Software Promotion / Software AnnounceWritten by S. Housley
Software Announceby Sharon Housley Creating amazing software is only half battle. Telling world about your software is other half. With working capital, consider employing someone who specializes in software promotion. To work with an established reputable firm can esure success when marketing software. Two promotional companies that know software industry, and can provide valuable marketing advice and insight are: Shareware Promotions - http://www.sharewarepromotions.com Dr File Finder http://www.drff.com . Outside of hiring professionals to market software, there are still a number of options for marketing software, in most cases, only investment will be time. 1. Post Press Releases to Online Resources If press releases or product announcements are sent out, consider posting announcements to websites, there are a number that allow for press release posting free of charge. The releases on these sites are occasionally picked up by publications looking for information or filler content. Another side benefit to these listings is increased link popularity, which helps with search engine ranking. A list of sites that allow for press release posting can be found under 'press release posting' A number are available at - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/pressreleases.html 2. Post Announcement on Usenet A number of Usenet groups allow for posting of announcements or press releases. Most of announce groups in Usenet contain 'ann.' in domain address. To locate topic specific announce groups consider searching Newsguy.com. A list of common software announce groups are listed below. comp.software.shareware.announce fm.announce 3. Post to Forums Forums also contain sections in which you can post announcements. If application is niche product, consider searching for topic specific forums in addition to general software announce forums listed below. Be sure to post any announcements in appropriately marked 'announce forum' http://www.small-business-software.net/forum/ http://forum.mypdacafe.com http://forums.digital-sea.com/ http://download.net/forums/index.php http://www.developers-forum.com/ http://v2.tlab404.com/forum
| | How to write Killer Classified Ad CopyWritten by David Bell
I'll never forget what my accountant said five years ago when he saw ad I wrote for my services: "How many scotches did you drink before you wrote this?" He was kidding about scotch. But he just couldn't believe anyone in their right mind would write such a bold and outrageous ad for their own writing, consulting and speaking services, as I had. Well, I spent $300 on that ad -- $200 to run it in a local trade association directory, and $100 to have it reprinted as a flyer. The following year, that $300 ad turned into $12,341 in new business for me. And $12,341 was just a tiny fraction of my total business that year. Why did I make so much money myself while there were so many thousands of "starving writers" in world? The answer may surprise you. You see, it's not because I'm a better writer. It's not my schooling. Not my resume. Not any talent I was born with. It's all because I learned how to write "killer copy." How do you write killer copy? You start your killer copy with an emotion-packed opening statement that will get attention of your reader. This opening statement may be: * a headline * an opening sentence * a subject line on an email * header on a Web page ... or for that matter, opening words in a telemarketing script, radio commercial, or TV spot. What's important is that you understand - your first words count for everything - because you must captivate peoples' imagination with those words in order to keep their attention. Here are examples of opening statements from actual successful marketing pieces: a) "Take luxury vacation of your dreams at a reduced cost because of this special offer" (from a travel agency's letter to business owners.) b) "How to stop overwhelm before it stops you" (from a personal coach's ad aimed at stressed-out overachievers) c) "Why almost every financial statement in family court may not disclose full net worth of opposing spouse" (from an investigator's sales letter to divorce lawyers.) Then, after your emotion-packed opening statement, you just a) Make a promise b) Back it up with convincing proof and c) Ask for action Let's look at how you do each of those three techniques. 1. Make a promise. The letter about luxury vacations starts with these words: "Imagine taking your winter vacation knowing you aren't spending a penny more than you have to - secure that you have a team of travel experts making sure every little detail of your vacation goes smoothly. "Here's how you can have that vacation right now: Take advantage of an unusual promotion our company is doing. Let me explain." Pretty exciting, right? Even if you don't think so, people who got letter did - because letter produced an amazing $5 million in sales for travel agency.
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