, a pioneer for providing content-sensitive advertisements, has been a boon to webmasters looking for alternatives to amortize their web trafffic.

The Evolution of Google AdSense

Google Gives AdSense Users a Hint About Where to Place Ads

Mon, 9 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Google Give's AdSense Publishers Tips on Where to Place Ads to Insure Success
Certain locations tend to be more successful than others. This "heat map" illustrates these ideal placements on a sample page layout. The colors fade from dark orange (strongest performance) to light yellow (weakest performance). All other things being equal, ad placements above the fold tend to perform better than those below the fold. Ads placed near rich content and navigational aids usually do well because users are focused on those areas of a page.

While this heat map is useful as a positioning guideline, Google strongly recommend putting your users first when deciding on ad placement. Think about their behavior on different pages, and what will be most useful and visible to them. You'll find that the most optimal ad position isn't always what you expect on certain pages.

For example, on pages where users are typically focused on reading an article, ads placed directly below the end of the editorial content tend to perform very well. It's almost as if users finish reading and ask themselves, "What can I do next?" Precisely targeted ads can answer that question for them.

Digital River Announces Winners of Its 2005 ICE Awards for Internet Commerce Excellence

Fri, 6 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Not any names that I recognize but -

Digital River, Inc., a global leader in e-commerce outsourcing, today announced the winners of its 2005 ICE Awards for Internet Commerce Excellence. The winning companies were honored last night at a ceremony held in conjunction with Digital River's Network Summit conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. Digital River presented awards in six categories to client companies putting e-commerce best practices to work to optimize and drive revenue through their online stores. The winners included:

-- Newegg.com for Best Online Performance by a Retailer

-- Trend Micro, Inc. for Best International E-Commerce Strategy

-- Pinnacle Systems(R), Inc. and Symantec Corp. for Best Promotional Performance

-- Simply Youth Ministry for Best Direct Marketing Performance

-- FarStone Technology, Inc. for Best Network Sales Performance

-- Allume Systems, Inc. and Tenebril(TM), Inc. for Best Product Launch

"We are pleased to recognize these companies for their e-commerce leadership and use of best practices," said Joel Ronning, Digital River's CEO. "Our ICE Award recipients are experts at fine tuning their sites, optimizing their e-commerce programs, and delivering top quality online shopping experiences for their customers. They understand the importance of integrated marketing, regular testing and building relationships with their customers. And they have a multi-channel vision for growing their businesses across international boundaries. Their online performances are impressive."

Each of Digital River's award winners submitted entries, which summarized the e-commerce best practice campaigns they implemented and the results they generated by marketing and selling products in their online stores

Learn What the Did to Win

The Benefits to Topical Search Engines

Thu, 5 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

While many marketers are scrambling for links, any links, an area that is often overlooked is topic-specific search engines. What many don't realize is that these engines do produce traffic, and they often contain traffic that is very targeted. Anyone who has taken the time to analyze weblogs and track sales sources will likely see that targeted traffic converts at a significantly higher rate than non-targeted traffic.

A savvy online marketer realizes that often, the quality of the visitor is far more important than the quantity of visitors. Web marketers should focus their energies on attracting targeted traffic whenever possible.

Complete Article - The Benefit of Topical Search Engines

SIAF People's Choice Awards

Tue, 3 May 2005 08:38:21 -0400

The voting for the SIAF People's Choice Awards has begun. You may encourage your users and website visitors to vote for your applications. Graphics to use on your web page can be found here:

http://www.sic.org/peopleschoiceimages.asp
and the link to associate with it is:
http://www.siafvoiting.com/pca/?ID-SIAF

Voting will end at 12 Noon MDT on Tuesday May 31st. Winners will be announced at the Shareware Industry Awards Banquet.

PadCaster - RSS Appcaster Feed Creator

Tue, 3 May 2005 08:34:44 -0400

PadCaster is a commandline tool that converts a MacPAD application to an RSS 2.0 feed. The feed PadCaster produces update notifications. Additional Details - PadCaster

Grand Rapids Schmooze Dates Announced

Tue, 3 May 2005 08:32:59 -0400

The 2005 Grand Rapids Schmooze will be September 15 -17, 2005. Additional details can be found online.

Software Marketing Newsletter Available

Mon, 2 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The May issue of Software Marketing news is available. The issues contains search engine resources and tips, advice related to the Shareware Industry Conference, an article about launching software and information on software piracy.

Read this month's Software Marketing News

Why Adware Is Here To Stay: It's Very Big Business

Tue, 26 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Robin Good posted a very interesting article about Adware -

"If Richard Stiennon's calculations are accurate, the adware industry could be generating revenues of up to USD 2.5 billion a year. The top seven adware producers are making between USD 65 million and USD 200 million each."

Complete Article - Why Adware Is Here To Stay

New Google AdWords Site Targeting Allows Advertisers To Pick & Choose

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Marketers using Google AdWords, rejoice! For ages, many of you have wanted the ability to pick and choose exactly where your ads would show up in Google AdSense contextual network. Now you're getting it.

Beginning today, some Google advertisers will have access to a new tool allowing them to select particular sites. Over the coming weeks, the scope will be expanded until all advertisers have access to the new feature, Google says.

The new tool will allow advertisers to enter the URL of a site they are interested in, then get back a list of similar sites, then let them select exactly the ones they wish to target. A new exclusion tool will also let them "go broad" and take everything, then selectively remove sites they wish to exclude.

Complete Article - Google AdWords Changes

Top 10 Tips for Bloggers

Fri, 22 Apr 2005 07:55:20 -0400

10 Tips for Bloggers - There are no hard and fast rules on how to blog. Having said that, bloggers will likely increase their exposure by following some simple blog guidelines.

1.) Stay on topic.
Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. Unless you have an uncanny knack for wit, humor or cynicism, the majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest. Most readers won't care that you eat Cheerios for breakfast. They may, however, be interested in the fact that vinegar takes out stains and that toilet paper rolls make great wreaths. Define a topic and stick to it. This will ensure that you create a loyal following of interested readers.

More - Read Complete Article - 10 Tips for Bloggers

Software Business Magazine Award Nominations

Thu, 21 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Winners To Be Recognized at Software Business 2005 November 1-2, in Tampa Florida.

Awards are given to companies in nine categories, including Industry Leadership, Business Development, Sales Strategy, Partnering, Financing and others. Past award winners include some of the largest software companies and some of the most innovative private companies with cutting-edge technologies.

Winners will be announced in the September/October issue of Software Business Magazine. Executives from the winning companies will be recognized at the conference in an award ceremony and will speak on November 2 about the secrets to their companies_success to the audience of C-level executives in attendance.

The 2005 Software Business Industry Awards

Leaders who have demonstrated innovative or trend-setting achievements in the following categories will be recognized:

Best Financing
Best Acquisition
Best Technology
Best Sales Strategy
Best Product Strategy
Best Partnering Initiative
Business Development Excellence
Product Development Excellence
Industry Leadership Excellence

Nominate your company or a company which best exemplifies a leadership position in one of the above awards categories. Just send an e-mail to Scott Gates by June 30, 2005, with a concise summary of the nominee's innovation or achievement in up to three given categories.

Visit www.softwarebusinessonline.com/SIawards2005.htm for the nomination information.

European ShareWare Conference to be held in Belgium

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

European Shareware Conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium. The 5th annual European ShareWare Conference has just announced that it's opening doors across Cyberspace will take place on the 5th and 6th of November 2005 in Brussels, Belgium .

Software Download Sites

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

As we find new software sites we add the submission pages to the large list of download sites we've found.

It seems these sites are popping up at an increasing rate, and we've found a number of new sites in recent days. The sites appear all to use PAD and submissions just take moments. Its unclear however how popular the sites are or will become.

Download Software Search - submit
IndoDigest - submit
Free Software Programs - submit
Rebusnet - submit
Software Matrix - submit
or simply refer to the complete list of software submission sites another alternative is to use a promotional company that specializes in software. I highly recommend Shareware Promotions and/or Dr File Finder. Submissions can be excessively time consuming and it often makes sense to outsource so developers can focus on what they know best.

Adobe to buy Macromedia for $3.4B

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Graphic software developer to pay 25% premium in bid to expand audio and video applications.

Computer document company Adobe Systems Inc. said Monday it agreed to buy multimedia software firm Macromedia Inc. for about $3.4 billion in stock, in a move designed to extend its lead in the market for creating and distributing digital documents.

Complete Article

Submit Programs to be Considered as Shareware Industry Conference Nominations

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I recently visited the Shareware Industry Conference suggested program nominations, and was very surprised by the few entries in many of the categories.
If your program has been released or updated in the last year consider adding it! The Shareware Industry Awards are extremely well respected and known and nominated applications as well as the winners receive significant exposure.

Submit an Application or View Current Submissions.

Happy Birthday askSam

Sun, 17 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

20 years ago this month askSam shipped their first version. askSam celebrated by releasing askSam version 6, which now offers users a completely new way for to organize and navigate their information!

Happy Birthday to these PC database pioneers.

IBM Tries To Lure Developers With Free Services

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

IBM on Monday expanded its technical services to independent software developers, offering free limited-time access to its consultants. Any developers signing up to participate in the PartnerWorld Industry Network program on IBM's Virtual Innovation Center Web site can get six months of unlimited E-mail technical support and a two- to three-hour individual telephone consultation.

"We're trying to help developers get their applications to the marketplace," says Todd Chase, director of IBM innovation centers.

The free resources are intended to help developers create software for specific applications such as customer-relationship management or for specific technologies such as grid computing that operate within an IBM environment or platform, he says.

IBM has made similar resources available in the past to some of its top strategic partners, but "for some period of time we're opening up these resources to everyone."

More Info

Microsoft Suits Target Illegal Software Distribution

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:15:00 -0400

Microsoft Corp. on Monday filed eight lawsuits in seven states against computer builders and resellers for allegedly distributing counterfeit and unlicensed software.
The suits filed in California, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Alabama, Maryland and Rhode Island accuse the defendants of copyright and trademark infringement, the Redmond, Wash., software company said. In one of the cases, the defendant is also accused of violating the federal Anti-Counterfeiting Amendments Act, which provides criminal and civil penalties for distributing a company's Certificate of Authenticity labels.

The suits were filed after the companies failed to stop the alleged activity after Microsoft contacted them, the company said.

Apple to Unleash Tiger OS on April 29

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 11:17:02 -0400

Apple is launching its Mac OS X Tiger (Version 10.4) on the 29th of this month. The company maintains that this version is equipped with additional security and desktop features. The OS also includes a new version of the Safari browser with a built-in RSS newsreader.

Digital River Announces its Ninth Network Summit for E-Commerce Clients

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Digital River, Inc. announced that its semiannual Network Summit is scheduled for May 3-5, 2005, at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach, Calif. The event offers clients within Digital River's Sales Network an open forum for building joint marketing and sales partnerships as well as more than 25 educational sessions focused on revenue generation. Summit attendees will learn how they can expand their online businesses using e-marketing best practices, global e-commerce markets, online retail channels, digital rights management, and direct and try-before-you-buy sales models.

"One of the most powerful business building tools that we can offer our clients is access to Digital River's Sales Network - an online channel made up of tens of thousands of software publishers, online retailers, and content and portal sites," said Joel Ronning, Digital River's CEO. "By leveraging relationships within this network our clients can create joint marketing and sales opportunities to open new markets, broaden their product exposure and create incremental revenue streams. Along with a substantial educational program, our Network Sales Summit provides the perfect forum for facilitating these important third-party relationships and helping our clients generate results for their online businesses that otherwise would be difficult and cost prohibitive for them to achieve on their own."

