I am going to try to keep this short and to the point without any filler content so that you can quickly take action on the information that is provided here.
You are reading this report because you want to get into software development and I would like to congratulate you on that decision because in my opinion it’s one of the best ways to make a substantial income online.
Here is why I think software development is the easiest way to profit.
- You don’t have to hype up your sales letter
- You don’t have to sell yourself
- You only have to show what the software does and why your customer needs it
That’s it!
In fact, if you got a good software product that people want and need you don’t have to write a single word to sell it.
All you have to do is make a video showing it in action and slap a payment button on it to make bank. Yes it’s that easy!
With more and more people coming online the software market is growing rapidly and new opportunities pop up every single day. Are you ready to grab you share of this multi-trillion dollar industry?
You see, selling info products in my opinion is getting harder nowadays because you need to sell your prospect not only on the awesomeness of your info product, but also on the fact that you are the right person to teach them.
Selling software is just so much easier and it doesn’t require you to have crazy marketing skills or be a super skilled copywriter.
In this report I am going to outline exactly how you can get into this highly profitable business model without writing a single code yourself and still make a ton of money.
Outsourcing is crucial and I am going to show you how to get your software project done right from start to finish so there is no way you could fail if you stick with the plan.
So let’s get started :)
Finding The Right Software Idea
This is the most crucial part of the entire system. You don’t want to create software that people don’t want or need.
You want to create something that will make their life easier by saving them a lot of time. It could also be a utility tool.
Some best ideas for software are:
- Gaming bots (MMO games – hot!)
- Submitters (article submitters, link submitters, social book marking automation, content submitters)
- Bots (auto account creation)
- Scrapers (content scraping from other sites)
- Utility tools (keyword research tools, data aggregators, data analyzers, mass installers, wordpress plugins etc.)
- Content creators and posters (auto blogs, forum posters etc.)
It’s important that you develop a software that you know is in need and there is demand for it. The best way to find out if your idea is good is to find something similar on the market and see if it’s selling already.
You could also find software tools that are already out there on the market and simply improve them by adding more features.
If you are reading this report then most likely you are a marketer and a member of Warrior Forum. If you take a closer look at the WSO section you will quickly realize which software products sell the most :) Note down what they do and create your own unique software by adding more features and making it better.
All you need to do is to identify hot sellers and create your own better version of the software. Sometimes it’s impossible, if you don’t have the budget to do it. Some software products could cost thousands and tens of thousands of dollars to develop, so you want to start small with your first project and grow from there.
You can also find many great ideas from affiliate networks. You can check Clickbank.com, Paydotcom, RegNow, ShareaSale.com etc.
Just look for products that already sell well on these networks and come up with your own unique version.
But keep in mind that internet marketing is only a small fraction of the software business. In fact, it’s very small compared to niches like Gaming, Media Creation, Desktop Utilities etc.
Gaming niche is booming! MMO games took the market by storm and there is a HUGE demand for bots :)
People spend thousands of dollars on these games to get virtual items so they can be better than others. Take advantage of that market!
For example, I have created a bot for a game called Evony which is a war game. It made attacks easier and faster. We sold hundreds of them before we got DMCA complaint and needed to shut down the project :( (Got to be careful with some of them)
When thinking of a software idea don’t just look at the “make money” or “internet marketing” niche. Think big!
Once you have your idea and you know there is a demand for your product then you can move forward to the next phase which is designing your software.
Designing Your Software
When you are first starting out it’s important that you do this part yourself. It’s going to save you hundreds of dollars at the beginning.
Later on you can hire a software interface designer but at first I highly recommend that you do this part yourself.
Once you have your software idea you want to start thinking about the interface so it provides best user experience possible. You want it to be very user friendly.
The best way to design your interface is to use an HTML editor. I use Adobe DreamWeaver for this, but it can be any HTML editor of your choice.
I first start out with a table about 800 pixels wide and then start adding the buttons and fields etc. I make it look like just like I want it to be when the end user opens up the software after purchase.
