Recently, a new home business model emerged that looks like a realistic way to make anyone wealthy. No doubt you are familiar with shareware but did you realize that popular titles like the free version of some virus protection software gets downloaded millions of times a week? The money is earned when some of those free users go ahead and pay to upgrade.
Millions of people download applications that they use and then decide it is so good they want to “unlock” all the features of the full version. They click on an UPGRADE fee to unlock the features.
There are Internet applications and applications that you download and run from your desktop. An example of a program that runs on the Internet might be 1shoppingcart.com’s shopping cart program. You get to try it for 30 days for $3.95 and everything works. But, after thirty days you get charged for one of their two or three levels of service or you lose all the products and links that you had painstakingly built.
Internet based applications often involve storing the user’s files or setting up autoresponders and shopping carts which can be very time consuming. The longer the user sticks with the service the more investment he has in terms of his time. If he quits he’s back to square one!
Most people are familiar with shareware that operates from the user’s desktop. An example might be Cute FTP which requires an Internet connection but makes it easy for the user to transfer files to his web server. A new type software can be downloaded by parents who are seeking to improve their child’s behavior. The Code of The Samurai is a behavior wheel that presents consequences and deducts points for “bad” behavior.
Free Advertising Means Your Shareware May Be Downloaded Millions of Times You can stick with posting to the most popular shareware sites like Tucows.com and Download.com and end up paying a fee to get some decent exposure. But, there are millions of sites that permit you to post your titles for free.
As a shareware developer you can post your shareware to these sites using a simple spread sheet type file called a PAD file. This file segregates each bit of information about your shareware into uniform categories like the title, the file size, the description both short and long, the cost and the download link among other things.
A PAD file can automate the posting process simplifying your work and placing your shareware on thousands of sites with the press of a button when you use it with a software submission site.
A new enterprise, The Passive Income Club, has turned shareware into a viral marketing tool. Members are entitled to receive new shareware titles every month. When the new title arrives they enter their affiliate password to insert their affiliate username in the shareware upgrade link. So, they’ve effectively branded their shareware and are entitled to a 50% share of any upgrade fees.
For the affiliate member there is really not much work. He fills out the PAD file by writing his own description and then uses special submission software to post the title to as many download sites as he can. A good title could be downloaded millions of times over the coming years and the affiliate earns 50% every time someone upgrades.
If you have an idea for a shareware application that millions of people would use every day you could sell advertising on the shareware. Companies will often pay for exposure in front of their demographic.
If this sounds a bit too technical you can get the benefits of distributing shareware simply by joining Passive Income club. Members receive new titles every month.
The other alternative is to register on www.Vworker.com or www.Elance.com and post your project. Even complicated projects can usually be completed for under $1000.
Before you buy another Internet marketing course and begin researching the ideal home business Learn More about how you can make money by viral marketing shareware titles.. This article, How To Use Viral Marketing Techniques To Make Millions With Shareware is released under a creative commons attribution licence.