Copyright 1992 by
Association of Shareware Professionals
545 Grover Road
Muskegon MI 49442-9427
U.S.A.
March 15, 1993
-
CompuServe 72050,1433
A limited license is granted to reprint short extracts from
this guide as long as credit is given and a copy is sent to
the address above. Individuals may copy this guide for each
other as long as no fee is charged. Others including disk
vendors, BBSs and User Groups may distribute copies of the
unmodified self-extract VGUIDE.EXE file as long as the file or
its contents are NOT renamed, modified or made part of some
larger work without the written permission of the ASP. A BBS
may rearchive the unmodified VGUIDE.DOC file that is contained
within VGUIDE.EXE as long as the resulting archive name is
VGUIDE.ZIP, VGUIDE.LZH, VGUIDE.ARC, VGUIDE.???
----
NOTICE: ALL INFORMATION, TIPS AND ADVICE IN THIS GUIDE ARE
PRESENTED TO "GUIDE" YOU INTO AREAS FOR YOU TO RESEARCH AND
STUDY IN MORE DETAIL ON YOUR OWN. IN NO CASE WILL THE ASP OR
OTHER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING
FROM YOUR ACTING UPON INFORMATION THAT IS CONTAINED HEREIN. IN
PARTICULAR, AN ATTORNEY SHOULD BE CONSULTED ON ANY QUESTIONS
OF LAW BEFORE FOLLOWING ADVICE CONTAINED HEREIN.
----
The primary author of this document is George Abbott.
Contributing authors are Nelson Ford, Eric Isaacson, Tom
Wagner and many others.
----
To contact the ASP, write to Association of Shareware
Professionals, 545 Grover Road, Muskegon MI 49442-9427,
telephone 616-788-5131 or you can FAX to 616-788-2765 and ask
for a Vendor Application kit.
Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
1. Forward
The purpose of this guide is to provide tips on how to start
and run a shareware disk vending service. A shareware disk
vending service (Vendor) is defined as someone or a company
that gathers and maintains a collection of shareware
evaluation disks (creates a library), keeps the library up to
date, publishes a catalog (printed and/or on-disk) and sells
evaluation copies to end users. Some vendors specialize in
mail/telephone order, others operate booths at fairs, flea
markets, booths in malls, etc.
A variant of a disk vendor is one that places racks of
shareware in one or more retail locations. This is usually
referred to as a "Rack Vendor" as compared to a "Mail Order
Vendor" as described above. The Rack Vendor shares a portion
of the sales price with the owner of the rack location. Racks
are often found in airport gift shops, convenience stores,
retail chain stores like Walmart, K-Mart, book stores, etc.
Further, the Rack Vendor replenishes the supply of disks in
the racks. The racks vary from cardboard displays to fancy
wire or metal racks.
Another type of vendor are those that produce CD-ROMs that
contain shareware software.
This guide is going to folks who are considering starting a
disk vendor business, so some of the points may seem obvious
or elementary to experienced vendors.
The information and opinions in this guide are drawn from
talking to many vendors from the ASP headquarters and from the
contributions of many ASP members. Many of the ideas and
concepts in this document are discussed from time to time on
the ASPFORUM on CompuServe. If you have access to CompuServe,
GO SHARE to reach the ASP forum and "talk" to hundreds of ASP
members.
This document has been put together and freely distributed in
the spirit of sharing. The ASP does not make money from it.
All input, new information and corrections are gratefully
accepted.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
1. Forward (Continued)
1.1 What Is Shareware?
Nelson Ford (one of the ASP's founders and historians)
relates the following: "Andrew Fluegelman started the
formal shareware concept (he trademarked the name
Freeware for it). Andy did not say that everyone who
spent an afternoon writing a program, uploaded it to a
couple of BBSs and sat back and waited would get rich.
He said that the freeware approach provides a way to let
the users decide (rather than the people who control the
advertising prices) which programs should succeed, based
solely on the quality and usefulness of the program."
Later, an article in InfoWorld used the term "shareware"
and as far as we know, Bob Wallace (PC-Write) was the
first to use it with a shareware product. Also during
that time, Nelson Ford wrote a column called "The Public
Library" for the late SOFTALK magazine. Nelson asked his
readers to submit names for this new way of marketing
software and the word "shareware" was the winner. Over
the years, the ASP has fought trademark cases in several
countries when someone tried to trademark the word
"shareware". The ASP firmly believes that the word
"shareware" should be freely used by anyone.
Nelson continues, "Shareware is not some magic way to get
rich from trivial or substandard, amateurish products of
limited appeal or usefulness. Some shareware programmers
who have failed prefer to blame the shareware approach
rather than themselves. They think that millions of
people are using their programs without paying and that
the shareware concept just doesn't work."
"To these people we always reply: If shareware doesn't
work, how are Button (PC-File), Wallace (PC-Write), and
others making over a million dollars a year at it? 'These
are exceptions!' they reply. Sure they are exceptions.
Anyone making a million dollars a year at anything is an
exception. Many others are making lesser, but
respectable, incomes. Not bad for a business that anyone
can get into at virtually no up-front cost."
"Yes, shareware definitely works. Like anything else,
how well it works for you depends on hard work, ability,
and even a little bit of luck. And even luck often boils
down to being prepared to take advantage of opportunities
when they coming knocking. We hope this guide will help
you get prepared."
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
2. Introduction
These days, it seems that many people that recently purchased
their first computer and ran across the shareware concept
think they can easily get into the shareware disk vendor
business. They see the catalogs produced by other vendors and
say "I could do that." Or, they realize that there are no
disk vendors in their part of the country.
Starting a shareware disk vending business is a lot more work
than first meets the eye. There are hardware, software and
knowledge requirements that must be considered and mastered.
First, you need a shareware disk collection AND permission
from the authors (copyright holders) to distribute the
shareware. Next, you need appropriate hardware. Most
importantly, you need a lot of marketing, computer and
software knowledge to succeed. If you are just looking for a
fast buck, are not willing to review the programs you carry,
don't plan to get the latest versions, don't plan to prepare
an organized catalog, GIVE UP NOW - you will probably fail in
this highly competitive business.
However, if you don't give up, realize that there are
thousands of disk distributors in the world today. New ones
start up almost daily. Unfortunately, vendors fail and go out
of business fairly often. Where you will fit into the
shareware picture is largely up to you and your efforts. We
hope that after reading this document, you will either be a
successful shareware disk vendor or you will have the detailed
information to cause you to explore different profit
opportunities. If you are already a shareware disk vendor,
this document may give you tips on how to be more successful.
Keep in mind that a shareware disk vendor does NOT own or
control the copyright on the shareware programs, documentation
and supporting files provided by the author. The author owns
and controls the copyright. The author can select who will be
allowed to copy his/her shareware and how it is to be
distributed. The copyrights ARE enforceable. RESPECT the
author's copyright. Examine every disk, not sent to you
directly by the author, to see if the author has placed any
copying restrictions on the disk. You will likely need to
write to the authors asking permission to carry their
shareware. You may get both permission AND the latest
version. Some will even send major future upgrades.
There are some authors that require that all RACK and CD-ROM
vendors get written permission and SOMETIMES royalty payments
BEFORE the vendor can place the author's copyrighted works on
racks or CD-ROMs EVEN IF THEY SENT YOU THEIR DISK IN THE FIRST
PLACE. FOLLOW ALL COPYING RESTRICTIONS OR RISK LAWSUITS
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
3. Getting Started
3.1 Identify Your Market Niche
What got you interested in becoming a shareware disk
vendor? What are your objectives? How much time can you
devote to disk vending? What are your financial
resources? Have you formulated a Business Plan? What
level is right for you to start? How big do you want to
get? Are you prepared to succeed? Are you prepared to
fail?
3.1.1 Local Shows & Flea Markets.
A really low cost way of starting is to take a
card table to a local computer show, swap meet
or flea market and set up a "booth". You have
a box full of shareware disk copies, a list of
titles and a cash box. Sounds easy? Well, a
lot of work is behind that simple "booth".
3.1.2 Selling Shareware From Your Retail Store.
You already operate a computer, book, or other
retail store likely to be frequented by
computer users (almost anyone these days). You
operate like the flea market fellow except that
you have counter or shelf space in place of the
card table and you have a cash register rather
than a cash box.
3.1.3 Shopping Malls.
This approach is similar to the Flea Market
approach except that you operate out of a small
booth in the walkway of a shopping mall.