I also tend to design the interface in a so called “Wizard” format so it’s very user friendly and not complicated. The “Wizard” format basically takes the user step by step through the process of the software.
Every step should be a separate html document so when you send it to your programmer it’s easy for him to see how the software is supposed to work.
For example let’s take a look at the interface I designed for the gaming bot we have developed.
The first document shows the look of the software when the user first opens it on his desktop.
It’s just a few tables and text that look like buttons.
Next document shows the interface when they click on “New Formation”
Next document shows a bar I designed that the players could have at the top of their screen while playing the game.
As you can see it’s very simple html coding. I basically treated it as creating a web page. This design consisted of 3 HTML documents that I sent to my programmer.
So basically you come up with your software idea and design it in your favorite HTML editor. Then you post the project on a freelance site.
Once you have hired the programmer all you have to do is send him the html documents and tell him to make it work. All he has to do now is the coding nothing else. The design has been done by you and it just saved you a bunch of money :)
The next step is to write out the specs of your software. This is basically the job description that you are going to post on a freelance site to hire a programmer.
Writing Out The Specs
This is a very important step of your project. You want to make sure you include everything you want the software to do, in order to avoid unnecessary costs later on.
If you don’t include everything, the programmer might ask for more money and it could cause a problem if it exceeds your original budget.
The way I post my projects is I usually explain the process of how I want the software to work. I basically explain how the “Wizard” process is going to work.
For example, let’s say you want a bot created that automatically submits articles.
Here is how I would word it:
I need an article submitter that submits articles to article directories and creates accounts automatically
Here is the process:- The user opens up the application- The user loads up an article (he can also load up more articles at once)- The user then runs the account creation process- The user then starts the submission processThe interface of the software has been already created and will be provided once bid is accepted.The developer MUST be available on Skype.Please do not bid if you are not the actual developer who will be working on this project.
Of course sometimes you want to add more features, or the programmer might suggest something that you might want to include, so make sure to have a reserve budget that you do not reveal to your developer.
I also never accept a developer, who cannot be available on Skype. I want to be able to communicate with them to ensure smooth development of my project.
Skype also has the screen sharing feature which makes it easy to explain exactly what you want done and how things are supposed to work. It’s very cool!
Also as you probably noticed I don’t want to work with an outsourcing company that hires developers. I want to work directly with the developer.
From my experience it’s 100% better to work directly with the programmer that is going to do the coding because you are going to avoid a lot of misunderstandings plus you will save money. Why have another middle man between you and the programmer? I do NOT recommend it.
So once you have posted your project make sure to set you public budget lower than the actual budget you have for your project.
It’s going to give you some more room to add stuff or in case something comes up that requires the coder to do more work than he originally planned for your project.
Ok, so now you have posted your job description and we wait for developers to start bidding.
I usually wait 2 days before I even start responding to their bids. It’s actually quite important and there is a reason why I do that. I want to make sure I work with someone who is serious about my project. I want to weed out those who simply browse the freelance site and bid on every posting that comes their way.
Once you have about 5-10 bids then we can start asking some questions.
So our next step is to hire the coder we want.
Accepting The Right Developer
The first 2 days when your posting goes live you should watch all the bids and select those you are going to respond to.
Never accept a developer who has no feedback. When I post a project on Odesk for example I want the developer to have at least 4-5 stars and have over 500 Odesk hours under his belt.
When you select a few ones that are worth your attention you simply message them asking if they can get on Skype for a quick chat.
It’s very important that you pay close attention to how fast they are going to respond to your message. If it takes the developer 2-3 days to respond to your message on Odesk then you simply do not respond anymore and cross them out of the list.
Perfect candidate will respond the same day and will be willing to chat with you on Skype.
Now we are moving to the next phase. Once you get him on Skype I usually don’t start out the conversation about the project. I try to break the ice first and make them feel more relaxed. I basically start the conversation like I am their friend.
