Selling software
How should a start-up company plan to sell its software?. Selling requires a lot of established infrastructure for which a entrepreneur may not have access to. It could be a distribution channel, promotion etc. All in all what is the basic ingredient required to sell software?
posted by Rahul at 7:11 PM
11 Comments:
I believe brand name is missing in the mentioned list.
For any product its very important so it has brand reorganization in the market.
true. But building a brand itself would entail marketing -selling, promoting etc. So I feel we are back to the previous question again.
my friend ravi could not able place a comment here so I am placing it here for him.
I hope problem will be rectified soon.
comment from Ravi R Bhat.
Ok here is a suggestion from a wannabe entrepreneur!
Products such as software, websites etc have the advantage of online/real time access!
So it does not need "big infrastructure" to sell your product!
There are alot of tools such email marketing,google adwords,link exchanges,community networking, blogs, review/benchmarking/testing firms/websites/media etc etc. which can get very good kick off to your product today compared to the olden days!
Now u dont have a product and you looking for services(or outsourced ) kind of deals then buddy you need to come up first of all good professional website with right business etiquette & few testimonials to draw quality attention!
Hope i was able give some idea... Probably i can give u more inputs later....
All the best!
Thanks Ravi for the input. What you have said is true. But I still do have some queries. The methods that you have chosen to list would take some time to bear fruits.
What I am trying to say is that , the online space is so populated with advertisements. Sometimes I wonder if people really look into them. I feel that people start looking only if they want something specific.( I have a theory :) here, let me put it in the next post).
So the queries are:
1. How do you stand out in this populated space ?
2. How then do we reach people who are not online
3. How do you cut short what I like to say is the "time of impact"
4. Dont forget the parameter of cost in all this. (We are a start-up, remember).
Hope I have made sense in all this.
I was also thinking of using alternative and more conventional media outlets like the TV and the newspaper.
It is very interesting to see that we see quite a bit of advertisements of web-sites coming on TV ( naukri, rediff, yahoo and so on and on).
Since software advertising on TV is still relatively new , it stands out. People also are inquisitive to go on and check the site.
But if you observe, it is again the web-sites that are making their presence felt. You will only see Microsoft and IBM actually trying to sell software.
Microsoft can afford to do it because it is synonym with computers, and IBM advertisement is for the person on the look-out for such a service.
The point is , can a new software be introduced into such a media outlet. This remains to be seen.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hi rahul,
sorry for the delay...
Regarding previous comment, i think every startup should "be patient"!
Again keep your product market driven, in other words dont let it out date!
Now how do you market it, is upto the product or service you provide! Do you provide specific APIs(B2B) or a general functionality (B2c)!
These both have different approaches!
I feel to reach the customers out of the online space is through the people in the online space! Everybody will need a second opinion and thats when referrals by the people in the online space, probably is the only bandwidth to ur business!
"Cost" now thats one aspect probably overseen & bit ignorant when it comes to marketing, thinking you will regain it back as ur ads are released in the media!
Rather just spend more part of the cost on testing,documentation & overall quality of the product!
There is a famous saying by Abraham Lincoln am not sure of its precise sequence of words.. but what he meant was if he had to cut a tree in 8 hours, he would spend 6 hours sharpening the axe!
Probably this should be a thumb rule of every startup! - for me atleast ;)
I came across an article, somewhere
while browsing regarding Starting a business when you are employed.. Probably u can "digg" it somewhere..which focused about cost cutting issues!
Now regarding the most recent comment u have added,
Well first of i feel ads of IBM,Accenture makes no sense at least in India market because its context is not B2C, thank god Microsoft is! Perhaps it may attract few resumes of people who are mesmerized abt the company and want to work there! ;)
But ya tv ads such as zappak.com,fropper,com etc certainly gives the viewer a thought of visiting the website at least once!
Now here is another input if you u knw what your product is gonna be or atleast which domain it is? then keep an eye on the conferences/seminars/workshops etc going around in your domain! You have a chance of showcasing your product! This approach would be more effective if yours is a api or
middleware kind of product! (b2b)
Please let me know your comments/suggestions on whatever i blahed here!
Software startups the way i see normally have two successful business models - either service premium customers (or u can call as "Rolls Royce") or service normal/usual customers (something like Ford or Maruthi)!
What kind of brand you want to be is upto u! Provided quality upto the par!
Hi Ravi,
I did get a few ideas to take home from your comments.
I completely agree that we have to use the online space. It does serve the purpose it is intended. But as I said earlier- time for impact, this is crucial sometimes.
Allow me to present my reasons.
1. Usually a startup works with little capital or no capital (hoping to make the necessary operating capital along the road). In the former case , it might become a little difficult for it to operate within this limited capital,unless revenues flow in. Ideally, a start-up should not be cash-strapped at the start, but so are ways...
2. Competition. Start-ups exploit the availibilitly of a niche. But the entry level for the niche might be quite low.
The following link would serve to illustrate the point i so unsuccessfully trying to make:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html
The decision? Whether to grow slowly, organically, and profitably, or whether to have a big bang with very fast growth and lots of capital.
It convers the strategy for the first step.
I dont think we might be able to generalize it. But there are some pointers to muse upon.
To be the entrepreneurs voice could itself be your business.
This is what is done by a company called Venture Voice. They have already built the infrastructure to sell products of different types. So a start-up hires them and automatically get access to these outlets. Bingo!
Further information:www.venturevoice.com/
I found a article for this topic in voice venture
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