Hi,
Welcome to May's Software Marketing News. An HTML version can be viewed at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/author-resource-newsletter40.html .


Software Success Stories
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We've added a new section to SMR, that includes stories about developers who are successful. The stories are quite interesting and it is my hope that others will benefit from reading about successful software. The first profile is really quite amazing. Not terribly well known in the developer circles, STOPzilla has achieved a success that most developers will envy.
details - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/software-success-1.htm

Digital River / ShareIt
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On April 19, 2004 Digital River announced the purchase of ShareIt/Element 5.
Brant Pallazza, Vice President of Shareware for Digital River, allowed me to interview him regarding Digital River's acquisition plan.
more on the Digital River Take Over -http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/article31.html

User Groups News
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Speaker Appeal - First off there is a user group in Boston, MA and one in Broward County Florida looking for presenters for upcoming meetings the details can be found in the user group forum at -
http://www.small-business-software.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=6

Sponorship - Preparations are underway for the Eleventh Annual SW User Group Conference scheduled for August 6, 7 & 8 at the San Diego, CA at the Mission Valley Hilton. There are 300 expected attendees, representing 25,000 members. There are several sponsorship levels available. Software developers are welcome to sponsor the cost of an event, or simply provide literature and goodies for inclusion in the goodie bags (300 items required). If you are interested in pursuing this please contact Patricia Hill at http://www.swugconf.org

Unorthodox Marketing
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This should make any marketer take pause. A gentleman posted his ex-wife's wedding dress on ebay with a lengthy description, which he expanded upon each day. His writing style was humorous, and as a result the site (at last count) generated more than 6 million hits during the 10 day listing. The dress ultimately sold for more than three times its initial cost and the gentleman is scheduled to appear on the Today Show and host of other talk shows. Unorthodox marketing works. Ebay listing for dress - http://tinyurl.com/3y5fd

GMail
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Not quite the deal that it seems, marketers will be disappointed to see their messages that are sent to Google's GMail accounts, including ads for competitors' products. The contextual ads, planned by Google, are targeted based on the content of the email, commercial messages are the ones most likely to trigger competing ads.

Software Announce
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We've added a new article for software developers that will assist with software promotion and application announcements. The article includes a number of software announce forums.
details - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/article32.html

Coupons
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I recently saw a really great idea to encourage potential buyers at trade shows or user groups. Provide discounts with a decreasing percentage the longer the buyer waits.

- purchase within 24 hours and recieve xx% off
- purchase within 3 days and receivee xx% off
- purchase within 7 days and recieve xx% off

It is unlikely that registration services will be able to automate discount, but if the coupons are supplied at a show it should not be difficult to manually make the adjustments.

Conferences
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SIC - The time for the annual Shareware Industry Conference is nearly at hand. The conference will be held July 15 through 17, 2004 in Rochester, New York. There'll be infomative sessions, lots of networking, special events, and more. And of course, the highlight of the conference is the annual Shareware Industry Awards banquet. Additional information - http://www.sic.org

SIIA - The Software and Information Industry Association Enterprise Software Summit 2004, is scheduled for May 17-19, 2004 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA. This executive conference will bring together senior executives from enterprise software companies as well as a select group of forward-thinking customers to explore critical issues facing the software industry. http://www.siia.net/ess2004

EWSC - The fourth annual European Shareware Conference will this year take place on the 6th and 7th of November 2004 in Strasbourg, France. The conference offers a unique opportunity for developers, distributors and companies providing related services to meet, exchange ideas and build beneficial relationships. With a variety of different sessions and panels, numerous networking opportunities, and a chance to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by the software industry today, the European Shareware Conference is the premier European event for software developers and companies embracing the try before you buy marketing method. http://www.euroconference.org

Software Business - Software Business 2004 is scheduled for September 22-23, 2004 in San Francisco, CA at the Hyatt Regency Airport. The program for the Third Annual Software Business Conference is coming together with educational sessions. http://www.softwarebusinessonline.com/sb_conf2004_program.htm

Another Ezine
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My Own Ezine - Dedicated to helping you start your own ezine and build your online business. Savvy strategies, sure fire tips and ideas, fresh articles, free promotion and more in every weekly issue of MOE. Send any email to: mailto:subscribe@myownezine.com or visit http://www.myownezine.com today for more info!

Search Engines News
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Kanoodle - Kanoodle's MSNBC ContextTarget launch is scheduled to launch in May . Kanoodle's pay-per-click listings willI appear on MSNBC alongside the content.

Yahoo - Yahoo had stated that on April 15, 2004 they would be no longer using the Inktomi feed for organic listings. In order to maintain listings, webmasters were told they would need to opt in to the new Yahoo pay-per-click program. At the time of this writing, webmasters, who did not join the Yahoo pay-per click program, are reporting that their listings on Yahoo have not changed.


Microsoft Tech Ed
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Microsoft TechEd is coming up at the end of May -- see
http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/teched2004/default.mspx.

Microsoft has provided discount passes to the SIAF. There are a limited number available. If you are planning on attending the conference, admission would be available at a discount. Please contact me directly if you wish to utilize one of the discounted passes, they will be provided first come, first serve basis.


Google Adsense
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On April 21, 2004 Google introduced a new format for public service ads. This new format is intended to distinguish between untargeted PSAs and targeted Google ads. By differentiating between targeted and untargeted ads, users will be easily able to identify targeted ads - leading to higher clickthrough rates, and a steady stream of revenue.

Thank you for your continued interest in Software Marketing Resource
Sharon Housley
Software Marketing Resource - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
NotePage, Inc. - http://www.notepage.net
Monitoring Software - http://www.monitoring-software.net
Small Business Software - http://www.small-business-software.net