Is it even worth the effort?

[Dexx]

It's often said that the best areas to target are areas where TONS of money are already being spent, and then trying to get a piece of that pie:

Insurance
Weight Loss
Real Estate
etc.

But no matter what kind of stuff I think up, there's already targeted software programs out there that dominate for the category.

For example, I was thinking of creating a Real Estate Lead Manager type program where agents could keep track of the leads they are getting, when they last spoke to them, what they were looking for etc.

But there's dozens of software titles (with killer sales domains) already promoting such ideas!

So is it really worth even attempting to compete with flashy software that is already really affordable and does stuff like downloading current real estate listings to the software, allowing ftp uploads etc?

Or should I just stick to less known / less competitive areas (for example off the top of my head a software that keeps track of what movie titles you own and the rating you give it for quick movie finding later)

Less searchers, less money, but less competitive (I would think, haven't even looked, haha)

~Dexx

[Steve1]

Hey Dexx,

Having kicked this platform around for a while now, I believe we can really build valuable applications for a variety of markets and niches. The challenge, especially in these larger markets you're talking about, is not in competing on feature sets but in finding ways to cost-effectively get qualified prospects to look at your software. If you get to them first and your software meets their technical and price requrements, you have a sale. Im sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, Dexx, but I wanted to give you a different way of looking at the challenge.

[TigerSoftware]

It's often said that the best areas to target are areas where TONS of money are already being spent, and then trying to get a piece of that pie:

Insurance
Weight Loss
Real Estate
etc.

But no matter what kind of stuff I think up, there's already targeted software programs out there that dominate for the category.

For example, I was thinking of creating a Real Estate Lead Manager type program where agents could keep track of the leads they are getting, when they last spoke to them, what they were looking for etc.

But there's dozens of software titles (with killer sales domains) already promoting such ideas!

So is it really worth even attempting to compete with flashy software that is already really affordable and does stuff like downloading current real estate listings to the software, allowing ftp uploads etc?

Or should I just stick to less known / less competitive areas (for example off the top of my head a software that keeps track of what movie titles you own and the rating you give it for quick movie finding later)

Less searchers, less money, but less competitive (I would think, haven't even looked, haha)

~Dexx


A competitive market is a great thing. It means people are spending lots of money and that should make you grin ear to ear.

It comes down to marketing. I have looked at a lot of real estate software and they are not flashy at all. The software you can create will look and work a lot better. Sure they won't have the mls (real estate listings) access. All the mls access is local and the software companies cannot possibly integrate all of them. They may have some integrated but not all of them. Unless they created a national mls that I am not aware of.

People like that love these types of programs. Especially the charting and reports. You only need a small slice to make a ton of money because the niche is so big.

I will be going against Act! and Filemaker which are very big companies grossing anywhere from 80 million to 120 million a year. I am very excited. :)


BTW, I am adding ftp support soon. :)


Thomas

P.S. Don't forget you don't have to make a living on the software alone. You can use the software to get these people on your lists to sell them more stuff. Think about giving away the real estate software and selling them other products through your autoresponder or software.

[Dexx]

I know what you mean about money is being spent and big money is being earned Thomas :)

I guess I'm just wondering how to even go about getting NOTICED!

No way I can compete on the PPC level for the keywords in regards to (for example) real estate software stuff

and SEO would be next to impossible as well...


so my only choice would either be to create software around weird keywords like "real estate lawn signs" or something?

How do you plan to gain exposure against those big companies like you mentioned Thomas?

Will you go head-to-head with them in PPC?

[TigerSoftware]

I know what you mean about money is being spent and big money is being earned Thomas :)

I guess I'm just wondering how to even go about getting NOTICED!

No way I can compete on the PPC level for the keywords in regards to (for example) real estate software stuff

and SEO would be next to impossible as well...


so my only choice would either be to create software around weird keywords like "real estate lawn signs" or something?

How do you plan to gain exposure against those big companies like you mentioned Thomas?

Will you go head-to-head with them in PPC?


I will bid on their trademark names. hehe

This is such a huge niche I will be able to do damage on the content network. Major damage. I just need to break it up into sub markets which I already planned to.

Thomas

[Dexx]

I will bid on their trademark names. hehe

This is such a huge niche I will be able to do damage on the content network. Major damage. I just need to break it up into sub markets which I already planned to.

Thomas

ooooo the content network, I forgot about that...was thinking just the Top 4-6 of Google's top PPC listings for a keyword...

hrmmmm...


