What do you think of this - sell something that can be had for free?

Ok. The first thing you need to do is use the google keyword tool to see if this is something that people are actively searching for and if so, how many searches it is getting.

Second, you may want to see if there are any other products on the market similar to what you are trying to sell.

Third, if so you need to see if you can improve upon or add value to what's being offered. Hell, that's all internet marketing is anyway...taking what's already out there and putting your own spin on it.

Absolutely. If you make it awesome, fluent, good looking, and over deliver with what you're offering, there is no reason you can't charge to own the app.

I see that all the time. Think about it.

There are free weather apps out there that are just okay, and then paid ones that are awesome with no ads. you could even make a free and paid one, with the free app running ads on it.

Don't undersell yourself. if there's a market and you know you're market, you can make one stop shops for them and charge

Hi Dave -

Who do you imagine would be the target audience of this? Is it software, or something more basic like an Excel spreadsheet?

At first thought, it seems a little "esoteric"... or a *really* tight niche. But, I've done no keyword research here to know for sure what you are looking at in terms of a marketplace.

But here's a thought... When you say this:
I immediately think of an iPhone or Android App. And I think this would open up the market for you.

Personally I'm always on the lookout (well, from time to time I check out what's avail anyway) for math apps for my kid to keep up her skillz. Problem is, I can never seem to find something that is engaging, AND that scales with her as she goes from grade to grade. There's a few that are ok that I've downloaded, but they get old quickly.

Come up with something like that for parents, and you might have something.

I doubt it will make you wealthy, but could be some good money if you hit a price sweet-spot.

Sadly, I don't know much about App development, but if you've got some programming chops I doubt it would be all that difficult...

Good luck with it!

Matt

People are lazy, they want the best solutions fast. There are tons of FREE products out there that they can get.

But if you market the product by showing them that you have what they need. They wont bother looking anywhere else and buy your software.

For example. I owned a XBOX 360 Repair guide website. I made over 200K with it. All the information on how to fix it was FREE on youtube but I still sold the shit out of the guide.