Making Money in Shareware

DavidRM · 2003-11-21T10:39:49

Shareware isn't the easiest way to make money, but it's not *that* difficult either. Recent posts about how it's impossible to make money in shareware have begun to annoy me, so I'm posting this in response. 1. Have a product that can reasonably be sold. Have a simple utility you've written that you think might be shareware-worthy? Test it by releasing it as Freeware and see what kind of response you get. If you get a decent enough response, then it's probably worth putting some extra effort into it and then releasing it as shareware (probably time-limited). As a corollary...if *you* wouldn't pay for what you're trying to sell, it's hard to count on other people paying for it either. 2. Don't give the product away. If you want people who use your software to pay you, you have to give them a reason why. The most commmon "reason" is that the software simply stops working after a set time period. Nagging people to death sometimes works, but usually just annoys the piss out of 'em. But I guarantee you that you'll see almost *no* *none* *zero* *zilch* *Not One* payment if don't insist on it. Sure, some people will pay even if they don't have to (Hell, I paid for WinAmp when it still had a fee...but after more than a year of use and mostly on principle). 3. Make it STUNNINGLY EASY to pay for the product. If it isn't easy to pay for you product, you're hampering yourself in a serious manner. Don't hide the "Register" button on a sub-menu...hell...don't even it call "Registering"...that's a word that has no real meaning outside of the shareware industry. Make it obvious, like "Buy The Journal!" or "Purchase Citizenship!" This also includes supporting as many payment options as you can. Credit cards, especially. If that means you give up as much 10%-15% of your cost to the payment processor, that's what it means. You wouldn't have the sale if not for them, in most cases. And don't forget your international customers...make it easy on them, too. 4. Provide prompt support via email. Answer all email inquiries within 24 hours AT MOST. Answer the same day if you can. People on the Internet have very little patience. They expect immediate information and that includes immediate answers. This includes processing payments. Don't make someone wait more than 24 hours for you to process their payment. Trust me, it pisses them off. Hell, some of them get annoyed at waiting 1-2 hours. 5. Get listed on as many large shareware pages as possible. CNet, ZDNet, TUCOWS (if applicable), and so on. They are your BEST FRIENDS. Get listed on them. Pay attention to their rating systems. Learn what you need to improve/fix to get a higher rating from them. 6. Be patient. This is probably the most important one. Don't expect to get stunning wealthy overnight. Don't even expect to get a payment in your first 1-2 months of release. And then expect to build slowly. Persistance pays off. 7. Don't try to get rich off of just one product. If you can, either figure out ways to get people to pay you multiple times (upgrades, add-on modules, or whatever) for the same product. Or get started on something else you can sell. Multiple streams of income are what you want. Each one by itself may not be enough to live on, but once you have 2-3 all contributing their small amounts, it adds up. For more information about selling shareware, check out the Association of Shareware Professionals: http://www.asp-shareware.org (oops, thanks for the correction Wavinator) DavidRMSamu Games Edited by - DavidRM on 10/4/00 5:09:21 PM

Games Business and Law Business

Started by DavidRM October 04, 2000 11:49 AM

22 comments, last by DavidRM 20 years, 4 months ago

cliffski

122

August 10, 2002 03:42 PM

That last point is especially valid. So often I sit at the PC thinking I can do another update/re-release of StarLines INC rather than start a new game with all the effort that entails. I guess you just have to bite the bullet now and then and start afresh, and once you are at the end of another product ( as I am now) you feel much better about it than doing another re-release.
Now if only I had a great idea for another game....

http://www.positech.co.uk

http://www.positech.co.uk

Uhfgood

155

August 11, 2002 03:22 AM

I have an idea about that last one too...
One word people : Sequels! ;-) generally you could
use some of the same code, graphics and whatnot to
continue to update and improve an already existing
product. But as it changes over time people would
buy each game as a new game, and in fact it would
actually advertise itself, like a franchise.

Keith

*************************************Keith Weatherby IIhttp://twitter.com/Uhfgoodhttp://www.facebook.com/Uhfgoodhttp://www.youtube.com/Uhfgoodhttp://www.gamesafoot.comhttp://indieflux.com*************************************

bob_the_third

122

November 11, 2003 12:32 PM

Which do you think is better with shareware games, time-limiting, or feature limiting to get people to buy?

solinear

145

November 21, 2003 10:39 AM

To address your question:

What do you think will convince them to play more, taking away features that they haven''t seen or taking away the game that they have seen.

One is based upon building a game that will hook them, the other is built off making a game that will intrigue them and make them wonder what else is available.

If you feel your game has high replayability, I''d go with time limiting it, if it''s a role-playing game, or a game that has a definite goal in mind, I''d suggest going with something that would simply not allow progress beyond a certain point. Basically give them as long as they want, with all the features, but limit the level and the areas they can access to the first 1/4th of the game.

Making Money in Shareware

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Making Money in Shareware

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