Sounds like your implying that they wrote the software but didn’t do the “marketing” to make it successful. And by this I don’t mean advertising/sales, which you seem to confuse with marketing in your earlier posts.

I normally just say “No, thank you”

Since you are an expert in software marketing go ahead and post your blog URL, as I would like to subscribe and I’m sure my readers would be interested to hear more of what you have to say on the subject.

BudgetPulse is developed by a small team of experienced professionals in interactive and fresh web 2.0 outlook.

Utter garbage. Sorry Rob, garbage in, garbage out. The problem is not the software (maybe). The problem is utterly idiotic marketing. I mean really. How on earth does that sentence answer that question? It doesn’t.

I hate to sound harsh but it’s pure garbage. And I can almost guarantee you that you developers don’t see it, won’t see it and can’t see it. But the fact remains that it’s just atrocious.

No one in their right mind is going to entrust you with their personal financial data — to be put on the web no less.

You’re obviously having me on here.

Bottom line, stupidest thing you can do in marketing is set your buyer up and let them fall like that. They glaze over and wander away because they know from moment one that all your materials will be similarly worthless.

Suffice to say that if you consider SimplyBill as compelling software which is struggling due to external reasons I really strongly disagree with you.

1. It’s not a good standalone concept.
2. The pricing is not sound.
3. It’s not compelling in any way.

I’m sorry Rob but I also very strongly disagree that a developer should be able to make living from anything as insubstantial as SimplyBill. It’s nothing.

But let’s talk solutions anyhow. SimplyBill needs integration to succeed, whether that be into something internal like a suite of office tools — or something external via licensing, co-branding, etc. Or both.

No one is going to pay 20 cents per invoice.

If a person did some sue diligence this, and much more, would be readily apparent. SimplyBill is desperate for some due diligence and common sense. You need to define a target consumer and use their feedback to craft something meaningful out of this nonsense.

No one knowledgable is buying SimplyBill as a great standalone retail concept. Sorry.

Bottom line, I call BS on you. So let’s cut to it. I challenge you to present me with one single developer who:

1. Is a reasonable business person.
2. Owns great software they can’t sell.

Present this person and I will make them money in short order with zero investment required. Period. Short of that you’re just talking out of your butt AFAIC.

And by “great” I mean compelling. Obviously crappy or useless software will never sell — and that fact is in no way reflective on the state of the market or supportive of your blog concepts.

Anyhow cheers, looking forward to making money for you folks.

P.S. “Good software sells itself” is the din of morons — you certainly never heard me participating in jibberish like that — no clue how you managed to extract that gem.

“Finding a market you can afford to market to…” was commenting on the fact that you will quickly go bankrupt unless you can find a way to make at least $5 in gross profit on every customer who costs $5 to acquire (unlike Sharper Image).

Next, your comment:

“I don’t believe that you, or anyone else, know any developers who have great code they can’t sell…No developer in the world ever made great software they couldn’t sell.”

I’m not sure where I said that in my post, but in any case you are sorely mistaken, my friend. 100% incorrect. I can give you names and emails if you’d like, and while you’re at it drop a line to Bob Walsh, Joel Spolsky, and Eric Sink, all of whom have written about this in their blogs.

I have personally seen good software products that never sell because there is no market or no marketing effort. Look at DotNetInvoice – essentially the same product as I acquired a year ago, but the previous developers didn’t have the marketing experience to sell enough copies to make it worthwhile. They were going to close the doors on what is otherwise a good product.

Also, spend a week checking SitePoint and you’ll see sites like budgetpulse.com, v2commerce.com, and simplybill.com all for sale at fire sale prices because they have good developers behind them who wrote good software that doesn’t seem to “sell itself” as you are implying good software will do.

We got one $7 order from a lady in Italy 6 months later.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a software product. Otherwise, I’d have hundreds (if not thousands) of hours invested. But it did prove to me that an idea “ain’t worth squat” without a comprehensive plan and serious post-launch effort with constant TLC.

BTW, we’ve decided to ressurect the project and take a different approach this time around.

It would be the same if a marketer decided they wanted to learn to program and spent the time to do it (admittedly to get to a minimum level of effectiveness is marketing it takes less effort/time than to get to a minimum level of programming proficiency).

I bet you think that if you had all those infomercials for your software you’d be rich right? Not bankrupt? Hee.

The roadside is littered with the spent carcasses of umpteen brands who keeled over amid lavish ad budgets. So get that myth out of your purview, you’ll be better for it.

Anyhow bottom line is that I call BS on you. I don’t believe that you, or anyone else, know any developers who have great code they can’t sell. That’s pure nonsense, you’re making that up to be sensational.

The disconnect has nothing to do with marketing, it’s just old fashioned laziness. No developer in the world ever made great software they couldn’t sell. Period. So cut the BS.

By this I mean that I now find execution the most important aspect. Even with great experience most people aren’t willing to put in the time. Execution is the really hard part. And those that do execute often only do so for a few months before dropping out (much like going to the gym).

Therefore as of the last few years one of my newer requirements is that the person has done something in the past for at least 6-12 months. It doesn’t have to be a successful endeavour, they just have to prove to me that they will follow through with it! Most people can’t past a few months, if that.

The more code you had to demo and the more time you have to give to the marketing effort on an ongoing basis the better off you will be.

BTW – I see people looking for partnerships like this on the SitePoint forums from time to time. You may want to check them out. You could also look at BusinessPartners.com and PartnerUp.com.

Good luck in your search!

A senior developper I have invested à good 5 months of R&D in a product I really believe in (visionnary, foolhardy, who knows ?) and its taking shape nicely.

Alas, I am nor a born marketer and not business person either.

The project is big (nation-wide potential on the web) and I need to offload part of ongoing development on a skilled partner.

No revenue to be expected right now (got ideas, skills and chronical overdraft)

I have a busines plan, intersted pospects (I shoulb be spending more time with) but not in a formalized way.

Would you take a second look at my offer (not actually asking you of course, we’re across the Atlantic from each other ?

Offers like the one you mention come along all too often, and drive me absolutely nuts, because subtextually, they say at least two things: one, I don’t think I should bear the risk of implementing my grand idea (which, by the way, will surely make us both rich and is basically risk-free, anyway; only a fool would bypass this amazing offer), and two, I don’t recognize your services as inherently valuable. Both are downright insulting. Who’d ever think of asking his plumber to forego his fees in exchange for a percentage of the savings from some newly installed water-saving feature?

If an idea inspired me, and made me want to take some of the responsibilities of making it successful, I’d absolutely consider an exchange for some ownership. But insinuating that professionals of any kind are just sitting around waiting to absorb risk of the world’s “idea people” is just loony.

A developer needs a marketer as much as the other way around. The point of my post was that he had no marketing experience but was asking me to put in hundreds of hours for free on the hope that he would be able to market it.