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DP Directory, Inc.
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Subscribe Now to Al Harberg's Software Marketing Newsletter, the best way for software developers to get free, usable marketing information. We'll never use your email address for anything besides sending you this twice-monthly newsletter.
It's All About Marketing
For $159(US), I'll spend two hours on your web site, and I'll send you ideas that will help you sell more software. This new service is your chance to get a marketing makeover that will turn your web site into a sales machine. You've read my sales, marketing, and business ideas and advice in my 100+ newsletter articles. Now, you can hire me to focus my experience and expertise on helping you increase your software sales. You'll benefit from my 21+ years experience, full-time, helping software developers market their software. I'll tap the dozens of sales and marketing books that I've read, and the countless conversations that I've had with software experts, and apply this knowledge to your web site's sales presentation. I'll concentrate on your home page, product pages, about-the-company information, and order pages. I'm not going to send you boilerplate marketing theory. You'll get my best judgment on specific changes that you should make to your web site - changes that I believe will result in your selling more software. I'm not going to give you ways to trick Google into raising your search engine ranking. And you certainly don't want to hire me to run a spell-checker against your web site. My expertise is in helping you deliver a sales message that will attract your target audience to your site, speak to them persuasively, and close more software sales. My goal is to increase your income, to help you sell more software. Each web site review will be tailored to your specific needs. I'll use my judgment, and concentrate on the things that I think will increase your sales. I'll spend two hours in a quiet room, giving you the advice that I'd give to a close friend about the changes that I think you should make to your web site. I'll spend two hours reading your web site, thinking about it, and then writing about it. I'll email you my report. The service even includes a quick follow-up trip to your site, after you implement any changes that I've suggested. For most developers, you'll need to sell an additional five or six copies of your software to recoup the $159(US) investment in this service. As a reader of my newsletter, you know that my ideas about positioning, branding, pricing, and wording can help you accomplish that. Now you can bring my advice one step closer. Let me suggest the best way to apply these principles to your business. I'll concentrate on your web site, and send you personalized ideas that you can implement immediately. The process will take about a week. I promise you a creative analysis of your site, full of innovative ideas, based on solid traditional marketing knowledge plus the latest web marketing techniques. Get a web site makeover that will make a difference in your sales. Place your order. Thank you. - Al
There's an HTML version of this newsletter on http://www.dpdirectory.com/3news032.htm And there are 31 back-issues with wall-to-wall marketing ideas on http://www.dpdirectory.com/3newsltr.htm To subscribe, please send me a note - al@dpdirectory.com. If you have software developer friends who would benefit from reading this newsletter, please tell them about it. Thank you!
Five questions that I get asked a lot are: (1) What's the best day of the week to send press releases to the editors? Most developers want the editors to receive their press releases during the Monday through Thursday timeframe. Their reasoning is that these are the days that the editors are "serious" about their work. I agree that Fridays during the summer months might not be the best time to send press releases. But I think it's okay to send press releases on any weekday, including Friday, except during the height of the vacation/holiday season. (2) What's the best time of day to send press releases to the editors? About 70% of my clients want me to send their press releases to the editors during the afternoon (my time - GMT-5 - east coast US time). Their reasoning is that the New York editors are still at work, and the Los Angeles editors have come to work, emptied their inboxes, and had a cup of caffeine. About 30% of my clients want their press releases in the editors' inboxes when the editors come to work in the morning. Their reasoning is that most editors are "morning people", and that it's best to give them a great press release when they're ready to begin the work day. Often, I email quite a few press releases on weekends, so that the editors will get them early on Monday morning. Sometimes, I think that we over-think the question. Since editors welcome press releases for new software releases, I think most any time is a good time. (3) What's the best time of year to send my press release to the editors? Sooner is better than later. Some editors, including the editors who manage the magazines' and newspapers' online content, can use your press release immediately. The weekly trade magazines, and the editors who write computer columns for daily newspapers, can respond quickly to your press release. It takes three to four months to get into the monthly magazines. There's no reason to wait. Send your press releases as soon as you can, following the release of a new application, or a significant upgrade to an existing program. (4) Should I send press releases during holiday seasons? During the holidays, editors spend some time out of