Hi,
Welcome to the April issue of Software Marketing News, an independent voice for software developers. An HTML version can be viewed at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/author-resource-newsletter53.html .

SixLaws of Software
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Most home consumers have all the software they will ever need, and most companies out there already have all the basic technologies they need to successfully compete. What's a software developer to do? Read the Six Laws of the New Software to find out.
http://changethis.com/12.SixLawsSoftware

Top 10
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The site contains a top 10 list for users and a top 10 list for developers. It is got really great ideas and something that beginners as well as old-timers should review :-)
http://www.anova.org/software/ztopten.htm

ICE Awards - Recognizes Clients for Internet Commerce Excellence
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The awards showcase small and large companies alike - savvy companies that are putting e-commerce best practices to work in creative new ways to drive revenues and efficiencies through their online stores. If you can tell a story about a B2B or B2C e-commerce strategy or campaign that generated compelling results, you could be one of Digital River's next ICE Awards winners.
Details - http://www.digitalriver.com/corporate/ice/

Digital River Puchased SWREG
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Digital River Purchases SWREG
Under the agreement terms, Digital River acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities, vendor contracts and intellectual property of SWReg for $8.8 million in cash. Digital River says the agreement allows it to make additional earn-out payments of cash based on achieving specific revenue and development goals over the first 12 months following close of the acquisition.

I of course had a number of questions related to the aquisition and Brant Pallazza was kind enough to answer them.
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/article58.html

Alternatives to Digital River
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Every time there is a DR acquisitions developers scramble to find independent registration services. While I'm still happy with Emetrix's service it comforts me that there are still so many viable independent solutions:

Plimus - Plimus brings to the software and web content development world a unified wealth of revenue generating solutions.
http://www.plimus.com

eSellerate - eSellerate is a leading software commerce provider focused on providing the tools and solutions for software publishers to sell more of their software.
http://www.esellerate.net

BMT Micro - BMT Micro provides software registration (ecommerce) services to shareware developers, a free affiliate sales program for webmasters and a searchable online software download catalog.
http://www.bmtmicro.com

NorthStar Solutions - Providing high-quality software and reliable e-commerce solutions to customers and clients since 1994.
http://www.nstarsolutions.com/

AskNet - asknet is a leading provider of global electronic commerce outsourcing solutions to software publishers, online retailers and other suppliers of digital media.
http://www.asknet.com/

Merchant Account - In some parts of the world it is difficult of small developers to attain merchant accounts that is not the case in North America and this might be another alternative for developers looking for other solutions.

Brilliant Marketing
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I usually reserve the term brilliant to marketers like Phil Schnyder of asksam, but this week I got an email from Sunil and was very impressed. It seems that everyone is getting to RSS readers these days, and the marketplace have become very crowded. In an effort to increase his distribution Sunil is releasing a customizable RSS reader that can be branded and feeds can be imbedded in the custom version. There is an incentive for webmasters to help with distribution because distributors can gain exposure imbedding their feeds in the customized version, while Sunil is increasing his distribution and market share.
See details on this custom reader - http://www.deskshare.com/awrc.aspx

Displaying RSS Feeds
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Content contained in RSS feeds can be added to websites a number of different ways. Each method for displaying the RSS feed has pros and cons associated with it. Webmasters will need to determine which option will best meet their hosting and technology needs.
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/article59.html

Steps to Creating and Promoting RSS Feeds
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RSS, or Really Simple Syndication as it is commonly known, is a technology that gives webmasters the ability to easily distribute and publish syndicated content on the Internet. It seems like all Internet businesses now have RSS feeds available; at least your competitors do. You have finally made the decision that you have to have one. Where do you start?
Steps to Creating an RSS feed - http://www.feedforall.com/create-promote-rss.htm