I just wonder if I'd be able to compete with company's that have the professionally designed websites with support staff yadda yadda

Then there'd be little ol' me with my software :P

But maybe I could compete on a price level for features, and like we agree upon, just get even a tiny slice of the money being spent :P

[TigerSoftware]

ooooo the content network, I forgot about that...was thinking just the Top 4-6 of Google's top PPC listings for a keyword...

hrmmmm...


I just wonder if I'd be able to compete with company's that have the professionally designed websites with support staff yadda yadda

Then there'd be little ol' me with my software :P

But maybe I could compete on a price level for features, and like we agree upon, just get even a tiny slice of the money being spent :P

How do you know they have a support staff? :)

Take a popular company making real estate software. Start bidding on the name of the company or the name of the software. Now you got traffic of buyers because buyers are normally typing in a product name. Then you can sell them on yours...

Or, you can sign up as an affiliate and give the buyer another complimentary software product if they buy through your link.

You sign them up on your lists and continue to sell them other products.

Dexx is rich and happy while Thomas is still working like a dog. :D

[Dexx]

How do you know they have a support staff? :)

Take a popular company making real estate software. Start bidding on the name of the company or the name of the software. Now you got traffic of buyers because buyers are normally typing in a product name. Then you can sell them on yours...

Or, you can sign up as an affiliate and give the buyer another complimentary software product if they buy through your link.

You sign them up on your lists and continue to sell them other products.

Dexx is rich and happy while Thomas is still working like a dog. :D

Good points as always T!

and I hope you aren't working like a dog much longer!

We'll have a big forum party in Vegas or something once we all hit the 7 figure mark annually! :D

[SeanSheehan]

This is a good idea Dex, I'm in your same boat, only I havn't bought the program just yet. I want a solid plan before I do anything. Because most likely, I'll spend between 100-150$ on my entire deal, and I don't want to throw myelf to the wolves.

And i want to be able to make that money back QUICKLY, and not have to worry about being in debt. What I'm trying to do is figure a product that would sell well on Myspace, a software/ebook together product, but I'm unsure of what the majority of those people want.

It boggles the mind. I'm read to market to them, to use the new PPC system in myspace, but again, I still don't know what the product would be.

[TigerSoftware]

This is a good idea Dex, I'm in your same boat, only I havn't bought the program just yet. I want a solid plan before I do anything. Because most likely, I'll spend between 100-150$ on my entire deal, and I don't want to throw myelf to the wolves.

And i want to be able to make that money back QUICKLY, and not have to worry about being in debt. What I'm trying to do is figure a product that would sell well on Myspace, a software/ebook together product, but I'm unsure of what the majority of those people want.

It boggles the mind. I'm read to market to them, to use the new PPC system in myspace, but again, I still don't know what the product would be.

Sean you may want to forget about myspace for a minute and look at markets.

You can become an affiliate of products and use bonuses to have people purchase through you. Meaning you can create a complimentary product to the affiliate product you will be promoting. That doesn't have to be software but software will have a higher value compared to ebooks.

Always be building a list whatever you do.

[Dexx]

This is a good idea Dex, I'm in your same boat, only I havn't bought the program just yet. I want a solid plan before I do anything. Because most likely, I'll spend between 100-150$ on my entire deal, and I don't want to throw myelf to the wolves.

And i want to be able to make that money back QUICKLY, and not have to worry about being in debt. What I'm trying to do is figure a product that would sell well on Myspace, a software/ebook together product, but I'm unsure of what the majority of those people want.

It boggles the mind. I'm read to market to them, to use the new PPC system in myspace, but again, I still don't know what the product would be.

What is something your market currently keeps track of or organizes through excel, microsoft word, etc.

Then offer them a software that can combine and manage all those things for them without needing purchase hundreds of dollars worth of Microsoft products :)

That'd be an easy sell

[SeanSheehan]

Gah, true.

My heads all over the place lately. I need to sit down and be like a sniper. Find my target, and nail it from a thousand yards.

There are lots of hungry markets around, lots of products that can be created in no time flat. Maybe, I should build a list and make it so people will be notified when I release the product.

PPC the list building, along with blog, squidoo, etc, and get traffic flowing, then make the release.

[SeanSheehan]

What is something your market currently keeps track of or organizes through excel, microsoft word, etc.

Then offer them a software that can combine and manage all those things for them without needing purchase hundreds of dollars worth of Microsoft products :)

That'd be an easy sell


That it would. I'll have to figure that out.

