"How To Build Your Very Own Software Empire In 6 Easy Steps!"

"How To Build Your Very Own Software Empire In 6 Easy Steps!" By Brian Terry (c) 2002 Without question software products are "THE" biggest sellers online today, pulling in the hugest amount of profits for their creators, and quite often making them millionaires overnight. You only need to look as far as Microsoft for evidence of this important fact. However, what many people forget is you don't have to be a Bill Gates to build your own software empire. In fact, right now there's small army of regular people like you and me wheeling tons of cash to the bank day in day out. Believe it or not all you need is one "decent" project to quit your 9-5 job. Read on and I'll reveal to you how you can start building your own "red hot" software products today! These simple steps will give you the boost you need to quickly get things under way: 1. "How to pull hot ideas out of thin air" Did you know the only qualifications you need to create and develop "killer" software are a good pair of eyes and ears! Then it's just a simple matter of fine tuning these senses to dig for rock solid profitable software ideas. Let me explain how you can do this... Next time you use your computer make sure you have a pen and note pad next to you. As you're working away on your PC keep your eyes peeled for ways of doing things better and more efficiently. For example, when you're surfing around a website hunting down a piece of information you might think. "If only I had a drop down menu that enables me to search this entire site for what I'm looking for!". Bingo! you've just had an idea for a new piece of software! It doesn't stop there either... You can get software ideas when you're doing anything, from watching TV to washing your car. You've just got to tune yourself in and jot down every idea you get. As you can see it's easier than you think! 2. "Become a spy and gather intelligence" So you now have several software ideas... what do you do with them now? You need to know if they're profitable. Is there a market? Will people buy it? The easiest way of doing this is going to somewhere like: http://download.cnet.com/ and search to see if anyone else is selling something the same or similar to your product idea. If you find this is the case then excellent! you might be on to a winner! It's now simply a matter of just looking for ways to make your product even better then theirs! For the best results I recommend test driving your competitions products, make a list of all the features, take notes, look for way to make yours better then add your own magic sauce! Now you've got the following under your belt: - A notebook full of ideas to research. - A method of spying on your competition to expand your own software feature list. What's next? 3. "Build your blueprint for success" Just like building a house software needs to be planned out in every possible detail. The more detail the better (this will save money and time later on). Think about how people will be using your software, should it be web based or a stand alone application? Will you offer a free demo so people can try before they buy? Will there be different version of your software for different markets? These are just a few of the questions you must ask yourself when you create the "blueprint". 4. "How to find a first class programmer" Armed with a detailed software blueprint you now need a programmer to pull the whole thing together for you. There are several types of programmers around, some better than others and you need to ask as many questions as possible. I highly recommend getting some references first and speaking to them on the phone at the very least. Here are a couple of places you could try online where you can "bid" for their services, always aim for quality rather than size if you're looking at a company. http://www.ework.com http://www.freeagent.com http://www.elance.com If you want low cost programming on a big project you could try looking offshore to countries like India, Russia and other Eastern European countries. There are some highly talented programmers out there! At the end of the day you must do your homework wherever you decide to go. If you're lucky you may just find a programmer to work for free - just to build their portfolio! When you've finally selected your programmer you need to do these things: - Agree a price. - Agree a timescale for completion. - Agree a payout schedule. - Agree a contract for the project. 5. "It's all in the packaging" What documentation are you giving with your new software? Tutorials? A basic set up guide? An A-Z reference file? I would suggest all 3 and you're covered. Be sure to make it all as easy to read as possible. 6. "Promotion is essential!" Now it's make it or break it time. Keep in mind as with your software you need to plan your site with great care and in the smallest possible detail. For the best results create a direct response website which answers every question your potential customers may have. Always emphasise the benefits and use every opportunity you can to collect email addresses to follow up on. You could offer a demo or a 30 day free trial. What about a walk through showing screen shots? There are so many things you can do here! To really succeed here are 7 key ingredients to creating your very own software empire: 1. A series of "hot" software products 2. A website that gets people to "click." 3. A regular involvement in joint ventures. 4. A useful, selling machine ezine. 5. An affiliate sales force doing most of the selling. 6. A viral marketing campaign. 7. An automated sales and delivery process. Whilst the above isn't a definitive guide it should give you a good idea about what's involved and how you can easily do the same. "Enjoy!"