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Blog - Software Marketing Blog and Resource
| 09/28/2006
Google Adwords Reporter |
Dave Collins has been managing Shareware Promotions' Google AdWords accounts for as long as the AdWords scheme has been up and running, and at the time of writing this page is handling accounts with monthly budgets in the region of $80,000. Dave will review your adwords account and provide a detailed and comprehensive 75 point checklist covering your account setup, campaigns, campaign settings, ad group structure and names, budget, targeting, number of clicks, impressions, average position, click through rates, behavioural patterns, use of reporting facilities, change history, ad texts, keywords, matching options and more.
Dave will then then write-up his findings in a clear, detailed and well-illustrated report. The report is not generated from a template or boilerplate. Nor is it a general Google AdWords report, adapted to be relevant to your account. Every single item and recommendation is created based on your account and situation.
Google Adwords Report
Convert MySQL databases to RSS feeds using a new php script - sql2rss. The new script currently supports the conversion of MySQL databases to RSS feeds.
| 09/26/2006
Reality vs. Accusations |
Fantastic post from Dave Collins the blog post entitled Fruit, trees and the forest
There are times when I feel as though I live in a slightly different reality.
(1) Knocking imagination on the head.
One of the companies that we work with sells Windows Automation Software. It’s a great piece of software that’s been around since 1997, but they’re always looking at new ideas. Recently they decided to post a job resume for the product itself - titled “I work 24×7 for no pay. Got a job for me?”
It’s obviously not designed to be taken too seriously, and struck me as quite an imaginative experiment.
Fruit, trees and the forest
| 09/26/2006
Spy on the Competition |
The old adage, "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer", is applicable not only to personal relationships but business relationships as well. While I'm not suggesting that you befriend your competitors, it is important that you are cognizant of your competitors' business ventures and methods.
Spy on the Competition
Computer software wizards from near and far will camp at the Silicon Valley headquarters of Internet search titan Yahoo next week for an overnight "hack-a-thon" in the spirit of innovation.
Yahoo heralded the 24-hour programming free-for-all as its first public "Hack Day" and said it was an extension of no-holds-barred software tinkering events that the company's engineers take part in internally.
The gathering was meant to inspire new twists on Yahoo services as well as reclaim "hacker" as a name for those adept at manipulating software in creative, not malicious, ways, said Yahoo network developer director Chad Dickerson.
Complete Article
| 09/24/2006
New Software Piracy Number for Phillippines |
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has said it is dedicating a single hotline for the reporting of software piracy in the Philippines.
The organization said the new toll-free number, 1-800-1-888-8787, will be available to all residents of the Philippines. Reports may also be filed online.
| 09/19/2006
Women in Games International |
Dozens of game industry women gather to talk about how to balance work and life.
Women in Games
| 09/19/2006
Tucows Blog is Moving |
The Tucows Blog has a new home at http://www.tucowsblog.com/.
| 09/18/2006
25 Worst Websites |
From unforgettable flame-outs to some of the most popular destinations around, no one is safe from our look at the world's dumbest dot-coms and silliest sites.
PC World's 25 Worst Websites
| 09/12/2006
What is In Store for the AISIP Future? |
I interviewed Michael Halls about his acquisition of the AISIP.The AISIP is an independent organization for software industry professionals. The group was started by Sue Piccotta just over a year ago. Michael and David Halls recently purchased the organization. They have plans and shared some details in the interview..... AISIP Interview
| 09/11/2006
Amazing Weekend - Day of Giving |
It is rare that I post personal thoughts in my blog posts, but I really cannot go without commenting on this weekend. I spent 3 days walking 50 miles for Multiple Sclerosis. I walked with my new hero, my youngest son, Ricky.
For me September 11th has become a day of giving, and I felt reflecting about my three days in todays blog post appropriate. Ricky and I raised $ 3,000 for MS, and we felt every step of the 50 miles. The level support we received during the walk was truly amazing. I have come to believe, that you get what you give.
While the walk was grueling, I feel richer for having endured, and seeing how my son, urged me on, when I knew how he was hurting showed me his incredible depth of character. I feel richer for it.
Sharon Housley
| 09/07/2006
Tucows Buy Kiko |
Tucows aquired Kiko a web based calendar. Kiko was sold as a Web 2.0 company on eBay and went for $ 258,000. Read the details.
| 08/31/2006
History of ID Software |
This is a very interesting piece The History of ID Software:
The theme over the course of these recent "A Short History of..." pieces, for those who have been following, is independence: the struggle to achieve it for one's self or for others, or simply its presence in places where you'd never expect to find it. It is that cooperative struggle for individuality, for the assertion of our humanity, that leads us to all grace.