Hmm, the mind boggles!

[RichHamilton]

Dexx, as you think about all this consider tighter niches.

Real estate is a big niche. But Travel destination real estate is different. Similar but different. And there are a million of these.

Just visit some forums, ask some questions, and figure out what they track that's unique. Then build the big ol' real estate app with the specific stuff the travel destination people need.

Then, with a few mods, you can re-niche it for another kind of real estate.

(If Thomas figures out how we can clone and keep all the layout settings it would help re-niche these apps, too.)

[Dexx]

Dexx, as you think about all this consider tighter niches.

Real estate is a big niche. But Travel destination real estate is different. Similar but different. And there are a million of these.

Just visit some forums, ask some questions, and figure out what they track that's unique. Then build the big ol' real estate app with the specific stuff the travel destination people need.

Then, with a few mods, you can re-niche it for another kind of real estate.

(If Thomas figures out how we can clone and keep all the layout settings it would help re-niche these apps, too.)

Ahhhhh good point, thats like marketing 101 stuff, I should have known that :P


Like the old advice goes...don't compete with the Wal-Marts of the World trying to market the same big boulder rocks they are pushing...go after the tiny gaps between the boulders that they aren't able to focus on...


That's the power of TSB...we can create application much faster and have them out there filling those gaps :)


I'll search for the tiny micro niches that could also benefit from real estate software but that the larger software products don't meet the needs of!

[TigerSoftware]

Dexx, as you think about all this consider tighter niches.

Real estate is a big niche. But Travel destination real estate is different. Similar but different. And there are a million of these.

Just visit some forums, ask some questions, and figure out what they track that's unique. Then build the big ol' real estate app with the specific stuff the travel destination people need.

Then, with a few mods, you can re-niche it for another kind of real estate.

(If Thomas figures out how we can clone and keep all the layout settings it would help re-niche these apps, too.)

I am looking at reworking how the layouts are saved. I don't like how it is being done that the moment. :)


Thomas

[JKZ]

As far as the microniches, I have one within the real estate niche...

- Financing calculators (big, small, short, and tall).

This relates, as fewer people are buying houses/real property using all cash. If the person is
going to be using a real estate niche software, they are most assuredly going to need some sort
of financing, which is how you convert them to being your customer.

For this tool, bust out a couple of library books covering typical financing rules/regulations
to make sure you are allowing the including of appropriate figures into your formulas (for
example, some states have a mandatory fee included into monthly financing charges for loan
life insurance, often ranging from $1 to $20 per $10,000 financed.

Allow the user to optionally include this figure. If it is not included by them, the formula should
be able to exclude this variable using an auto-inserted 0 or 1 (depending upon how you have
calculated this figure within your formula) to void or null the value.

The software could include formulas for the different types of financing, such as: FHA, Conventional,
VA, Seller-Carried Second, etc. These extra options could be upsells for an advanced version.

Have them buy the originally sought real estate software through your affiliate link in exchange for a
limited options version for free (or for a discount of, let's say 35%, off on your full version software).


~ Joseph

[jonathon]

So is it really worth even attempting to compete with flashy software that is already really affordable and does stuff like downloading current real estate listings to the software, allowing ftp uploads etc?Hey Dexx, when I was first starting out in the IM industry, I asked one of my mentors this same exact question... She told me "it's all about trust"...

Microsoft has customers who will purchase MS based crap no matter what... Corel? same thing... Adobe, same thing...

What you need to do is

1. bust your a*s to create some killer apps
2. offer the lowest possible price (a price you can live with and one which is not so low that people question the quality)
3. offer 2nd to none tech support (go out of your way to show your customers you DO care)
4. under-promise and over-deliver (include a few bonus apps within one application)

If you gain your customers trust, you will slowly start to gain a "following"... People who will buy from you for many years down the road...

Another key factor is knowing your market. If you know nothing about the "type" of product you are creating, how can you possibly expect to sell it...

For example, I know Thomas mentioned this in a previous posting somewhere, but I too am creating a contact manager, one like Act... Act sells for hundreds of dollars... Is it worth it? Some thing so, others think it is way over-priced (i fall into this category :))...

I got this idea a while back, when one of my customers asked me about a script I wrote for him...

it was a contact manager php script. I created it for him and got all the bugs worked out per his EACH AND EVERY request... Then, with the help of his "word of mouth" promotions, I sold over 4,000 copies of the script...

In all that time, I was also able to tweak it into a "kick a*s" script which allowed me to get a very strong understanding of what people wanted in a contact managenent application...

