rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard) (09/18/85)
One of the major costs of producing software is getting it onto the Dealer's Shelves. Dealers don't want to be stuck with products they can't sell, so they only buy the Top 10. The only way to get into the Top 10 is to be on the Dealer's Shelves, CATCH-22. The only way to beat CATCH-22 is to make the Dealer THINK you're in the Top 10 with a massive ad campaign. The dealer assumes that he must have missed the offer. Of course the ad campaign can cost more the the devolopment of the product (up to 70%), hence the $500 spreadsheet. Here are at least a few ideas. Let the Dealer Provide a Bulletin Board, he can sell "shareware" and if costumers like it, he can order the "glossy version" for the rack. Distribute through "Compuserve" style networks. The latest shopper's world indicates that Borland, among others, is considering this. Currently, there is vey little "Impulse buying" of software. Mail order allows the consumer to "think" too long. High prices place all but a few C64 "game" packages above the threshold level. Virtually any K-Mart relies on "Threshold" business. Threshold price is the price at which someone will see the product and buy it without coming for that express purpose. (Ever gone "window shopping" with your wife?). We buy computer magazines like "Info-World" and "Popular Computing" of the shelves because the price is so low. If the bookstore were only able to sell the magazine with a 1 year subscription, the price would be too high, no one would buy these things. Antic has been selling "Rag and Disk" packages for the Atari for quite a while now. Even though the programs on the disk are identical to the ones in the magazine, people pay $6 extra for the "pre-punched" version (one dealer uses this to identify non-owners as potential Amiga/ST buyers). How about Itemizing the Package. Royalties 20% (includes a little for advertising) Documentation 30% (make documentation hard to photo-copy) BBS support 30% (user's ask, user's answer, company get's free) Telephone supp. 60% (Read the manual-here's the price) Dealer supp. 100% (He gets his questions answered) Commission 5% of anything you sell (in hard to get upgrades) So you could "legally" copy a disk and sell it (even to a new dealer) The disks should have serial numbers on it. The serial # is your password to the BBS, you Can't get the telephone # except from the BBS, and you can't get a New password without paying a 'dealer'. (You are liable for all copies made and not paid for- no more support until you pay up). I have seen a similar technique work sucessfully on a 'vertical market' package for lawyers (the worst pirates of all). There are a few more "gotchas" but those are trade secrets. (nothing in this message has anything to do with me, my employer, my wife, or my dealer)