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Time limited sales can be very effective and will often result in sales spikes. The trick to having a successful sale is proper promotion. There are three different ways to run a time limited sale, developers can run sales to their existing base and prospective customers, they can use a 3rd party who has a large audience, or they can offer a sale through their affiliates and resellers.

1. Self Promotion through Blog, Forum, or Existing Customers
Existing customers are a great group to target for time limited sales. Existing customers are already familiar with your company and products. You have already established a level of trust. Existing customers clearly have an interest in your product line, and might see discount offers as a reward to being your customer, offers will make them feel "special" and increase their loyalty.

Example:
For the next 48 hours we are offering existing customers a 50% discount on a license for their valentine. Be sure to order within the next 48 hours with the coupon code "mylove" to receive the discount!

2. 3rd Party
There are third party services that run daily discount specials. The websites have an established audience and clientele who visit their website for discounts. These websites drive traffic and highlight your software for a period of 24 hours and as a result they get a percentage or cut of every sale that result from the exposure in the daily special.

Windows Platform

BitsDuJour - http://www.bitsdujour.com
SoftwareDOD - http://www.software-dod.com

Mac Platform

MacZot - http://www.maczot.com

How it works on Bits Du Jour
The software is placed on sale on the Bits Du Jour website at a deep discount for 24 hours. It must be discounted a minimum of 40%. The bigger the discount, the better chance of success. Bits Du Jour allows the vendor to track the sales and the developer or the affiliate tracking company used, pays Bits Du Jour a 30% commission on any sales that occur as a result of the special.

The software listings go live at Midnight Central time and run until 11:59 PM.

Bits Du Jour will not feature any adult content or any applications that assist with circumventing copyrights.

BitsDuJour One Day Sale

How it works on Software Deal of the Day
The software is placed on sale on the SoftwareDOD website at a deep discount for 24 hours. After the 24 hours has passed, developers can offer a minimal discount, called a 2nd chance offer. Both the software deal of the day offers and the second chance offers are heavily promoted. At this time, Software DOD does not ask for compensation for listings, they only request the tracking information after an application is featured, this is done so that they can better understand their customer's interests.

The software listings go live at Midnight Eastern Standard time and run until 11:59 PM.

SoftwareDOD retains full editorial control and decides what types of applications will be featured.

Software Deal of the Day Sale

How it Works on MacZot
Decide what the offer for your product will be and upon approval from MacZot, you'll be notified of the scheduled offer date. Discounts on the software should be in the range of 40% - 75%.Unlike Bits Du Jour MacZot collects the revenue for the sale, within 7 days of the sale the developers needs to submit an invoice and they will send a payment within 7 days.

MacZot's Cut
- Offer value less than $20.00 --> 50% of net after paypal fees for each sale
- Offer value greater than $20.00 --> 40% of net after paypal fees for each sale

Developers login to their account during the sale to monitor orders. Once the offer ends, log into your account, select the order download CSV and generate the registration information (if applicable) for your new clients. After registration keys are sent, they must be supplied to MacZot as they too retain copies.

MacZot Deal of the Day

3. Partners / Affiliates / Resellers
Some developers leverage the base of their partners by allowing their partners resellers and affiliates to offer a one day sale at a discount. The margins are clearly smaller when third parties are involved, so keep this in mind when you consider the size of the discount and the potential sales volume increase.

Tips to Maximize a One Day Sale

1. Impulse Purchases Work
Products above $ 20.00 do not generally sell as well as applications below $ 20.00 when targeting impulse purchasers.

2. Timing
Choose a midweek day to run the promotion. Avoid high vacation times and holidays in order to maximize your sales.

3. Digg the Special
Use social bookmarking to draw attention to the deal.

4. Tracking
If you are struggling with how to track the success of the sale, and you do not have a reliable affiliate program, consider tracking sales through the use of a coupon.

Related Articles:
Effective Upsells and Cross Sells
Give Away of the Day
Bits Du Jour