During the last several years, thousands of joint client promotions have been defined at Digital River's Network Summits. At the event, Digital River clients can attend pre-scheduled meetings to discuss marketing partnerships. Based on these partnerships, clients agree to host each other's products online, then market and sell the products to their respective customer lists in exchange for a shared revenue arrangement. During 2004, Digital River hosted two Network Summits that produced more than 700 third-party agreements and millions of dollars in online revenue.

Digital River's spring summit features guest presentations by representatives from PC World, JupiterResearch and other industry leaders. For more information about the event or to register, contact Cindy Lou Ferris, Digital River's senior marketing strategist and client relations manager, at 952-253-8502.

Digital River plans to hold its tenth Network Summit in the fall of 2005. Details about this summit will be announced at a later date.

Submit RSS Feeds to Categorized RSS Search Engine

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

RSS Network is a new categorized RSS search engine. Submit your RSS feed and select the appropriate category.

Feeds are indexed and all items in the feed are searchable!

Niche Sites Are Valuable Assets

Tue, 12 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

While many marketers are scrambling for links, any links, an area that is oft over looked is topic specific search engines. What many don't realize is that these engines are used and they often contain traffic that is very targeted. Anyone who has taken the time to analyze weblogs will see that targeted traffic converts at a significantly higher rate than non-targeted traffic.

A savvy web marketer should focus their energies on attracting targeted traffic whenever possible. Consider the following niche engines:
Investing Partners
Horse Stall
Digital Photo Tips

or even a directory engine like the one for RSS feeds at:
RSS Network

Imagine the targeted traffic that you can receive from one of the above links.

Topic Specific Search Directories

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The following are great resources to find topic speific search directories:

Search Engine Guide
Search Engine Watch

Specialty search engines are the up and coming thing.

Marketleap Search Engine Marketing Tools

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Link popularity check is one of the best ways to quantifiably and independently measure your website's online awareness and overall visibility. Simply put, link popularity refers to the total number of links or "votes" that a search engine has found for your website.

Marketleap has designed this link popularity tool to help website owners find out who is linking to their site, but also to give a useful benchmarking report to quickly show where you stand in comparison to competitors and other major online players.

Check out MarketLeap's Link Popularity

Small Businesses Are Killing the People Who Create Them

Wed, 6 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Very interesting perspective:

Most new businesses fail because their owners think of themselves as entrepreneurs—-when they’re really just “technicians suffering from entrepreneurial seizures,” according to bestselling author Michael Gerber in an exclusive interview in the April 2005 issue of Management Consulting News. Gerber is the bestselling author of five books, including his most recent, E-Myth Mastery.

Gerber explains that true entrepreneurs must go beyond the technical work they know and love to master business planning, marketing, and financial management. They must work ON their businesses, not just IN them.

Expanded Services Include CD Fulfillment at Great Mind Software

Tue, 5 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

International sellers, or sellers who do not wish to fill orders themselves, may use the Great Mind Software CD service.

Great Mind Software will notify you of Amazon orders and then they will fill the orders and ship them.

The standard deluxe package consists of a white DVD case with color inkjet-printing directly on the CD. They will print an insert for the DVD case: full color on the front panel, with black and white printing on the spine, and black and white printing on the back. The packing slip will be clipped inside the DVD case.

The price for one-off CDs in the DVD case is $ 7.99 plus shipping!

Additional Information

Microsoft ex-employee sentenced for software theft - Piracy Doesn't Pay

Mon, 4 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

A former employee of Microsoft Corp was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $5 million in restitution for selling the world's largest software maker's products for personal gain, federal prosecutors said.

Richard Gregg, 45, agreed to a plea agreement in US District Court in Seattle, where he admitted to ordering more than $13 million worth of software meant for internal use and selling it to pay off a mortgage and buy luxury cars.

Gregg, who worked at Microsoft until late 2002, had cooperated with prosecutors in their investigation, a fact that Judge John Coughenour said he took into consideration at the sentencing.

Complete Article

New Software Developer, Online Marketing and Small Business News

Fri, 1 Apr 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The April issue of Software Marketing News, an independent voice for software developers has been posted.

The newsletter covers software awards, articles related to software and online marketing as well as a myriad of other things that are relevant to software development, online marketing and management of a small business.

If you wish to subscribe to the newsletter simply email webmaster@softwaremarketingresource.com with 'subscribe' as the subject line.

The Sad State of Selling Software: Stuck in a Swamp of Skepticism

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Kristin Zhivago has announced today that the conversion of her webletter, the Revenue Journal, to a blog. Her first blog post, entitled "The Sad State of Selling Software: Stuck in A Swamp of Skepticism," explains why it is so difficult for software vendors to sell into larger companies right now and what they can do to increase their closing rate. It is located at http://www.RevenueJournal.com.

"It was Benjamin Franklin who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," says Zhivago, a recognized expert in high-tech marketing and a revenue coach for company owners. "Today’s software buyer has been so badly burned by CRM, ERP, and other enterprise-wide, 'revolutionary' systems that they are very, very skeptical. And yet, software vendors are selling as if nothing has changed. They're behaving as if they're still selling to customers who breathlessly await the next new technology. Those days ended somewhere around 1987, after the first round of PC buyers found out that IBM's famous 'blue suit' service was not included with every PC shipped. Customer skepticism has been growing ever since. It's higher now than I've ever seen it."

"It is possible to lead buyers out of the Skepticism Swamp," Zhivago claims. "I provide three proven methods in this article. But I imagine we will be revisiting the subject in future posts on the Revenue Journal. The ill will created by years of broken promises is going to be difficult for the entire software industry to overcome."

Not sure but maybe they ought to contemplate an amazing new concept - let their customers try before they buy! ;-)

Fun Software Development Blog

Tue, 29 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

An industry favorite, Kathy Salisbury, has a software blog. The blog has anecdotal stories and is really a fun read.

I love some of the ideas Kathy has recently. Including Great Mind Software and general ideas about how to diversify her income. Keep an eye on some of Kathy's marketing plans I have a feeling all of us will be impressed.

Interesting Resource - SoftwareMarket Solution

Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The State of Requirements Development in Software Today, Part I of a Multipart Series

The Need for Clear Requirements

As software systems have become increasingly more complex, pervasive, and interactive, both with new classes of devices and with each other, the necessity of developing and communicating requirements and specifications that precisely specify the behaviors, qualities, and usage of highly interactive software with high levels of clarity has been widely acknowledged.

Complete Article - SoftwareMarket Solution

Shareware Industry Awards and People's Choice Awards Update

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 19:25:27 -0400

SIA Voter Registration
==================
Voter Registration for the Shareware Industry Awards will begin on April 1st and end on April 30th. There will be links to the voter registration area in the author area on CNET, the Tucows ARC area, and the author area on Simtel. There will also be a link on the SIAF Web site at http://www.sic.org/. In case you want to mark it in
your calendar this has been standardized so it will start the same time *every* year.

NOTE: IF you have registered to vote on the Shareware Industry Awards in the past, you do NOT need to register unless you have not participated in two years.

Program Submission
==================
Program submission -- Goes live on the SIAF Web site on April 1st also. This is also standardized so it is the same each year. Beginning April 1st software authors will be able to submit their program(s) for consideration by those who vote on the Shareware Industry Awards by using a PAD format file. The link for submitting programs OR viewing those that have been submitted will be on the SIAF Web site. Those nominating will be encouraged to visit these pages.

Note: A product does NOT have to be submitted to the SIAF site in order to be nominated.

Shareware Industry Awards
===================================
The voting panel, which consists of five (5) members is the same group as last year. They will once again help in counting and verifying the votes for both the Shareware Industry Awards and People's Choice Awards.

The Shareware Industry Awards nominations will begin on Monday May 2nd, 2005 and will end at 12 Noon MDT on Monday May 9th, 2005. The nominees will be posted on the SIAF Web site by May 10th. Links will be included for each nominated program and the developers Web site.

From May 10th through May 22nd those who vote will have time to evaluate each nominated program. Voting for the Shareware Industry Awards will begin on Monday May 23rd and end on Monday May 30th at at 12 Noon MDT. Winners will be announced at the annual Shareware Industry Awards banquet.

SIAF People's Choice Awards
==============================
Lastly, the voting for the annual SIAF People's Choice Awards will begin on May 1nd, 2005 and will end on May 31st, 2005. Voting sites will be located on CNET, Simtel, and Tucows, and Simtel, as well as on the SIAF site.

And once again authors are encouraged to tell their users and Web visitors about the voting and include links to the voting page. The SIAF will have graphics available as it gets closer to the voting. And, this year we'll be using a new voting system that's even more secure and more user-friendly.

Visiting Sites That You "Know" - Great Resources Change

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 08:24:01 -0400

I recently visited the Shareware Promotions site and was really impressed with the new information that I found. Dave and I have been friends for quite some time and I knew they had redesigned the website but I had not realized the extent of the information and resources in the new website. I was also unaware of all of the new servicesthat Shareware Promotions offers. They cover software evaluation, site submission, search engine optimization, website evaluation as well as both short and long term marketing packages.

Each section links to additional information and more resources! I know how I'm spending the morning. Whats great about Dave is he provides detailed how to information for free, but if you don't have the time they will provide the services for you for a fee. I'm quickly learning what a valuable commodity time is...

Shareware Industry Conference Registration Special!

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Until April 1st early conference registration is only $99, after that conference registration is only $129! Walk-in registrations at the door will be $149. Conference registration includes admittance to all conference activities including educational sessions and evening receptions. To participate in the Shareware Industry Awards banquet on Saturday evening the cost is $45. The banquet menu is a four course meal of soup, salad, main entree and dessert. You can choose from a beef, chicken, or vegetarian entree.

Register Now and Save

The Shareware Industry Conference is the premier industry event with exciting and informative breakout sessions, lots of networking, exhibit night and much more. Additional information on the Shareware Industry Conference

Google Mimics Amazon And EBay In Courting Software Developers

Mon, 21 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Like its fellow E-commerce leviathans Amazon.com and eBay, Google is facing a reality of the Internet business: It needs to court independent software programmers as well as customers. Google today launched code.google.com, a site for programmers interested in writing applications that work in coordination with Google's search site.
It initially includes four projects that Google developers have worked on and are releasing as open-source code through SourceForge, as well as application programming interfaces that are used to let other software interact with Google.

Companies like Google, Amazon, and eBay are increasingly courting outside programmers to create tools that interact with their Web sites, hoping to become online hubs of commerce with themselves as the technology platform in the middle of it.

Complete Article

DR Pays $ 8.8 million for SWREG

Sun, 20 Mar 2005 11:29:14 -0400

E-commerce outsourcing provider Digital River (digitalriver.com) announced on Friday that it had acquired SWReg, a provider of e-commerce services for software authors.

Under the agreement terms, Digital River acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities, vendor contracts and intellectual property of SWReg for $8.8 million in cash.

Digital River says the agreement allows it to make additional earn-out payments of cash based on achieving specific revenue and development goals over the first 12 months following close of the acquisition. The company's first quarter 2005 revised financial expectations announced on Thursday were not affected.

"This acquisition is a continuation of our strategy to extend our global footprint and expand our client base, software library and online sales network," says Digital River CEO Joel Ronning. "Moving forward, we intend to capitalize on this strong foundation by offering our clients broader access to global online markets and new opportunities to drive online revenues and operational efficiencies."