3.1.4 Mail Order Shareware.
You put together either a printed or on-disk
catalog for your customers to make telephone or
mail order purchases. You advertise in trade
magazines, local newspapers, local "shopper's
guides" or you make blind mailings to targeted
purchased mailing lists. You should be able to
take credit card orders to succeed in telephone
or mail order.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
3. Getting Started (Continued)
3.1 Identify Your Market Niche (Continued)
3.1.5 Rack Vendor
A Rack Vendor is one that places racks of
shareware in one or more retail locations. The
Rack Vendor shares a portion of the sales price
with the owner of the rack location. Racks are
often found in airport gift shops, convenience
stores, retail chain stores like Walmart, K-
Mart, book stores, etc. Further, the Rack
Vendor replenishes the supply of disks in the
racks. The racks vary from cardboard displays
to fancy wire or metal racks.
You can combine any or all of the above as dictated by
your resources and situation.
3.2 Collecting Shareware Disks - Overview.
Investigate the marketplace. See what others are doing.
Determine how you want to tackle the market. Your disks
must come directly from the author so that you get the
latest and don't have copyright problems. However, you
can obtain disks from the various sources below so that
you will know which authors to contact. Make sure the
list you put together IS of shareware or public domain
and NOT ripped-off commercial or traditional retail type
software.
Section 9 will cover Collecting Shareware in more detail.
Following is a quick overview of some of the ways to
start your shareware list.
3.2.1 You have been involved with a large local User
Group and have obtained a copy of their
collection to build a list of authors.
3.2.2 You are an avid BBSer that has downloaded a lot
of shareware to build a list of authors.
3.2.3 You purchase disks from various other vendors
to build your list of authors to contact.
3.2.4 You obtain a CD-ROM disk containing hundreds or
thousands of shareware and public domain
programs. You use this to build your list of
authors to contact.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
3. Getting Started (Continued)
3.3 Reviewing The Disks
Scan EVERY disk for virus infections. Be sure you also
scan shrinkwrapped "retail" software as tens of thousands
of infected disks are shipped by major retailers every
year. They think viri are a shareware or BBS problem
(NOT TRUE) and they are careless and sloppy in preparing
their master disks.
Know what is in your collection. Don't just quickly read
the on-disk documentation. Many ASP authors have a
VENDOR.DOC file that contains any copying or distribution
restrictions, a list of the files that must be present
and a catalog description. Starting in 1994, you will
see a VENDINFO.DIZ file that will eventually replace the
VENDOR.DOC file. However, you should install the
shareware and run it.
By running the software, you may find that you have
obtained a damaged or incomplete disk. If you distribute
this disk, you will get expensive to handle technical
support calls and you will have to give credit or send
out another disk. Or the customer will call the author.
Most authors send these customers a new disk AND
recommend some other vendor to your PREVIOUS customer.
The same authors also recommend other vendors if you
insist on carrying old versions.
If the software isn't better or different than what you
are already carrying in your catalog, you may not wish to
carry the shareware. Or, you may find the new system
better and use it to replace an existing catalog entry.
For example, YADS stands for "Yet Another DOS Shell" or
menu system. Seems like everyone thinks they have
designed the best there is. They haven't even looked at
what is already available in the shareware marketplace.
You just can't afford to carry all of the menu systems,
screen blankers, clocks, tickler systems, etc. that are
constantly being designed by the authors.
LOOK FOR the author's distribution restrictions. Some
authors will NOT allow you to carry the shareware unless
you get written permission from them. As mentioned
before, you should contact the author anyway as you will
probably get the latest version if the author gives you
permission. SOME authors not only require written
permission, but may also require royalties from rack and
CD-ROM vendors even though they may have sent you their
disks in the first place.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
3. Getting Started (Continued)
3.3 Reviewing The Disks (Continued)
Look for files advertising other vendors. The files
placed on disks the other vendor distributes are probably
copyrighted by that vendor and you can not issue disks
with that file. Further, you don't want to advertise
that other vendor's service.
Vendors can copyright "compilations" of many separate
small shareware systems on one disk. This is often done
with small utilities. The vendor can NOT copyright the
individual programs and documentation (not written by the
vendor), as the authors retain their own copyrights.
BUT, they can copyright the compilation. Don't forget
you still need permission from many of the authors to
carry their system even in a compilation.
You must build up your own compilations that don't
infringe on the other vendor's copyrights.
If you use disk numbers in your catalog, don't copy some
other vendors numbering system. You could end up in
court. Do your own thing. Don't use the program
descriptions out of some other vendor's catalog. This is
another way to look for copyright trouble. However, the
same description may appear in many vendor catalogs IF
they all use the author's description found in the
VENDOR.DOC or VENDINFO.DIZ files used by many authors.
You may use the author's description if it isn't pure
hype. Be sure that you describe the shareware on the
disk and not some retail product the author is pushing in
place of the shareware.
If you are/become a member of the ASP, you will receive
the latest Official ASP Catalog each month that contains
the author written program descriptions. You will also
receive a CD-ROM approximately monthly.
3.4 Logos & Letterhead
If you really want to go into a business, get your ducks
lined up first. Pick a company name. Coming up with a
unique name could be a tough one, particularly if you use
the word "shareware". Also, avoid the word "freeware" as
Headland Press still owns the Trademark on that word. A
lot of authors of shareware REALLY don't like to send
their disks to an outfit with the words "public domain"
in their name as that implies "free" (read that as no
registration income).
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
3. Getting Started (Continued)
3.4 Logos & Letterhead
A logo always looks good on your letterhead. If you are
not artistic yourself, or do not have an artistic friend,
go to your local college Art Department and see if you
can find someone to design a logo. At least get some
help laying out your letterhead even if you don't use a
logo.
Create a Business Plan. Prepare a budget for the next
several years that compares your expected income with
expected expenses. What advertising schedules will you
use? Where are you heading or where could you head?
Look at the market. What penetration do you expect?
Go to your local IRS office (in the USA) and find out how
to get a Federal Tax I.D. number. It costs nothing.
Even if you have no employees, you will need it for your
Tax Schedule C. Many states that have Sales & Use taxes
will use the same number for your State Tax license
number. Contact your State sales tax office.
Get a business checking account. It makes it easier to
track your costs and income for tax purposes. If you
have a good history with your bank, you may be able to
get a Master/Visa Merchant account from them. Being able
to handle credit card sales is a real asset. Do you have
a sharp looking business card to hand to the bank manager
when you are applying for a credit card Merchant Account?
You should be dressed in a business like manor. Have
every phase of your image be business like.
The image you present is very important. It conveys a
lot about your drive and commitment to succeed. Send out
professional looking letters to the authors and others.
Many authors will "round-file" (read that - trash)
letters not on letterhead paper printed with a 9-pin dot
matrix printer in the draft mode. If you received such a
letter, would you consider the sender to be "for real"
and commit the expense to send disks?
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
4. Preparing Your Catalog
If you are a Rack Vendor, your catalog may consist of a Table
of Contents type of listing on your rack. You may only have
the descriptions on the disk packages. If you are a Rack
Vendor, you may be able to skip after you read Section 4.1.
4.1 Honesty In Advertising
Over the years, many of us in this shareware business
have seen many of the sleazy shareware advertisements and
catalogs touting FREE!, FREE!, FREE! Software. You don't
find too many any more as most of those vendors have
failed or have decided that honesty is the BEST policy.
After all, the entire shareware industry is based on
trust between the author, vendor, BBS and end user.
You should prominently display a description of shareware
and the registration process. This is also true for Rack
Vendors. You must make an attempt to educate your
customers on the nature of shareware. You can write this
information in your own words or use the ASP wording:
"Shareware is an exciting marketing method which
allows you to try top-quality software before you
pay the author. With Shareware, you cannot be
disappointed spending money on a program that's not
right for you. The small fee you pay to us covers
only the duplication and distribution costs, and
permits you to evaluate the program."
"If you continue to use the program, you must send
the author an additional payment which may entitle
you to technical support, printed manual, bonus
programs, and more. Your payment supports the
authors, enabling them to continue writing newer and
better Shareware programs."
This is important in maintaining customer satisfaction.
Too often a customer purchases a disk from a vendor only
to be offended when s/he learns that an additional
payment is required. Customers should be fully informed
before their purchase.
