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ArticleBot · Oct 21, 2004, 21:29

This is an article discussion thread for discussing the SitePoint article, "Product Strategies To Boost Your Web Business"

greiner · Oct 21, 2004, 21:29

Excellent article Andrew. Another great resource for information on positioning your product can be found on Eric Sink's weblog at http://www.ericsink.com/bos/Business_of_Software.html.

I run a web and software development company (http://www.switchit.com) which recently made the leap to developing a stand alone product (http://www.campaignmonitor.com).

The product has been very well received by the community because we were able to find a niche market that wasn't being serviced well by existing providers.
If I could offer any additional advice, I would recommend selecting an industry that you are already familiar with. This will help in not only developing the product, but also in the crucial positioning and market research phases.

aspen · Oct 21, 2004, 22:00

Excellent, similar to what I've been saying in the forums for a long time. Focusing just on a service business isn't conducive to long term financial health. You need to own something. Don't work for your business, let your business work for you.

A remodeler who can't find work will buy a run down house and create his own work, maybe then he'll rent the place out. In a couple years he'll refinance, use the money to buy two more run down places, fix them up, rent them out. A lot of web developers need to start thinking like that.

Next time you don't have work to do, work for yourself, build something you own.

philwilks · Oct 22, 2004, 02:59

I've been thinking about making the steps to move away from being a purely services based company for some time. This is an excellent article, which has inspired me to finally get to work!

Any suggestions for futher reading? Books? other articles on the net?

Oct 22, 2004, 06:07

Kind of confusing but well worth the reading time. Perhaps a few examples next time of products that Web Developers/Designers have created.
I still think services will always be the mainstream of web development/design. Creative design isn't something that can be sold in a box or stored electronically. On the other hand, code is something you can turn into a product that can be sold to any client looking for a website or small project to be developed it just has to be modular.

sspivey · Oct 22, 2004, 10:18

I have built software that has a niche market. It's designed to sell as a subscription basedmodel like the salesforce.com model you mention.

I am struggling with not knowing how much to charge. My thoughts on pricing have varied from $X to 10 x $X.

I'm afraid if I start polling prosects for pricing input it will show business immaturity or someone will try to copy the idea.

Any thoughts?

**aneitlich** · Oct 22, 2004, 10:38

Sspivey:

Yes. Design your site with different splash/home pages and registration/payment logic so that you can simultaneously test different pricing options.

Andrew

sspivey · Oct 22, 2004, 11:05

aneitlich:

I'm not sure I understand how that addresses my concern or answers the pricing questions. Please explain more - thanks.

**aneitlich** · Oct 22, 2004, 13:35

Sspivey,

I'll cover it in more depth in an upcoming blog.

Andrew

beley · Oct 22, 2004, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by aspen

Next time you don't have work to do, work for yourself, build something you own.

Wise words... You definately practice what you preach. I lost count of how many sites you run (and what blows my mind is that they seem to all be successful).

Definately good to "own" something. I run an e-commerce business, a consulting business and print a newspaper in my home town. Still, I am developing a few niche products for e-commerce. Never can have too many streams of income - especially in such a touchy economy. One or two industries may be down, but others could be booming. Having multiple (and diverse) streams of income ensures you will never go without.

fabrizio · Oct 24, 2004, 06:22

Great article Andrew,
my enterprise is grown exactly because I "invented" a trademark ("Virtual Sheet Music " and "Classical Sheet Music Downloads") and because I am offering both a product (digital sheet music) and a service (sheet music downloads) since 1999... and actually works great, with a grow of 100% year steady.

You told just the correct way.

Bravo!

Sincerely,
Fabrizio Ferrari
Virtual Sheet Music, Inc.
Classical Sheet Music Downloads
http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com

M36Teen · Oct 24, 2004, 20:10

Thanks man, great stuff as always!

petertdavis · Oct 24, 2004, 20:11

Yep, nice article.

transio · Oct 25, 2004, 18:41

Ok, here's a suggestion that I have that's somewhat related to the "me too" product (aka parity product), and I think you'll all be able to use this to your benefit immediately.

Everyone knows (or should know) about freeware products like OSCommerce, PHPNuke, etc. These are parity products that provide real off-the-shelf value to our clients. They are easily installed, easily configured, and with some integration, can be made to look however you want.