ICE Awards - Recognizes Clients for Internet Commerce Excellence

Fri, 18 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Well this appears to be a week about Digital River so why stop now ;-)

Digital River announced the call for entries to its 2005 ICE Awards. I believe typically only corporate (retail) Digital River clients participate but I read the rules and it doesn't appear that it is restricted to retail software so I decided to tell all developers about the awards. While many are frustrated with industry consolidation developers have the opportunity to benefit from Digital River's size. Digital River will present each of its ICE Awards winners with a crystal ICE Award. In addition, they each will receive one complimentary invitation and admission applicable for the Fall 2005 Network Sales Summit. ICE Awards winners also will have opportunities to be recognized by local and national media. Because of Digital River's girth they garner media attention and it would be great if the awards are able to draw attention to small developers who are using innovation to drive sales online!

The awards showcase small and large companies alike - savvy companies that are putting e-commerce best practices to work in creative new ways to drive revenues and efficiencies through their online stores. If you can tell a story about a B2B or B2C e-commerce strategy or campaign that generated compelling results, you could be one of Digital River's next ICE Awards winners.

The following are the Digital River ICE Awards 2005 Qualifications
Tips for Writing Memorable ICE Awards Entries
· Include financial results.
· Include measurable results (i.e. increased close ratios by x percent; sales for product y increased $z or x percent; increased operational efficiencies by y percent; site traffic increased x percent).
· Don't worry about the writing - we're looking for a detail-rich explanation about your e-commerce objectives, program and results, not a Pulitzer Prize winning composition.

Qualifications
· Entrants must be current Digital River clients.
(I imagine this means any Digital River property but I will clarify this with Brant - DR properties currently include: RegNow, RegSoft, Emetrix, RegNet, Share-It, Element-5, Qwerks, Digi-Buy, PSL)
· The campaign or initiative that you describe in the ICE Awards entry must have been launched and have generated measurable results between April 1, 2004, and March 31, 2005.
· Your company can enter multiple awards categories but only one category can be submitted per entry form.
· Your company cannot win the same ICE Award consecutively.
· Judges will select up to two winners in each ICE Awards category.
· Candidates and winners of the ICE Awards must be willing to disclose "measurable results." It is preferable that you share the financial results of your e-commerce campaigns and strategies. However, important metrics (actual or percent increase) that represent barometers of success must be shared.
· Winners of the ICE Awards must agree to have their names published in a press release.
· Winners of the ICE Awards must be willing to speak to the press on a pre-approval basis.
· Winners of the ICE Awards must be willing to have their stories published on Digital River's corporate Web site.

Prizes
· Digital River will present each of its ICE Awards winners with a crystal ICE Award.
· Each ICE Awards winner will receive one complimentary invitation and admission applicable for the Fall 2005 Network Sales Summit.
· ICE Awards winners also will have opportunities to be recognized by local and national media.

Additional Information on ICE Awards

Digital River - Again ....

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 09:23:20 -0400

I think Dave Collins from Shareware Promotions made the announcement that appropriately reflects the software industry sentiment...

Digital River's Most Recent Acquisition

Digital River Enhances its SoftwarePassport Technology - Will Developers Like This Enhancement?

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Digital River Enhances its SoftwarePassport Technology. Looks like Digital River is "plugging" their optional analytics tie-in that caused such commotion in the software industry a month ago.

To meet the needs of Digital River's growing publisher base, the newly enhanced version of SoftwarePassport supports a wider range of software delivery options and economic business models. In addition to using SoftwarePassport technology to handle direct e-commerce purchases, publishers also can use it to manage trialware conversions, subscriptions, the online purchase of licenses, and the activation and licensing of physical products.

Digital River's newly enhanced SoftwarePassport technology now:
-- Offers support for the PC-based gaming market, including compression, trial-by-minutes and customized installers;

-- Integrates with a software analytics tool to help publishers better understand and manage the software installation process, and gather data on how their products are being used by customers;

Complete Article

Laws of Software Development

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

SixLaws of Software
Most home consumers have all the software they will ever need, and most companies out there already have all the basic technologies they
need to successfully compete. What's a software developer to do? Read the Six Laws of the New Software to find out.
http://changethis.com/12.SixLawsSoftware

The Great Software List

Mon, 14 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

We found a review of FeedForAll software listed on The Great Software List . Not having been previously aware of the site we were quite pleased to find ourselves in such great company. In addition to providing top software selections the site contains some additional tips. The site contains a top 10 list for users and a top 10 list for developers.

Internet Games Festival Winners Announced

Fri, 11 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The Independent Games Festival in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers. The winners of the seventh annual awards were announced on March 9, 2005. This collection of award winners and finalists from the Open and Web/Downloadable categories demonstrates the quality and diversity of independent games today.

And the winners are ....

Industry Leaders Look To Software's Future

Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

What will the software industry look like in three, five, even 10 years from now? And what customer demands and business trends will drive changes in software products, how they're developed, and the industry that provides them? Here are some thoughts from suppliers and buyers of enterprise software:

Read More

SD West 2005 - Software Developer West Coming Soon!

Wed, 9 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The SD West curriculum is designed to help you Develop An Advantage by enhancing your expertise in the languages, tools, technologies and trends you need to be successful.

The conference is scheduled for Santa Clara March 14-18, 2005. Additional Details

Softwrap Offers Logistics Solution Powered by SwiftCD

Wed, 9 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Manufacturing and fulfillment leader SwiftCD today announces that Softwrap, a world leader in digital rights management, will be offering software developers and clients a new and unique logistics solution, powered by SwiftCD's on-demand manufacturing and fulfillment service. Thanks to SwiftCD, Softwrap vendors will have access to a quick, affordable and powerful cross-selling tool that will be available to customers in the ease of just a few mouse clicks.

With this new delivery solution, a purchaser will be able to order a backup copy of the software they purchase on a CD-ROM. Software companies can then include other trials or demos on the disk to be output as desired, with the freedom to change, update or expand menu items or choices at any time. Such physical delivery options give end users the satisfaction of a physical delivery for their purchases, while also giving them the opportunity to review, try out - and purchase - other software titles offered by the same provider.

Additional Details

EU Body Endorses Software Patents Measure

Tue, 8 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

A European Union government body has endorsed a controversial patents bill, handing a victory to large companies with substantial software patent portfolios, such as Microsoft. The directive, voted on Monday by the EU's Council, is slated to be presented to the EU assembly for yet another vote, as the issue promises to drone on for months.

At the last minute, opposition to the measure surfaced from Poland, Denmark, and Portugal, but the vote of the 25-country body overwhelmed the opposition. Open-source interests have opposed the directive, maintaining that it will stifle innovation.

Complete Article

Increase Exposure in Australia and New Zealand

Mon, 7 Mar 2005 07:57:45 -0400

Eye4You is looking for another suite of products to include in their range of software for the Australian & New Zealand market.

They only work on an exclusive basis (ie. eye4you would be the only company offering your software in those 2 countries), and will actively promote and market your products. They are currently only considering Enterprise software (particularly targeting educational institutions and medium / large companies). ie. not home-user or single-licence software!

If interested contact them directly at Eye4You

Break From Posting

Thu, 3 Mar 2005 20:30:58 -0400

I'm traveling and do the tourist thing for the next few days so posting will be light if at all.

Yahoo Introduces Search APIs and Developer Network

Thu, 3 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Yahoo Inc. plans to introduce today the Yahoo Search Developer Network, an online resource offering developers access to new Web services application programming interfaces (APIs) for Yahoo Search products, along with Overture's existing APIs. Yahoo envisions YSDN as a place where developers can share code, ideas, and applications that extend the company's search technology.

"We've been asked by a lot of third-party developers for these APIs for a while," says Eckert Walther, head of product management for Yahoo Search. "And we've recognized that search has gone from a consumer application to a much broader application platform."

As an example of how the APIs might be used, Walther suggests that a Web site about restaurants in Palo Alto might want to show those restaurants on a map. "You could show that directly with the Yahoo Local search API," he explains. "Or let's say you had a restaurant review site where people could provide quick reviews, and you wanted to supply a spell checker. You could do that using the spell checker API."

Complete Article - Yahoo APIs

Software Marketing News

Tue, 1 Mar 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The March issue of Software Marketing News has been posted. This issue delves into selling on Amazon, publishers and new opportunities available on CNET.

If you know someone who would like to subscribe please have them send a blank email to webmaster@softwaremarketingresource.com with "subscribe" as the subject line.

Software Marketing News tries to keep developers informed about important industry changes. Software marketing resource is an independent voice for developers. We welcome suggestions and feedback on our articles and information

Closer Ties Between Chinese and Indian Developers

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

According to an article in the Asia Times - "The Chinese and Indian software industries are forging closer ties, as the world's two most populous countries become favoured offshore software outsourcing destinations."

What will this mean to western developers, or even independent developers. It is no surprise that independent developers have a higher likelihood of success from regions where the cost of living is lower. Lets face it they don't need to earn quite as much to live comfortably, but as outsourcing grows increasingly popular independent developers may need to evaluate their market position.

Complete Article

Nominees Announced for the 5th Annual Software Games Developer Choice Awards

Fri, 25 Feb 2005 08:24:51 -0400

The nominee's for IGDA Game Developer Choice Awards have been announced. The nominees include well known retail titles like Half-Life 2 and Grand Theft Auto but very few lesser known names by independent developers. Perhaps next year Indies will fair better.

Imagine.... Software Licensing + E-Commerce + Distribution = Success

Thu, 24 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The formula for success right? Currently software developers use a combination of solutions to protect, sell and distribute their software. Well a new player has entered the arena. Download.com and Protexis have partnered to provide software developers all three pieces to the equation.

I talked to the folks from CNET and Protexis yesterday and will be writing up a detailed article for March's SMR, but I'm sure the software development community will be a buzz as to what this means.

One thing I'll mention now, that will influence many developers, is that Protexis' e-commerce rate will be 8 or 10% (depending on services selected)! It is sure to shake up the shareware registration services who only provide a piece of the puzzle, or charge higher affiliate rates for their distribution channel.

Stay Tuned!!!

Webcom Publishers of Software Business Magazine Add Two Software Newsletters to Offerings

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Software Business Expands Its e-Newsletters for the Software Industry

Two new e-newsletters serving executives and managers in the software industry, have been announced by Webcom Communications, the publisher of Software Business Magazine.

Joining the magazine's flagship e-newsletter, Software Business Executive Report, the new publications bring the number of e-newsletters under the Software Business brand up to three.

- Software Investor will cover financial and investment news of the software industry reporting on mergers and acquisitions, financings, taxation, accounting and financial strategy.

- SLAM: Sales, Licensing, Alliances and Marketing Report will cover news and strategy in all aspects of sales, marketing, product management and promotion for software products and services.

sign up for WebCom's Software Newsletters

Sell Software on Amazon with Great Minds

Tue, 22 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Selling software on Amazon is not quite as straightforward as it appears. Great Mind Software and Pharos Games (for gaming software) has made it a whole lot easier.

They will list your product in Amazon's inventory assigning it a barcode. Then you are able to sell through Amazon.

Great Mind Software has put together a collection of tips along with a FAQ to help developers starting out. I've recently signed up with them to sell FeedForAll on Amazon and have been pleased with the results.

CNET's Download.com Has Added a Blog Section

Mon, 21 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Download.com, the popular download site has added a section, where CNET personalities blog.

Amongst the new CNET bloggers are some popular names in shareware circles including Scott Arpajian with a blog about useful software utilities, Kelly Morrison with a blog theme I'm still trying to figure out, and Wayne Cunningham with a blog about spyware.

I'm really excited about Scott's blog in particular, as Scott has always been an advocate for the smaller developers, often assisting them, and listening to their concerns. His blog may mean some really great editorial exposure for some less well known, but deserving applications.