Some rack vendors have failed when they were not honest
up front with the user. The user thinks the price
sticker is the ONLY cost of shareware. They get angry
when they see the author's registration requirements,
demand their money back from the store owner and the
store owner dumps the trouble causing rack.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
4. Preparing Your Catalog (Continued)
4.1 Honesty In Advertising (Continued)
Users are not "encouraged to register", they are
"required to register". Please do not imply that a user
registers only if s/he "likes" the product. Liking the
product is irrelevant if the user continues using it
beyond the evaluation period.
Registration is required for use beyond evaluation, and
emphasis should be placed upon the individual author's
registration requirements. The user's trial or
evaluation license is determined by the copyright holder.
This is a legal requirement, not an optional formality.
Please do not make promises which the authors can not
fulfill, such as stating that registration always brings
printed manuals. Usually this is true, but the actual
registration benefits depend upon the individual author.
Each author has his/her own registration incentives.
Actually, the above is a requirement, not just a
suggestion, for ASP Vendor members.
If you throw honesty to the wind, both you and the
authors will get complaint calls and letters. Authors
getting these complaints will almost always recommend
some other vendor that the author knows believes in
honesty in advertising. Another opportunity for failure
in this business {grin}.
4.2 Use A Good Word Processor
There are many excellent shareware word processors that
will produce excellent looking printed catalogs (be sure
to register {smile} ). Or you can use a good non-
shareware word processor. There are excellent shareware
Desk Top Publishing systems if you wish to include screen
captures in your catalog.
If you are preparing an on-disk catalog, almost ALL word
processors can "print" to a straight ASCII file that
contains no control characters except a Form Feed (ASCII
12) after line 59 on each page. Do not pad blank lines
to make a full 66 lines per page. The HP laser printers
(and compatibles) can handle only 59 or 60 lines before
they eject the page.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
5. Hardware
5.1 Computers
At a minimum, you will need a computer with BOTH 5.25"
360k and 3.5" 720k disk drives. These days, a 400m hard
drive is very reasonable in cost. You need a good
computer to review the shareware and public domain
software that you may place in your catalog. Get the
latest and greatest that you can afford. At the time
this document was last updated, fast super VGA computers
with at least 200m hard drive could be purchased in the
$1,500 (or less) range.
You may also want to pick up an old machine with a
Hercules type monochrome monitor to see if the color
selections used by an author will give a readable screen
on an old monitor. A laptop with LCD display may be
another good test bench for the same reason. Some
authors just don't take the time to shut off color so
that the program can be used on the older monitors.
Naturally many games these days are written for VGA as
many serious gamers have up to date monitors.
5.2 Do NOT Depend On 1.2m Drives
You MUST have a TRUE 5.25 inch 360k drive. You may also
want a 1.2m 5.25 inch drive, but you MUST have a true
360k drive to make your 360k disks.
Some vendors distribute NO 360k disks anymore as the
demand is fading. Hovever, most disk vendors still
distribute either 360k 5 1/4" or 720k 3 1/2" disks. A
few distribute collections on 1.44m 3.5" disks. Very FEW
vendors sell 1.2m 5 1/2" disks. Don't let a computer
store or mail order outfit tell you that you can make
360k copies on 1.2m high density drives. Sure, sometimes
you can. Often a customer will NOT be able to read the
disk. You will get a LOT of calls from those to whom you
have sent disks. It will cause you loss of big bucks,
lost sales and frustrated customers. Sort of akin to the
end of the world for a shareware vendor.
Why? The answer is fairly simple. To get 1.2m on a
5.25" disk, the disk drive "paints" a track that is 1/2
as wide as the 360k drives so it can place 80 tracks on a
disk rather than 40. Sure, you can ask the DOS FORMAT
program to tell your disk drive to lay down only 40
tracks for a 360k format, but they are still THIN tracks.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
5. Hardware (Continued)
5.2 Do NOT Depend On 1.2m Drives (Continued)
If the disk was previously formatted, and often suppliers
sell pre-formatted disks at no additional price, the
vestiges of the 80 tracks are STILL there, even though
your disk drive just wrote a 40 track 360k format onto
the disk. A true 360k drive has a WIDER head and will
easily pick up portions of bits from the adjacent
unerased thin track that was laid down previously. The
360k drive reads garbled data and DOS gives up.
Even if you make 360k disks with disks that have NEVER
been formatted before, the tracks are too thin to be read
by many 360k drives. A slightly out of adjustment 360k
drive can read true 360k disks just fine, but will choke
on one of those darned disks made on a high density
drive.
This problem does NOT exist with 1.44m 3 1/2" drives.
The track width on both the 720k and 1.44m formats is the
SAME. Eighty tracks are used for both 720k and 1.44m.
The 1.44m format just has twice as many sectors to the
track.
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5. Hardware (Continued)
5.3 Disk Duplicators
You can use the DOS DISKCOPY command to make copies from
your shareware masters. If you are not familiar with DOS
commands, most high schools have Continuing Education
courses that will teach you how to use a computer. See
Section 6.5 for training shareware.
Hopefully, your sales will reach a point where you can no
longer keep up with using a computer and DISKCOPY. Below
are several companies that supply disk duplication
equipment.
Midwestern Disk o Has 4 and 5 at-a-time for
Duplication Center 360k, 720k, 1.2m and 1.44m
509 W. Taylor disks.
Creston IA 50801 o Carries the Ventuno line of
515-782-5190 3.5" & 5.25" bin autoloader
800-221-6332 type duplicators.
FAX: 515-782-4166 o Call for prices.
MediaFORM o Xpress autoloaders and disk
75 Uwchlan Avenue labelers for all types of
Exton PA 19341 disk media.
215-524-7600 o Call for prices.
800-220-1215 o 12% discount for ASP members
FAX: 516-363-3735
Micro-Technology o Axiomatic 4 at-a-time for
Concepts 360k, 720k, 1.2m and 1.44m
258 Johnson Avenue disks.
Brooklyn NY 11206 o Call for prices
718-456-9100
800-366-4860
FAX: 718-456-1200
If you are in need of disk duplicators, be sure to call
all of the above companies to get the latest price and
feature combinations so that you get just what you need.
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6. Software
6.1 Catalog-On-A-Disk
CATALOG-ON-A-DISK (from EmmaSoft Software Company, Inc.)
makes it easy for your computer-using customers to buy
from you. They can browse or search for products and
order as they go along using only the (Enter) and (Esc)
keys, arrows and numbers. The order form is sent to a
printer or text file, with taxes and shipping calculated,
to be mailed, faxed, called in, or sent by modem.
The program is particularly appropriate for selling
shareware because all your customers have computers, it's
a unique and modern way to distribute the catalog, and
the program itself is shareware. It's a fast way to get
a catalog put together, and is less expensive to produce
than a print catalog. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK also offers
unique ways to distribute your catalog. Businesses
distribute catalogs on floppy disks, on the hard disks of
computers they sell, and even have customers download
catalogs from their BBSs.
CATALOG-ON-A-DISK makes buying easy because it is based
on the (Enter) key to make choices, and the (Esc) key to
back out. There are very few keys for the user to find,
so ordering goes very quickly with no obstacles between
your customer and your products. You make your catalog
files with your favorite text editor, then compress the
files using the Companion program. Compressed files fit
an enormous number of products on a floppy disk. They
are read directly into memory - no intermediate file is
created so it displays fast and pricing and other catalog
data is secure.
You make the catalog screens to best represent your
company. Opening Screens display your splash screen,
tell about the catalog, your products, and your company.
The Main Menu displays categories of products. The
"Exit" menu is where customers print the order form,
review an order, or view Special Forms (discount coupons,
informational text or ordering details). You can set up
your own help screens and a help bar. If your catalog is
not in English you can translate the program's internal
text. Address and date formats can be set for US or
international use.
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6. Software (Continued)
6.1 Catalog-On-A-Disk (Continued)
You can also set your catalog to automatically calculate
sales tax for one, all, or no states or provinces. You
can also build shipping options into the catalog, letting
the customer choose an option so the shipping will be
calculated into the total on the order form.
Trial shareware versions are available from:
Electronic Service Area Library File Name
CompuServe GO WORK 14 CATALG.EXE
Genie HOSB 12 CATALGxx.ZIP*
ESC BBS Files 1 CATALGxx.ZIP*
*Replace the "xx" with the most current version number.
Example: CATALG21.ZIP.
Plus many vendors and BBSs around the world.
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6. Software (Continued)
6.2 Compression Software
It is a challenge for many authors to fit their entire
system on one disk. They often use compression software
that can squeeze the files to 50% or less than their
original size. Compression software is always used on
Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) to reduce download times and
save room on the BBS hard disk drive.
