Getting Started

It can be difficult to get started as a shareware developer. A large proportion of shareware developers are one-person operations. The ASP September 2004 Demographic Survey reports that 65% of the 353 members who participated run their shareware business themselves. A further 26% of shareware businesses were reported to be run by 2-4 people.

Being largely self-taught, shareware developers need to conduct a lot of initial research. In addition to writing code, which most shareware developers already have some experience with, shareware developers need to learn about web hosting and development, creating installation programs, writing help files, graphical design, writing license agreements, marketing, product pricing, how to provide effective customer support, software licensing and protection, software submission and distribution, advertising, search engine optimization, and payment and order processing.

Some of the work involved in establishing and growing a shareware business can obviously be outsourced. Graphical design, web development, marketing and search engine optimization are commonly performed by hired guns, but in the early days many shareware developers tend to take on these roles themselves.

Other than a few core things that you must learn before developing and releasing your first shareware application I believe that it is relatively simple to start a shareware business. Strive to learn as much as you can and over time you will acquire invaluable knowledge and skills that enable you to streamline your processes and improve your products.

Over time I will be covering a lot of the above knowledge areas and hope to provide some interesting details and my views on shareware development for new and experienced shareware developers.