askNet and Softwrap have partnered to provide what they are calling “a complete end-to-end eCommerce solution” for digital media publishers.

askNet will continue to focus on online stores and order processing while incorporating Softwrap’s software wrapping technology.

Press Release

I’ve posted a new poll to the site asking if you’d rather make $20,000 by selling 1000 copies of your software for $20 or 2000 copies for $10. Please take a moment to vote for your preference.

I’ve also started a thread in the Sales and Marketing forum in the microISV forums to discuss why you prefer one choice over the other.

microISV.com was started to provide an online community where all of us with similar interests can congregate and share and learn. After a few emails, several of us thought it would be good to facilitate networking and communication among the community using LinkedIn.com.

If you’re interested, head over to LinkedIn.com and sign up and send me an invitation. Find me by searching for ‘brian microisv’. My email is brian at you can guess dot com. Be sure to include the word microISV in your Groups and Associations.

Rob has come up with a new and interesting application of the shareware business model. I think he might be onto something, but I wonder how he’ll combat piracy.

Phil Wright of Crownwood Software is a microISV who has developed a .NET control library that he sells commercially. For those of you who have wondered how to have a day job and build a successful microISV, then keep reading.

Read the rest of this entry »

A new blog has been launched for indie game developers. They plan to have several updates a week and provide articles about indie game development.

IndieGameDev

Intellectual property is important and should be protected, but the world’s patent systems are broken. An entire industry now consists of buying patents and suing companies just to make them pay up.

Small software developers in Europe scored a small victory in December when the EU did not sign the new Software Patent Directive. If passed, experts say, many small companies would simply close up shop rather than pay expensive registration and legal fees.

Related Links:
Thomas Warfield receives letter that computer solitaire is patented
The Public Patent Foundation

Here’s an entry from 2002 on a weblog by Scott Johnson, the founder of Feedster, titled ‘Marketing Software When You Are a Small Company’. A few of his suggestions are contrary to some of the ideas that have been talked about recently, such as “Looking Big When You’re Small” but its a very good (and quick) read.

Usability specialist, John S. Rhodes, found a Slashdot entry where a developer complains about having to “dumb down” an application for the user becuase they repeatedly clicked the submit button even though there was an error each time. In his post, John asks the following:

Are users stupid or not? Do developers have the right to be angry?

After reading the Slashdot post linked by John, I found the following comment by the original poster after someone suggests to disable the submit button so that it can’t be pressed multiple times.

I like solving technical problems, but I’m not so keen on social problems like this one… human behavioral modeling isn’t my favorite subject.

In this case, I think the developer doesn’t have the right to be angry. Your thoughts?

Apress has made the book Dissecting a C# Application: Inside SharpDevelop available for free as an ebook. The book goes through the development team’s process of designing and developing SharpDevelop and provides a lot of information that may be beneficial in your own development process.

via Matt Berther by way of Christopher Hawkins

Lachlan Gemmell, who left his job and started a software company last year, has started a blog about programming with Delphi.

Business Blog World points out the importance of getting your customers to the correct entry point on your website.

This piece of advice is also included:

Assure the prospect that their purchase is fully guaranteed. Don’t be afraid to provide a complete money back guarantee. Very few people will request it, and the reassurance of standing behind the product will create vastly more sales than will request a refund. The numbers favor a strong money back guarantee.

via Carnival of the Capitalists on Management Craft

Some good quotes from an article about “pure entrepreneurship” in the Boston Globe. There are also a few quotes from Dan Bricklin, one of the creators of VisiCalc.

Pure entrepreneurship is often a solo enterprise, funded by credit cards, consulting projects, and second mortgages. It sparks revolutions and spawns big companies.

‘’Do whatever will get you the most excited,” he says, ‘’and your energy will be the engine for the whole thing.”

“With today’s tools, you can create software yourself, without a big team of programmers. And you can print out physical products cheaply with a 3-D printer. Everything is just so possible.”

via Joho the Blog

David St. Lawrence has an excellent blog where he often posts about careers, small business, and becoming an entrepreneur. In his post The ideal job, he defines the ideal job as follows:

Definition: The ideal jobs are those that prepare you for long-term job security as your own boss.

See also, The ideal job - part 2

Dave Shea, author, creator of the CSS Zen Garden, and widely read blogger recently attempted to purchase Adobe Acrobat from Adobe’s online store. Like any of us, he expected the process to be simple and quick. Instead, it took TWO DAYS, multiple support calls, and multiple computers to be able to download and install the software. His entire experience is chronicled in his post ‘e-commerce Hall of Shame‘.

Its disappointing to see a company like Adobe force their way of doing things on their consumers. There are thousands of readers at this very site, many of whom are brand new to the shareware industry, who get the download and install part of this business correct on the very first try. Adobe, there is no need for things like download managers, they only serve to make things more complicated…and to alienate the very market that you’re trying to sell to.

via J-Walk