Product Promotion on a Shoestring Low-cost Marketing Ideas for the Software Entrepreneur by Jack Krupansky Since I introduced my software product (Liana, a C-like object- oriented programming language and class library for Windows) in August 1991 I have spent a lot of time and money on marketing. This included advertising, trade shows, a logo, a newsletter, brochures, mailing literature, and lots of phone calls. Not all of this money was well spent. In fact, if I were to do it all again I wouldn't do most of it! Contrary to the saying, I didn't get what I paid for. It turned out that the things that worked best tended to be the things that cost the least. There is a truly amazing variety of low-cost marketing opportunities available to the software entrepreneur. Many of them will cost significantly less than the value of your time. I'll mention just a few of them in this article. Mostly I'll focus on product promotion. The goal of any product promotion effort is sales, but you need to be careful when judging the short-term results and long-term potential. If you intend to be in business for a long time, then think in terms of building long-term relationships rather than just making a quick sale. Even if you are selling the software equivalent of pet rocks, be on the look out for contacts who could help you in the long run such as with your future products. I would need very short-term profits if I were selling VBX custom controls (designed for Microsoft's Visual Basic, the VBX standard for user-defined GUI controls is now supported by Microsoft's Visual C++, Borland's C++, PowerBuilder, and others), since it is so easy for anyone to quickly move in and the VBX standard has an uncertain future with its 16-bit interface and Microsoft is pushing OLE and something called OCX. But in my case, I am in less need of short-term profits due to my focus on a long-term, flexible, multi-platform, OEM-oriented technology that does not have a critical dependence on today's products. Write Articles for Trade Magazines - Wow! Not only is this option cheap, you get paid to do it! I got better response from my articles than from paid advertising or even reviews. If your product uses really neat technology or is a novel solution you shouldn't have much trouble finding a sympathetic editor. Two things to remember, most magazines have a long lead time (sometimes in could be nine months till the appropriate "slot" opens up) and understand that an editor will be most interested in satisfying the interests of their readers (rather than helping you market your cherished creation.) Even if you are unable to find an editor interested in your product, you can still offer to review other products. When you are a small business, promotion of yourself is almost as good as promoting your product. Talk at Conferences and Trade Shows - I personally haven't been invited to speak at any conferences, but I have had the opportunity to speak at several trade shows. I have given several talks at the Software Development trade shows. In Boston the Boston Computer Society (BCS) usually has an area where various venders and individuals make presentations on products or programming techniques, or general topics of interest to programmers. In San Jose, the Software Entrepreneur's Forum (SEF) does the same. It's free, assuming you are going to the trade show anyway. Post Blurbs on Trade Show Bulletin Boards - At the March 1991 Windows and OS/2 trade show in San Jose I tacked a few Liana data sheets on the bulletin board that was set up in the middle of the floor. This led to a review of the Beta release of Liana 1.0 in Tech Specialist magazine (now Windows/DOS Developer's Journal.) This in turn led to a few sales and a promising OEM contact. You certainly can not depend on this sort of serendipitous opportunity, but they do happen and you should be prepared to take advantage of them. I always make a point of carrying a few data sheets or brochures (and plenty of business cards) when going to trade shows or even marginally related seminars. Talk at User Group Meetings - I made presentations at meeting of both the ACM SigPlan and BCS Windows Programming group in Boston as well as a meeting of the Windows on the Rockies User Group here in Colorado. I cannot say that I got any sales out of these presentations, but they provided valuable feedback. Just by listening to their questions and comments I could get a better feel about how they perceived the product. It is worth noting that the average software entrepreneur is in desperate need of improving their public speaking skills and there is no better way to do it than in front of live audiences. When the time comes for you to go on the road show for your IPO you will be glad you had the practice Sell Through Programmer's Shop, Programmer's Connection, et al - There is no fee to be included in these catalogs. But if your product doesn't move enough volume they will drop you from the catalog. The real cost is the continuous calls from the ad sales staff wanting to know when you are going to start advertising. Hang Out in On-line Forums - Read the messages in the forums or interest groups on CompuServe or Internet for products related to yours or environments in which your product might operate. People are always looking for tools to help them. Your product may fit their needs. Its not cool to make blatant sales pitches on-line, but don't be afraid to respond to someone's comment or question with a simple "you might take a look at my product" and then engage in a private mail conversation. Even if you don't identify sales opportunities, you may pick up information about rumored new products or a sense of the level of satisfaction for competitive products. Freebies and Free Coverage for Early Adopters - When a large company is about to introduce a major platform, they are usually eager to get application developers onboard. They are sometimes willing to provide free software, possibly free loaner hardware, free