Common Myths and Misconceptions about Consumer Shareware - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Common Myths and Misconceptions about Consumer Shareware

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A trial version's 'half life' is one day. Over 75% of registrations happen within two days of download ... Free lifetime upgrades might kill your product ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Common Myths and Misconceptions about Consumer Shareware


1
Common Myths and MisconceptionsaboutConsumer
Shareware

2
Myth 1
  • Get the user addicted to your program and then
    ask them to buy
  • At the end of the trial period, users love the
    program so much that they will have no choice but
    to buy

3
Fact
  • A trial versions half life is one day
  • Over 75 of registrations happen within two days
    of download
  • No significant jump in registrations at the end
    of the trial period

4
Myth 2
  • Rich functionality speaks for itself
  • An attractive interface is not too important

5
Fact
  • Users generally only use the programs most basic
    functionality before purchase
  • A high quality interface convinces users your
    softwares functionality is high quality
  • If you do not have the skills to design a good
    interface, hire a professional

6
Myth 3
  • Use gentle reminders to encourage users to
    register
  • Provide generous trial periods

7
Fact
  • Nice programs do not sell as well
  • Ask for registrations early and often
  • Make sure the user has an incentive to register
    and register early
  • What you are selling is merely the difference
    between the shareware and registered versions,
    not the registered version itself
  • Steve Pavlina, Dexterity Software

8
Myth 4
  • Shareware users always evaluate the trial version
    before purchase

9
Fact
  • As many as 20 of your customers can be convinced
    to purchase immediately
  • Encourage impulse buys through well placed buy
    links on web sites and product cross-sells
  • Get the sale as early as possible

10
Myth 5
  • There are only two types of customers those who
    are honest and those who arent

11
Fact
  • There are two types of customers those who are
    honest, and those who are honest when it is more
    convenient to be honest
  • An easily found, widely available crack can
    impact sales by 30 or more

12
Myth 6
  • Offering free lifetime upgrades will increase
    sales

13
Fact
  • Free lifetime upgrades might kill your product
  • Your past customers are one of your most
    important assets

14
Myth 7
  • Focus the majority of your marketing on the
    United States - most of your sales will come from
    the USA.

15
Fact
  • These days, Europe generates nearly the same
    amount of downloads as the United States
  • Combined, Europe and Asia / Pacific generate more
    downloads than the USA

16

17
Myth 8
  • The majority of my potential customers use a
    dial-up internet connection

18
Fact
  • 75 80 shareware downloads are done over
    broadband connections
  • When you ignore Region 4 (all countries but USA,
    Canada, Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia), 85 of
    shareware downloads are done over broadband
    connections

19
Download Speedsfor Shareware
  • Percentile Download Speed Kb/s
  • 5 20
  • 10 41
  • 15 77
  • 20 95
  • 25 101
  • 30 105
  • 35 111
  • 40 122
  • 45 180
  • 50 243
  • 55 334
  • 60 430
  • 65 534
  • 70 663
  • 75 799
  • 80 1020
  • 85 1342
  • 90 1811

20

21
Myth 9
  • Spend a lot of effort putting your file on every
    download site and every search engine
    everything helps!

22
Fact
  • 99 of your sales from download sites and search
    engines will come from the top 25 sites
  • Spending a lot of time putting your software on
    small download sites and search engines is
    generally not profitable
  • Alexa Rankings (www.alexa.com) are a good way to
    determine the popularity of a website
  • Focus on sites that have an Alexa ranking of
    40,000 or lower.
  • Consider using a submission service such as
    SharewarePromotions.com, Rudenko.com

23
Referring SitesPercentage of Sales
  • Site Percentage of Sales
  • www.google.com 32.85
  • www.download.com 19.81
  • www.snapfiles.com 4.35
  • www.softpedia.com 4.35
  • www.google.co.uk 4.11
  • www.google.de 3.86
  • 5star.freeserve.com 3.86
  • downloads-zdnet.com.com 3.62
  • search.msn.com 2.90

24
Questions???David HallsDirector of
Development, EmetrixA Digital River
Companyhttp//www.emetrix.comdavid_at_emetrix.com
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