Well the idea is to sell these products as "integrated products" (aka solutions). A combination of a product (free OTS software) and service (installation, integration, design) will help you to "productize" your business quickly and easily.

Caveat: be careful not to advertise this as YOUR product. You could advertise your e-commerce package as an integrated product, but be sure to include the details in the fine print!!! You don't wanna get smacked with a lawsuit (GNU doesn't mean you can steal their IP! !!)

Andrew, whaddya think?

**aneitlich** · Oct 27, 2004, 11:24

Transio,

I'm a fan of creating products that can be downloaded instantly wihtout any "service" required at all. If you're going to go the product route, go 100%! I'll show you an example in a few weeks when I launch a new product/venture.

Andrew

Afro Boy · Oct 27, 2004, 18:41

Again, another great article Andrew. You are always inspirational and very motivating.

Anyone here have more examples of 'products' that traditional web\IT service business can sell? I'm not a very good writer so authoring a book or paper may not be my best option! I'm trying to think more of value adds that are not necessarily web\technical related (eg. Content Mgmt Systems).

Cheers,
Af.

PlutoNash · Nov 5, 2004, 22:24

Excellent!

Outside of Bill Myers Online, this is the best article of its subject I have read for a long time.

The different models are excellent for encouragement.

Thank you.

PlutoNash · Nov 5, 2004, 22:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by philwilks

I've been thinking about making the steps to move away from being a purely services based company for some time. This is an excellent article, which has inspired me to finally get to work!

Any suggestions for futher reading? Books? other articles on the net?

You might want to try Bill Myers Online.

Nov 19, 2004, 01:25

Dead on .. ! I'll let you know how it goes.

Jan 26, 2005, 11:48

What a great article! Thanks.

Jul 7, 2005, 05:44

Throw light on uploading a site?

Nov 28, 2005, 07:50

this is real cool

raymondselda · Jan 30, 2009, 09:31

Very good and well-written article! The concepts discussed here can be applied to both offline and online businesses. Thank you Andrew.

Oct 21, 2004, 21:29	#1
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Oct 21, 2004, 21:29	#2
greiner SitePoint Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Sydney Posts: 11	Excellent article Andrew. Another great resource for information on positioning your product can be found on Eric Sink's weblog at http://www.ericsink.com/bos/Business_of_Software.html. I run a web and software development company (http://www.switchit.com) which recently made the leap to developing a stand alone product (http://www.campaignmonitor.com). The product has been very well received by the community because we were able to find a niche market that wasn't being serviced well by existing providers. If I could offer any additional advice, I would recommend selecting an industry that you are already familiar with. This will help in not only developing the product, but also in the crucial positioning and market research phases.

Oct 21, 2004, 22:00	#3
aspen Serial Publisher Join Date: Aug 1999 Location: East Lansing, MI USA Posts: 13,283	Excellent, similar to what I've been saying in the forums for a long time. Focusing just on a service business isn't conducive to long term financial health. You need to own something. Don't work for your business, let your business work for you. A remodeler who can't find work will buy a run down house and create his own work, maybe then he'll rent the place out. In a couple years he'll refinance, use the money to buy two more run down places, fix them up, rent them out. A lot of web developers need to start thinking like that. Next time you don't have work to do, work for yourself, build something you own.

Oct 22, 2004, 02:59	#4
philwilks SitePoint Enthusiast Join Date: May 2004 Location: Salisbury, UK Posts: 55	I've been thinking about making the steps to move away from being a purely services based company for some time. This is an excellent article, which has inspired me to finally get to work! Any suggestions for futher reading? Books? other articles on the net?

Oct 22, 2004, 06:07	#5
Magnus SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	Kind of confusing but well worth the reading time. Perhaps a few examples next time of products that Web Developers/Designers have created. I still think services will always be the mainstream of web development/design. Creative design isn't something that can be sold in a box or stored electronically. On the other hand, code is something you can turn into a product that can be sold to any client looking for a website or small project to be developed it just has to be modular.