Now, I know Act has been around for a while and Sage (parent company of Act) has been around even longer, but will that stop me?

HELL No!!!

Why not?

Because I know that my app will be just as good in most areas and a LOT better in other areas... (my only concern is the integration with 3rd party apps, but what my product lacks in that area, it will surely make up in other areas)...

I also know that at least 70% of those who purchased my script, will also purchase the windows app from me because they trust me... I have some customers who constinously ask me to stop emailing them because they buy EVERYTHING I offer, even when they know they wont need it... Granted, that's their own fault, but the point is that if you build a following, I don't care what you offer, you will always have customers...

Hey Dexx, if a guy can start a multi-billion-gazillion dollar enterprise from his garage, (making some dinky operating system - i think its called windows, or something like that ;) ), then why can't you at least make enough to help you enjoy life a little easier...

[Dexx]

heh great response as always Jonathon, you're correct and I'll keep it in mind :)

[TigerSoftware]

For example, I know Thomas mentioned this in a previous posting somewhere, but I too am creating a contact manager, one like Act... Act sells for hundreds of dollars... Is it worth it? Some thing so, others think it is way over-priced (i fall into this category :))...

.

I am heading into that market as well. I will also be looking to take over market share from Filemaker.

Sage the company that makes Act makes about 127 million a year. Filemaker makes roughly 78 million a year. These are huge markets and a little slice of it can make you millions.

I used Act! for quite some time and it isn't that great. In fact it is very limiting once you start growing. That was the main reason I created my real estate software which then led to TSB.


Thomas


P.S. Once I enter into the Act territory, all my TSB customers will be able to make layouts for that audience. I am hoping people will be able to make full time income just selling their own layouts to my other customers.

[jonathon]

I am heading into that market as well. I will also be looking to take over market share from Filemaker.GO Thomas!Sage the company that makes Act makes about 127 million a year. Filemaker makes roughly 78 million a year. These are huge markets and a little slice of it can make you millions.My point exactly! I used Act! for quite some time and it isn't that great. In fact it is very limiting once you start growing.Again, exactly my point. Alot of these "popular" programs can be greatly enhanced with just a little effort... That was the main reason I created my real estate software which then led to TSB.See, something good CAN come from bad :)P.S. Once I enter into the Act territory, all my TSB customers will be able to make layouts for that audience. I am hoping people will be able to make full time income just selling their own layouts to my other customers.I was honestly thinking about doing exactly that.... I run literally hundreds of site, well, I USED TO....

I recently shut down ALL my sites and even got rid of a few dedicated servers so I can concentrate solely on building my software empire...

The shut-downs have caused a major financial strain (I know, I was foolish to shut them down, but the only way for me to focus was to do so, so it is better for me in the long run), so what I was thinking was releasing some of my layouts to other TSB users to at least give me a small financial boost...

May I post an offering in the "Off Topic" section?

I have dozens of software apps just sitting around collecting dust because I haven't had time to market them because I am so busy creating apps from my ideas...

[TigerSoftware]

GO Thomas!My point exactly!Again, exactly my point. Alot of these "popular" programs can be greatly enhanced with just a little effort...See, something good CAN come from bad :)I was honestly thinking about doing exactly that.... I run literally hundreds of site, well, I USED TO....

I recently shut down ALL my sites and even got rid of a few dedicated servers so I can concentrate solely on building my software empire...

The shut-downs have caused a major financial strain (I know, I was foolish to shut them down, but the only way for me to focus was to do so, so it is better for me in the long run), so what I was thinking was releasing some of my layouts to other TSB users to at least give me a small financial boost...

May I post an offering in the "Off Topic" section?

I have dozens of software apps just sitting around collecting dust because I haven't had time to market them because I am so busy creating apps from my ideas...


Hi Jonathon,


I will create a sub forum for TSB related stuff today. You can post those there. I will send out a email to everyone letting them know about the sub forum.


Thomas


P.S. I have no doubts you will be very successful. :)

[TigerSoftware]

Ask and you shall receive. lol


Marketplace is now open.

http://www.profittigersystems.com/vbforum/forumdisplay.php?f=18



Thomas

[jonathon]

Ask and you shall receive. lol


Marketplace is now open.

http://www.profittigersystems.com/vbforum/forumdisplay.php?f=18



Thomas
Great, now I have to actually do some work, thanks alot Thomas, heheh. Seriously tho, thanks. I am gathering a list of items now and will be hitting that section soon.