Successfully Selling Your Own Software and Apps

You are a programmer and want to develop and sell your own software? Here you will find useful tips and information for shareware developers and authors of their own programs. Or are you not a programmer but have a great idea for a very useful program that would help many people? Then it may make sense to commission the program development and subsequently bring the product to market.

 

Finding the right idea for your own software

If you haven't yet developed your own product or program, you first need to find a suitable idea. This can be very difficult and is one of the most common reasons why even very talented developers fail to successfully sell their own program. Here are some ideas and inspiration to help you get started.

Ideas and inspiration for finding concepts

• Do you want to sell your software to private individuals or to businesses? Should your program offer a specialized solution for very specific problems or appeal to the broad mass market?
• Which target platform do you want to develop a program for? Should it be an app for mobile phones, a desktop program for PC, or a 3D application for virtual reality headsets?
• Which industries or topics interest you and in which area do you have particularly strong knowledge? In which fields have you already been able to gather a lot of experience?
• Instead of designing a completely new program, it is sometimes easier to expand and improve an already existing program.
• Try to remember emerging ideas and keep them in the back of your mind, rather than discarding them immediately. Even better, write them down and create a collection of ideas. This overview helps you find the right direction. Ideas often need time to mature — you need to sleep on them and ideally discuss or brainstorm them with the people around you. Over time, concrete business ideas will develop from them.

There must be a market for your idea

No matter how great your idea is, no matter how much you would personally like a particular program, you should check in advance whether your business idea is actually in demand by others in the market and not just of personal interest to you. So try to be attentive to market needs in everyday life and explore which trends are currently popular, in which direction similar products are developing, what problems and expectations potential customers have, what users complain about or what they feel is missing. How do you assess the chances of success for your idea?

 

Identifying and reaching your target audience

• Think about what your program can do and who or which groups of people should use it. There is a difference between offering a smartphone game for kids and students or a program for analyzing golf rounds.
• Depending on which group of people or companies should buy your software, you need to align both your program and the offered help and descriptions, advertising and shop, product website, and much more accordingly. Be aware of your target audience, get to know them and understand their position, wishes, and ideas. This helps you to position your product to suit your target audience:
  • Modern, colorful, playful — or simple, factual, understated.
  • Names, words, and language in a youth style or the serious word choice of the "old school".
  • Focused on the latest technologies, gadgets, and trends, or solid with tried-and-tested technology.
  • Complex operation with thousands of functions, features, and extensions, or simple program logic reduced to the essentials.

 

Where and how can you best sell your software?

Through which medium can you distribute your program?

1. You can offer your program as a CD or DVD in an online shop or ask local retailers whether they will place your data carriers on their shelves.

2. The advantage of digital products is that you can also offer them as a download version from your own website.

 

How to best sell your software

• Create an appealing product page for your software on your existing website or set up a new website specifically for your program.
• For sales, a good starting point is a single, lovingly designed page that describes your product clearly and effectively and offers visitors a direct purchasing option, i.e. a suitable order form — often simply called a "payment page". You can conveniently create this page with a payment provider, for example, and integrate it into your own website.
• Advertise on your Facebook page, your blog, or in your groups and channels, and post a link to your sales page there.

 

The right presentation of your software

First impressions count

The first image and the first text that your visitors and potential buyers see are the most important. First impressions count here and determine whether the visitor feels addressed and becomes curious or leaves your page again.

Create a professional product image to present your software as a quality product and make it clear to visitors that they are receiving a "high-quality product" that was not just hastily "thrown together." For this, you can find a professional graphic designer who will present your software in the right light graphically, for example as a 3D box with shadows and reflections.

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Alternatively, you can also present your product with a short, professionally designed video or an interesting animation, thus gaining even more attention from your visitors. The same applies here: professionalism counts. It is better to commission the creation of a professional product video from a professional graphic designer rather than cutting costs and producing an amateur video yourself. If your video does not have the required quality and presentation, it will fail to achieve its effect.

 

Choose a good name for your software

The name of your software as well as the title or slogan on your product presentation page can play a decisive role in sales success. Here are some tips on choosing a name and suggestions for what you should pay attention to when naming your product.

• Avoid names that are too long for your product. Instead, choose memorable, short, and descriptive names.
• Avoid names and words in the slogan that are difficult to remember or pronounce.
• If you choose an artificial or creative invented name, pay attention to sound and rhythm. The name should be easy to pronounce and not sound choppy. What reads most smoothly?
• The name and title should be meaningful and convey to your visitors as quickly as possible what it is about and what your software can do.
• Ideally, the name makes your visitors curious so that they want to learn more about your product.
• If you want to distribute your product in multiple countries, either use a descriptive, global name that everyone understands (usually English-oriented) or different names for each language.
• Do not choose overly generic terms, as these do not stand out enough and appear too frequently on the internet.
• Make sure your name is not already being used by others on other platforms, products, or internet domains.
• Talk to various people in your circle to get other opinions and suggestions as well. The name of your software and presentation are very crucial, so you should also take sufficient time for the naming process.

 

Offer your customers convincing product descriptions

• Try to generate enthusiasm for your product.
• List all the key points, strengths, and advantages of your software, but don't get lost in the details.

 

 

 

Sources and interesting links

1. blog.elopage.com - 22 tips for successfully selling digital products
2. gruender.de - Finding a business idea: Tips for your business 2021

 

What experience have you had selling your own software? Do you have more tips for shareware authors and for distribution? We welcome your feedback.

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