RSS Education Discount
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Ok it will come as no surprise to anyone that I've been on an RSS kick lately writing lots of articles (like those above), but most of my articles touch on small segments of RSS. Rok Hrastnik recently wrote an ebook that covers *every* aspect of RSS and then some! The book is 550 pages long! I negotiated a discount on his book for FeedForAll customers, which he said I could also offer to SMR readers. Through April 6, 2005 the ebook can be purchased at a $ 10.00 discount after that the list price will apply. http://www.marketingstudies.net/feedforall/

PAD2Froogle Tool
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PAD2Froogle takes URLs or file paths of PAD files and creates Froogle feed file. So you can easily update your Froogle store. This product is provided free of charge from ByteScout!
http://www.bytescout.com/pad2frooglescout.html

Technology Preview
EZRound
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A new tool that I love - create cool html tables with rounded corners, drop shadows and special effects. You don't have to be a technical person, a graphics guru or a website genius to succeed. Creating a design in EZRound is an amazingly simple and very visual process. All you have to do is pick the menu choices that look good to you. EZRound will do the rest! http://www.ezround.com

MetricsMate
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MetricsMate compares your last period's metrics with the current period. How did this week's sales compare with last week's? What percent of visitors viewed your web site this month compared to last month? Just enter your current and last metric. MetricsMate immediately displays the gain or loss.
http://metricsmate.com/

Kathy Salisbury's Blog - Kathy has started up a blog at
http://www.pharosgames.com/blog/

Nominate Programs for SIC
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The SIAF welcomes your submissions to the Shareware Spotlight to help the voters become aware of your programs. By listing your program, the people nominating will be able to see a list of your programs and be able take your program into consideration. Suggest your program for consideration now http://www.sic.org/submit.asp

Shareware Industry Awards Voter Registration begins on April 1st and ends on April 30th each year. IF you have registered in the past you need NOT register again unless you have NOT participated for two (2) consecutive years. Register Now - http://www.sic.org/voting.asp

Windows Marketplace Developer Resources
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The software developer resource center offers a single portal where you can find the latest resources that can add value to your business. You'll discover Web sites from Microsoft® and independent communities to support all stages of your business life cycle.
http://windowsmarketplace.com/content.aspx?ctId=6

Software Conferences
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Software Business Mag - Fourth Annual Software Business 2005 in Tampa, Fla. on November 1-2 have been announced! The conference will offer over 40 sessions.. Keynotes and more sessions will be announced in the coming months. Software Business 2005 is sponsored by Softrax Corporation and produced by Software Business Magazine.
http://www.softwarebusinessonline.com/sb_conf2005_index.htm


Reminder
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Don't forget to visit or subscribe to the Software Marketing Blog - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html or http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog-feed.xml

Also the forum is a great place to learn and participate http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/forum or grab the forum feed at: http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/forum/rss.php

New Search Engine Resource
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Web Search Engines - http://www.web-search-engines.net is a focussed directory for webmasters, marketers and promoters.

Search Engine News:
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Yahoo - Be alerted when Yahoo! launches new products for publishers. To support the publishing community, Yahoo! will be introducing new products and services-including publishing tools, advertising products and access to our Yahoo! audience. Our products will leverage the Yahoo! network to provide the most value for small publishers. If you are interested in being notified when they launch, please provide your information below.
http://publisher.yahoo.com

Beefed up small business resource center on Yahoo - http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources

Yahoo added a search function that allows surfers to search Creative Commons content. Creative Commons are copywritten works that have limited their copyrights in some way.
http://search.yahoo.com/cc

Google - Google has agreed to purchase Urchin a web analystics company.
http://www.urchin.com/company/news/03282005.html

If you know someone who would like to subscribe please have them send a blank email to webmaster@softwaremarketingresource.com with "subscribe" as the subject line.

Software Marketing News tries to keep developers informed about important industry changes. Software marketing resource is an independent voice for developers. We welcome suggestions and feedback on our articles and information

Thank you for your continued interest in SMR.
Sharon Housley
Software Marketing Resource - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
NotePage, Inc. - http://www.notepage.net