Just in case you haven’t found it yet, Shareware Blogs has recently launched.

Robert Scoble, Microsoft Geek Blogger, has asked Diego Doval of CleverCactus to post a funding pitch to his blog after Diego posts about the company’s ability to attract VC or angel funding and how the company is in danger of running out of cash. Scoble offers to forward the pitch to people who may be interested investors.

Diego’s software company running out of cash via Scobelizer

Nick Bradbury shares his experience gained from creating three successful shareware applications as well as some insights that many can use while on your own path to creating a successful shareware application.

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Because many of you read the site via RSS I wanted to point out the new poll on the site, “When did you last purchase a shareware application?“. I think all of us would be interested to see the results among the shareware community so please cast a vote.

microISV Reality
matt.griffith

Microsoft employee Scott Gunnerson details the testing and bug tracking process going into ASP.Net 2.0 and Visual Web Developer. The numbers are pretty impressive. 1.4 testers per developer, 105,000 test cases and 505,000 test scenarios.

Testing ASP.NET 2.0 and Visual Web Developer
Tracking Bugs

Of all of the feedback and emails from the readers of microISV.com, I’ve never received anything from a female shareware developer. This is not a huge surprise if I simply reflect on all of the offices I’ve worked in, but I know there must be more than a few ladies out there working on the next killer app. Let’s hear from you, use the Submit Information link to the right.

A few months back, Wincent Colaiuta from wincent.org posted an article telling how the registration algorithm for his Synergy software had been hacked and his sales immediately dropped 20%-30%. The article outlines the effects the hack had on him and the potential effect on his customers. At the time he also thought that the decreased sales may also bring about the demise of his company.

I got in touch with Wincent to see what, if anything, has changed in the months that have passed. His response was very succint, “the sales haven’t recovered but are still limping along. I am trying to finish a couple of new products which use a new protection system, and in the meantime hoping that my funds don’t run out. “

Many shareware developers depend on Google ads as one of their primary marketing channels. Lately, many searches are returning ads that are minimally targeted and appear to be bulk fed to Google. Many ads are from eBay affiliates trying to cash in on the eBay affiliate program that eBay has been promoting very heavily (hey, they just paid one affiliate over a million dollars for one month). The exception is when doing searches with multiple keywords that are technical in nature.

Now that they are a public company they have obligations to the shareholders to increase revenues and profits. This makes them less likely to limit the proliferation of what are becoming spam-like ads. The downside for shareware developers is that cost per click costs could become artificially inflated. Have you been adversely affected by the increase in bulk affiliate advertising on Google?

Steve Troxell of Krell Software is a successful microISV who has created several tools for SQL Server users and developers. Steve has been kind enough to share his experiences of being a microISV and offers some great advice to those who are looking to do the same.

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Niall Kennedy attended a discussion on running your own software business where several successful developers discussed their experiences about their projects. Niall provides both a summary and a full recording of the discussion.

Several interesting thoughts came from the discussion including the fact that PayPal was the preferred method of payment and Japan should be an area of focus for sales.

How To Run Your Own Software Business presentation [Niall Kennedy] via Justin Van Patten

CubeYellow Software
MasterList Professional Developer News
Tigsys Software
Christopher Hawkins

Many thanks to Sharon Housley for including microISV.com in the Novemeber newsletter from Software Marketing Resource. The entire newsletter is a great read and the article The Golden Hour will especially be of interest to shareware developers.

Customer information is probably the single most important batch of information for a microISV, but sometimes collecting information leads to losing a sale. The folks over at SharewarePromotions made the decision not to purchase a product because the site required an email address before the download. Their advice is to sell first and collect later.

Websites that don’t sell - shooting yourself in the foot (link to main page, article doesn’t have a permalink)

A South Australian accountant designed a software app that competes with MYOB and Quicken but is geared toward small businesses with little to no bookkeeping experience. His 28 person company now boasts over 89,000 customers and they are just now entering the US and Canadian markets. Marketing is done through accountants who recommend the product to their clients.

Accountant’s software has numbers adding up [news.com.au]