Statistical Information Related to Downloads and Sales of Software Online

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 13:14:26 -0400

Yesterday seemed to be the day for fascinating posts. Brian from MicroISV shared some interesting statistical information with his readers on wednesday. The post was a compilation of information provided by eSellerate and some polls on the MicroISV site. The comments however indicated that the information was useless in increasing sales. Brian followed up with a stellar post that detailed how this information assisted him with increasing software sales.

I think Brian is correct in his assertion that this data can be useful in increasing sales. While there is room for additional data collection I think, the generic information atleasts helps motivate software developers to think about how to conduct an advertising or promotional campaign and maximize sales.

Firm formerly known as Gator looks for credibility

Wed, 16 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Claria, aka Gator, an adware maker that online publishers once called a "parasite," is now seeking their favor to build a massive Web advertising network to display ads based on Web surfers' behaviors.

The privately held company, which postponed its public offering last year, is launching a new marketing division and advertising service to migrate from hawking its signature pop-up advertisements to selling behaviorally targeted display ads. If it has its way, the ads will appear on publisher pages across the Web, reaching as many as 200 million people.

Complete Article about Gator's Tainted Image

Google and The Golden Ratio

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I just read what could possibly be the most intelligent or the most hair brained explanation of Google's antics. First a bit of history.

What is the Golden Ratio?
The golden ratio, or golden section is a number that crops up in nature, and particular beauty and perfection an astonishing number of times. A few facts to give you an idea of what we're talking about here:

Phi is the only number who's square can be produced by simply adding 1
- and who's reciprocal by subtracting 1
- It's found in music, art, nature and science
- It's digits have been calculated to 10 million, and they never repeat.
- It's rumoured that Da Vinci's mona lisa was created using the golden triangle
- Most of those fact were lifted from The Golden Rule

Enough with History, what does it mean to Google and Search Marketers?
We don't know exactly but, with the evident inclusion of LSI/A in the recent Google algorithm shift, many are beginning, as a result of DG's post to suspect that 1.618 may feature strongly in one or many factors of the algo - and as DG pointed out: It's just geeky enough to be true.

Things to play with...
What may be worth experimenting with would for me, include the following, based largely on what better seo minds tell me :)

Incoming Link Text
Hard to do of course but say you're target word be "tractor", using the ~operator to find semantically relevant terms and aiming for the 1.618 ratio would seem reasonable
Outgoing Link Text
Much the same as above, 10 instances of tractor and 6 instances of "farm machinery" and other such terms
Keyword Density
You're gettin the picture now right?
Overall Theme
Possibly a bit out there, this one, but worth thinking about - particularly in terms of titles.

In particular read the follow up post posted by Graywolf on ThreadWatch - a very insightful concept that will make your brain hurt!!!!

SoftScout - New Business Software Resource

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I got a note from the folks at SoftScout. SoftScout is a new site defined as a community managed, business software directory. SoftScout aims to provide a comprehensive list of enterprise software solutions, allowing business professionals to locate, compare, and select the best available solution.

If you have a business application sign-up as a vendor

Web Pages that Suck

Thu, 10 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Vincent Flanders' Web Pages that Suck blog lists the biggest Web design mistakes of 2004. He drew on his other weblog, the Daily Sucker, a blog that showcases current examples of bad design, to come up with 14 of the worst mistakes you can make when designing a website. Here are his top five:

1. "Believing people care about you and your website." People come to your site to have their problems solved. They could care less about you.

2. "A man from Mars can't figure out what your Website is about in less than 4 seconds." If someone can't figure out what you're about within 4 seconds of arriving on your homepage, you've failed.

3. "Mystical belief in the power of Web Standards, Usability and tableless CSS." In short, the tools you use are less important than how the site looks and works.

4. "Using design elements that get in the way of your visitors." He cites splash pages, animations, too much text, too many graphics, etc., as some elements that interrupt a user's experience -- and get in the way of the sale.

5. "Navigational failure." Flanders' says simplicity and consistency are key here. He even cites Seth Godin's weblog as something that fails in this category.

Read more about Web Pages that Suck

Donate Door Prizes to FACUG - The Florida Association of Computer User Groups

Wed, 9 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I received a request from FACUG - the Florida Association of Computer Users Groups.

Their twelfth annual spring conference will take place March 4 to March 6, 2005 in Kissimmee, Florida. They are looking for software products to publicize. In order to have your products promoted provide complimentary software, hardware, or other products to be displayed and used for door prizes and for the end of
meeting drawing.

The details are as follows:

FACUG's spring conference is the premier regional computer user group event in the country. Over 200 leaders from our 58 member groups (both PC & MAC) are expected to attend. These groups represent over 17,480 opinion leaders in their communities. Their mission is to promote communications between member groups and the computer industry, assist user groups in fulfilling educational and charitable activities, and promote community relations. They are a non-profit corporation (tax ID# 59-3323255) under IRS regulations.

Product support will enable you to advertise your products by having them displayed during the meeting. A listing of conference contributors will be posted on the Web site and linked to your Web site at http://www.facug.org/vendurls.htm . This FACUG Web page displays links to vendors who support computer user groups. Please supply your company name, URL and contact name with an email address to enable us to enter the proper links to your company. We will post your user group specials on our page at
http://www.facug.org/specials.htm .

Product in the form of software, hardware, books, special offers, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Items must be received between February 28th to
March 3rd, 2005 to:

   FACUG Conference
   Attn: Larry Tyler
   %Kissimmee Civic Center
   201 East Dakin Avenue
   Kissimmee, FL 34741-5725

For information about sponsorships contact us at the e-mail address below.

Product support or sponsorship information - contact: Larry Tyler Jr.   or Hewie Poplock email them at facug@webulous.biz

Abbyy's Software Success Story

Tue, 8 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Dean Tang founded Abbyy USA after his previous company, Newsoft now a subsidiary of UMAX, went public in Taiwan. Abbyy USA was founded 5 years ago and is a fully owned subsidiary of Abbyy Software, a large software development firm in Russia specializing in artificial intelligence in the language field. Abbyy has been active in the industry for 15 years.

Complete Article - Abbyy Software

Special Edition SMR News - All Companies Make Mistakes

Mon, 7 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Occasionally we are faced with "news" that is deemed important enough to create a special issue of Software Marketing News. This is one of those occasions not because the news is so earth-shattering, but because it is important the developers are informed with facts rather than rumors.

All Companies Make Mistakes
Nearly every company, makes mistakes. In my opinion, once a mistake is discovered, it is how the company handles that mistake is more telling, than the mistake itself.

In this world there are big mistakes and there are little mistakes. Digital River recently collected information related to usage and installation of its SoftwarePassport application, without disclosing the tracking to it's customers. The actual tracking was done by including a UserAx.dll in the recent versions of SoftwarePassport and Armadillo.

Developers obviously have a number of concerns related to the new DLL. I'm hoping this article will separate fact from fiction, and get to the heart of the matter.

I would encourage developers to read it and make their own assessments. - Complete Article - All Companies Make Mistakes

SwiftCD Acquires Certain Assets of Xburn

Fri, 4 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

In a key strategic move within the CD duplication and fulfillment industry, DigitalSwift, the parent company of SwiftCD.com, has acquired certain assets of Los Angeles-based Xburn. The world leader in on-demand dynamic CD/DVD manufacturing and fulfillment, DigitalSwift's acquisition is an important milestone for the company and its popular subsidiary SwiftCD, which continues its trend of rapid expansion in 2005.

Google Sandbox

Fri, 4 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Before we get too far into an explanation as to what Google's sandbox is, it must be noted that not everyone even agrees that the sandbox exists. The sandbox is actually nothing more than a theory developed to explain what many different SEO experts have witnessed with their listings. Whether or not the sandbox really exists is actually irrelevant when we know that the effects of the sandbox exist.

Google's sandbox is a relatively new filter that appeared to be put in place back in March of 2004. This happened after the widely publicized updates of Austin and Florida, and the implementation of what is known as the Austin update. If you are not sure what those are, there is no need to worry as those updates are now for the most part in the past. The sandbox filter seems to affect nearly all new websites placing them on an initial "probation" status. The effect of this is that new websites may get into Google's SERP's (search engine results pages) relatively quickly and may even perform well for a couple of weeks. When the filter is applied to the new website it is referred to as being put in the "sandbox". The new website will still show in the result pages, but it will not rank well regardless of how much original, well optimized content and regardless of how many quality inbound links the site may have. The filter restrains new websites from having immediate success in the search engine result pages.

Complete Article - Google Sandbox

Open Source Law Center Opens Doors

Wed, 2 Feb 2005 09:00:00 -0400

A $4 million investment made by the Open Source Development Labs has helped create a center to provide free legal support to free and open source software (FOSS) projects.

The legal firm now known as the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) will be run by noted copyright lawyer Eben Moglen from its headquarters in New York, and staffed with two full-time intellectual property lawyers to provide pro bono legal support. Two more IP lawyers are expected to join the center later this year. Moglen said he would aggressively recruit from a talent pool of recent law school graduates. OSDL announced the formation of the spin-off organization during its hosted Enterprise Linux Summit here this week.

Complete Article

February Software Marketing News

Tue, 1 Feb 2005 10:16:00 -0400

I've just posted this month's software marketing news letter. Software Marketing news is an independent voice for software developers.

I will be writing a piece related to some recent questions that have been raised regarding Armadillo/Software Passport and usage of marketing information. Unfortunately the article is not yet ready so it will be sent in a second newsletter this month. If any developers have questions or comments that they would like included in the piece, please forward them to me as soon as possible. My hope is to separate fact from fiction, and present in non-technical terms both sides of the issue.

If you wish to subscribe to the newsletter please send a blank email to webmaster@softwaremarketingresource.com with subscribe as the subject line or subscribe to the SMR RSS newsletter feed.

Read the latest Software Marketing Newsletter

Danish students launch open source and shareware beer

Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

A group of IT-students fra the IT-University in Copenhagen has launched a new "open-source" beer, writes the technical journal Ingeniøren.

It is described by the students as “a great tasting energetic beer and it's the world's first open source beer! It is based on classic ale brewing traditions but with added guarana for a natural energy-boost.

Version 1.0 is a medium strong beer (6% vol) with a deep golden red colour and an original but familiar taste.”

Complete article

Digital River Merchandising!

Fri, 28 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I received an email from Bill Dickson (Digital River) yesterday indicating that he was "merchandising" FeedForAll and added prominent affiliate links on PC Mag and ComputerWorld. I certainly appreciate the added exposure and I'm eager to see how the traffic from these sources convert. I'll be sure to keep everyone informed about the performance and new initiatives with the Digital River affiliate channel.

Smart Online Marketing Promotion Tactics Via Content Creation, Syndication and Aggregation!

Thu, 27 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Well I'm completely flattered! I chatted with Robin Good of renowned MasterNewMedia and Kalobora fame yesterday and he wrote about the conversation today on his website.

Robin is known for his candor and very frank opinions. I was quite nervous about what he might say. Our marketing efforts had caught his eye, and he wanted to delve into them a bit further. Robin is known as a communication industry expert and he is quite knowledgeable about marketing online.

Read more about Robin's assessment in Smart Online Marketing Promotion Tactics Via Content Creation, Syndication And Aggregation

House Eyes Anti-Spyware Legislation

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:29:34 -0400

"Bono's bill would prohibit a wide range of spyware- and adware-style activities, including keyboard logging, home page hijacking, and persistent on-screen ads. SPY ACT would also forbid practices such as collecting information without the user's consent or intentionally diverting a browser from its intended destination, and requires software to offer up a "no thanks" dialog so installation can't be done without consumers' knowledge. Programs must also have an easy-to-find uninstall option."