This makes the developer feel more comfortable working with you and he will quickly show what kind of person he really is.
The next step is to give the developer more details about your project and ask him if that’s his area of expertise.
Tell him you are looking for someone who feels comfortable taking the project and someone, who is confident in delivering the end result.
I usually interview 2-3 developers on Skype before I make the final decision on who I am going to hire.
Don’t hire someone without the initial conversation on Skype. It’s very important that you do this or you could end up with someone who doesn’t communicate with you and it will lead to frustration and misunderstandings between you and him.
Another very important thing is to watch out for their terms. If the developer has a lot of great feedback and has many hours under his belt then it’s ok to pay 50% upfront and rest when the project is finished.
If they don’t have a lot of feedback then it’s safer not to pay anything until he has already done some work and can show a demo of your software.
Also, you want to make sure that you hire a developer from a stable country. I have hired a programmer from Egypt for one of my projects and it delayed updates for my software after all the protests broke out over there.
Once you pick the right developer you want to make sure to keep good communication going with him throughout the development of your software.
Communication With Your Developer
Good communication with your programmer is key to successful completion of the project. This is why we do the initial interview and pay attention to their response time.
I use only 2 tools to communicate with my developer. First one is Skype and second is Camtasia Studio.
Skype is free and you can get free trial of Camtasia Studio at TechSmith.com
When you accept one of the bids you want to make a screen capture video showing more in detail how you want the software to work. What I do is go through each HTML document I created for the interface and explain each one in great detail. Then I simply upload it to Amazon S3 and send him the link to watch it.
After he views the video he can ask me other questions and we proceed from there.
As I mentioned before Skype has the screen sharing feature built-in, which makes it easy to communicate.
When you call your developer there is an icon that you can click on to share your desktop screen with him.
It looks like this:
When you are in call just click the icon showed in the image above and your developer will see what you see on your screen. It’s a very useful feature.
Of course you can also use software called TeamViewer which is also free. You can download it here
Depending on the complexity of your project you might have to create more than one screen capture video.
Tell your programmer that you want him to login each day on Skype and keep you updated on the progress of your project.
Let the developer know to always ask in case there is something he/she is not sure of.
When your developer is ready to show you the first demo you are going to start the beta testing phase.
This is going to be a very important phase because you want to make sure that your software doesn’t have any major bugs on the first release.
Beta Testing And Payment
When you receive the first demo of your software we need to beta test it. It’s very important that you test all features of your software and make a list of bugs that you find.
What you don’t want to do is find one bug and right away tell your developer to fix it. This will only delay the completion of the project. Test everything and make a list of things that need changes.
There are 2 beta testing phases. The initial testing is done by you and the second phase is done by your users. I would get at least 10 people to beta test your software because they will find bugs that you might have missed.
Do not rush the release of your software to the public without the beta testing phase being completed. If you do so you are risking a lot of refunds and customer support tickets.
But don’t worry almost always you are going to find bugs even after the initial release. It’s just part of the business. What’s important is that you don’t release your software full of bugs. The main features should work.
If you are developing a web application you want to put it under stress to make sure it can handle a lot of database request, traffic etc.
Make sure the software installation process is user friendly and works on most machines or hosting services.
Talk to your developer and make some kind of a deal with him for further development and updates of your application. You don’t want to be left out in the cold if there are bugs that need to be fixed and your developer is nowhere to be found.
What I usually do is after initial beta testing phase I grade their work and pay out a bonus on top of their bid. It makes them feel good working for you and they will always respond to your messages when you need them.
After your beta testing phase is done you need to make sure you got all the source code. Then you proceed with the payment.
If you are using Odesk make sure that your developer gets the full bid plus a bonus that you are willing to pay him. Odesk takes 10% from their pay so send enough money to cover that. Don’t make them pay for that.
Now it’s time to make some money selling the product you just created :)
Delivery Of Your Software To Your Clients
The key to making your project a success is a marketing plan after you software is ready for release. You should have a plan on how you are going to sell it before you even post the project on one of the Freelance sites.