The other articles on the bottom are also interesting and not terribly different from the Software Success Series.
| 08/29/2006
Report Crime, Aggregate Data Could Make a Difference |
I hope the ecommerce services read this, imagine the power of their aggregate data:
During a presentation at the 2006 InfraGard National Conference -- which is focused on protecting U.S. critical infrastructure -- Wendi Whitmore, a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, urged companies that are victims of cybercrime to report the problems to law enforcement agencies. Even though many cybercriminals don't get caught, the sharing of information between law enforcement and private businesses can help both groups develop better defenses, she said.
Report Crime
| 08/27/2006
Software Pirate is Jailed |
A Florida man who made millions of dollars selling illegal copies of computer programs was sentenced Friday to six years in prison in one of the nation's largest software piracy cases.
Danny Ferrer, of Lakeland, Fla., pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy and copyright infringement charges after an FBI investigation of his Web site, BuysUSA.com. Ferrer also was ordered to pay more than $4.1 million in restitution to software makers Adobe Systems Inc., Autodesk, and Macromedia Inc.
Complete Article
| 08/24/2006
Interesting Trademark Strategy |
Ok so this women purchased a bunch of googlesomething.com domains and attempted to sell them to Google for a large sum of cash, thinking she would make millions. When the Google trademark lawyers came calling you would think, like many of those before her she would back down and turn tail. She did counter-offer the domains at a discounted rate, these offers could have been her demise, because when she actually went to court her actual defense was ingenious.
The domain poacher told the court she had been planning a dating site and the domain was intended as "Go Ogle" rather than "Google". Because she had offered to sell the domains the court ruled in Google's favor. Still her ingenuity was rather impressive!
| 08/22/2006
Compelling Articles Make Great Content |
Articles are excellent tools to generate web traffic and product interest. Writing articles, may sound easy enough, but it is important that you write the proper types of articles to attract interested readers. Follow these simple steps to create compelling and interesting content.
Compelling Articles Make Great Content
Software entrepreneur Phill Ryu has announced “My Dream App” a new competition that invites participants to submit their best ideas for a killer app. Contestants will compete for a chance to have their idea turned into a Mac shareware application and earn royalties on software sales, as well as take home prizes that include Macs and iPods.
| 08/15/2006
Publishing on Amazon |
So the holidays are approaching. As hard as it is to believe, now is the time developers should be gearing up for holiday sales, if they target a consumer audience.
Do something different and consider reaching a new audience, Amazon sales spike in the holidays, it is easy for customers toss something "extra" in their cart, so if you products are not listed on Amazon it is time to think about getting them listed. How? Well that is easy, Great Mind Software provide a listing and publishing service for software developers interested in listing products on Amazon.
| 08/15/2006
Logo Maker Software |
My graphical expertise is not quite what it could be, and on some of our smaller projects I do the graphic design in-house. In any event, I started playing around with Greenbox Logo Maker . This is one very cool piece of software. You can whip up logo in minutes! Really very versatile and well done.
SWRUS Kiev has been announced! The mini conference will be held the day before the ISDEF conference (scheduled for Moscow Russia).
| 08/14/2006
Amazon Crossing the Line? |
I wonder what the Attention Trust Organization will think of this:
The Santas on Amazon may soon know if intended gift recipients have been not only naughty or nice, but also whether they're Muslim, Gay and Unemployed.
Amazon.com filed a patent application on Aug. 10 for a process that would allow Amazon customers to use the retail Web site to gather information on other customers, including "birthday, interests, occupation, education level, income level, location, race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation."
Complete Article
I think Amazon is off their rocker! This type of information should not be made widely available to anyone.
| 08/14/2006
Austin Game Conference |
Austin Game Conference scheduled for September 6-7-8, 2006 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.
The Austin Game Conference is produced by The Game Initiative, the leading producer of conferences and events for game industry professionals. Game Initiative, events attracted almost 4,000 game industry professionals from around the world as speakers, attendees, sponsors and exhibitors in 2005. The Game Initiative serves the needs of companies and people involved in producing interactive entertainment software and hardware for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers and the Internet.
| 08/13/2006
Developers Cope with Leopard |
For the people who create Mac software, there's nothing quite as exciting as a Worldwide Developers Conference keynote that previews the features slated to appear in an upcoming OS X overhaul. And there's nothing as terrifying for those same developers as waiting to see if those new features do similar things to the software they're already selling.