Complete Article

Presenting at Software Conference - Deadline Reminder

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:19:59 -0400

If you wish to present at this years Shareware Industry Conference you will need to submit an abstract by January 31. Be sure to get your proposals in !

Details on Speaking Proposals

Developing A Software Community In A Forum

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:30:16 -0400

Awhile ago I setup a forum on Software Marketing Resource with the hopes of creating a friendly community of software developers helping each other.
Sadly the forum, while there are daily posts, has not flourished, creating the supportive community I envisioned.

I recently added an RSS feed to make following forum posts easier. It still isn't the community I hoped for. I would love to hear thoughts and suggestions on ways to make the forum more inviting for devolpers! Please post your thoughts.

Registration Open for Shareware Industry Conference

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 13:21:56 -0400

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!

Teen sued by Apple gains legal help

Sat, 22 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

A lawyer specializing in freedom of speech and the Internet said Wednesday he will defend free of charge a 19-year-old publisher of a Web site facing a lawsuit over an article that revealed trade secrets about an Apple computer.
Nicholas Ciarelli, publisher of the site www.ThinkSecret.com and a Harvard University student, will be defended by Terry Gross, of the San Francisco-based firm Gross & Belsky.

Ciarelli said last week he could not afford to defend a lawsuit that Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Computer filed in San Jose County on Jan. 4.

Complete Article

Gerrit Schumann is Leaving element 5

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

According to a recent Digital River/Element 5 Press Release Gerrit Schumann and two other former element 5 shareware holders are leaving the company to pursue other interests.

"In connection with this initiative and the achievement of the integration milestones and obligations under the element 5 acquisition agreement announced on April 19, 2004, Gerrit Schumann and two other selling shareholder managers have decided to leave the company to pursue business interests outside of the outsourced e-commerce industry. These managers will remain on board at element 5 to transition their duties during the next sixty days. Mr. Schumann also has resigned from Digital River's Board of Directors."

Complete Digital River / element 5 Press Release

TouchGraph

Thu, 20 Jan 2005 08:47:07 -0400

This site has been around for awhile but it's "coolness" never ceases to impress me. Simply enter the url of a website and a "web" will be created that traces incoming and outgoing links. Check out the TouchGraph

Ingram Micro Launches Online Marketing Service

Wed, 19 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

If you are not familiar with Ingram Micro you should consider becoming familiar.

Ingram is one of the largest computer/software distributors that sell to resellers. It will be interesting to see if they are able to put their weight behind this new effort.

"Ingram Micro launched a suite of online marketing services to help solution providers develop customized marketing campaigns using print, direct mail and HTML templates."

" Through the Agency Express program, solution providers can purchase prospect lists based on company size, location and specific vertical market focus through Agency Express' direct marketing database service."

Complete Article - About Ingram Micro

Filangy's Tag Line is If You've Seen it We'll Find It

Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Filangy is a new way to manage and share Web information. You’ll never have to go hunting for an article you read online last week or search over and over again.

Filangy will create a personal web space for you and make it fully searchable.

Sounds like a personal "Big Brother"
Details on Filangy

Hacker Tracks his own Investigation

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 08:46:38 -0400

A hacker broke into the U.S. wireless network of the German cellphone operator T-Mobile over at least seven months and read e-mail messages and personal computer files of hundreds of customers, including the Secret Service agent investigating the hacker, the government has said.
.
The hacker obtained an internal Secret Service memorandum and part of a mutual assistance legal treaty from Russia. The documents contained "highly sensitive information" about ongoing criminal cases, according to court records.

Complete Article

Free RSS to HTML PHP Script

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 09:53:32 -0400

In addition to making your RSS feed available to your visitors for use with their RSS Feed Reader, as a webmaster you may also want to make the same feed available on your website for viewing with a regular web browser.

A free PHP script, rss2html.php, that converts RSS feeds to HTML has been made freely available by NotePage, Inc. The rss2html.php script allows webmasters to display RSS feeds on their website.

RSS or Really Simple Syndication, as it is commonly known, is a technology that gives webmasters the ability to to easily distribute and publish syndicated content on the Internet.

Most webmasters understand the potential benefits of making RSS feeds available for viewing in a web browser. FeedForAll's new rss2html.php script allows users to create webpages that will always display the most current information from the RSS feed, and because the resulting page is pure HTML, it will be in a format friendly to search engine robots. Using rss2html.php webmasters can customize the format and look of the web page created from the feed. The RSS feed's contents can easily be integrated into an existing website's theme. The rss2html.php script parses the RSS file, extracts the pertinent information, formats it, and serves it up as regular HTML.

The rss2html.php script runs on any webserver that can run PHP scripts, and it support feeds in the RSS 2.0, .93, .92, .91, or .90 format. Additional details and a download for the free script can be found at http://www.feedforall.com/free-php-script.htm

Podcasting Tutorial

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 09:20:46 -0400

For those software developers who have heard of podcasting but don't fully understand its capabilities. What is a podcast? An audio file delivered via an RSS feed. Want to learn more? Take a look at the following Podcasting Tutorial. The tutorial is a step by step guide for setting up a podcast.

Webmaster Tools and Resources

Wed, 12 Jan 2005 11:24:40 -0400

With new technologies, algorithms and sources emerging on a daily basis, webmasters are constantly struggling to stay informed. The quality of content on the web and the number of products available to webmasters can seem overwhelming. The goal of creating a site that can be quickly found can be a struggle. Unless webmasters have a well-established brand, a great domain name and a huge marketing budget, it is important that they appear in search engines via specific keywords. With this in mind, we have compiled a list of resources and products that will benefit webmasters in their efforts to be found.

more on Webmaster Tools and Resources

Axandra Posted an Interview With Google

Tue, 11 Jan 2005 07:51:17 -0400

Axandra has assembled a collection of 7 interviews with Google, that recap and reveal how Google Words.

Read the Interviews with Google

Big Software firms want copyright law rewrite

Mon, 10 Jan 2005 09:49:54 -0400

A group of large software companies has taken the first step toward inciting a tussle with the telecommunications industry by asking Congress to rewrite copyright law so alleged Internet pirates can be more easily targeted by lawsuits.

The group of companies, which is known as the Business Software Alliance, counts as members Microsoft, Autodesk, Borland, Intuit, Sybase and Symantec, among others. The group released a general outline of its suggestions on Thursday in a white paper that effectively describes its legislative proposals for 2005. The companies say they fear a revenue-sapping future in which software programs are traded as frequently and readily on peer-to-peer networks as MP3 music files are today.

One current law that the software companies single out for criticism is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which established a turbocharged subpoena procedure designed to let copyright holders unmask infringers. The law was considered a workable compromise when enacted in 1998, but a series of subsequent court decisions have created an "impediment to effective enforcement," the paper says.

Complete Article

Why Understanding Web Logs Matters

Mon, 10 Jan 2005 08:47:32 -0400

General web statistics give pertinent information about website visitors. Webmasters analyzing these statistics have a better understanding of who their website visitors are and how they perceive the website. A lot can be learned by evaluating navigation patterns, most-viewed pages and exit pages. Deciphering web logs could easily become a full-time job. The information that can be gleaned from close log scrutiny is extremely valuable.

Complete Article - Why Understanding Web Logs Matters

Google exposes web surveillance cams

Sun, 9 Jan 2005 08:05:53 -0400

Blogs and message forums buzzed this week with the discovery that a pair of simple Google searches permits access to well over 1,000 unprotected surveillance cameras around the world - apparently without their owners' knowledge.

Searching on certain strings within a URL sniffs out networked cameras that have Web interfaces permitting their owners to view them remotely, and even direct the cameras' motorized pan-and-tilt mechanisms from the comfort of their own desktop.

Article Details

Affiliates and AdSense

Fri, 7 Jan 2005 09:33:50 -0400

Dave Collins posted some pretty earth-shaking news in his shareware promotions blog about Google's new policy relating to affiliates.

"Google are limiting the number of affiliate ads that show up in search results."

"The implications of this may not be clear just yet. For instance, this will mean that those willing to pay a higher rate can actually unseat an advertiser with a higher ad rank. Nothing new in that, but how will the other ads, not being displayed, be able to get a higher CTR in the first place?"

It will be really interesting to see interesting to see what this means.

Legal Threats Still Loom For Google

Thu, 6 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Geico might have lost the first battle in its trademark infringement suit against search giant Google last month, but officials from the insurance company vowed that the war is not yet over.

"The fact that a search engine can make money from our trademark is fundamentally wrong," said Geico's general counsel, Charles Davies. "We continue to believe that the sale of our trademark is wrong, and we will continue to litigate this issue," he said.

Complete Article

Personally I agree with Geico and glad they are pursuing additional litigation.

Affiliate Programs and My Experiences

Wed, 5 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

I mentioned a few months ago with the launch of FeedForAll we would be wrapping it and for the eSellerate and Digital River network (through RegNow), and I would share my experiences here. I've received a lot of questions since my mention of affiliate programs in the last newsletter so I figured it was time to share my experiences.

Initially when wrapping the files I found Bill Dickson from Digital River extremely helpful providing the needed information, but was disappointed to find that the consumer has to make 2 downloads, one being some sort of download manager. When we were wrapping our program for the eSellerate network their system was down, and while I haven't experienced any outages since then, it was a bit of a frustration. Once we gained access to the eSellerate system, I did not find it intuitive and needed assistance to figure it out. I had wanted to setup all the graphics links prior to the launch but was disappointed to find you had to make the program "live" in order to add graphics. Didn't make much sense to me. I had just wanted to flip a switch on launch day and have all the file and graphics in place.

We worked deals to have major exposure on both the Digital River network and with some of eSellerate's affiliate partners; this is where the most significant differences between the two networks were apparent. Digital River gave us prominent placement on Simtel and a popular PC site. Unfortunately we didn't have an initial high conversion and were quickly replaced by other affiliates. In the eSellerate network things were much more hands-on. I worked with Howard Sobel from WUGNET and we discussed the target audience for FeedForAll, who his audience was on the various sites they work with, and the message that would likely work. We created promotional text, shaping the message to the audience. While sales were not blockbuster, it certainly performed significantly better than that on the DR network. Howard also mentioned that time limited coupons perform well with his audience and so we gave that a try.

Denise the affiliate coordinator at eSellerate also contacted us and hooked us up with some affiliate partners in their network. I think that long term the hand-holding by WUGNET and customizing the copy to meet the needs of the audience goes a long way in creating successful affiliate relationships. The coupons performed and the things I learned in dealing with WUGNET are all things I would like to try in the DR network, as I suspect their reach is broader, but I don't know that they are structured for this sort of thing.

We are still finding that our *best* affiliates are those that are topic specific or those that provide closely related content. I believe as RSS gains momentum and popularity it will become a more consumer oriented product, making it easy for all affiliates to sell. For now we are interested in working with affiliates, to assist them in educating their audience about RSS and how FeedForAll would fit in. At this point it appears that eSellerate's network has a better handle on this than DR.

Tools for Online Tracking

Tue, 4 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

Read the following article to stay informed about tools for online tracking:

In order to determine which advertising and marketing efforts are effective you must have ways to measure the results of those efforts. Alerts and instant notifications can be instrumental in monitoring search engine position, trademarked terms, monitoring competitors and staying abreast of online occurrences. And, of course, the notification can be used for "ego searches".

Tools for Online Tracking

Latest Software Marketing Newsletter

Mon, 3 Jan 2005 09:00:00 -0400

The latest software marketing newsletter has been posted to:
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/author-resource-newsletter49.html

This month's newsletter contains reflections for 2004 and predications for 2005.