Phil Katz's PKZIP system is the most widely used
compression system. For BBSs, the author compresses all
of the program and documentation files into one ZIP file.
For example the SmuggyWrap shareware (fictitious) Version
2.1 may all be ZIPed into a file named SMUGGY21.ZIP.
Some authors send their disks to both BBSs and disk
vendors as a single ZIP file. In this case, your job
will be to run PKUNZIP to expand the compressed ZIP file
out into the various program and documentation files so
that you can evaluate the system.
It may be the author's intention that you place all of
the files in the ZIP (after uncompression) onto a single
disk for your shareware distribution master. Hopefully,
the author will communicate this to you with a letter or
on-disk instructions. Authors often have a VENDOR.DOC or
VENDINFO.DIZ file for this type of instruction. Other
authors expect you to be a mind reader and this type
author often gets few registrations due to poor
packaging.
If you plan to send out shareware disks to your
customers, they will need to already have the PKZIP
system or you will have to include PKUNZIP.EXE on each
distribution disk that contains ZIP files. Further, your
customer will have to figure out how to unZIP the
compressed file. This is a REAL problem for end users.
Those users that already understand how to unZIP a file
probably obtain their shareware from BBSs and won't be
your customer anyway. If you include PKUNZIP.EXE on your
distribution disks, you will need a license from PKWARE
(414-354-8699).
To solve this end user problem, there is another type of
compressed file used by many authors called a "Self-
Extract Program". It is an executable program (.EXE)
where the PKZIP software is at the front of the file and
the remainder of the .EXE file that is the compressed
data (normally in a ZIP file).
18
Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
6. Software (Continued)
6.2 Compression Software (Continued)
When you run this type of program, it uncompresses all of
the author's program and documentation files to recreate
the original files. It is the author's responsibility to
get a license from PKWARE to send you this self-extract
program file. You do not need to pay any further
royalties to PKWARE as the author has already done so.
Many authors include an INSTALL program or BATch file to
properly install the shareware on the users hard drive.
Therefore, you never want to uncompress the self-extract
if the INSTALL program is looking for the self-extract
files.
Every disk or rack vendor should get a registered copy of
PKZIP. Call PKWARE at 414-354-8699 to get your
registered copy and ask them about royalty arrangements
if you wish to send out disks with just the PKUNZIP
program.
Another popular compression system is LHA. It competes
very favorably with PKZIP as far as compression rates and
(as of this writing) has no royalty requirements. There
are copyright notice requirements that must be followed.
This software is available from most disk vendors and
BBSs.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
6. Software (Continued)
6.3 Disk Duplication
Your computer came with DOS. One of the DOS files is
DISKCOPY.EXE. You can easily copy disks with DISKCOPY
A: A: (Enter) to make one-at-a-time copies. You have to
run it for each copy and each time, it needs to load your
master disk.
The following duplication software is available from
several ASP authors. The descriptions are from the ASP
Official Catalog.
Product: Disk DUP
Author: FormGen Corp., 416-857-4141
Version: 5.9a (11-08-90)
Needs: IBM PC, DOS 3.2 or better.
Registration fee: $25.00
Registration benefits: Printed manual, master disks,
unlimited technical support,
product discounts.
Look for: DUP59A.EXE on BBSs; DUP59.EXE on CompuServe
in CIS:IBMHW forum LIBrary 1 (or contact
userID 70446,76 for assistance).
Download size: 75k (about six minutes with a 2400 baud
modem)
Description:
Speeds the duplication of disks. Master images are
stored on hard drive, but data compression saves
valuable space. Copies can be produced at lightning
speed. Multi-disk option for up to ten drives at
once! Disks can be serialized at your option. Many
options, excellent user interface, full status
screen. Very powerful, yet easy to use! If you
need to make multiple copies of disks, DUP will make
it quick and easy.
Product: DISKCOPY
Author: Feico Nater Shareware, 31 74 438373
Version: 1.0 (01-01-92)
Needs: IBM PC, DOS 2.0 or better. Hard disk.
Registration fee: $15.00
Registration benefits: Phone/mail support, free
updates.
Look for: DISKCOPY.* on BBSs; DISKCO.* on CompuServe in
CIS:. forum LIBrary 0; DISKCOPY.* on GEnie in
0 forum LIBrary 0.
Download size: 13k (about one minute with a 2400 baud
modem)
20
Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
6. Software (Continued)
6.3 Disk Duplication (Continued)
Description:
Copies an entire floppy disk onto a file on the
fixed disk and back again. Provides: Easy copying
of a floppy disk from A to A or from B to B, without
the need to swap disks several times. Make many
copies of a single disk without the need to use a
source disk. Includes automatic formatting.
Product: FormGen Utility Pak #1
Author: FormGen Corp., 416-857-4141
Version: 1.01 (10-30-90)
Needs: IBM PC, DOS 3.2 or better.
Registration fee: $25.00
Registration benefits: Printed manual, master disks,
unlimited technical support,
product discounts.
Look for: UPAK1.EXE on BBSs; UPAK.EXE on CompuServe in
CIS:IBMSYS forum LIBrary 3 (or contact userID
70446,76 for assistance).
Download size: 146k (about 11 minutes with a 2400 baud
modem)
Description: 12 excellent utilities!
QCOPY fast single drive copy, makes multiple
copies, no swapping
SERA secure file erase ** MEETS DOD STANDARDS **
DUMP high performance hex dump
ENCRYPT/DECRYPT
fast and very secure file encryption
FEED/EJECT TSR page eject
GDAY your morning smile
SEARCH/GLOBAL
multifile search/replacement
LOCASE converts files to lower case
ZIPPROC automated file processing
TIMESYNC sets your system clock to time standard
You can obtain the above systems from almost any ASP disk
vendor or you can call the author's company directly. BE
SURE you register all shareware that you use after the
evaluation stage {smile}.
21
Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
6. Software (Continued)
6.4 Virus Scanning
YOU MUST CHECK EVERY DISK that you receive. Don't trust
anything, especially the so-called "retail" shrinkwrapped
software. Shareware authors, BBSs and vendors are
routinely careful if they expect to stay in business.
Before you even do a DIRectory of any disk, run your
virus scanner software against the disk. Contact the
person that sent you the infected disk as they may not be
aware of the infection.
You may never find a virus. They actually aren't as
common as the press would have you believe. Second to
retail software are the computer repair shops at
spreading virus attacks. Some rarely, if ever, check a
disk brought in by a customer that wishes to try out a
new computer on the floor. Some don't check computers
that they bring in for repair. The customer's hard disk
could be infected and the repair person can easily infect
the test disk used to diagnose the computer. Every
computer checked by that test disk thereafter will be
infected. Some retail computer stores re-shrinkwrap
returned software and place it back on the shelf without
checking it. Scary, isn't it?
SCAN EVERY DISK!
Integrity Master is an excellent easy to use, up-to-date,
anti-virus, data integrity, change management, and
security program. It provides a single comprehensive
solution to assure that all your programs and data are
safe. In addition to scanning for known viruses, it
detects unknown viruses and unlike other products will
detect files which have been damaged but not infected by
a virus. Integrity Master protects you against all
threats to your data and programs not just viruses! To
order with Master or Visa card, call 800-788-0787 or 314-
256-3130. You can subscribe to several upgrade packages.
Virx - A so called "free" demo of the of Datawatch's
retail "Virex For The PC". The latest Virx version can
be obtained from the VIRUSFORUM on CompuServe, many BBSs
and disk vendors as VIRX.ZIP. It is only the scanner and
will detect over a thousand viri. If a virus is
detected, you are warned so you can send back or destroy
the disk being scanned. However, if you want to remove
the virus, you buy a copy of Datawatch's "Virex For The
PC" which can be purchased through computer software
stores and mail order houses or by calling Datawatch at
919-490-1277.
22
Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
6. Software (Continued)
6.5 DOS Tutorial Shareware
Many startup shareware disk vendors have little knowledge
of the computers they are using. Further, the people
that answer the phones have little knowledge of what they
are sending out. They don't even have the knowledge to
tell the user to do a DIRectory of the disk they sent to
the user to look for .TXT and .DOC files that can be
printed by the user. They even don't know how to tell
the user how to COPY the README type files to the
printer.
There are several excellent shareware programs for
learning the DOS commands.
DOS Sumary
Product: DOS Summary (Hypertext)
Author: Computer Knowledge
Version: 2.0 (02-15-92)
Needs: IBM PC, DOS 2.0 or better.