catalog listings, free promotion in their literature, and even free space in their trade show booths. Their level of support will vary and can quickly dry up as they achieve success, but watch carefully and jump quickly and you can find opportunities. By porting Liana to a pre-release of Windows NT I was able to get a free copy of Windows NT, a mention in their catalog, and a booth at their developer's conference in San Francisco back in July 1992. The catalog listing led to Liana being included in product listings in various magazines, including Datamation. I am currently in the process of porting Liana to Windows NT on a Digital Alpha AXP on loan from Digital based again on appearing in the Microsoft catalog. Within a few months there will be a short article on Liana in Digital's Viewpoint newsletter based on this experience. Reviews - A review in a trade magazine is the holy grail sought by product promoters. It gives you recognition and credibility. It gives you pithy quotes for your ads and literature. And it leads to sales. In my case a review in Computer Language magazine led to my first OEM deal which included an up-front payment and per-copy royalties. It can be really hard to get your product reviewed in a major trade magazine because every other software vender is being so inconsiderate and trying to get theirs reviewed. What nerve they have! But stick with it because it is worth it and there is no charge. There is usually a significant lead time, so be patient. And be persistent. Don't just ship a copy of the product to every magazine and expect quality service. Focus your efforts on the magazines you feel are important. Include both you first choices and second tier magazines which may not be the best, but are better than nothing. I'd recommend contacting the editor first and following up with the product and a semi-personal letter. Phone contact is very problematic, but e-mail not so bad. Let the editor know who you are (especially that you are a technical type and not some hired public relations bozo), what your product does, and why you think your product deserves his attention. Try to strike up an electronic dialogue and be sure to update the editors periodically. And it never hurts to ask them for input on product features. They love to be able to influence the directions that products evolve. Contact them well in advance of product shipment. Most editors really don't want to review beta-ware, but do want to know what is going on. A brief "reviewer's guide" is highly recommended since editors are really busy, they are deluged with products to review, and their reviewers really don't have the time to get as deeply into your product as you would like. The guide is a quick walk through the highlights of the product. Focus on two things: how to most quickly use the product for its intended purpose and a handful of special features that distinguish the product. Avoid lengthy prose, include lots of screen shots, and detail specific key and mouse actions (including neat shortcut actions) that get the reviewer through as much material as quickly as possible. Keep the guide to just a couple of sheets of paper since it is not a full-blown tutorial (which is presumably already in your manual.) The guide will give the busy editor a fast glimpse of your product without even breaking the shrink-wrap. Use E-mail to Keep Editors Up to Date - Trade Magazine editors love to talk about products and neat technology, either in print, at conferences, or in other venues. But they can only talk about what they know about and it is your responsibility to keep them informed. Even if they've already reviewed your product, you need to keep your product visible. You simply cannot predict which mention of your product might lead to "the big deal." Buyer's Guides - Many of the major trade magazines have periodic buyer's guides for various product categories. There is no charge, all you have to do is stay in touch with the magazines. Call them on occasion or look for announcements of upcoming guides. I've been in Computer Language, Windows Tech Journal, Microsoft Systems Journal (including their German catalog), PC Week, Datamation. In PC Week I even got a mention with a quote from a customer in the article that preceded the guide. All because I was diligent and noticed their announcement. Do your best to keep your product visible. Free Advertising - What? Well sort of... If you do succumb to the temptation to buy advertising space, make sure to let the magazine know if they screw up in even the smallest way. They will usually "make good" and run your ad again for no charge. Shareware - I am personally not interested in marketing my product by this route, but depending on the nature of your product and interests, you may want to give it a try. It can be your permanent channel of distribution or merely a way of bootstrapping your business. You can use it as an alternative to free demo disks. I considered putting a shareware version of Liana up on CompuServe a few months before I released Liana, but when I finished putting the manual into Windows Help format and saw that even when compressed it was over 400K, I abandoned that idea. People are willing to do a big download when they know what they're getting, but for a quick trial I think even 100K is probably too much. CompuServe has a procedure by which users can register on-line and CompuServe then sends you the payment. There are plenty of other shareware options, including CD-ROM. Well those are a few of the ideas I tried with varying degrees of success. In a future article I will continue the list as well as discuss more specific details for how to make some of the ideas work more effectively. ------ Jack Krupansky runs a one person software business, Base Technology, which develops and markets Liana and offers Windows software development consulting. He may be reached at 800-786-9505, e-mailed at jack@basetechnology.com, or on the web at http://www.basetechnology.com.