2005 Year of Opportunity

Fri, 31 Dec 2004 08:51:38 -0400

I think Dave Collin's from Shareware Promotions predictions for 2005 in his software marketing blog were dead on.

2005 is the year of opportunity, with all the sadness right now. The refreshingly positive outlook for 2005 was encouraging. January's software marketing news will be sent out on Monday, the issue will contain more on predictions for 2005 as well as a recap of 2004. If you wish to subscribe to the monthly newsletter please email webmaster@softwaremarketingresource.com with "subscribe" as the subject line.

DR Settles Patent Infringement Suit

Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:49:30 -0400

Digital River, Inc.announced that it had settled, for an undisclosed amount and terms, the action brought by Christopher M. Crawford against Digital River, which had alleged infringement of United States Patent No. 6,014,651. Company management stated that the amount of the settlement was not considered material to the operations or financial position of the Company.

The following is the abstract of the patent supposedly infringed upon:

Commercial online software distribution systems and methods using encryption for security

Abstract
A customer computer connects to an online service provider by phone, Internet, or other telecommunications link. The link gives the customer access to additional processing and storage resources such as virtual storage, processing power and/or additional software or data through interaction between the customer computer and an online service provider computer over the link. The additional resources made available to the customer computer enhance the customers' local needs through access to virtual storage, a more powerful processor of similar type for program execution, and/or online support services such as software rental, software sales, release update services, anti-viral services, data backup and recovery services, diagnostic services and/or repair services.

RSS Feed for Software Marketing Resource Forum

Mon, 27 Dec 2004 22:12:27 -0400

We've created an RSS feed for individuals interested in monitoring the SMR forum using RSS.

Subscribe to the feed to stay informed about new forum posts.

Amazing People in the Software Industry

Mon, 27 Dec 2004 08:26:35 -0400

I really didn't know what to write about this morning. I'm not quite ready to reflect on 2004, and then I saw this blog post and it occurred to me that we have amazing people in the software industry. People well worth writing about.

Hats off to you Nick.

From Nick Bradbury of Bradsoft's Blog -

Disaster Relief
Greg Hughes is right:

"This is the right time to stop what you normally do, get out of your little digital world that you assume is all-defining and all-encompassing (it's not, really) and come back to reality...Very real people are experiencing very real pain, and you can do your part to help them recover."

Until the end of the month, everything I earn from TopStyle and FeedDemon will be donated to the International Red Cross to help those affected by this disaster.

Help Nick out order TopStyle or FeedDemon today.

Really Great Banners

Thu, 23 Dec 2004 07:56:47 -0400

I just had some really great banners created for FeedForAll by Malstream. They were aggressively priced and are really great quality. Check out the new FeedForAll banners.

Interesting Contest at Digital River

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 07:00:06 -0400

Digital River is running a contest among their employees. The contest is among Digital River employees and started on the first of this December. The contest ends on January 20th 2005. The intent of the contest is to provide Digital River's rank-and-file employees more insight into the digital good's marketplace. Digital River is awarding several small prizes for most sales, the highest basket close rates, the highest number of unique visitors, and the highest average order volume. There are some restrictions and the design of the site is rather clunky. The short length of the contest means that a number of traditional marketing tactics cannot be employed with any short term results.

Check out the sample store: Software World

It will be interesting to see what marketing model ultimately wins the contest and what insight is learned.

Free Icons from Softidentity

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 06:58:08 -0400

Softidentity posted free icons for software developers. Download SoftIdentity's free holiday icon set!

Yahoo! Video Search Beta

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 07:08:13 -0400

There were some rumors a few weeks back about Video Search products coming in 2005 to Yahoo. An early Yahoo! Video Search Beta is now up on Yahoo! Next, the Yahoo preview site for new technology and applications. Go try it out and let Yahoo know what you think. Remember that it's a beta product.

Yahoo, also has an exclusive contract to show jibJab's next two video clips!

Website Design - Telling Visitors What They Need to Know

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

This morning I was jumping around the web and ended up on Shareware Promotions website which I didn't initially recognize. It has a great new look! Though I really like the new look, that is not what impressed me the most. One of my favorite presentation that Dave Collins has done relates to website design, what I realized is his new design is exactly how a site *should* look. The navigation and short blurbs of text, quickly summarize why your there and what they can do for you.

Love the new look, love the new text!

Great Help File Software Releases a New Version.

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 10:07:10 -0400

EC Software has just released a new version of Help & Manual my favorite help file software!

The most important new feature in this update is support for Macromedia Flash movies in compiled HTML Help and Browser Based Help. This works with animated
tutorials from TurboDemo, Macromedia Captivate, Swish and many other tools. Addition new features can be online at:
http://www.helpandmanual.com/hmrelease.htm

Help & Manual is a powerful help authoring tool that enables you to create and edit online help projects and export them to a variety of file formats. In addition to the standard WinHelp and HTML Help formats it can also generate plain browser-based HTML, Adobe PDF, single-file Exe-format Multimedia Help for CD ROM distribution and other formats.

One of Help & Manual's most outstanding features is its ability to generate all these output formats from a single source project. It can also export different sections of your source project to different formats. For example, if you want you can generate your Overview & Features section as a PDF file and distribute the rest of the help in the standard HTML Help format.

Combining power, configurability and intuitive operation, Help & Manual is designed for help authors, programmers and everybody else who wants to create structured documentation quickly and efficiently.

Web site: http://www.helpandmanual.com

Overture and Trademarks

Thu, 16 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

We recently had a problem where a competitor was bidding on a trademarked name in Overture. Unlike Google, Overture was surprisingly responsive. Within a week the bids from competing companies were removed. Hats off to Overture for respecting trademarks and a reminder to developers, do searches on your product and company names.

Registrations Before Downloads

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 06:33:57 -0400

This is forever an ongoing debate. Should you require end users to register (provide an email address or contact information) prior to allowing them access to your download. The answer is .... it depends. While the contact information provides the ability to follow up it will also deter some potential customers from downloading. On the other hand, if they are really serious about the software they will likely still download. The developers that do force users to supply information receive a small percentage of bogus contact information.
Ultimately follow up is important, but if you alienate a customer before they even see your software then you may lose sales. Ultimately its a personal decision, I think requesting contact information on freeware applications works quite well.

Software Announce Blog

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 06:31:40 -0400

Anew blog has popped up on blogger Software Announce the site is intended to announce new software and sites. Will be interesting to watch.

Software Should Not Be Protected - Or So They Say!

Tue, 14 Dec 2004 07:36:28 -0400

Computer software should not be protected by copyright laws designed for music, literature and other creative works, according to a lawsuit filed in a US court in San Francisco.
Intellectual-property consultant Greg Aharonian hopes to convince the court that software makers can protect their products adequately through patents, which provide more comprehensive protection, but are difficult to obtain and expire in a shorter period of time.
Read More About Software Copy Rights

Independent Games Festival Finalists Announced

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

The Independent Games Festival is pleased to announce the 20 finalists in the 2005 IGF Competition. The Independent Games Festival will be held March 9-11, 2005 in San Francisco California. Read More about the IGF Finalists

HTML Validator

Fri, 10 Dec 2004 06:44:18 -0400

When was the last time you validated your html? Are you sure that your visitors can "see" your web pages? CSE HTML Validator helps eliminate website problems increasing productivity, saving time and money. Try the free url checker on the HTML Validator site to get an indication of how your site will perform.

Digital River Part of an Alliance to Prevent Phishing

Thu, 9 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

A Coalition of American internet and finance firms and law enforcement agencies has been launched in a bid to halt the growing number of online phishing scams.

The group called Digital PhishNet is a collaborative operation of technology, banking, financial services and online auction firms with law enforcement to tackle "phishing," a scheme based on use of faked or "spoofed" websites.

Preventing Phishing

Alawar Entertainment's Software Success Story!

Wed, 8 Dec 2004 10:24:05 -0400

Alawar Entertainment was founded in 1997 by a group of Novosibirsk State University's students. Initially game development was a hobby, eventually the hobby became a steady job. Over the years Alawar's product line has expanded to include shareware games, PDA games for PocketPC and PalmOS and set top box games.

Russia's economic crisis in 1998 caused a great drop in prices on CD games. The prices of CD ROMs dropped to about $ 3-4.00 each, developers receiving only 10 cents for each copy sold. The significant price cutting made large and expensive game projects impossible. As a result Alawar turned to online marketing. Small shareware games were quick to develop, and it was easy to recoup investment costs.
Alawar's Full Story

Nominations for Developer.com Product of the Year Have Begun!

Tue, 7 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

For those who program for a living this gold should be 24 carat. Developer.com wants to acknowledge those development programs and tools that are 24 carat gold. Each year we do that by awarding companies or groups who we, with the help of our readers, feel are worthy to be called a Developer.com Product of the Year 2005.

Nominations for the Product of the Year 2005 contest have begin and will close at the end of the month. See the top of the Developer.com homepage for the nomination link. This gives you a chance to nominate the product you feel should be named Developer.com Product of the Year 2005 in its respective category. The categories this year will be:

Technology
Development Tool
Enterprise Development Tool
Development Utility
DBMS or Related Technology
Wireless Development Product
Web Service or Related Tool
Java Tool/Add-in
.NET Tool/Add-in
Security Tool/Add-in
Open Source Tool

The finalists will be named in early January and voting will begin at that time and last until the end of that month. Nominate Products Now

95 Percent of Software Bugs - Are Common Programming Mistakes

Mon, 6 Dec 2004 09:13:55 -0400

According to this article

"About 95 percent of software bugs come from 19 "common, well-understood" programming mistakes, Yoran said, and his division pushed for automation tools that comb software code for those mistakes. "

"Today's developers ... often times don't have the academic discipline of software engineering and software development and training around what characteristics would create flaws in the program or lead to bugs," Yoran said.

Additional Comments regarding today's developers

Russian Software Company - Success Story

Fri, 3 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Response to Violence in Software Games

Thu, 2 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

I posted a link to the Software Marketing Newsletter in the Indie Game Developer Forum and managed to upset some Gamers. The article Violence in Software Games has stirred up things.

The perspectives presented are interesting but I think my initial point was completely lost on the majority, the thread has turned to a debate about whether violent games cause violence.

Take a look

Another Google Competitor

Thu, 2 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Australian internet search engine company Ansearch Pty. Ltd. is going head-to-head with internet search "goliath" Google Inc., by launching its own branded search engine for Australian users.
Check out MySearch.com.au

Software Marketing Newsletter - Get the Latest Industry Information

Wed, 1 Dec 2004 09:00:00 -0400

The December issue of Software Marketing News, an independent voice for software developers has been posted.
This month's newsletter includes:

Violence in Software Games - an article addressing violence in games

Do I Need a Feed - an article addressing how to determine if you need an RSS feed

Registration Service News
asknet AG, a global leader in outsourced electronic software sales and distribution services announced the creation of its U.S. subsidiary, asknet Inc. and the formation of its North American team.

Digital River has acquired BlueHornet, a company specializing in e-mail marketing services.

Software Industry Call for Presentations.
The Shareware Industry Conference attracts software developers, and publishers with a common interest in software development marketing and distribution.

Software Success Story
This month's software success story is Alawar Entertainment. Alawar Entertainment was founded in 1997 by a group of Novosibirsk State University's students.

Conference News
Software Business Magazine has set the dates for their 2005

Awards
The 2005 SharewareJunkies.com Awards have been announced.

Product / Technology Reviews
Internet Business Promoter - Getting the word out about new sites has becoming increasingly more difficult, as the web has become more cluttered. The site submission services appeared expensive or of questionable character and as result we decided to have a look at Internet Business Promoter.

