You Should Pay Me to Read This Post (It's worth it...)

[Renegade]

A while ago I was teasing some people about why I know such awesome ways to make money on the Internet. That's actually very true. I know a lot of ways, and many of them were learned in a Sith temple over a nice warm cup of Jedi blood...

Ok - but seriously - there are good, clean, wholesome ways to do it as well that are legal, ethical, and good for everybody involved.

TrialPay is a new system for software authors to give away their software for FREE and still get paid.  There's no spyware, no toolbars, no tricks. It's all straight forward. You sign up for some service online like a dating site, or complete some transaction like buying some product, or getting a credit card, then you get your software for free.  There are lots of different offers and even some games there as well.

The system is in beta now, and I've registered and uploaded a product that I've just released - the Renegade PayPal Batch Encrypted Button Generator. Check out the page and look for the TrialPay buttons. Click one to go to the TrialPay page and have a look around.

I've also blogged in more detail with screen shots in a step-by-step way. See TrialPay - Good for Customers and Software Authors.

There are many other ways of course, but that's a very cool one.

So - now that you've read this post - you've got to pay me!  Anyone need an American Express Platinum Card or Discover Gas Card? 

[mouser]

that is an interesting twist.. not quite my cup of tea but very interesting and seems like it might be reasonable alternative both for authors and for consumers..

[app103]

Sounds like something similar to the old PicoPay system where people 'earned money' to pay for your software by clicking ads of their choice...was a micropayment system that eventually failed because they couldn't sell enough ad space. (I was a member and got an email from them saying they discontinued it...but their site is still there looking exactly like it did 2 yrs ago.)

People were using it as a tip jar on their website where visitors could donate amounts like $0.10 to a site without using any cash from their own pockets.

Some artists were using it for desktop wallpapers. You could set it up where visitors were required to click an ad to gain access to your site...or a file on your site.

[Renegade]

So mouser, so you need an American Express or Discover card?  hehehe

It's definitely not for everyone, and not for all software. You've got to be judicious in choosing how you market your software, and how you accept payments. But it's certainly a novel approach to generating revenue for software.

[mouser]

It might be interesting to offer this method to people as an experiment..  The only download i can see if the user has a bad experience there (ie they have trouble finding actions that they qualify for, or get rejected by services, or do things and end up not getting credited, or get spammed like mad because they used their mail email account), then they might develop a negative attitude about your software.  not sure how likely that is to happen.  keep us updated Ryan on how this works out for you please, i'm very curious to know the feedback you get from users.

[Renegade]

I'm likewise curious as to how it will work out. I can imagine a few scenarios to optimize how to present the offers, but quite frankly, I just don't have the time to put it together. So rather I've just slapped the button on the product page. I know that I could present things better, but time as it is...

As for bad user experiences, well, I'm not too worried about it. It's kind of aimed at those users that you wouldn't normally sell to anyways. So even if only part of those that start the transaction finish it, it's all still gravy.

I'll post back in a month or two once I've got a feel for how it works more.

Cheers!

[mouser]

It's kind of aimed at those users that you wouldn't normally sell to anyways. So even if only part of those that start the transaction finish it, it's all still gravy.

i think that's a good point.  looking forward to the report.

[brotherS]

TrialPay really looks like a smart idea!

[JeffK]

I came across trialpay recently and am now starting to get promotional emails from them.  I was up last night in the middle of the night (wife sick - I couldn't sleep) and decided to check my email.  There was an offer for ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite if one purchased one of their services.  I was going to buy flowers but noticed one of the options was to open an eBay account and make a bid on something.  Well I already have an eBay account but I thought what the heck, I've been considering that software for some time and here is an opportunity.  So I opened a new eBay account, made a bid on something I had my eye on (my bid wasn't successful) and went back to bed.  This morning I had am email with the registration for the software.  With clearer mind I realised that I was supposed to be a new eBay customer not an existing one.

[Perry Mowbray]

With clearer mind I realised that I was supposed to be a new eBay customer not an existing one.

-JeffK (May 08, 2007, 11:52 PM)

Funny, I did the exact same thing, and really caught myself trying to get something for "free" 

I re-examined the agreement though, and it doesn't actually say "new user", it says "new account", but I'm sure that what they really mean is new user. So I gave myself a stern talking to and bought flowers 

[Curt]

... released - the Renegade PayPal Batch Encrypted Button Generator. Check out the page and look ..

-Renegade (October 22, 2006, 11:19 PM)

Renegade; you clearly have optimized your page for Firefox:



but this is how it is looking in my IE7:



and in my Maxthon 1.6:



You might not care for these browsers, but I thought you should know in case you didn't.

[app103]

That seems to only happen if the browser window isn't maximized. (I just tested it in AOLex)

[Curt]

You're right, April, it is okay in IE7 and Max too, when maximized.

--

What is "ex" in AOLex?

[f0dder]

Hm, not my cup of tea.

[app103]

What is "ex" in AOLex?

-Curt (July 05, 2007, 05:26 PM)

AOL has browsers in 3 flavors:

The standard traditional all-in-one browser that has browser, email, IM, media player, etc...must have an AOL account to use it. It kind of resembles Opera when run in MDI mode instead of tabs. This is the software everyone loves to hate.
You Should Pay Me to Read This Post (It's worth it...)

Looks pretty much the same on a Mac:


Then there is the newest thing they have created called Open Ride that has 4 panels, tabbed browser, email client that supports their mail and other POP, IM, and media player. There is a "dot" in the intersection of the 4 panels that can be dragged and positioned to change the size of all 4 at same time.


And then there is what I use & love...AOL Explorer (AOLex). It's just an IE based stand alone tabbed browser that looks beautiful, runs well, and has some really nice features. There is no extra garbage in it like IM, email or media player and it needs no AOL account, although if you have one, you can use some of the extras like portable favorites. This is the same browser that was later incorporated into the bottom left panel of Open Ride.
You Should Pay Me to Read This Post (It's worth it...)

^{You will have to forgive me for dragging this old post up and finally responding, I am a bit behind on my unread posts.}

[Curt]

...And then there is what I use & love...AOL Explorer (AOLex). ...

-app103 (November 18, 2007, 10:24 PM)

Thanks for the enlightenment, app103, it was still needed 

Hm, not my cup of tea.

-f0dder (July 06, 2007, 05:37 AM)

No, it can't be, f0dder, can it :



Sorry; I just couldn't help it...