Registration fee: $25.00
Registration benefits: Printed manual with command
examples not found in the software, master disks,
bonus utilities. Shareware disks of other products.
Look for: DOSSUM20.ZIP on BBSs; DSUM02.ZIP on
CompuServe in CIS:IBMSYS forum LIBrary 1 (or
contact userID 75655,210 for assistance).
Download size: 150k (about 11 minutes with a 2400 baud
modem)
Description:
DOS Summary is a hypertext tutorial and reference
product which covers all DOS commands and drivers
through MS-DOS 5.0. Also added are tutorials covering
memory management and how DOS starts. The program can
be used in standalone or resident mode. When
started, you have the option of an alphabetical
command menu or a menu where commands are grouped by
function. You may also start the program with a DOS
command name as a parameter and be taken immediately
to that command.
23
Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
6. Software (Continued)
6.5 DOS Tutorial Shareware (Continued)
DosEA
For a tutorial on using DOS, try "DosEA", which is a
six-program hypertext series. Here are short descriptins
of the six programs in the series.
*************
********* DosEA **********
** Product Descriptions **
** Order Information **
****************************
Langin Software offers a series of tutorials and a book
to help users learn DOS. The tutorials are called
"DosEA" and are a play on words for a dossier on DOS.
"DosEA 1 -- For Absolute Beginners" is a tutorial which
demonstrates the hypertext system used in the series.
"DosEA 2 -- What is DOS?" is a tutorial which explains
the development of DOS.
"DosEA 3 -- 10 Easy Commands" is a tutorial with hands-on
practice of 10 easy DOS commands.
"DosEA 4 -- Find That Command!" is a utility which helps
determine the appropriate DOS commands for various
chores.
"Beginner's Pak" is a package of the first four programs
in the series (DosEA 1 through DosEA 4).
"DosEA 5 -- All About MS-DOS 5" is a reference of the
many additions, deletions, and changes in MS-DOS 5.
"DosEA 6 -- Switched on DOS" covers the 238 DOS switches.
"An Easy Course in Using DOS" is a humorous illustrated
book for those who hate computer manuals.
24
Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
6. Software (Continued)
6.5 DOS Tutorial Shareware (Continued)
US$ Price Total
--------- ------
DosEA 1 -- For Absolute Beginners 10.00 ______
DosEA 2 -- What is DOS? 10.00 ______
DosEA 3 -- 10 Easy Commands 10.00 ______
DosEA 4 -- Find That Command! 10.00 ______
Beginner's Pak (DosEA 1-4) 25.00 ______
DosEA 5 -- All About MS-DOS 5 10.00 ______
DosEA 6 -- Switched on DOS 10.00 ______
An Easy Course in Using DOS 18.00 ______
Shipping and handling (US) 4.00 ______
Shipping and handling (non-US) 5.00 ______
TOTAL ______
Prices subject to change without notice.
Credit card orders: -- Mastercard -- Visa
-- American Express -- Discover
Phone: 713-524-6394 * These numbers *
Toll free: 800-2424-PsL * are for *
FAX: 713-524-6398 * ordering *
CompuServe: 71355,470 * only *
----
Mail:
PsL
P.O. Box 35705
Houston, TX 77235-5705
The above numbers and address are for the Public
(software) Library and are for ordering, ONLY. For
information about dealer pricing, volume discounts, site
licensing, shipping of product, returns, latest version
number or other technical information, see "Langin
Software" below.
Cash orders: Send check or money order to Langin
Software at address shown below. Non-US payments should
be drawn on US bank. Traveller's checks accepted.
Canadian postal money orders accepted. Include your Name
and Address and disk size.
Mail to:
Langin Software
532 W. 3rd St.
CENTRALIA, IL 62801 USA
CompuServe: 73770,615
Fax: (618) 532-0075
Voice: (618) 532-4899
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
7. Supplies
The following information was obtained from messages on the
CompuServe ASPFORUM over the years, and information sent to
this author by various companies. This list is by no means
complete and you will need to do your own research to decide
just where you will obtain your supplies.
7.1 Diskettes
There are countless suppliers of disks. Many (if not
most) obtain their disks from Taiwan manufacturers. The
quality of disks can vary widely from one supplier to
another. This document will list no disk suppliers as
they seem to come and go due to the highly competitive
nature of this market.
Check computer magazine ads and try 500 or so from
several suppliers. Keep track of the failure rate.
Switch vendors if the failure rate is more than several
percent. Pick a supplier that has a good replacement
policy for bad disks. Make sure they pay the postage if
they require that you return the bad disks. This writer
once had 48 disks fail out of one package of 50 disks.
That supplier got blunt phone calls.
If you pay extra for pre-formatted disks, be sure that
your duplication software does a CRC check (DISKCOPY /v)
as even pre-formatted disks can have a bad failure rate.
You can't afford the returns when you send out faulty
disks.
Keep up with what is going on in the computer industry.
Subscribe to several computer magazines. A lot of folks
got caught not being able to obtain 3.5" disks in the
Spring of 1992 when Microsoft had their Windows 3.1 and
DOS 5 and IBM had their OS/2 major upgrades AT THE SAME
TIME. Microsoft and IBM gobbled up every 3.5" disk in
sight. The ASPFORUM was full of panic messages from both
authors and vendors that got caught. This writer was
down to only 7 disks while in the middle of a major
upgrade on a shareware product. Normally, you can get
almost any quantity in several weeks. So, be aware!
Don't let your stock of disks get too low.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
7. Supplies (Continued)
7.2 Mailers
Consider the following as a starter for obtaining disk
mailers and other supplies.
Calumet Carton Sterling Disk Duplication
Company 11495 N. Pennsylvania Ave,
P.O. Box 405 Ste 204
16920 State Street Carmel IN 46032
S. Holland IL 60473 317-575-3390
708-333-6521 FAX: 317-575-3389
FAX: 708-333-8540
Pack & Wrap Mailers
466 Derby Avenue 40650 Forest View Road
W. Haven CT 06516 Zion IL 60099
800-541-9782 800-872-6670
203-389-1983 FAX: 708-872-4842
FAX: 203-389-9416
The Sirgo Company Mail Safe
P.O. Box 58 4340 W. 47th Street
Schereville IN 46375 Chicago IL 60632
219-865-6092 708-872-6677
FAX: 219-322-5194 800-527-0754
FAX: 708-872-4842
Quill Office International Media & Supplies
Products 3501 Coffee Road, Suite 9
P.O. Box 94080 Modesto CA 95355
Palatine IL 800-835-5515
60094-4080 FAX: 209-571-5757
708-634-4800
FAX: 708-634-5708
7.3 Label Stock
With font programs, you can make small quantities of
laser labels at a low cost that look like they were
custom printed. Nelson Ford feels that Avery Label Pro
is the best laser label program. Paul Mayer recommends
CompUSA for laser labels. If there is not one near you,
you can call them at 817-261-7702 or 800-342-7638. They
accept mail orders through this number by credit card.
Prices on 6/1/90 were:
8-1/2 x 11 sheets (100) $17.99 Stock #853262
5-1/4" disk labels (840) $26.49 Stock #853901
3-1/2" disk labels (630) $26.49 Stock #853892
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
7. Supplies (Continued)
7.3 Label Stock (Continued)
Avery will send you a sample pack of laser labels for the
purpose of getting your software to work with them.
Write to them at 777 East Foothill Blvd., Azusa, CA
91702-1358 or call 800-541-5507.
The Computer Label Company, 800-332-4223 (619-322-3030)
and MEI, 800-634-3478 (614-481-4417) have good prices on
standard 3.5" by 1" labels. You can also call United Ad
Label at 800-423-4643 (714-990-2700) and ask for a free
catalog and sample label kit. They specialize in
audio/video labels but they do have both pin-feed and
laser sheet labels for 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disks.
Another good source for labels is Lyben Computer Supplies
313-268-8100. They have the Avery labels. They are also
one of the few suppliers that carry the continuous
fanfold label stock that can be used for 3.5" disks. The
labels are 2 3/4 by 1 15/16 inch and are Stock # 0300.
Almost all types of label stock can be obtained from
Quill (see above for address).
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
8. Trademarks
Generally, if you start using your company name without a (TM)
notice by the name, you lose the trademark protection. So
spend the extra four keystrokes and put it on. The trademark
office requires that you send them copies of artwork currently
being used with the TM indicated next to your word or phrase.