ActivateSoft.net
I recently investigated various options related to software protection and tracking. One of the individuals I spoke with was Anton Baranchuk from ActivateSoft.net. ActivateSoft.net is an anti-piracy service designed to verify software licenses and limit the spread of illegal copies.

EuroConference
Collection of photos from the European Shareware Conference

Microsoft Opportunities
Do you want to help Microsoft design software for shareware developers?

New Sites and Services for Developers
Box Coop - High gloss, full color boxes on heavy thick paper.

Shareware Statistics - A new system is now available to English speaking software developers.

SharewareBlogs - A new portal to advance the Shareware Industry has just been announced.

Search Engine News
Overture will continue to provide its sponsored search results to MSN sites in the U.S. and Canada, Europe and Asia.

AdSense - Internet search giant Google Inc. filed a lawsuit against one of its AdSense Online clients

Google DeskBar - An API for Google Deskbar so that programmers can add their own tools to Google Deskbar.

Google Adwords - Google Adwords rumors are that they will ban affiliate links in Google Adwords!

Software Marketing News tries to keep developers informed about important industry changes. Software marketing resource is an independent voice for developers. Please help us spread the word.

Combatting Software Piracy in Pakistan

Tue, 30 Nov 2004 08:50:22 -0400

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has announced a 30-day truce in its fight against pirated software users in Pakistan from December 1, during which companies and organisations across the country can install licensed software without the risk of police raids, legal action or penalties.

"The BSA will take strict legal action against the businesses and organisations using unauthorised software after the truce ends on December 30," said Al Redha, the BSA's Middle East co-chairman, on Monday. "Companies that take necessary steps to become fully licensed will be exempt from penalties for software violations prior to December 30," the BSA official said in a statement.

Complete Article

Software Conference Call for Presentations

Mon, 29 Nov 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Software Industry Call for Presentations The Shareware Industry Awards Foundation is currently seeking submissions for presentations for the 2005 Shareware Industry Conference in the following areas:

Marketing - internet marketing, email marketing, direct marketing, promotional items, alternative marketing, co-markeitng, vertical marketing, tradeshows, up-selling, cold-calling
Search Engine Optimaztion - submissions, doorway pages, optimization techniques, link sponsoring
Business Networking - relationship networking, partnering, bundling, exchanges, getting involved in local groups
Mergers and Acquisitions - negotiation, deal breakers, due diligence, findinga buyer, valuations,
Press - press releases, reviews, ratings, in-house vs hiring a PR firm,
Software Success Stories - history, retail success, inspiration
Contracts - negotiations, distribution agreements, licensiing, private labeling, copyright protection, trademarks
Development - developing platforms, market testing, outsourcing, UI design, update cycles
Affiliate programs - coupons, tracking, cookies, wrappers
Localization - foreign partners, translation, foreign support
Hosting & Tracking - file hosting, tracking, bandwith, blocking, analysis
Web Design - graphic design, compression, site speed, content development, navigation
Support - outsourcing, forum support, phone support, call centers, implementing support packages, tracking support
Incentives - link exchanges, banner ads, magazine ads, newsletter advertising, shareware site ads, classifieds, measuring ROI
Payment Options - ecommerce, paypal, in-house merchant accounts, wires and purchase orders
Miscellaneous - how to use blogs, rss, forums; pay per click search engines, effective advertising, pricing your product or service, general business advice

Abstract submissions are due January 31, 2005. The conference will be held July 14-16, 2005 in Denver, Colorado.

Opposition to Proposed EU Software Patent

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 09:00:00 -0400

The creators of Linux, MySQL and PHP have slammed the EU Council for its proposed software patent directive which they condemn as "deceptive, dangerous, and democratically illegitimate". Complete Article

Digial River Buys BlueHornet Networks

Mon, 22 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

E-commerce outsourcer Digital River Inc. on Thursday said it has acquired BlueHornet Networks Inc., a maker of e-mail-marketing technology.

As a result of the acquisition, Minneapolis-based Digital River plans to offer online merchants an expanded range of software tools for survey and e-mail creation, database and campaign management, customer loyalty building, revenue tracking and statistical analysis.
Complete Article

Internet Archives Hold Up in Court

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 09:34:11 -0400

Courts have decided that Internet archives including archive.org the "wayback" machine is admissable as evidence in court.

Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys rejected Polska's assertion of hearsay, holding that the archived copies were not themselves statements susceptible to hearsay exclusion, since they merely showed what Polska had previously posted on its site. He also noted that, since Polska was seeking to suppress evidence of its own previous statements, the snapshots would not be barred even if they were hearsay. Over Polska's objection, Judge Keys accepted an affidavit from an Internet Archive employee as sufficient to authenticate the snapshots for admissibility.

Webmaster Tools for Tackling Search Engines

Fri, 19 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

Digital Point - has a great collection of web based tools for webmasters

Google AdSense Charts
Generate all sorts of nifty charts with your AdSense CSV data export (requires
a Google AdSense account of course).

Google AdSense Sandbox
This tool will show you what Google AdSense ads will be displayed for any webpage
on the Internet.

Back Link Tracking Tool
Track backlink fluctuations to your web pages historically.

Coop Ad Network
Free network of site owners to share advertising space.

FileMaker Pro Web Digger
This utility allows you to dig into your web-based FileMaker Pro databases to
check their security.

FileMaker Database Server Probe
This utility allows you to check your FileMaker database server to see what
platform it's running as well as what database files are being served.

Keyword Ranking Monitor
Track historical search engine result placement data for any keyword/URL combo
you choose.

Keyword Suggestion Tool
Quickly see which phrases are searched upon the most (for determining the best
phrases to target for your website).

PageRank Toolbar For Mac
A widget to show PageRank for the site you are on.

Add Search Functionality To Your Website
An easy way that you can add search functionality to any website.

Free Web Counter
Free tool that gives any website a free hit counter for their site.

Website To Country
Find the physical country that any website is in. Yahoo!

Web Rank Tool
This tool will show you what any website's Yahoo! Web Rank is (without needing
the Yahoo toolbar).

Beta Testing Tips for Developers and Testers

Thu, 18 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

As a software developer its important to put your software through a rigourous beta test cycle. Often its difficult to find quality beta testers that provide constructive and useful comments and feedback. Many developers have implemented a variety of incentives to entice quality beta testers. Consider adding some perks for beta testers.

Things software developers can do to attract beta testers:
1.) Access to pre-release products - This works well for established products, new versions or popular brands (GMail and FireFox are examples of companies using this "perk")
2.) Discounts - Occasional discounts on released versions or complimentary versions in exchange for assisting with testing
3.) Program Involvement - Incorporate feature requests from hard working beta testers
4.) Pay per bug - Some developers pay, the amount can be small or large and it entices people to really put the software through its paces.

Helpful tips for those interested in beta testing:
1.) Feedback - This is critical, tell the software authors your impressions, good and bad
2.) Bug Reporting - Be willing to provide detailed accounts of any problems; the more specific information provided the better.
3.) Debugging - Willing to work with the developer; apply provided patches and retest where the software previously failed.
4.) Disclosure - Developers frequently plan product launches after beta testing; it is important that product details stay confidential for an effective launch and PR campaign.

IBP - Internet Business Promoter

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:02:07 -0400

Recently I've begun experimenting with IBP from Axandra. Axandra caught my attention because they have such a great weekly newsletter. In the past I've used Web Position Gold but have not upgraded to their more recent version. I've considered submissions services but with 70+ websites it would cost an estimated $ 1800.00 for a one time submission for each of the sites!

In any event I've really appreciated the succinct summaries and articles in Axandra's newsletter it is obvious that they stay on top of search engine news and know their industry, so I gave IBP a whirl. I'll be doing a complete review of IBP in the next SMR newsletter , my initial impression is WOW!

Alerts Via RSS !

Tue, 16 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

This is very cool! It took me a little while to understand the power. BigPow is an RSS search. You can create feeds based on keywords or on your url to determine who is linking to you. Very cool!

Ego searches...create a persistent search on your own name, or company, or product. You'll get any new results delivered direct to your news aggregator.

Track incoming links...create a search on Google where the key word is "link:http://www.yoursite.com" The results returned will show you who is linking to you.

Enter the url that is generated into your RSS aggregator.

Source Code Engine

Mon, 15 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

Koders.com source code engine
Koders is a search engine for source code. It enables developers to easily search and browse source code in thousands of projects hosted at hundreds of open source repositories.

A significant portion of application development involves a process of find, copy, paste, and integrate. This process can be greatly accelerated when you can find existing source code that provides a solution to the task at hand.

Koders makes it easy for software developers to find existing source code that solves many common development problems with our vast index of working source code from a variety of open source projects. In many cases you may find code that solves the exact problem you are working on, and in other cases, you can find an 80% solution - where existing code can be suited to your needs with minor modifications.

Usable Help Systems

Fri, 12 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

Great information for help systems! UsableHelp a website examining documentation and help systems for software and consumer products. A blog on help related sytsems, the blog is presented by Gordon Meyer, with over 20 years of experience using and programming personal computers, Gordon is currently an interaction and instructional designer for a computer company. He specializes in onscreen help, tutorials, and related instructional products.

Previously, he has been a technical writer and documentation manager for an enterprise-level database tools company, a software engineer and project leader for a large systems integrator, and the founder of his own small software company. He also helped manage and nurture communities on the GEnie and eWorld online services.

Auto-Detect RSS Feeds

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

Auto-Detect RSS
Dan Veaner from BadMarketing.biz sent along this tip.

Add this to your head tag in your html and the Firefox browser will let users subscribe to your feed through the Firefox bookmark system.

Of course substitute the address of your RSS file in the url field.

Safe Software Certificate

Wed, 10 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

Safe Software issues a Certificate for each software program that a vendor creates. The company Safe Software installs the vendor's software, tests it and documents all known viruses, spyware scanners, key loggers, browser helper objects, hijackers, adware applications and dialers that will be installed on a users computer. Safe Software reviews the software vendor's privacy policy and makes sure that any phoning home is reported to the user. Safe Software checks for bundled software that is undocumented so that mystery programs do not appear on a users computer.

While I understand the sentiment with the Safe Software service, it appears their sales mode is a little heavy on scare tactics "92 Percent of Organizations with at Least 100 Employees Have Been Contaminated With Spyware". In addition what happens if after testing the author changes their model. The certificate is likely to give users a false sense of security, still worth a look

PAD Creator

Tue, 9 Nov 2004 09:01:00 -0400

I have not downloaded it but it sure looks interesting. Pad Creator lets you validate and create your padfile within just a few minutes. PAD files are commonly used by all major download directories on the net and most of them will poll your padfile from your server automatically once you submitted it.

PAD Creator support unlimited companies and products and it's Totally FREE to use!! It has also a built-in Keyword Generator and a huge Shareware Download Directory of more than 400 sites where you can submit your products to.

MicroVision Software Success Story

Mon, 8 Nov 2004 10:01:00 -0400

Jim Mayall an icon on in the shareware industry started a small software company in college, developing award winning grade book programs for the Apple II and PC. After college and working at a real estate software startup, he again struck out on his own.

In 1988 Jim Mayall and his partners at MicroVision Development began developing applications for the PC and Windows. They started as a pure development company. Licensing products to 3rd party publishers, never considering the possibility of marketing products on their own. This was generally before online sales were common, and software was primarily sold in retail stores.