The cool part though about software is that if it there is a demand and it does what it’s supposed to do you will still make money.
If you are targeting internet marketing niche then all you really need to do is make a video showing what the software does and how it’s going to help your potential customer. Then run a WSO in the Warrior Forum. The traffic is already there :)
For my gaming bot I had a marketing plan before we proceeded with the project development.
I joined the game and was in an alliance. Evony allows the send group mail to all the alliance members so basically I was able to send mail to all the members when I had the software ready. It went viral from there and we sold hundreds of copies :)
So always keep in mind that you need a plan on how you are going to market your software.
The best way to sell software is through video. You can use Camtasia studio to make a screen capture showing the software in action and simply include a payment button below the video. It’s really that simple.
If you don’t have activation codes built-in into your software then it’s a good idea to provide some incentives for people to buy from you instead of searching for it on torrent sites.
For example, you could offer free lifetime updates etc.
You don’t need to be a skilled copywriter to sell software products. Simple video showing its benefits and how it works will do most of the time.
I know that you probably have seen many latest guru launches promoting some magical software that makes money with just a few clicks and let me tell you that you don’t have to do that to make sales. They do it all wrong and sooner or later it’s going to bite them back.
Always make sure to include documentation with your software on the thank-you page. It’s a good idea to make some videos showing how to use it properly and explain all its features.
Things To Watch Out For
So by now you should know how to make your software project a reality. It’s not that hard and the sooner you jump into it, the sooner you will make money with this system.
The most important thing is to choose the right developer for your project. Never ever accept someone without feedback and good amount of projects under their belt.
Always make sure that the developer you are hiring has expertise in the area that is needed to code your software. Some programmers will try to tell you that they can learn it quick but from my experience it only leads to frustration and can greatly delay your project.
Do not hire an agency that hires developers. You don’t want to have another middle man between you and the programmer who is actually writing the code.
Do not accept bids that require upfront payment unless you have worked with the developer in the past and you trust him.
After you hire the programmer pay attention to how often he is online and how well he communicates with you.
I have canceled a contract before after a week into the project because the programmer has been offline for more than 4 days on Skype. I want the programmer to ask questions because that lets me know he is engaged in the project and wants it completed according to my specifications.
Pay attention to the programmer’s English skills as well. If his/her English skills are poor it could have a negative impact on the development.
Another very important thing to mention is the freelance arbitrage that some people try to do. The way it works is that a person will bid on your project and then after you accepted the bid he/she will post the project and try to outsource it further for a cheaper price. Do not ever allow this to happen with your project. It could lead to a total mess, because again; there is another middle man between you and the person that writes the code.
Conclusion
The plan described above is the exact plan I follow when creating software products. If you follow it you will make money with it guaranteed.
The most important thing is to identify software products that are already selling out there. Then you come up with your own unique version.
In my opinion selling software products is much easier than selling informational products.
With software all you have to do is present to the customer how it works, what it does, and how it will help him. With informational products on the other hand you need to sell them on the fact that you are the right person to teach them the information they are buying.
If you are a Warrior Forum member then you have probably noticed that a lot of times guys who have no real experience in marketing simply create a useful tool that others want and they sell hundreds of copies very easily.
This is because they know that software is their ticket to success. It’s easier to make money selling software period.
I really hope you are going to take action and put this system to work. Here is your action plan:
- Identify what sells in the market you want to get into
- Come up with your own unique software idea based on demand
- Design your software interface using HTML editor
- Write out the specs and post the project on Odesk (or other freelance sites)
- Hire the right developer
- Beta test the software
- Deliver it to the marketplace
What next? Rinse and repeat! You don’t have stop on one software project. Just don’t try to do more than 1 at a time when you are first starting out.
Within a year you could probably have 5-6 software projects behind you and making steady passive income month after month.
Software is definitely where the money is at so grab your piece of the pie :)
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