How to make money from a desktop app?

Moira Yao,

How about offering a fully functional trial version of your app with in-app ads, standard email support and free updates as a free opt-in offer on your site's landing page?; and

Then, how about offering to your subscribers (people who download and use your app) an upgraded version with more functions, without in-app ads, and with premium live chat / phone / email support, free updates and free upgrades, at a reasonable annual price, among other related affiliate products that can provide supplemental benefits to your users?

NOTE: To also take advantage of promoting your free opt-in offer in popular app stores, download portals, app repositories and heavily trafficked niche-related sites / blogs / social networks -- You can integrate a function into your app's trial version (your free opt-in offer) where users must enter their emails during installation so as to use the app. By doing this, you'd also be able to promote your app's free trial version via PPI (Pay Per Install) and PPD (Pay Per Download) networks...

P.S. Also consider integrating multi-lingual options into your app's trial version (free opt-in offer) and premium version, in order to promote your app to users in non-English countries. Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Brazil and others have significant app sales / usage / download and Internet access / online shopping stats. Plus, these countries are relatively cheaper to target via PPI / PPD networks, Google Adwords, Bing Search and Display network, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, etc.

Have you looked into FB? It's my preferred platform for aps.

Tom

Hookup with a company like traffic vance or lead impact and learn about how to bundle their toolbar. Be the PPV publisher not the PPV advertiser like most people do.