MicroVision was smart, they took care to hold onto all proprietary rights when working with the 3rd party publishing companies. In the early 90s, they saw the emerging presence of CompuServe and AOL and the possibility of online sales. In 1994, the technological changes coupled with their ownership of applications and technology, they decided to give online marketing a try. Microvision's Software Success Story

Software piracy whistle-blowers get bigger rewards

Sun, 7 Nov 2004 07:52:44 -0400

The Business Software Alliance is doubling the maximum reward it will pay to individuals who report companies that are using pirated software.

The BSA--a trade group supported by Microsoft, Adobe Systems and other major software makers to enforce software licenses and copyrights--announced on Friday that it is raising the ceiling on payments to U.K. whistle-blowers to $37,000 (20,000 pounds) for reports received during November and December this year. Under the BSA's rules, someone who reports that a company is using illegal software--such as counterfeit or unlicensed programs--will receive a reward of 10 percent of the face value of the software recovered.

Digital River Network and Wrapping Software for Affiliate Networks

Fri, 5 Nov 2004 09:31:00 -0400

I just "wrapped" FeedForAll for the Digital River/RegNow networks, it was surprisingly easier than I expected. Bill Dickson was very prompt in answering the handful of questions I had. Tomorrow the FeedForAll will be officially put into the DR network so I can see what kind of sales the network can generate.

I also "wrapped" FeedForAll for eSellerate affiliates. I'll be sure to post additional details on my experiences in dealing with the two different affiliate systems.

Google + Keyhole = GooTargetting!

Thu, 4 Nov 2004 10:01:00 -0400

Google's purchase of Keyhole finally makes sense. Keyhole combines aerial and satellite imagery, 3D geography, maps, and business information. My guess is that Google is going to use the acquisition of Keyhole to GeoTarget their searches and adverstising models.

Google + Keyhole = GooTargetting! (Geo-Targeting)

Software Submissions to Download Sites

Wed, 3 Nov 2004 10:01:00 -0400

Being that I run a software marketing site I'm often asked, what I use to submit my software to the download sites. The answer is easy - Shareware Promotions.

Shareware Promotions have been doing the software submissions for NotePage for a very long time, why because they are very good at what they do, and quite frankly I don't have time. They understand all the nuances of each download site and have streamlined the process. I simply provide a PAD file and they handle the rest. They did a great job submitting FeedForAll and I'm already seeing traffic increases as a result!

Software Marketing Newsletter

Tue, 2 Nov 2004 10:01:00 -0400

The Software Marketing News has just been posted! This issue covers lots of interesting topics. This issue contains lots of interesting information, including an article about how much Digital River paid for its various properties and a online virtual networking.

If you wish to subscribe to the newsletter please send an email to: webmaster@softwaremarketingresource.com with "subscribe" as the subject line.

Another Blog for Software Developers

Mon, 1 Nov 2004 10:01:00 -0400

I got an email from a developer about this new software development blog - Moving Target Software Blog. There are some interesting posts and a great read for beginners in the industry. Topics of recent posts include:

Removing Barriers to Download
Sales = Visistors * % Download * Conversion Rate
SEO Expirement

Today's SMR newsletter is going to go out a little late, sorry for the delay but it has been a very hectic month! Hopefully it will be out by the end of the day!

Monetizing Traffic

Sun, 31 Oct 2004 10:01:00 -0400

I've been a fan of jibjab.com since their first humorous political parody, This Land is Your Land. Their first clip brought their website to its knees, and at the time the JibJab creators were not monetizing their traffic.

Now it seems they are using pop-ups, and advertising possible services. It seems they could be doing so much more to profit from the huge amounts of interest they are able to generate. They are selling videos and downloads, but in my opinion they are leaving money on the table, heck if they asked for donations I would donate. Their efforts make me laugh that is worth something!

What Can the Red Sox Teach Us About Branding?

Fri, 29 Oct 2004 10:01:00 -0400

I read a really great blog post from Marketing Tool Review

The curse of the Bambino is reversed! Last night, after 86 long years, the Boston Red Sox wins the World Series. For the adoring fans often referred to as the "Red Sox Nation" this will be a World Series that will be etched in their memories and fondly recalled for years to come.

The Boston Red Sox is a great brand. They have a loyal following not just in Boston, not just in New England, not just in America but around the world. more info

Bad Marketing Blog

Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:01:00 -0400

Dan Veaner, formerly of EmmaSoft has started a new BAD marketing blog, it is quite funny and tells what NOT to do when marketing. If you know Dan his personality comes through in the posts. The pet peeves section hits a home run, I can hear Andy Rooney's voice echoing each rant. All of us could learn what not to do, hopefully we can avoid the Bad Marketing Turkey Award!

New Press Release Posting Service

Wed, 27 Oct 2004 10:01:00 -0400

New press release posting service launched MediaSyndicate . Media Syndicate is for PR professionals to post press releases, product reviews, etc.

Posting is free, but you need to register first. We drive traffic to the site on a daily basis through email and RSS feeds reaching over 55,000 media professionals throughout North America only. You target your release to any one of nearly 200 specific industry categories.

Releases can also be scheduled several weeks in advance. All articles are indexed on the site, and the site is regularly posted to major Search Engines. All content is also reviewed prior to public posting to ensure

Groove Capitalizes on Employee Fatigue

Tue, 26 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Groove's interesting marketing message. Groove (like ourself) is Boston based and has decided to capitalize on the fatigue of employees everywhere:

It hasn't been documented in the New England Journal of Medicine yet. But anyone who watched the recent Red Sox/New York Yankees playoff series is familiar with the symptoms: employees arriving late to work, dozing in meetings, lack of concentration, missed deadlines, and general irritability from drinking too much coffee.

It's called Playoff Exhaustion Syndrome (PXS), a costly, but welcomed October malady that's affecting members of Red Sox Nation everywhere who have spent late nights watching extra-inning games followed by hours of post-game coverage. The result: reduced productivity among individual proprietors and businesses alike. The antidote to PXS: Allow employees to work from home so they can use their commuting time to catch up on sleep.

Additional Details

Article Syndication - The Key to Content

Mon, 25 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Article Syndication - The Key to Content - many webmasters are struggling to find fresh, innovative content while other savvy webmasters have realized the potential hidden within RSS and are adopting the technology at a maddening pace. By utilizing RSS, webmasters can tap numerous free content sources with very little effort. RSS truly is a webmaster's key to free content.

Trademark Domain Alerts

Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Interesting service. Mark Alert is a service of Name Intelligence that tracks and alerts you if someone uses your word(s) in a new or expiring domain name. The service bills itself as a way to be proactive and protect your trademarks, most developers I know own domains that overlap their mark, still the concept is interesting. I wonder though, if it might invite domain name poachers ;-(

Hackers Getting Smarter?

Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Microsoft's chief executive believes it's naive to suggest the software giant can eliminate all security vulnerabilities in its various products even though engineers are trying hard to do so.

Hackers get smarter, too, Steve Ballmer told several thousand information-technology workers at the Gartner Symposium ITXPO.

Preventing Software Patents in the EU

Thu, 21 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

Red Hat and MySQL have today thrown their weight behind a campaign to prevent the introduction of software patents in the EU. Launched today in 12 languages, www.NoSoftwarePatents.com argues that software is already protected by copyright law.

It sees no need for the EU Council proposal made in May of this year which reached a political agreement on a directive that it fears would establish a software patent regime similar to that of the US.

RSS Feed Appearance

Wed, 20 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

I bet some of you are wondering why Software Marketing Resource's blog feed looks so different today. If you are not using a news aggregator / rss feed reader to view the blog consider taking a look.

I posted a graph on the FeedForAll site that indicates why online businesses should use RSS. The Alexa graph shows the traffic on the Software Marketing website. The traffic spike corresponds with when I began creating daily updates to the RSS blog feed.

Anyway back to why this post looks so different in a feed reader. The answer is, because it can!

I thought I'd have a little fun with FeedForAll and dress up some feed posts :-)

San Diego PC User Group - Presenter

Wed, 20 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

San Diego PC User Group is looking for a presenter for their November 16, 2004 meeting held at the San Diego County Office of Education on Linda Vista Road. If you are interested send me an email and I'll pass along the contact details.

Linked In - Virtual Networking in Action

Tue, 19 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

I've joined Linked In and began growing my network. The concept is really quite interesting, it should be impressive to see how the degrees of separation influence network growth. It was really great to see so many collegues when I logged in. I'll be posting a review of Linked In, in a future newsletter, for those unfamiliar with Linked In a description follows.

Gift Giving - Think About it Now!

Mon, 18 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

It is time to start thinking about any holiday promotions. If your product is consumer oriented, think about how you can increase sales by offering it as a gift. Over the years different developers have promoted software for the holidays a variety of ways. Consider marketing your software as a gift for the coming holidays.

1. Offer a software bundle
2. Offer 2 copies at a discount (one for a gift), issue separate registrations.
3. Offer gift certificates
4. Offer gift wrapping service, drop shipping CDs to the gift recipient.
5. Hold electronic delivery until Christmas and distribute it with an indication of who the gift is from.
6. Offer existing customers a discount on copies for their friends.

Quick Picks - Dr File Finder

Sun, 17 Oct 2004 09:45:00 -0400

Mike Callahan has set up "Dr. File Finder Quick Pick" of the week. A "Quick Pick" is a program he has looked at and that he wants to call to the attention of users. It's also one that he plans on doing a full review of down-the-road. FeedForAll made this past weeks list!!!

It would appear from web logs that different sites are syndicating Dr File Finder's Quick Pick of the week!

Michael E. Callahan, known around the world as "Dr. File Finder", is regarded as the world's leading expert on shareware.

Future of US Programmers ....

Sat, 16 Oct 2004 09:10:00 -0400

There is a very interesting article on Yahoo.

"Say goodbye to the American software programmer. Once the symbols of hope as the nation shifted from manufacturing to service jobs, programmers today are an endangered species. They face a challenge similar to that which shrank the ranks of steelworkers and autoworkers a quarter century ago: competition from foreigners."

"Some experts think they'll become extinct within the next few years, forced into unemployment or new careers by a combination of offshoring of their work to India and other low-wage countries and the arrival of skilled immigrants taking their jobs."

While I understand the sentiment of the article I don't think its true. I know plenty of US developers who are doing just fine.

Corel Purchased JASC

Sat, 16 Oct 2004 09:10:00 -0400

Jasc Software, Inc. has been purchased by Corel. The acquisition further extends Corel's position as a powerful force in the packaged software industry providing exceptional office and personal productivity and graphics products. Corel will now serve a combined base of more than 60 million customers worldwide with an extended software portfolio that combines innovative photo editing and graphics creation, vector illustration and technical graphics applications along with Corel's popular WordPerfect line of products. The acquisition is expected to officially close by the end of October 2004.

Best Tech Blog - Help Decide !

Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

First Annual TechWeb Network Best Independent Tech Blog Readers Choice Awards.

Do you read tech blogs? We're looking for you to tell us which are the best of the best. Right now, it's your chance to nominate your favorite independent tech blogs.

What kinds of tech blogs are eligible? All blogs that cover technology and are published independently of a major publishing company are eligible. Here are some examples of the types of weblogs you can nominate.

1. Personal weblogs, discussing technology from one individual's perspective
2. Personal weblogs, digesting and disseminating technology news
3. Group weblogs, digesting and disseminating technology news

Interesting Post in Forum

Thu, 14 Oct 2004 09:00:00 -0400

There is an interesting post in the forum about bidding on trademarked terms in Google Adwords. I'd love to hear what others think. Is it ethical to bid on a competitors name? How angry would you be if a competitor was bidding on your established name or product?

At one point we were able to remove competitors from bidding on our name, since then I believe Google's policy has changed. Overture on the other hand prevents competitors from bidding on trademarked terms. Who is right? Post your thoughts .