The patent & trademark office will then issue you a paper
telling you that your word or phrase is now a Registered
Trademark and then you have the right to use the circled R in
place of TM.
CompuServe has a service called IQuest (GO IQUEST) that will
allow you to scan the Trademark Data Base for about $35 to
$150 depending on how many ways you search. The search cost
depends entirely on the exact mark and goods involved, how
many "hits" come up in the search, etc. This may a quick way
to check on whether or not someone else has already registered
your words. However, the experienced lawyer may well find
more information than the novice searcher and save you a lot
of problems later.
The Association of Shareware Professionals currently uses
Lance Rose for copyright and trademark advice. Lance has
handled the ASP's lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. and was
instrumental in having a bill modified that otherwise would
have virtually eliminated any copyright protection for
shareware.
Lance Rose
87 Midland Avenue
Montclair NJ 07042
201-509-1700
Lance told us that "properly speaking it's not the words
themselves that are registered, but the mark at issue for
specific goods or services. The whole question of
registration, of course, does not exhaust the issues raised by
the question of can I use the mark? An unregistered trademark
won't come up on an IQuest-style search, but the owner of the
mark can sue someone who starts using it later. In this case,
neither the registration search, nor registration itself, will
keep the second user from getting beaten by the first user.
They will want a copy of your package and need to know the
first sale of the product with the "trademark" used."
It can pay to shop around for a lawyer. ASP members have
reported paying $200, $700, and over $1000. However, the $200
is impossible these days as the filing fee is now $200.
For information about Trademarks call the Dept. of Commerce at
703-557-3158 for a copy of Basic Facts About Trademarks.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
9. Collecting Shareware
You need to build a list of the types of shareware you wish
for your catalog and you need to collect a list of author
addresses. Where do you get your shareware disks?
o From another disk vendor
o From BBSs
o From large local User Group
o From a CD-ROM
o FROM THE AUTHOR DIRECTLY
Guess which this writer considers the best source? You are
right, the authors. You get the latest and greatest version
and will probably be placed on the author's mailing list for
updates and new products. Further, you won't infringe on the
"library" or "compilation" copyright of some other vendor.
If you have no collection at all, you may want to begin
creating your subject and author list by purchasing many disks
from several other disk vendors. ONLY use these disks to get
the addresses to contact the authors.
You must look in the authors documentation to learn of any
copying restrictions stated by the author. Under the
copyright laws, you may be prevented from distributing
additional copies without getting permission from the author.
Some authors place no restrictions on copying and others have
very strict restrictions. YOU must determine this from
examining the authors files. SOME authors require special
written permission and SOME require royalty arrangements from
rack and CD-ROM vendors even if they sent you the evaluation
disk in the first place.
If you are into BBSs, this may be a good source. Be SURE you
use BBSs that are properly networked with the authors and
other BBSs so that you will be downloading current versions of
the shareware. Local isolated BBSs may have very old versions
and the author addresses will be out of date. Again, examine
the disks for any author imposed copying restrictions. Also
look for vendor and BBS files that are not part of the authors
system that you will want to remove.
User Groups may also have out-of-date versions and care will
need to be taken. Again, use this as a source to build your
author address list so you can contact the authors.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
9. Collecting Shareware (Continued)
CD-ROMs are very expensive to create and some are updated
infrequently. Further, you may not know if the CD-ROM
producer made any effort to contact the authors to get either
permission to distribute or the latest version. Before you
even consider using a CD-ROM for your source of author
addresses, examine the date stamps on the shareware executable
program files (.EXE). If they are older than one year, you
know this will not be an up-to-date source of addresses.
Recently the ASP started supplying their Vendor members with a
CD-ROM carrying much of the shareware produced by the ASP
authors. At this writing, it is updated and issued monthly
and there is no extra charge for this service.
After you have created a draft of your catalog, and made your
author address list, contact the authors to obtain the
shareware.
If you are a RACK or CD-ROM vendor, let the author know that
when you write to them. If you ALSO are a catalog (printed or
on-disk) vendor, let them know that too. SOME authors will
require special permission and SOME may require royalties for
you to place their copyrighted shareware on racks or CD-ROMs.
They may or may not require this special contract or royalties
for your catalog operation. These special requirements are
the AUTHOR's requirements, not requirements of the ASP or any
other trade organization that this author knows of. The ASP
takes NO position on any of these special author requirements
or any royalty requirements and offers NO opinion except to
warn the vendors that the author's copyrights are legally
enforceable.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
10. Providing Technical Support
Hopefully you will have customers that have purchased disks
from your library collection. Note that they are buying your
library and disk copying services - NOT the right for
unlimited use of the shareware.
Many of your customers will be first time shareware users.
They will not know how to do a DIRectory of the disk to look
for README type files and how to copy them to their printer.
YOU MUST provide some type of instruction to allow YOUR
customer to figure out how to find the author's installation
instructions. If the author placed no installation
instructions on the disk either place your own instruction
file on the disk, or don't carry that disk in your library.
Develop a sheet you can send with each order that will give
the novice user getting started instructions.
Don't get excited, you are not expected to provide support on
the author's programs, just on the package YOU sold. They
have to be able to install the author's stuff so they can
contact the author for support on the author's programs and
documentation. You are responsible for only the front end of
the installation so the user can get to the author's
instructions. Some authors provide little or no instructions
on getting their shareware installed and only a dedicated
computer nerd could do it. Just don't sell these disks.
Don't let the author's problems become your problems.
If you wish to add a general purpose Help program to the
shareware disks in your library, take a look at the following:
Product: Simply Help!
Author: SimpleWare, 709-489-3757
Version: 1.0 (01-07-91)
Needs: IBM PC, DOS 2.1 or better. 384k RAM, hard disk
recommended.
Registration fee: $35.00
Registration benefits: Latest version with shareware
notices removed. Support by
mail.
Look for: SIMHLP10.ZIP on BBSs (call 709-489-6018 to
download it at no charge).
Download size: 285k (about 21 minutes with a 2400 baud
modem)
Description:
Create stand alone help systems or add help to any
program. Editor has pull down menus, dialog boxes,
mouse support, on-line help, block operations, line
drawing, import/export, reports, and many more. Edit
your file and instantly RUN it to see the results.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
10. Providing Technical Support (Continued)
Simply Help! (Continued)
Compiler creates EXE files or TSR files with your
choice of hot key. A library for QuickBASIC 4.xx is
included. Applications include TSR help for existing
programs, catalogs, readme files, manuals, on-line help
for QuickBASIC programs.
You MUST register Simply Help! if you are going to place
ANY files created by Simply Help! on any disk copies you
sell.
You can have an instruction on all disk labels to show how to
run your help program created with software like "Simply
Help!" Or, you can print the instruction on the disk sleeves
or an instruction sheet sent with each order. You can't
expect your customers to be computer experts.
If you are going to survive in this business, you must list a
daytime support number. You may only need to tell the first
time user to read your instructions on starting shareware. If
you get too many calls, your instructions are inadequate and
you must improve them. If you do not provide a "real live"
support person, your customers will go elsewhere and you risk
going out of business.
Too many shareware vendors think that this business is an easy
fast buck venture. They think they can make big money
operating evenings out of their home. Like the authors, you
can start that way if you are willing to have the money come
in slowly at first. Eventually, you will need at least one or
two people working full time reviewing new disks and handling
technical support. You will need another person to handle the
orders.
This is a tough section for many folks wanting to get into
this business. However, it is good advice gathered from many
sources and is intended to help you decide if you want to
invest further in shareware vending.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
11. The Association of Shareware Professionals ("ASP")
The Association of Shareware Professionals ( ASP is a
Registered Trademark ) started with an organizational meeting
hosted by Nelson Ford (PSL) on February 27, 1987 in Houston
Texas. Successful authors such as Jim Button (PC-File), Bob
Wallace (PC-Write) and Marshall Magee (Automenu), along with
major disk vendors like Public (software) Library (PSL),
Public Brand Software, PC-SIG, BBS operators, CompuServe
sysops and many others participated in this meeting.
These people could have adopted the attitude that they were
already successful enough without such an organization, but
they did not. They paid their own way to the Convention even
though they were the featured speakers! Button was elected
the ASP's first (and second) Chairman of the Board of
Directors. Magee became the first President. None of these
are "honorary" positions; they involve a great deal of time
and effort.
