Software Licensing

Why You Should Copyright Your Software

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0400

Copyright is a form of protection, provided by the laws of the United States, to the authors of original works of authorship. Copyright protection is available for both published and unpublished works. While it is true that in the United States it is not mandatory that you register your work in order for it to be protected under the copyright laws, it is necessary to have the copyright formally registered with the United States Copyright Office in order to successfully pursue litigation for copyright infringement.

Why You Should Copyright Your Software

Preventing Software Piracy

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0400

The key to beating piracy is to stay vigilant against the software pirates, and to implement an intelligent fraud protection scheme that will not unfairly penalize legitimate customers.

Preventing Software Piracy

Contract Programming

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0400

Developers can often supplement their income by doing contract programming. This can be a great source of additional revenue when properly structured. Make sure you take the time to detail the plan before your begin.

Contract Programming

Pricing Business Software

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:00:00 -0500

What price will the market bare is a fancy way of saying, how much can you charge for something and still sell a reasonable quantity. The trick is to charge the highest dollar amount without diminishing the volume of the units sold. This will allow you to maximize sales.

Business owners often have a skewed perception of how much they should charge for a product or service, and unfortunately there is not an easy formula to find the right price to charge.

Pricing Business Software

Understanding Purchase Orders

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:00:00 -0500

Purchase orders are legal documents, which are essentially a commitment to pay the vendor for the goods or services listed on the purchase order. When a purchase order is accepted, the vendor is agreeing to extend credit to the purchaser as per the terms listed on the purchase order. In the United States, almost all government agencies, school systems, and many large companies make purchases only by using purchase orders. If you wish to sell to these groups, you will need to be willing to accept their purchase orders.

Understanding Purchase Orders

Free vs. Paid Software Upgrades

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:00:00 -0500

There is a long-standing debate in MicroISV circles about whether developers should charge a fee for product upgrades, or provide upgrades free of charge for the lifetime of the software application. While some developers may feel passionately about the subject, consider the following facts when deciding whether you should offer lifetime upgrades free of charge:

Free vs. Paid Software Upgrades

Digital Rights Management Solutions

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0400

Digital Rights Management (DRM): DRM can be applied to your software product to permit licensing for fair use. Without DRM, your product is often distributed freely to other friends, family, classmates and strangers to use without paying you for a license.

DRM Solutions

Software as a Service

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:00:00 -0400

Subscription-based software, otherwise known as SaaS (Software As A Service), is becoming an increasingly popular model for software. Many developers have taken to the recurring subscription fee revenue model, but there are a number of subscription-related issues that developers struggle with. RegNet specializes in ecommerce for subscription services, and they have worked together with software developers to address and resolve many of these issues and problems.

Software as a Service

Tips for Software Upgrades

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:00:00 -0400

Software upgrades can be a lucrative opportunity for software developers, or they can be a support nightmare. Here are some software upgrade tips to help make the process pain-free and profitable.

Tips for Software Upgrades

Sweetening the Pot

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:00:00 -0500

How can vendors persuade their customers to part with their cold hard cash? One answer: Offer Incentives!

Incentives are simply tangible or intangible rewards that are designed to motivate or coax a person or group to behave in a certain way. In an attempt to entice purchasers to take the plunge and purchase a software application, marketers will often sweeten the pot by offering various sales incentives. As a result of being offered a more attractive deal, the purchasers will often feel that they are getting a much better value for their money. Incentives are also used to encourage potential customers to purchase one application over another. Sales incentives are probably the most common incentive used to encourage customers to purchase.

Sweetening the Pot

Software Protection and Separate Downloads

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:00:00 -0500

Protecting software from hackers can be a challenge, even for the best software developers. It can be a daunting proposition to find a protection solution that is effective, without being inconvenient or frustrating for legitimate customers. One solution that MicroISVs employ is using separate versions to protect their software from hackers.

Separate Download for Registered Customers

What is Software Piracy?

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:00:00 -0500

Software piracy refers to the unauthorized duplication and use of computer software. Software developers work hard to develop solid software programs. If those applications are pirated and stolen, the software developers will often be unable to generate the revenue required to continue supporting and expanding those applications. The effects of software piracy impact the entire global economy. The reduced revenues often divert funding from product development, and result in less research and less investment in marketing. In 2007, economists indicated that software piracy cost the industry $39.6 billion.

What is Software Piracy

The Pricing Game

Tue, 4 Sep 2007 09:00:00 -0400

The goal of most businesses is to make money. And lets be clear: unless you are a public company, revenue is not terribly relevant... it is all about maximizing profits.

Pricing could be classified as an art, or perhaps as a science. Ultimately, the classification does not matter - the end goal is to minimize expenses and maximize the profit. Before you setup a complex pricing scheme, consider how you can manipulate price in order to maximize profit.

The Pricing Game

How to Price Software

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:00:00 -0400

Some say pricing software is an art, and that maybe true. Pricing software can be a very difficult proposition. Surprisingly developers often under value their software. It can be a challenge to find the pricing "sweet spot" or the price that generates the most revenue for developers. Some developers experiment with A/B split testing while others take a critical look at their closest competitors and determine how they wish to position themselves in the market.

How to Price Software

How to License Software

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:00:00 -0400

When developers sell software they are actually not selling the software, they are selling a license that allows the user to use the software. Software licensing can take a number of different forms. Software can be licensed based on the number of computers that the software is loaded on or as is common with network software the software can be licensed based on the number of users accessing the application.

How to License Software

Sample EULA

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:00:00 -0400

EULA stands for End User Licensing Agreement, this is the agreement through which the software is licensed to the software user.

Sample EULA

How to Manage Upgrades

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:00:00 -0400

To charge or not to charge. Many developers make the assumption that by offering free lifetime upgrades they will increase their sales. Statistically this is simply not true. Past customers are one of the most important assets that a business has. Do not be afraid to charge for major upgrades. Current customers are the most valuable customers but often the most neglected opportunity of all.

How to Manage Upgrades

What is an OEM

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 09:00:00 -0400

An OEM is what is referred to as an Original Equipment Manufacturer. An OEM will often purchase a product and rename the product selling the product under a new label as their own.

Unique opportunities exist for software developers interested in OEM deals, software developers can often negotiate with hardware vendors to bundle their software under an OEM label.

What is an OEM

Selling Your Software Business

Wed, 4 Jul 2007 08:01:54 -0400

There are a number of reasons a software developer might consider selling their business.

Selling Your Business