Boris Yankov has started a blog focused on software and shareware. Boris’ recent post talks about a subject that is of interest to all shareware developers, how many downloads does it take to make a sale. Everyone knows that its 100 downloads for 1 sale… isn’t it?

Download-To-Buy Ratio: The Myth [Boris Yankov]

AI Systems, with only 6 employees, counts the Cincinnati Bengals, Federated Department Stores and United Health Care as its clients.

Small Amelia company takes big leaps in tech

Asbury Park Press profiles Bigstring.com, a service that allows email to be recalled, erased or self destruct.

Profile: Company’s e-mail product allows you to change your mind

An article from the December 2003 MCP Magazine outlines the several roles that go into software development.

The Many Hats of Software Development

Basecamp, a web-based project management solution by 37signals, is perfect for any microISV. The Free plan allows for one project with multiple users at no charge. It is also a great example for web based applications and usability.

Basecamp from 37signals

The biggest opportunities for micro ISV’s today exist in finding a niche that isn’t being filled by one of the big software companies. The best part is that many of these companies are betting that you’ll do exactly that.

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The feed for the site has been updated to use Feedburner. You can point your RSS reader to this URL. The previous RSS2 feed is still valid.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/microisv/aNIw

Steve Pavlina, of Dexterity fame and one of the big micro ISV success stories, has started a blog. He has posted an entry on planting the seeds for success that is a must read for every micro ISV.

Eric Sink has released his first report on his micro ISV experiment. I won’t rehash his entire article (although I will borrow gratuitously from his format) so I encourage you to read his article and then come back to my comments below. Eric’s comments are in bold.

1. I think I am disappointed.

• Just as nearly everyone goes through the same 5 steps in greiving, this is usually the first response for a shareware developer upon the release of their new application. We all go through the development process thinking we have done everything just right only to find that there are still miles to go before we have a product that will sell consistently.

2. I think this proves my experiment was fair.

• The following you have among the developer community is almost certainly not the primary demographic to which you will be marketing Winnable Soltaire. My mom certainly doesn’t know who you are, and she’ll be much more likely to purchase Winnable Solitaire than me. Therefore, I agree that your results have proven that your experiment is entirely fair.

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Jotspot is planning to allow people to create composite applications by utilitzing pre-built templates that require no programming. The more tech savvy users can then customize these templates if necessary.

An article from Business Week had this to say:

Backed with $5.2 million from venture-capital firms Mayfield and Redpoint Ventures, JotSpot has created wiki software that lets people assemble, Lego-style, basic components such as mailing lists and calendars. With JotSpot’s wiki tools, users also can create applications that draw on the power of the Web. With a few keystrokes, data and services from other Web sites can be automatically tapped and deposited on the wiki.

Jeffrey Veen reviewed several open source content management systems and came up with several suggestions to improve usability. These suggestions apply equally well to any software project. The suggestions include:

• Make it easy to install.
• Make it easy to get started.
• Write task-based documentation first.
• Stop it with the jargon already

via kottke.org

According to the September 2004 membership poll conducted by the Association of Shareware Professionals, 65% of all respondents are single person shareware businesses. The poll also revealed that 35% want to build their ISV into a major source of income.

It would be interesting to know how many of the businesses that are now multi-person companies started as microISV’s.

Dave Donaldson has an excellent post on the different types of insurance that you may need when doing business as an independent consultant or a microISV. Insurance is something that must be factored into the decision of being independent if you plan to do work for other companies on a per-project basis. Every microISV can benefit from consulting a professional before selling your software because the claims you make while marketing your product can potentially open you up to liability issues down the road.

via Yahoo! Groups Going Independent

I’ve spent all morning reading the posts on the Going Independent Yahoo! group. So far there have been excellent discussions on finding clients, getting insurance for your company, and tracking sales/customers/users. It looks like this is going to be yet another excellent place for a microISV to get information from those who are currently independent or planning to be independent.

via .Avery Blog

Welcome to microISV.com! With the increasing number of blogs and articles about software development and microISVs in particular, I wanted to create a community site that can be utilized for the benefit of us all.

Please feel free to submit a link to your own site, post on the forums, and forward any information that you think may be of interest to others.