Such is the nature of third-party software: meet an unfulfilled need with your software one day, watch that same need get addressed by an operating system update the next.
Article about Apple Development
| 08/10/2006
Google Helps Webmasters |
The Google Webmaster Central is very cool! You can determine what pages are being crawled where there is a problem or if a website is having "issues" with Google.
| 08/08/2006
Add Social Bookmark Chicklets to Your Website to Increase Popularity |
Notepage, Inc. has just developed a social bookmarking tool that will help web designers create bookmarking chicklets with ease. This tool allows users to enter the title, description and URL of their website and it creates bookmark chicklets that can be inserted into their website.
Social bookmarking has quickly become a popular way for frequent internet users to share their favorite websites with the public. Having a website added to a bookmark directory can increase traffic significantly. Bookmark chicklets are a newer creation that help remind those viewing a website to add it to the social bookmarking directories. It makes the bookmarking process easier for those who have found a website that is a good source of information or services. Another advantage of the tool is that the website description that goes into the bookmark is written into the script, allowing creators of the chicklet to choose how their website will be described in the directory.
The tool is easy to use for even novice web designers. It can also be used to add chicklets to blogs. Creating the chicklets is instantaneous when using this tool. It is a free service available to anyone. For more information or to use the tool visit http://www.feedforall.com/social-bookmarks.htm.
| 08/04/2006
Shareware Starter Kit |
I'm curious why the Shareware Starter Kit does not get more play. I would love to hear from developers that have used it and how effective it has been.
The Shareware Starter Kit (SSK) enables you to integrate important shareware management features into most .NET applications. By providing highly customizable source code for client and server components, the SSK can be tailored to meet your specific needs.
| 08/02/2006
Software Marketing News |
The latest issue of SMR is on line. This issue is a recap of the Shareware Industry Conference, it includes conference overview, session recaps and more.
| 08/02/2006
Top Marketing Tools |
When asked, "Which offers are 'very effective' for generating high-quality leads?" marketers in all three areas studied - technology services firms, and business software and hardware - put Blog and the Podcast in the top five.
Top 5 Tools For Generating Sales Leads
1. Free Trials -- Business software marketers ranked free trials extremely highly, with 54% calling trials very effective.
2. Webcast -- At 41% this was another favorite for software marketers, however technology services and related hardware firms also ranked webinars at 33% and 31% respectively.
3. White paper -- All business technology marketers rated white papers fairly evenly, giving white paper offers ratings ranging from 31-36% 'very effective.'
4. Blog -- 35% of software and ASP marketers rated their blog as very effective, as did 33% of technology services firms. However, just 19% of hardware companies felt that a corporate blog was effective. This may be because general business executives are more likely to read a blog, while IT staffers may not.
5. Podcast -- Last year the concept of a podcast was barely on the technology marketing map. By June 2006, 22% of software marketers who'd given a podcast called them 'very effective' lead generation tools. Perhaps IT professionals are more likely to be in an early adopter community that might listen to a podcast.
Review
| 08/01/2006
Tips to Keeping Children Safe Online |
Most developers have children so I thought they would find this article helpful.
Tips to Keeping Children Safe Online
There was once a time when you only had to worry about children when they were outside or not at home. Those times have changed. Strangers can now enter your home, without a key or coming through a door. How you may ask? These strangers enter your home using a keyboard. These strangers can befriend your children online.
| 07/30/2006
Agnitum Comments on New Windows Kernel |
I met the guys from Agnitum a few years ago at ISDEF. This was an interesting article in the Register.
Recently introduced security measures by Microsoft will make it more difficult to integrate third-party security tools with Windows, according to a rival personal firewall firm.
Agnitum reckons that the introduction of Kernel Patch Protection by Microsoft will force independent security software vendors to adopt the same tactics as hackers in order to get their code to work.
Complete Article
| 07/28/2006
eSellerate Sold to Digital River for 25 Million |
According to the quarterly Digital River conference call transcript eSellerate was purchased for 25 million dollars.
"As Joel noted, late in the second quarter, we acquired MindVision, Inc., the parent company of eSellerate, a provider of outsourced e-commerce services for $25 million in cash. There is no earn out under the agreement. The acquisition contributed approximately $270,000 of revenue to the second quarter. We expect the acquisition to be slightly dilutive to both GAAP and non-GAAP results in the third and fourth quarters but accretive in 2007."
| 07/26/2006
Multi-Word Phrases in Search |
Web analytics company OneStat.com released a reportthat states more than 50 percent of searchers query 2 word and 3 word phrases. Four word phrases came in third at 17.11 percent and one word phrases came in a rather surprising fourth with only 11.43 percent.