The ASP also owes thanks to the sysops of IBMNET on
CompuServe. Sysops Conrad Kageyama and Don Watkins were at
the Convention and arranged, on the spot, a place on IBMNET
for the shareware authors to meet electronically and continue
our plans. We have been meeting there daily ever since in
what must be a record for longest continuous business meeting.
The ASP has grown into a group of shareware Authors, Shareware
Publishers, Disk Vendors, Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), User
Groups, Press members and others working together to improve
the image and marketability of shareware as an alternative way
of purchasing high quality software.
The shareware marketing concept is just a different way of
marketing software. It is quite different from other forms
that usually include the Software Manufacturer, Distributors
and Retailers AND a LOT of expensive advertising and mark-ups
that often cause prices in the $500-$1000 range.
The shareware channel consists of 4 distinct groups:
1. The shareware Authors who write and hold the copyrights on
the software. Some authors have shareware Publishers to
handle the marketing.
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11. The Association of Shareware Professionals (Continued)
2. The disk copying services (Vendors) which build and
maintain collections of shareware and public domain software,
thus providing a convenient source from which users may obtain
software for evaluation. The disk Vendors charge for the
disks to make a profit while covering library, advertising and
other costs. User Groups contribute to shareware
distribution and are usually not-for-profit providing low cost
disk copies for members.
3. Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) which help to distribute
software by maintaining libraries of downloadable programs.
BBSs also provide a means for users to communicate with each
other, recommending programs, providing technical assistance,
reporting problems, and more.
4. The software user who is the underlying reason for the
existence of groups 1, 2 and 3.
What are the benefits of being an ASP member?
1. Author and Publisher members benefit by the user's
recognition of the ASP MEMBER logo. Author and Publisher
members benefit from the experience of other members. They
work together to help each other with programming, marketing
and support issues. Members help each other find better
sources of supplies, to promote each others products, to pool
their buying power to obtain better prices, and more. Author
and Publisher members benefit from ASP public relations
efforts. Author and Publisher members receive a subscription
to ASPects, the ASP newsletter.
2. Disk Vendor members benefit by the user's recognition of
the ASP Approved Vendor logo. Author and Publisher members
are encouraged to send updates and new programs to ASP
Approved Vendors and to allow ASP Approved Vendors and User
Groups to distribute their products without requesting
permission from the author or publisher. Vendor and User
Group members benefit from the public relations efforts of the
ASP. Vendor members receive a monthly CD-ROM containing many
of the ASP authored products. Lists of ASP Approved Vendors
are made available publicly and users are encouraged to look
for ASP Approved Vendors as the best source of high quality,
up-to-date shareware. Vendor and User Group members receive a
subscription to ASPects, the ASP newsletter.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
11. The Association of Shareware Professionals (Continued)
3. BBS members benefit by the user's recognition of the ASP
Approved BBS logo. Author and Publisher members are
encouraged to provide updates to ASP Approved BBSs either by
mail or by uploading directly. BBS members benefit from the
public relations efforts of the ASP. Lists of ASP Approved
BBSs are made available publicly and users are encouraged to
look for ASP Approved BBSs as the best source of high quality,
up-to-date shareware.
The ASP is a team of Authors, Publishers, Vendors, BBSs and
User Groups working together to improve the image of shareware
as a respectable alternative to high priced retail software.
ASP members work to educate the public, to let users know that
shareware is available for them to actually use and evaluate
before making a decision to purchase.
How do I join the ASP?
Join the team today! To obtain your free ASP Membership
application kit, write, call or FAX the ASP and ask for the
Vendor Application Kit.
Association of Shareware Professionals
545 Grover Road
Muskegon MI 49442-9427 USA
FAX: 616-788-2765
Voice: 616-788-5131 (8:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. USA Eastern)
If you join the ASP as a Vendor Member, your address will be
published to all of the ASP authors and the authors are
strongly urged to send the ASP vendors their disks. It is the
author's responsibility to send you their disks. Due to the
growth in the numbers of vendors, it became prohibitively
expensive for the authors to send their disks to all the ASP
vendor members. Therefore, the authors voted to raise their
annual ASP dues to help fund sending a CD-ROM to all ASP
vendors. At this writing, it is sent every month and each CD
contains the full collection as submitted by the authors. It
also contains a "delta" sub-directory with all of the
additions and changes since the previous ASP CD.
Included on each CD is the latest on-disk ASP Official Catalog
listing over 1,000 shareware products produced by the ASP
authors. The ASP Vendor members also receive the ASP's
monthly (approximately) newsletter and can use the ASP
trademarked logo in their catalogs and advertising.
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12. Services
NOTE: The information in this section is subject to change at
any time. This information was put together several years ago
and these price structures change often. Contact the
telephone carrier for the latest arrangements and prices.
Your Yellow Pages should list the long distance carriers that
serve your local.
12.1 Telephone
AT&T has a low cost 800-line service called the
Ready Line which is relatively inexpensive. For
about 23 cents a minute out of state, about 35 cents
a minute in state (for Texas), you can have a fancy
800 number just like the big boys. Most of the good
acronyms are already gone, but you should still be
able to come up with something. At the PsL, our
number is 1-800-2424-PsL, which we think is easy to
remember. However, we were not able to get anything
like 800-PsL-DISK or 800-SHRWARE, which would have
been better. Another shareware distributor has the
number 800-IBM-DISK, but IBM clamped down on them
for trademark infringement and they no longer
advertise the number that way, so we suggest that
you not waste time trying to work "IBM" into your
acronym. The Ready Line 800 number is assigned to
your regular telephone number, so you do not even
have to get a second line, unless you just want to
be able to know for sure if someone has dialed the
800 number.
An AT&T competitor, Sprint, has cheaper rates,
although only time will tell if their service will
match AT&T's. Sprint's rates are as follows:
$10/month Rates vary with distance and total number
of hours: 0-5 hours: $.2125-$.23 5-25 hours:
$.195-$.205 25-75 hours: $.1775-$.19 75-150 hours:
$.1775-$.1875 Call 800-347-3300 to order service.
(Rates above are as of 1990 and are subject to
change.)
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12. Services (Continued)
12.2 Credit Card Merchant Accounts
MasterCard & Visa
MC/Visa Merchant accounts can be very difficult for
mail-order merchants to get, more so in some parts of the
country than in others. If you have had a business
checking account for your business for several years, get
to know your branch manager well. Try them first.
If that fails, your next step should be to check ALL your
local banks. It's possible that many of the local banks
are processed by the same clearinghouse who sets the
rules for member banks about acceptance of mail-order
merchants.
American Express
While MC/Visa are the big guns, American Express is worth
contacting after you get your Master/Visa account.
12.3 A Banker's Perspective
Following is a document prepared by Eric Isaacson that
may help you convince your bank that someone in the
shareware business is worthy of consideration for a
Merchant Account:
Shareware Marketing of Software: A Banker's Perspective
by Eric Isaacson
Copyright 1991 Eric Isaacson.
All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to
shareware businesses and members of the banking industry
to freely copy and distribute this unmodified work
between and among themselves.
Your comments are welcome! Send them to:
Eric Isaacson Software
416 E. University Ave.
Bloomington IN 47401-4739
(812)339-1811
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
12. Services (Continued)
12.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued)
The Purpose of This Booklet
In the past ten years a new approach to marketing
computer software has emerged: shareware. Shareware is
relatively small compared to the overall software market,
and it is very different. It has been poorly understood
by bankers wishing to evaluate shareware businesses.
This booklet explains the shareware business from the
banker's point of view.
Why Software Is Different
A computer has two components: the hardware and the
software. The physical machinery comprises the hardware:
the main box, various disk drives and circuit boards
mounted inside, and the keyboard and monitor connected
via cables. Computer programs comprise the software: the
operating system, the word processor, the spreadsheet,
the accounting package, the database manager, etc.
The marketing of computer software poses unique problems.
The value of software is intellectual: it comes from the
hundreds-to-thousands of hours spent preparing the
program and making sure it works perfectly for all users.
The price of the floppy disks that carry the software is
tiny compared to the intellectual value. This makes the
computer software industry similar to the video-movie
industry: both have problems with unauthorized copying.
But the problems of computer software are worse: first,
most computers have the built-in ability to duplicate
software using just one machine. Duplication of movies
requires two tape decks placed next to each other.
Second, copies of software are perfect duplicates of the
original. With videotape, there is significant and
annoying degradation when copying is attempted.
To combat unauthorized copying, some software publishers
attempted to make their software difficult to copy. This
"copy protection" was common in the early days of
personal computing. But publishers have never succeeded
in devising a protection scheme that doesn't annoy the
legitimate purchaser of the program.
