What is shareware?

Before going too far let ‚ s clear up a common misconception ‚ shareware is a distribution and marketing method, not a type of software. When software is distributed through normal retail channels, you are forced to pay for the product before you see if it meets your needs. The shareware method of marketing and distribution, which allows the user to try before purchasing, is the ultimate money-back guarantee. If you try it and decide it doesn ‚ t meet your needs, you don ‚ t pay for it. Shareware distributed software is just like a program you find in stores, in catalogs, and in other places software is purchased, except you get to try it on your own computer before paying for it. It also has copyrights and licensing restrictions associated with it. The idea is after the user finishes evaluating the software, the user is expected to pay for it or discontinue using it and remove it from their system.

Software authors choose shareware to distribute their software because it is simple to do, efficient, and cost effective. Lower operating costs mean authors can concentrate on writing great programs, while charging users less. Shareware allows authors to retain complete control.

Before uploading the software to a shareware site you must decide how to get the user to register and pay for the software. You can allow users to download the software, register, and pay for it after they evaluate it and find it meets their needs or you can require registration and payment before allowing users to download the software.

The software author develops an application and decides to give people the opportunity to try the software first before deciding they want to purchase it. The first thing the author must do is upload the application to one of the hundreds of shareware sites. (For a list of available sites go to http://www.asp-shareware.org/users/searchsites.asp .) Each site has its own restrictions, methods , and costs associated with uploading an application. It ‚ s up to you to find the site that works best for you.

You uploaded your application to a shareware site, now you wait for the money to come pouring in. Just how much should you expect to make from your shareware marketed software? There are no real statistics on registrations ‚ just guesses. It could be as low as 2% to as much as 50%. There ‚ s really no way of obtaining an accurate download count and absolutely no way of knowing how many people who download the software use it past the preliminary download. Think of all those clients you know who are using unregistered versions of WinZip.

One of the methods to help track the number of users downloading your software is to require registration. In some instances, with registration the user gets anything from the right to continue to use the software to a program with additional features and a printed manual. Without registration, most shareware programs display a reminder notification upon starting the application with the hopes of annoying you into registering it.

If you are serious about marketing and distributing your application as shareware, you might want to think about joining the Associate of Shareware Professionals (ASP). According to the ASP Web site, ^[1] ‚“The ASP was formed in 1987 to strengthen the concept of try-beforeyou-buy software as an alternative to conventional retail software. The ASP is a vibrant international organization with over 1200 members who can help shareware professionals create and run their businesses. The ASP ‚ s members create and market some of the finest software available today. ‚½ They also maintain several public newsgroups that can answer questions about specific shareware programs or about shareware in general. They offer an abundance of information on topics such as how to start a software business, how to write press releases, choosing a price for your program, and the importance of a Copyright Notice.

Their online resources have answers to questions you ‚ re asking and the questions you haven ‚ t thought of yet.

Pros: A simple and cost effective way to distribute software.

Cons: Shareware isn ‚ t always taken as seriously as commercially marketed software applications. Users continue to use the software, but ‚“forget ‚½ to register and pay for it.

^[1] http://www.asp-shareware.org/join/aboutasp.asp - The Association of Shareware Professionals website