Source Code Millions

Go to http://www.tucows.com/ and look up free software called Spyware Doctor 3.2 for Windows. You can download it free, you along with the 500,000 other consumers who download it every week! OK, now go to http://www.download.com and check on the number of downloads for the AVG AntiVirus Free Edition. This title was downloaded 1,126,408 times last week and similar astounding quantities every week!

Many shareware titles never hit these big download numbers but what if you had a title that got downloaded just 100,000 times every week. Could you make some money with it?

What do shareware developers know that most people don’t? Here are some ideas: 1. To achieve big download numbers try to develop an application that has mass market appeal. However, even niche market applications can do very well.

Secondly, if you find a niche market and a title you wish to develop make sure it out-competes and out performs the nearest competition. You want a product that is so far better than the shareware that’s on the market that word of mouth promotes it for you.

Remember two things. First, software is a digital product. Your cost per unit is zero because sites like tucows and http://www.download.com/ are only too happy to provide the bandwidth resources so that millions of people can download your software.

Download.com shows that over ten million people have downloaded a copy of Spyware Doctor from their site, so far. These free download sites do all your promoting for you because they attract literally millions of visitors a week. Tucow’s Alexa traffic rating is 988 while Download.com’s traffic rating is a phenomenal 89! That means there are only 88 web sites in the software category (that has over 7 million competing web sites) that have more traffic on the Internet. You will want to have your software listed on every site that offers free software to the public.

Were you to search for free software, shareware or freeware on Google you’d no doubt see over a million sites listed. Simply by posting your shareware titles using a PAD file to numerous shareware sites you can get the benefit of free promotion.

Can You Get Rich With Shareware? Mr. Thomas Deedy, a developer and closet genius, revealed many ways that shareware developers make money giving away software.

There are several powerful income generators that you could employ. For example, if you create a complicated program that has many applications you may want to offer paid support services. Some developers know the answers to every possible complication in the installation, development or on-going operation of their software. So, they create a powerful trouble-shooting menu tree that any technical person can follow.

Then, they sell support packages at $50 to $150 an hour. The developer installs the trouble-shooting menu tree software on the computers of a support staff. He hires a programmer who may be constantly working to refine and improve the software to manage the support room. He provides the support when the trouble shooting menu doesn’t have all the answers.

When the database of issues is about as complete as it can get the support system can charge, say $10 per issue. But, it will only take the staff a couple of seconds to look up the solution and deliver it. So, they make money all day long.

For example, you could design the support service so that the client calls a 900 phone line @ $5 a minute or he can purchase a full hour of support for $75 and use it in ten minute increments on an “as-needed” basis.

An alternative would be to create a detailed installation and use video that shows actual screen shots of how to use the software and has a built-in trouble-shooting program. For a complicated and valuable program you could price the video/software combination at $250.00 and bundle it with two free hours of support services.

So, imagine you’ve got a valuable business application that should sell on the open market for $2500 but since it is free around 250,000 people download it. If just 2% of those people decide to opt for the support package @ $250 you’d have a winner.

That works out to 5000 orders for the video and trouble-shooting software @ $250 each or $1,250,000!

The video/support software concept makes it possible to automate your support business. This work can be outsourced to save you time and aggravation.

You may wish to visit www.elance.com or www.VWorker.com to see about posting a software project. There is no charge to post your project and you’ll be able to look at lots of bids within 24 hours or less.

Best of all you own the copyrights and need pay no royalties yet you can turn around and license the use of your software to distribution companies to market under a private label.

This may be America’s easiest way to become a multimillionaire and you don’t even have to be a programmer to do it!

Support is where the big money is but some simpler software programs don’t really have any support issues; they are that good! Developers of simpler software can make money in other ways.

One way is simply to ask users for a monetary contribution, a donation, within the software. By inserting a pay-link for a donation to support the programmer many people who like the software will decide to contribute five, ten or twenty dollars. After all, they’ve received really useful software at no charge and they want to encourage the programmer to support his software and come out with newer, improved editions. And, that is exactly what programmers say:

————————————————————————————————————————– ” Please support my efforts to provide users with support and improve this software with a small donation. In return, you’ll receive a link to an extensive tutorial, help files and you’ll be advised when you can download the latest updated version of XYZ software. You’ll receive lifetime updates all for your small contribution of $10 or more.” ————————————————————————————————————————–

You can leave the amount of the donation up to the user but I recommend putting in three contribution levels: A $5 donate button, a $10 donate button and a $25 button that offers bonus software valued at hundreds of dollars at that level.

Part of the value of using an upgrade or donate button is that you capture the emails of your users. You can build a wopping big subscriber list which may actually be worth more than the donation. A good opt-in list can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

My Advice: Get started on this project right now but avoid creating software that has too narrow a market. You want the most universally needed application you can imagine. You want to create a title that nearly everyone on the Internet knows they need and really wants. You could look at the download numbers and identify a massively popular program and then improve upon it (if that’s possible) by making it more powerful, easier to use or with special features that no other software has.

Finally here are a few more ways to make money with free software.

1. Make your basic shareware version good but show the users what they are missing by displaying lots of powerful features that only come with the Pro Version. When they click on the upgrade link email them the unlock code to all the Pro Version features.

2. Build an email list by offering something to your customers like an e-zine with insider user tips. Or, simply bribe them by offering them another of your software programs free when they register their copy of XYZ software that they just downloaded. As I said, above, owning a massive opt-in email list can be worth a fortune.

3. I created lesson authoring software to make free lessons. You could download it free. But, I also made an upgrade version that permitted the teacher to make Super Lessons that could be sold on my site. So, I make money from people purchasing the Professional Lesson Authoring Software for $1995 and from sale of the Super Lessons. Of course I split the revenue for the Super Lessons with the authors of these lessons. See www.Tutorbug.com

Yes, some of these ideas will take effort and cash to set up. But, I believe this may be one of the most realistic ways an ordinary person can become a millionaire almost overnight.

Before you spend big bucks creating software consider becoming a shareware posting agent to earn a fee on every paid upgrade. Click on shareware posting agent for complete details. This article, Source Code Millions is available for free reprint.