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Programmer Needs Help With Marketing

by Folis
4 replies
Hi, I'm new to this forum and am kind of lost when it comes to marketing. I've been a software engineer for about a dozen years and have created some software that I want to market.

I'm offering the basic software package for free and charging for customization. It is software used by employers as a job board and video interview system. It also allows job seekers to put together a multimedia portfolio packaged in a Flash application and invite prospective employers to view it.

Can anyone give me a little advice on how to market something like this? If you want to look at my website, it is my home page.
#marketing #programmer
  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    A few practical questions...

    How many competitors do you have that are offering a
    similar service?

    How are your top competitors marketing themselves?

    If you're the first one in the field to offer this type of
    service- beware. Pioneers are the ones who take the
    biggest risk and often come back with arrows in their
    backs.

    Find a software service that's already selling well and
    then create your own slant and market it better.

    Sell what's already selling.

    Dedicated to your success,

    Shaun
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  • Profile picture of the author brian19
    Hi Folis,

    Good luck with your new software. Shaun's given some good advice.

    I sell software myself and my main selling tool is my website and of course the software itself. If both look professional and work well, if you're lucky word of mouth recommendation will boost your sales.

    Taking a look at your website, you've largely done what I and most programmers do which is to list and describe features of the software. Maybe you need to stress benefits more. I find it a little hard on your site for example to see what benefit I'd get from customizations you might be able to provide if I were to pay some money.

    Maybe your intended audience will understand terms like RIA but the first paragraph might be too early to go too technical. Hit the visitor with what the software will do for them and why it's so good.

    Brian
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  • Profile picture of the author Folis
    Thanks for the advice. How effective are videos to demonstrate the software features?
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  • Profile picture of the author brian19
    Videos can be good. Breaking the page into panels highlighting main benefits, selling points can also be good.
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