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What do I do now?

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objective:
What do I do now?
Greetings donation coders!

In 1988, I completed a masters degree focused in analytical cytometry.  My education consisted of overseeing a project to develop, document and test an electroporation instrument (used in molecular biology to help DNA pass into cells).

After graduation, I continued the work in IT that had helped me work my way through school.  Back before US companies figured out that third world slaves from China etc worked for orders of magnitude less than free Americans, who are aware of labor laws, Constitutional laws and human rights, I was pulling down a healthy living doing software quality assurance on network instrumentation for a major manufacturer.  Over the years, I learned "bits" of C++, and when things were slow, I worked on a program that I had always wanted when I was a student. 

To make a long story short, the program is done (yeah right - saleable) now, and I am trying to figure out the best way to earn some money from it (that nest egg I put away during the good times is almost completely scrambled).

I suspect that many of you will advocate accepting donations for my work.  However, I am not sure that this is the correct approach any more than I am sure that the classic shareware registration approach is correct, or even direct sales on-line, or licensing to a box maker (I really do not want to do that). 

I do not want to get rich - just feed my family (it would be OK to be kind of rich, but really rich people need to pay strange people like me to live with them to take care of their houses etc.).

I need information about the following:

1. Relative benefits of freeware/donations, shareware/registration, direct sale (you must pay on-line to get the program without a trial),
    a. suggestions/information about registration/installation software products

2. employing website advertising as a means of increasing income and
     a. tips and tricks
     b. things to avoid

3. incidental sales (selling related hardware products for a profit from the same website where my program is available for free, shareware registration or direct sale). 

My customers are college students, college student parents, college bookstores and those who purchase graduation gifts. 

My goal is to minimize the amount of time I need to spend working with my website/orders so that I can write new code and return to my preferred use of my time - in depth study of information systems in the context of the Shannon Continuous Channel, and the design and development of global cooling devices (we can all start by putting a mirror - or even better a photovoltaic panel - on our south facing roof).

You appear to have a community of experts, and I look forward to your responses.

Thanks.

mouser:
first of all, welcome to the site :)

it sounsd like donationware is definitely not something i would recommend -
it's a huge amount of work and no way to make money.

so i'm not going to be a great one to give you advice.  but there are some shareware coders here who might be able to advise you better in that direction.

but i hope you will keep us informed about what you learn, and i look forward to reading any replies from people who know a little bit more about the business end of software.

objective:
Thanks mouser, perhaps more than anything else, I appreciate honesty! 

We live in such a strange world - even though we are all in this life on earth thing together - we employ cutthroat competition rather than mutually beneficial cooperation.  Imagine how different life on earth would be if we all worked together as a team for the common good, rather than competing with each other over the scraps of what we tear to pieces in service to our personal goals. 

Perhaps someday...

nevf:
Objective, forget about donations and free. Make the price as high as possible. Put together a clear, to the point Web site. If possible get a professional to design it. If not find a good template. If your software is aimed at professionals then the site needs to be professional.

Offer and deliver great support. Promote yourself and your product in places where your prospects hang out. eg. Forums, blogs etc. Ensure your product removes pain that people have. Ensure it looks and feels good, is robust, has good documentation etc.

Get peers to review your product and your site. Listen carefully to their feedback, especially folks that have been in the business for some time. The "Business of Software" forum is a great place to hang out, gather wisdom and get advice. Start by wading through the current posts and archives, Check out the other uISV sites mentioned there.

HTH and best of luck in your endevours.

objective:
nevf wrote (parsed):

1. Objective, forget about donations and free.
2. Make the price as high as possible.
3. Put together a clear, to the point Web site.
4. If possible get a professional to design it. If not find a good template.
5. If your software is aimed at professionals then the site needs to be professional.

6. Offer and deliver great support.
7. Promote yourself and your product in places where your prospects hang out. eg. Forums, blogs etc.
8. Ensure your product removes pain that people have.
9. Ensure it looks and feels good, is robust, has good documentation etc.

10. Get peers to review your product and your site.
11. Listen carefully to their feedback, especially folks that have been in the business for some time.
12. The "Business of Software" forum is a great place to hang out, gather wisdom and get advice.
13. Start by wading through the current posts and archives,
14.  Check out the other uISV sites mentioned there.

nevf - THANK YOU for your thorough response. 

1. Check
2. As high as possible - I will ask my beta testers what they would pay.
3, 4, 5. Professional web site: short, sweet and targeted to the customer
6. Great support - had not thought about that as a selling point/value segment
7. Already in the plan - such as it is
8.  WOW - excellent point - the software will (can) remove pain (if used), but I would never have thought about emphasizing that point. 
9. I am trying to tailor it to my market segment (pre-college teens), and as a former software tester and documentation writer (now a lost art), have worked very hard on the help and operational documentation - and upon the advice of a target segment tester - have greatly improved access to the documentation.
10. Peers (software programmers) have stated that the software looks good, but universally appear to seek to minimize expectations for income due to today's software market
11. These embedded systems guys are smart, but I hope they are wrong about the incapability of current market conditions.
12, 13, 14. Will do - soon.

Thanks again for your thorough response. 

Do you have any suggestions regarding financially accessible software to provide registration functionality and/or make installation executables?

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