Software pricing
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Chipp, you bring out a good question.
Lots of plugins has been rather simple, made over a weekend or even just a couple of hours. Lots of very small tools to get a particular job done.But, I do feel that plugins are maturing. We're seeing lots of very good tools which are much more complex and take much longer time to develop. I find that I spend longer and longer on my plugins because they become more complex at what they do because I have learnt so much since I started. It's why I made Vertex Tools payware because of its complexity. And it's why Bezier Surface will be so as well.
But I find it hard to imagine this to be an endeavour that can replace my current job. I don't see the market being there. I feel there lacks a broader channel to communicate the plugin capabilities in SketchUp. As it is now I think it's a small fraction of power users who use plugins, and even fewer of these buy plugins. I think the concept of plugins for SketchUp needs to be advertised more. Been trying to get Google to promote this great feature much more than what they currently do. (Which is pretty much hidden away. I got into plugins by word of mouth.) And a major key in the puzzle is a system for quickly browse, install and update plugins. Ideally there'd be a plugin that could connect to repositories and do all the work for the user in terms of installing and managing the plugins.
Then, personally, I really loathe taking care of "business". I was freelancing for half a year after graduating, and all that mucking about with running a business took all the fun out of the work - there was so much time stolen.
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Price elasticity strategies for software has come a long way, now with the ability to carefully track statistics and do A/B modeling.
One of the misleading aspects about the iPhone AppStore is the concept everyone there is getting rich. Last I read (in April, before the release of iPad), the top 100 performers there generate a total revenue of ~$300K per day. If we assume there are one million apps in the store, that equates to 0.01% of all apps.
And the upside for all this? The top 3000 apps are earning an average below minimum wage, and the others are earning between $4/day and zero. Not something we can butter our bread with. Even if we double or triple these numbers, due to todays numbers, things don't get much better.
But, getting back to the article, I suspect a key to the alleged success is having availablity to the marketing channel to 'get the message OUT!' along with the nature of the channel itself (as Liam points out). In an extreme vertical market segment like SU Plugins, with such limited access (not to mention the questionable business ethic of mostly free plugins), you'll have a tough time discounting and driving sales-- unless you have a direct channel to your customers.
There's a thought among private software marketeers whom I spoken with, that price points are 'staged' and no matter where in the stage range you price your product, it will sell about the same-- given all other factors being even. These ranges are:
under $10
under $19.99
under $34.99So, if you're going to sell a product for $25, you might as well sell it for $34.95. I tried this with my ButtonGadget product V2, and was surprised that the product did really well at that pricepoint ($34.95) when V1 had been priced at just over 20.
To some extent, Sketchucation represents the ability to 'get the word out,' but not enough. I imagine a small percentage of the individuals who use SU actually visit here, and an even smaller percentage click on your ad.
Which brings me to another (controversial) subject. While I've lurked here for years, on and off, I have noticed the pressure on developers to release their products for free. Sure, a weld.rb seems like a good idea. But, I have a question to pose, does it do the community and longevity of the product good to have someone like Fredo's Tool on Surface (for instance) plugins for free?
I suppose it has a lot to do with the motivation of the author. Still, assuming all his plugins could garner 50,000 sales at $20 per (reasonable, I think), that equates to $1,000,000. Does a million bucks change his life so he could work full time on his plugins? And how much better could the plugins be if he did? (I know, they're great now! Hell, I don't know, maybe he DOES work on them full time!)
I really don't know the dynamics of this group, so that is why I'm actually posing the question. But I do know the dynamics of mostly freeware plugins, and IMO, they present marketing issues for authors who can't afford to develop for free. Can you imagine a set of Fredo's plugins for Max given away for free? Never. But, certainly, it all has to do with community at some point.
And, I don't know Fredo, or many of the plugin authors, but I hope they all have a chance to make a real living doing what they love-- as I think SU and the community would all be better because of it. Of course, as always, just my 2 cents
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@thomthom said:
But I find it hard to imagine this to be an endeavour that can replace my current job
I think I am one of the happy exception - been freelancing in SU world for 7 years now and enjoying it to the max compared with my 3 years at Siemens which I hated (still a good experience to not go back)
@unknownuser said:
Sketchucation represents the ability to 'get the word out,' but not enough.
feel free to post (here or in a new thread) or PM me any ideas that you think that it will boost the word out using SCF as the medium.
maybe even implement something like Readability for plugins - you allocate a sum per month and it will be distributed to authors based on the plugins usage
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@unknownuser said:
I think I am one of the happy exception - been freelancing in SU world for 7 years now
What are the services and products you provide? -
besides Podium and old scripts on Smustard I do custom ruby plugins on demand and code review/debugging
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What's your main source of income? (if you don't mind sharing.)
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was Podium, now is custom work and I hope soon Product No 2
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Yes. TBD, you and I discussed Podium and sales quite a few moons ago. You now have V2 out-- congrats on that! And on being a full time plugin developer for SU.
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@chippwalters said:
You now have V2 out...
Curious to know if TBD had anything to do with Podium v2...???
@unknownuser said:
was Podium, now is custom work and I hope soon Product No 2
Sounds very interesting...
What's Product No 2 about...??
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true, I am not involved in Podium anymore. and Product No 2 is secret for now - still I left some traces on the net for the stalking purposes
now back on making the software worth more than $34.99
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