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12. Services (Continued)
12.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued)
Today almost all computers have high-capacity ("hard")
disk drives onto which all software is copied. If a user
can't copy the software to the hard drive, that user
isn't likely to buy the software. Copy-protected
software has almost disappeared from the marketplace.
Other software publishers have taken the completely
opposite approach to the problem: they market their
software as shareware.
What Is Shareware?
Shareware is the opposite of copy-protection. Rather
than trying to prevent copying, the software publisher
actually encourages the user to make copies and "share"
the program with anyone interested. Complete
documentation is placed onto the floppy disk along with
the program. In the documentation there is an
explanation of shareware. Anyone who receives a copy of
the program is encouraged to try out the program. If
they like it, they should send payment (usually called a
"registration") for the program directly to the
publisher. Thus the ability to make perfect copies of the
program becomes a tool for marketing the program.
Note that shareware authors retain a valid copyright to
the program. The author establishes the conditions under
which the program may be copied. The author may also
establish a specific amount of time for evaluation of the
program, beyond which the user is legally required to
either pay the registration fee or stop using the
program. The validity of a shareware program's copyright
has been tested and approved by the courts: a Missouri
shareware author successfully sued a Texas distributor
for violating his conditions for copying. Also, a
shareware author was invited to testify before a U.S.
Congressional committee evaluating software copyright
law, and the law was reworded to recognize explicitly the
existence and validity of shareware.
Shareware is still a small segment of the whole software
industry, but it is growing rapidly. Annual revenues
connected with shareware are estimated to exceed $100
million in 1991.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
12. Services (Continued)
12.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued)
The Shareware Author's Business
Most businesses publishing shareware consist of a single
person: the author of the program. Many authors develop
programs on evenings and weekends, while retaining a full
time job weekdays. The author invests mostly time and
not money: a good program takes many hours to prepare,
but it takes at most only a few hundred dollars to
market.
Marketing a shareware product consists simply of placing
it into the shareware distribution stream -- transmitting
the program to free or low-cost dial-up computers called
"bulletin-board systems", transmitting or sending it to
nationwide services like Compuserve and Prodigy, and
sending copies to companies that catalog and distribute
shareware. If the product is good, enthusiastic users
will spread it themselves, so that an initial
distribution of a few dozen copies will proliferate into
many thousands of copies. A significant number of those
thousands result in registrations (money) sent to the
author.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of shareware
marketing? The disadvantages are that a program takes
time to build up sales volume, and the volume will
usually be much smaller. Also, a program must be very
good to succeed as shareware. It might be possible, via
skillful marketing and advertising, to fool the public
into buying a mediocre program when it's shrink-wrapped
on a store shelf. But the user can try out a shareware
program before buying it -- if it's mediocre, the user
won't use it and hence won't register it.
The advantages of shareware are low risk and low
overhead. Through traditional (non-shareware)
distribution channels, it takes from $200,000 to $500,000
to properly launch a software product. Markups must be
granted to both retail outlets and their supplying
distributors, so that the publisher might get only 15% of
the retail price, and the author even less.
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12. Services (Continued)
12.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued)
Some shareware programs fail: they aren't good enough to
generate registrations. But the author doesn't thereby
go bankrupt. He or she simply loses the modest,
out-of-pocket initial disk-and-postage investment.
There are hundreds of shareware authors who make enough
money from shareware to substantially supplement their
regular job income. About 50 authors are making a living
from shareware receipts, and have gone full-time with
their shareware business. Many of them can make a
handsome profit without even needing to hire anyone else
to help out.
Some shareware businesses grow into full-fledged
companies, with dozens of employees and multi-million
dollar annual sales. To reach that level, the author
typically supplements the shareware marketing with
traditional advertising and dealer distribution. But
even for those companies, the risks are low because the
author moves into traditional distribution only after the
product is generating significant revenue through
shareware marketing. The expansion is financed via
existing profits, rather than venture capital.
Shareware Businesses and Banking
Shareware marketing is completely unique -- the only
other business with its try-before-you-buy philosophy is
Public Television; but Public Broadcasting stations do
not enjoy the low overhead that shareware authors do.
The uniqueness of shareware makes it poorly understood in
the banking industry, especially those handling
credit-card merchant accounts. Shareware has some of the
characteristics bankers normally associate with poor
risk: payments are made almost entirely by mail or
telephone, and all but the largest shareware businesses
are operated out of the author's home.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
12. Services (Continued)
12.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued)
In reality, however, shareware authors are ideal
credit-card merchants from the banker's point of view.
Unlike other mail-order businesses in which the customer
doesn't see the product until it arrives, with shareware
the customer already has the product. If the customer
isn't happy, he or she simply stops using the program,
and never pays the author in the first place. If the
customer wishes to defraud the author, he or she simply
uses the program and never contacts the author. Thus,
all of a shareware author's paying customers are both
happy with the product and honest enough to pay for it.
The level of customer complaints and chargebacks is close
to zero. Credit-card fraud for shareware is
non-existent.
If a banker knows about shareware, he or she should
welcome a shareware author's business. How can a banker
identify a bona fide shareware business? To start, the
banker can ask the author for a copy of the program. If
the banker doesn't feel "computer-literate" enough to
verify that it's a genuine, non-trivial program, he or
she can ask for references. Many shareware authors are
members of the Association of Shareware Professionals
(ASP). The ASP screens applications for membership, to
ensure that only legitimate authors of non-trivial
shareware are admitted as author-members. The ASP would
be happy to verify any claims of membership -- they can
be reached at (616)788-5131, weekdays 8--5 eastern time.
Other prominent authors have chosen not to join the ASP,
but their programs are listed in the catalogs of
shareware distribution companies such as Public Brand
Software, P. O. Box 51315, Indianapolis, IN 46251; or the
Public (software) Library, P. O. Box 35705, Houston, TX
77235.
Shareware Distribution Companies
Bankers should be aware of another major component of the
shareware industry, distinct from the authors: the
shareware distribution companies. These companies take
advantage of the fact that copying of shareware is
allowed, by providing a cataloguing and distribution
service of shareware disks. Customers of distribution
houses are sent lists of available programs, for which
they can pay a copying fee of between $1 and $5 per disk.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
12. Services (Continued)
12.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued)
There is no business arrangement between authors and
distribution houses: authors neither receive any
royalties for disks sold, nor do they pay anything for
the publicity given them. Customers understand that they
are not paying for the software, but merely for the
distribution service. Most shareware authors allow
distributors to handle their programs, because it spreads
their programs even further.
From a banker's point of view, the shareware distribution
houses are closer to traditional mail-order businesses.
Their profit margins are much lower than authors',
because their overhead relative to revenues is higher.
They must advertise in order to build business. Some
distribution companies haven't charged enough for disks
to cover their overhead costs, and have thus gone
bankrupt. But others, such as Public Brand Software and
the Public (software) Library, have built solid,
profitable, multi-million-dollar companies from shareware
distribution.
A banker wishing to evaluate a shareware distribution
company can use many of the usual criteria: length of
time in business, size of business, profit sheets, etc.
There are a couple of pointers specific to shareware
distribution that can enhance the evaluation: first,
companies should be charging at least $3 per disk in
order to be profitable. There can exist "Mom and Pop"
outfits, run out of homes, that make some money charging
less; but if they try to expand into real businesses,
their overhead almost always overwhelms them. Second, a
banker can check the distributor's integrity by asking
for a catalog and for advertising copy, to make sure that
they are adequately explaining to the customer that they
are a shareware distribution service and are not selling
the software itself. If the customers understand what
they are getting, the level of complaints and chargebacks
will be much less than that of the average mail-order
business; if they don't, it will be as much or greater.
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Shareware Vendor's Guide - Copyright 1992 by the ASP
12. Services (Continued)
12.3 A Banker's Perspective (Continued)
For More Information
The booklet "Shareware `Try Before You Buy' Software" by
Rob Rosenberger describes shareware from the consumer's
point of view. You may purchase it by sending $4.95 plus
$1.75 S+H to Paradise Publishing, 3111 S. Valley View
Blvd. Suite B-105, Las Vegas, NV 89102; or calling
(702)253-1940. For free catalogs listing the best
available shareware programs, you can write to Public
Brand Software or the Public (software) Library at the
addresses already given, or call them at their respective
numbers: (800)426-3475 and (800)242-4775.
-------------------------------------------------------
End of Eric's article.
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