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Business Insights for Software Developers and Publishers www.softletter.com |
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Vol 3. No 7 Announcements Just Released! The Softletter SaaS (Software as a Service) Handbook is now available! Packed with vital information you need to know about the SaaS tsunami. Just released! The latest edition of The Softletter Financial Handbook. Over 360 pages of strategic data for your software company. Now Open! www.SoftwareSuccess, the Softletter blog, is now open. Visit here. In This Issue's Softletter
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The Softletter Sales Efficiency Survey Dear Colleague, This is a final reminder on participating in our current sales efficiency survey. This survey covers sales compensation processes and practices for a software firm's direct sales force. This survey will be shut down after Wednesday, July 25th, so if you are interested in receiving a summary of the results, please respond now. The survey is available at: http://www.softletter.com/survey/sales_efficiency_survey.htm We're looking for some fairly standard information and will use this data to identify trends and current benchmarks that you can use to see how your own numbers and processes compare to those of comparable companies. In addition, we analyze information based on company development stages, an important factor that allows us to establish medians for companies in different market sectors. The entire survey is 17 questions and should take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Please pass this invitation along to a colleague in the industry who you feel should participate. Everyone who supplies data for this survey will receive a complimentary copy of the summary report. Of course, all responses will be strictly confidential. We won't disclose or identify data about any individuals or about participating companies. Please note that if you do not complete the entire survey, we can't send you a summary copy of the results. Don't forget to push the Submit Survey button at the bottom of the question page, and then wait for the acknowledgement page. Summary results will appear in our July 31st and extended analysis in the August 15th issues of Softletter. We will be following up this survey with one that asks respondents to judge the effectiveness of the various sales training courses for software companies currently available in the market. Many thanks for your help! Merrill R. (Rick) Chapman, Managing Editor
The Micro-ISV Father Discusses the Kids, Part I of II (Eric Sink will be speaking at "The Business of Software Conference," San Jose, CA, October 29/30th,
Eric Sink is the founder of SourceGear, publisher of source control system Vault, one of the industrys most popular alternatives to Microsofts SourceSafe product. In 2002, Inc magazine honored the company as one of the 500 fastest growing privately held firms in the US. Eric is also the father of Open Source AbiWord, a product which generated much buzz in the industry but no cash. The effort served as yet another example that if you want to make the big money, building the hot products of the 80s (word processors, spreadsheets, presentation products and databases) in the late 90s and today is probably not the way to go. (We must admit we laughed when we looked up the Wikipedia entry on AbiWord and read about the whining that went on over the first versions lack of tables; readers of In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High Tech Marketing Disasters, which discusses the damage the lack of this feature did to WordStar, will appreciate why we found this funny.) Eric also worked on Spyglass, and led the development team that produced the browser that later grew up to be Internet Explorer. Erics other main claim to fame is that he coined the term Micro-ISV, a phrase which is increasingly being used to describe entrepreneurs who want to enter the software market with new ideas and products. He's recently had his first book published, Eric Sink on the Business of Software (Apress). Weve read it, it's an excellent book, and we strongly recommend you buy a copy. We caught up with him to discuss the Micro-ISV concept and to get his take on industry trends and developments. Why do you think the term Micro-ISV has become so popular? I have to guess its because it offers firms the implicit hope of growth; that resonates with people. The idea of a company being small is not that interesting. The idea of being a software vendor, as opposed to a shareware or freeware company, is more appealing. Your blog, Eric.Weblog() (http://software.ericsink.com) has become very popular and you've stated its modeled on Joel Spolsky's very successful JoelonSoftware website. For several years JoelonSoftware served as the primary marketing vehicle for his firm, FogCreek Software. Has your blog had a similar impact? It's certainly had an impact, but its not our primary marketing vehicle. The three marcom activities that have worked best for us are tradeshows, print advertising, and PR. That's interesting. These venues are routinely dismissed by pundits, but in our experience, for firms like yours, these approaches remain highly effective. It's hard to beat tradeshows for generating quality leads. As for print advertising, while its expensive and its difficult to track precisely where a sales lead is coming from, the fact remains that it works. As for PR, having the press write about you for free via case studies and user stories is a lot cheaper than paying for advertising. What about Internet advertising? The truth is we havent done much of it. We have experimented with Google ads with good results and high click-through rates. Weve been able to obtain high keyword rankings for terms such as "source control" and "version control." But Ive been managing the process and Ive been too busy to stay on top of it. In Business you state that youre not really a fan of hiring what you call a sales guy before you think a company is ready to do so. Is SourceGear ready to hire a sales force? Yes, we are. Weve just hired our first salesperson, someone who has the capacity to both sell and manage a sales force. This is a big transition for us; we're growing from 10 to 30 people and mindsets are going to have to change. End of Part I Manage Your SoftGram Subscription
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Upcoming Events Softletter's Marketing and Selling Software as a Service Seminar, 2007 All attendees receive three valuable bonuses October 3/4 Sofltetter's Marketing and Selling Software as a Service Seminar 2007 is the only event dedicated exclusively to helping SaaS firms and companies considering SaaS learn how to execute and transition to the SaaS business model. Read the seminar agenda and register today! Software Business Conference 2007 October 2/3 The annual conference focuses on current strategic business, financial and technology issues and growth opportunities facing top executives of software companies. It is a two-day conference serving owners, chief executives, presidents, vice presidents and division or department directors of leading and fast-growing software companies located throughout North America who are conducting business domestically and worldwide.
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