Oct 22, 2004, 10:18	#6
sspivey SitePoint Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 90	I have built software that has a niche market. It's designed to sell as a subscription basedmodel like the salesforce.com model you mention. I am struggling with not knowing how much to charge. My thoughts on pricing have varied from $X to 10 x $X. I'm afraid if I start polling prosects for pricing input it will show business immaturity or someone will try to copy the idea. Any thoughts?

Oct 22, 2004, 10:38	#7
aneitlich SitePoint Columnist Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Sarasota FL Posts: 191	Sspivey: Yes. Design your site with different splash/home pages and registration/payment logic so that you can simultaneously test different pricing options. Andrew

Oct 22, 2004, 11:05	#8
sspivey SitePoint Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 90	aneitlich: I'm not sure I understand how that addresses my concern or answers the pricing questions. Please explain more - thanks.

Oct 22, 2004, 13:35	#9
aneitlich SitePoint Columnist Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Sarasota FL Posts: 191	Sspivey, I'll cover it in more depth in an upcoming blog. Andrew

Oct 24, 2004, 06:22	#11
fabrizio SitePoint Addict Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: California Posts: 361	Great article Andrew, my enterprise is grown exactly because I "invented" a trademark ("Virtual Sheet Music " and "Classical Sheet Music Downloads") and because I am offering both a product (digital sheet music) and a service (sheet music downloads) since 1999... and actually works great, with a grow of 100% year steady. You told just the correct way. Bravo! Sincerely, Fabrizio Ferrari Virtual Sheet Music, Inc. Classical Sheet Music Downloads http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com

Oct 24, 2004, 20:10	#12
M36Teen SitePoint Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: OK Posts: 99	Thanks man, great stuff as always!

Oct 24, 2004, 20:11	#13
petertdavis Intoxicated with the madness Join Date: May 2002 Location: New England Posts: 8,830	Yep, nice article.

Oct 25, 2004, 18:41	#14
transio SitePoint Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Miami, FL, USA Posts: 11	Ok, here's a suggestion that I have that's somewhat related to the "me too" product (aka parity product), and I think you'll all be able to use this to your benefit immediately. Everyone knows (or should know) about freeware products like OSCommerce, PHPNuke, etc. These are parity products that provide real off-the-shelf value to our clients. They are easily installed, easily configured, and with some integration, can be made to look however you want. Well the idea is to sell these products as "integrated products" (aka solutions). A combination of a product (free OTS software) and service (installation, integration, design) will help you to "productize" your business quickly and easily. Caveat: be careful not to advertise this as YOUR product. You could advertise your e-commerce package as an integrated product, but be sure to include the details in the fine print!!! You don't wanna get smacked with a lawsuit (GNU doesn't mean you can steal their IP! !!) Andrew, whaddya think?

Oct 27, 2004, 11:24	#15
aneitlich SitePoint Columnist Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Sarasota FL Posts: 191	Transio, I'm a fan of creating products that can be downloaded instantly wihtout any "service" required at all. If you're going to go the product route, go 100%! I'll show you an example in a few weeks when I launch a new product/venture. Andrew

Oct 27, 2004, 18:41	#16
Afro Boy SitePoint Zealot Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 129	Again, another great article Andrew. You are always inspirational and very motivating. Anyone here have more examples of 'products' that traditional web\IT service business can sell? I'm not a very good writer so authoring a book or paper may not be my best option! I'm trying to think more of value adds that are not necessarily web\technical related (eg. Content Mgmt Systems). Cheers, Af.

Nov 5, 2004, 22:24	#17
PlutoNash SitePoint Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: UK Posts: 12	Excellent! Outside of Bill Myers Online, this is the best article of its subject I have read for a long time. The different models are excellent for encouragement. Thank you.

Nov 19, 2004, 01:25	#19
Craig Van Sant SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	Dead on .. ! I'll let you know how it goes.

Jan 26, 2005, 11:48	#20
Clint Wilde SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	What a great article! Thanks.

Jul 7, 2005, 05:44	#21
SATISHVARMA SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	Throw light on uploading a site?

Nov 28, 2005, 07:50	#22
muyiwa oyedemi SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	this is real cool

Jan 30, 2009, 09:31	#23
raymondselda SitePoint Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 3	Very good and well-written article! The concepts discussed here can be applied to both offline and online businesses. Thank you Andrew.