Bookup Pro via download
Mike Leahy
has always come on CD ROM.
My excuse for not allowing it to be downloaded was its size. Enough
customers with broadband complained (and I found an installer that
gets it down to a single 39MB file) so for eleven days I let anyone who
registered on bookup.com download the Pro version for $99.
Two days later we sold more than I expected to sell during the entire
marketing test.
Some emails said I was crazy for lowering the price even temporarily.
Others said offering high end software via download was the shape of things
to come and I was smart for doing it.
A few posts here have insisted that ChessBase and others should
offer all their products via download. They seem to fear piracy more
than I do, and they could be right. What do you think?
Mike Leahy
"The Database Man!"
www.bookup.com
mikeleahy at bookuppro.com
Kerry Liles
pirate copy (of anything) would never have purchased the product
no matter what the price, so there is only an illusion of lost
sales.
Probably the best model is to give away a "lite" version and
sell the full version (the price is determined by the
differences between the two).
Along similar lines, I think that companies like Adobe that
price some products at the almost ridiculous level (photoshop
comes to mind) are actually hurting sales - I think a lot more
people would BUY photoshop if the price were half the MSRP. This
is my gut feeling only; disclaimer: I am not in marketing (thank
God) so my observations must be taken with NaCl.
"Mike Leahy" <boo...@coil.com> wrote in message
news:ufzRb.34298$P%1.271...@newssvr28.news.prodigy.com...
Derek Wildstar
"Mike Leahy" <boo...@coil.com> wrote in message
news:ufzRb.34298$P%1.271...@newssvr28.news.prodigy.com...
> Like ChessBase and Chess Assistant, the $199 Bookup 2000 Professional
If your sales volume increased, say, 100% after cutting your price 50%, you
tell me what you think about your experiment with downloadable distribution.
btw, have you met LeModernCaveman? I bet you and he could have a very
interesting di$cu$$ion. :)
Mike Leahy
"Derek Wildstar" <gun...@argo.mil> wrote in message
news:RyzRb.129414$sv6.688422@attbi_s52...
The trick is sustaining that sales volume. Would piracy soon squash it?
> btw, have you met LeModernCaveman? I bet you and he could have a very
> interesting di$cu$$ion. :)
Haven't met the Caveman. Am I missing something?
Mike Leahy
I agree, Kerry.
"Kerry Liles" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:bv6g47$onj2g$1...@ID-194368.news.uni-berlin.de...
> I have always felt that close to 100% of those who would use a
> pirate copy (of anything) would never have purchased the product
> no matter what the price, so there is only an illusion of lost
> sales.
> Probably the best model is to give away a "lite" version and
> sell the full version (the price is determined by the
> differences between the two).
I'm working on replacing our Lite version with a trial version of
the $29 Bookup 2000 Express. If it isn't registered after the
trial, it reverts to Lite mode.
> Along similar lines, I think that companies like Adobe that
> price some products at the almost ridiculous level (photoshop
> comes to mind) are actually hurting sales - I think a lot more
> people would BUY photoshop if the price were half the MSRP. This
> is my gut feeling only; disclaimer: I am not in marketing (thank
> God) so my observations must be taken with NaCl.
Agreed. Photoshop is too much for me to afford. :)
Derek Wildstar
"Mike Leahy" <boo...@coil.com> wrote in message news:XCERb.34394$P%>
> The trick is sustaining that sales volume. Would piracy soon squash it?
Any product has leakage, piracy is just one way to lose potential revenue,
but gain marketshare. You would do very well to treat it as marketing
expense. Microsoft products are the most 'pirated' software products in the
world, you don't see them failing due to it.
I have 'pirated' many products, I have also paid for many software products
as well. I support the product that suits my needs, for I know the author's
time is money. If I pay for his time, he writes the
software.
Don't sweat piracy, there's little you can do about it, and it's not all
bad. Spend more time on product development. Which, it seems you do, to your
credit. I am of the opinion your products have value.
> Haven't met the Caveman. Am I missing something?
No, nothing at all, even more to your credit. :)
Mike Leahy
>
> "Mike Leahy" <boo...@coil.com> wrote in message news:XCERb.34394$P%>
>
> > The trick is sustaining that sales volume. Would piracy soon squash it?
>
> Any product has leakage, piracy is just one way to lose potential revenue,
> but gain marketshare. You would do very well to treat it as marketing
> expense. Microsoft products are the most 'pirated' software products in
the
> world, you don't see them failing due to it.
>
> I have 'pirated' many products, I have also paid for many software
products
> as well. I support the product that suits my needs, for I know the
author's
> time is money. If I pay for his time, he writes the
> software.
>
> Don't sweat piracy, there's little you can do about it, and it's not all
> bad. Spend more time on product development. Which, it seems you do, to
your
> credit. I am of the opinion your products have value.
Thanks, Derek.
Before the internet, Sally and I demonstrated Bookup for DOS at the Chicago
Open. True story....
A customer walks up and says he wants to buy Bookup 8 for full price (not an
upgrade) but only if it imports data from the older Bookup 7. I assure him
it
will, and he walks away to consider the purchase. Sally and I look
knowingly
at each other and remark, 'pirate.' We didn't sweat it at all.
The customer comes back and says "I've got a confession. I have a pirated
copy
of Bookup 7 and that's why I need the new version to import the older data.
Here's full price for the new version."
Moments later *another* customer comes up, impressed by the demo, and then
asks if it imports data from the older Bookup 7! He walks away to consider
his
purchase. Sally and I shake our heads, giggling.
Then *he* comes back and says "I've got a confession to make." Sally and I
didn't know whether to laugh ourselves silly or check to see if we were on
Candid Camera!
We sold a lot of software to pirates that year. They make good customers.
With warez sites on the internet, we now enjoy a huge market right along
with a
huge piracy rate. Like you say about Microsoft, we're not crying. :)