Really interesting information as many people optomize for only single keywords.
| 07/26/2006
Software Conferences |
ISDEF - The Independent Software Forum conference will be held in Moscow Russia on October 5 & 6th, 2006. A pre-conference event will be held in October 4th in Kiev, Ukraine.
EWSC - The European Shareware Conference will be held in Cambridge England on November 5 & 6th, 2006.
| 07/25/2006
Shareware Industry Award Winners Announced |
The SIA Award Winners have been announced.
Best Overall Utility
Beyond Compare by Scooter Software
TuneUp Utilities 2006 by TuneUp Software GmbH
WinRAR by WinRAR
WinZip by WinZip Computing Winner!!
Best Application
Boxer Text Editor by Boxer Software Winner!!
TextPad by Helios Software
UltraEdit by IDM Computer Solutions, Inc.
Best Graphics Program or Utility
Adobe PhotoShop by Adobe, Inc.
Corel Paint Shop Pro by Corel Corporation
IrfanView by Irfan Skiljan Winner!!
Best Desktop Enhancement
MaxiVista by Bartels Media - Info - Download
Microangelo Toolset by Eclipsit, Inc. Winner!!
Window Blinds by Stardock - Info - Download
Best Photo Program or Utility
ACDSee Pro Photo Manager by ACD Systems
Life Poster Maker by Lincoln Beach Software Winner!!
Picasa by Google
PMView Pro by Blueprint Software Works
Best Application Using .Net
Guitar and Drum Trainer by Renegade Minds Winner!!
IDAutomation Barcode Label Software by IDAutomation.com, Inc.
InstallAware by InstallAware Software Corporation
Best Utility Using .Net
Doppler by Cindy De Smet and Erwin van Hunen
IDAutomation Barcode Image Generator by IDAutomation.com, Inc.
ShareAlarmPro by NsaSoft Winner!!
Best Sound Program or Utility
Audio Record Wizard by NowSmart Studio
Blaze Media Pro by Mystik Media Winner!!
D'Accord Personal Guitarist by D'Accord Music Software
Microsoft Media Player by Microsoft Corporation
Best Vertical Market Program or Utility
Auction Sentry by Auction-Sentry.Com
Tarma ExpertInstall by Tarma Software Research Winner!!
TextFromPDF by Salty Brine Software
Best Business Application or Utility
Contact Plus Professional by Contact Plus Corporation
Personal Knowbase by Bitsmith Software
PayWindow Payroll 2006 by ZPay Payroll Systems, Inc.
Microsoft OneNote by Microsoft Corporation Winner!!
Best Educational Program or Game
AceReader Pro by Stepware, Inc.
Google Earth by Google Winner!!
WinFlash Educator by Open Window Software
Best Hobby or Personal Interest
Everything I Own by Mycroft Computing
Remind-Me by Beiley Software
Vacation Designer 2006 by Meliovation Winner!!
Best Internet Enhancement
FeedDemon by Bradbury Software
FTP Voyager by RhinoSoft Winner!!
Paessler Site Inspector by Paessler AG
Best Internet Communication
GroupMail by Infacta Ltd.
Trillian by Cerulean Studios
PocoMail by Poco Systems
Yahoo Messenger by Yahoo Winner!!
Best Web Enhancement
AI RoboForm by Siber Systems
HTML Match by Salty Brine Software
Mozilla Firefox by The Mozilla Foundation Winner!!
Best Non-Action Game
Pretty Good Solitaire by Goodsol Winner!!
SudokuMeister by byteplant GmbH
Sudoku Works by Oak Systems
Best Action/Arcade Game
Commando Xenidis by Magic Storm
Tomb Climber by Magic Storm
Unreal Tournament by Epic Games Winner!!
Best Program for PDA's
Documents To Go by DataViz
Journal Bar by Omega One
Spb Diary by Spb Software House Winner!!
| 07/25/2006
The Peoples Choice Software Awards Decided |
The Peoples Choice Software Awards have been announced.
The winners are:
Best Overall Utility
WinRAR by win.rar GmbH
Best Application
Acronis True Image by Acronis, Inc.
Best Graphics Program or Utility
ACDSee Pro Photo Manager by ACDSee Systems International, Inc.