the office. Here in the US, almost all offices are closed for the four-day Thanksgiving holiday (this year, it's November 24-27). And many offices are closed between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day (December 24 through January 1). Timing your press releases to arrive during this time period may not be the best strategy. However, sending press releases a few days before the holidays can be a very good strategy. Fewer software developers send press releases close to the holidays. And the editors have to wrap up their magazines before they leave the office for the holidays. They're looking for well-written press releases to include in their magazines. It's actually an excellent time to send press releases. (5) How long after I've released my new software should I send my press release to the editors? As a general rule, don't send your press releases before you've completed your beta testing. There are many exceptions to this rule. Editors who cover computer game playing often like to review beta releases of new games. If you have an unusual application, you might want to get the editors interested in your application, before it's ready to be released. The upside of this approach is that the editors can jump-start your publicity. The bad news is that your competitors get a heads-up, too, and can start writing their me-too software. Many developers like to release a new application, and then wait a few days before sending their press releases. They reason that listing their programs on the download sites will generate a lot of excitement. And if there are any bugs in the software, it would be nice to discover and fix them before the editors get a chance to find them. Unless you're a huge company with significant name recognition, the editors won't give your software a bad review. Their goal is to tell their readers about neat new software. If they don't like your app, they won't pan it. They'll ignore it.
A Marketing Textbook for Software Developers
Kotler on Marketing - How to Create, Win, and Dominate Markets by Philip Kotler (published by The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.) Based in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Professor Kotler has sold more than three million textbooks, in 20 languages. This is the second of his 15 books that I've read. I'll be reading more. His books are excellent. The Big Picture - The first two-thirds of the book deals with strategic marketing and tactical marketing, and contains wall-to-wall information that can help software developers sell more products. I believe that it's essential to get a grounding in traditional marketing, and Kotler's presentation is rock-solid. The last third of the book deals with administrative marketing and with transformation marketing. Administrative marketing doesn't apply to mom-and-pop companies. Kotler's discussion of transformation marketing is a bit simplistic for people in the software industry; we're already aware of the wonders of the Internet, and the nearly limitless marketing opportunities that the web brings. What it Means for Software Developers - One of the things that I really like about Kotler's writing about marketing is the collection of lists that he provides. Even if some of the topics don't apply directly to the software industry, it's great to have complete lists so we can make sure that there aren't any marketing tasks that we're missing. For example, his list of winning marketing practices includes winning through higher quality, through better service, lower prices, high market share, adaptation and customization, continuous product improvement, product innovation, entering high-growth markets, and through exceeding customer expectations. It's very useful to be able to read a list like this, and give some serious thought to how each of these ideas can improve our sales results. There's a list of marketing challenges that most companies face, a list of questions posed by marketers, and checklists that help you assess which of your company's functional areas are customer-minded. And that's all in the first 21 pages. The book continues with nine ways to build demand, choosing your product positioning, tools for building brand identity, evaluating a brand's effectiveness, developing and using market intelligence, developing your product mix, acquiring, retaining, and growing customers, and dozens of other critical topics. The Bottom Line - Kotler on Marketing contains the marketing information that you need to create and execute your software marketing plan. You may not agree with everything in the book, but you can be fairly certain that all of the important marketing topics have been covered. This isn't an easy read. It's a dry book, written by a marketing professor. But the ideas that you can draw from the book can be turned into higher sales, both short term and long term. I recommend it strongly. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this newsletter, send me a note. I'll remove your name immediately and permanently. To SUBSCRIBE to the email version of this newsletter, send me your name and email address. I'll only use your name and email address for this newsletter. I'll never spam you, or let other people have your name or email address. Please add al@dpdirectory.com to your anti-spam filter's friends-list. To REFER a FRIEND to this newsletter, click your email client's "forward" button. I thank you very much. And your developer friends will thank you, too. To SELL MORE SOFTWARE, bookmark this web site, and visit often. There's a lot of free, useful software marketing information on http://www.dpdirectory.com/.
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