Best Sound Program or Utility
Microsoft Media Player by Microsoft Corporation
Best Vertical Market Program or Utility
WindowBlinds by Stardock Corporation
Best Bussiness Application or Utility
Adobe Acrobat Reader by Adobe Systems, Inc.
Best Educational Program or Game
Google Earth by Google, Inc.
Best Hobby or Personal Interest
Roboform by Siber Systems, Inc.
Best Internet Enhancement
GetRight by Headlight Software
Best Internet Communication
Skype by Skype Limited
Best Web Enhancement
ZoneAlarm Pro by Zone Labs
Best Non-Action Game
Bejeweled 2 by Astraware Limited
Best Program for PDA’s
FlexMail 2006 by Web Information Solutions, Inc.
CNET “Most Votes”
RealPlayer by Real Networks, Inc.
Simtel “Most Votes”
Registry Mechanic by PC Tools
Tucows “Most Votes”
Spyware Doctor by PC Tools
PC World “Most Votes”
Ad-Aware SE by Lavasoft Sweden
| 07/24/2006
Epsilon Award Nominations Open |
We are proud to announce that nominations for the Epsilon can now be submitted", says David Boventer, Founder and Executive Director of the European Shareware Conference e.V. ,,
There are many good and hard-working programmers in the software market, using the marketing method of ShareWare that deserve extra support for what they do for all of us. So we believe that we should honor one of them each year within our annual European Shareware Conference. This honor will be
accompanied by actual material support to further the programmer`s standing on the market.
The prizes will include a statue of recognition, 300 Euro and Press coverage of their product by a professional Press service. The Epsilon Award will mean the solemn entry into our hall of fame, which means a life-long free entry to future conferences of the ESWC e.V. and other benefits by sponsors which are gradually going to be announced.
| 07/19/2006
Questioning Online Credibility |
Credibility online is becoming more and more of an issue. Anyone can have a blog or post to a forum and anyone can edit wiki entries. Web surfers are beginning to comprehend that just because it is in print does not necessarily mean that it is true. In fact, in today's online world, the collective truth might be the closest thing we can get to the real truth. Peer policing and social bookmarking have become common in the online world.
Take a Closer Look at Online Credibility
| 07/19/2006
Developing for Vista |
According to a report:
Microsoft announced that nearly 1000 global independent software vendors (ISVs) will offer a range when the new operating system will be launched early next year. Among the group of ISVs are 15 of the top 25 software companies, the Redmond-based firm said at its Worldwide Partner Conference 2006 in Boston.
A handful of the applications under development for Vista are on display at http://www.seewindowsvista.com.
| 07/19/2006
SIC Photos Posted |
I just posted the first round of photos from the SIC (Shareware Industry Conference) . Over the next few days I will be getting caught up and providing details of the confernece.
| 07/11/2006
Interview on Microsoft Channel 9 |
Michael Lehman is inviting attendees at the Shareware Industry Conferece to be interviewed and posted to Channel 9.
Additional Details
| 07/07/2006
Software Organization Takes Next Step |
Just about a year ago Sue Pichotta created AISIP, an organization for software developers and online marketers. The organization has blossomed into a dynamic group of developers, and Sue realizing she could not bring the organization to the next level made the decision to sell the AISIP to Michael and David Halls, founders of Emetrix and FileKicker.
I've spoken with Sue regarding the sale and will be posting responses to an interview about the sale.
| 07/06/2006
Digital River and Intraware Cooperate |
Intraware, Inc, a leading provider of electronic software and license delivery and management solutions, announced today that it has signed a joint marketing agreement with Digital River, Inc., a global leader in e-commerce outsourcing. Through the marketing agreement, the companies are expanding their strategic business relationship to deliver integrated e-commerce services to enterprise software publishers. full article
This is interesting because I have never heard of Intraware in the space of electronic software and license delivery. I'm guessing they are aimed at enterprise delivery.
| 07/06/2006
Latest Software Marketing News |
Software Marketing News has been posted. The latest issue includes:
Digital River Acquisition Editorial
User Group Opportunities
Various Marketing Articles
Microsoft Announcements
Tucows Contest Announcement
Web Applications
Tech Tools
Software Awards
Search Engine News
Read SMR News
| 06/26/2006
Pirates to Pay Digital River |
According to TwinCities.com:
Digital River will receive $109,395 from a computer hacker who made fraudulent payments to bank accounts under his control after hacking into the company's computer server. The hacker, Larry McPhillips of College Park, Md., was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and must also pay $388,397 to Innuity Inc. of Redmond, Wash., from which he channeled similar fraudulent payments.
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