Creative Ways to Sell your software

1. Use a reliable cloud hosting service instead of managing everything in-house. Why spend the time and money on building and maintaining your infrastructure when you can host in the cloud? "In just a few hours, a hosting provider can provision dedicated servers and cloud servers for you, and your business will be up and running with limited cost and risk," explains Emil Sayegh, the CEO and president of Codero Hosting, a provider of dedicated, managed and cloud hosting services

Other benefits of hosting your software in the cloud: "You can do all your testing and development in their data center and then deploy into production," he says. "Once in production, if the load increases or decreases you can scale your infrastructure on demand without owning a single piece of equipment, or worrying about server maintenance and upkeep."

2. Beta test. "To sell software online it's important to get feedback before investing too many resources into the development of your site or product," says Phil Sharp, senior marketing manager, UserTesting.com. "Mock up the simplest version of what you're offering, get it in front of people and get their brutally honest feedback. This will help you improve your product early and save you thousands of dollars down the road."

3. Offer a free trial. Especially if you are "a small, unknown company, you need to provide something to help potential customers see that your product is not a scam, and it will work for them," says Kelly Wilkerson, cofounder, Decipher Media, which offers desktop solutions for managing iPhone data. "Slightly over half of the 'Buy' button presses on our Web page come through the 'Register' button within our trial software, rather than our regular product page on the site. Testimonials help. Software safety badges help. But nothing helps as much as a free trial."

4. Consider a freemium model. "Another option is to offer freemium versions of your software--free access to basic features with the option to access premium features for an upgrade cost," says Michelle Nerlinger, director of Marketing at SafeNet, a data protection provider. "It's a smart up-sell path that can encourage paid licenses." Adds Ryan Connors, the marketing manager at Apptegic, a customer engagement solution provider, "By breaking down the barriers to adoption, you'll find people more eager and willing to try out your software and service."

5. Show customers you understand their pain. "Whether it's telling stories to highlight how your software makes life easier, or alleviating fearful or cautious emotions that come with a potentially substantial investment by providing valuable information, creating human connections around your product is a powerful way to stand out against the competition," says Seth Lieberman, the CEO of SnapApp, a marketing platform for creating interactive content to drive leads and engagement.

6. Include product feature/benefit comparison tables. Including "product feature and benefit comparison tables, which that show your product in the best light, is essential," says David Howard, a principle at marketing firm Consultiq. "They summarize in an easy to read format the tradeoffs that a buyer has to consider in the purchase cycle. So long as you have a competitive offering, there's no reason to be afraid to do this."5. Show customers you understand their pain. "Whether it's telling stories to highlight how your software makes life easier, or alleviating fearful or cautious emotions that come with a potentially substantial investment by providing valuable information, creating human connections around your product is a powerful way to stand out against the competition," says Seth Lieberman, the CEO of SnapApp, a marketing platform for creating interactive content to drive leads and engagement.

7. Solicit independent third-party reviews. "Anyone can tell you their products are worth buying, so it is best to have an honest third party referral," says Jennifer Borun, senior marketing director, GoingOn Networks, a developer of social collaboration and communication solutions for higher education. "Encouraging your customers to tell their story of why they selected your product and how it meets their challenge is the best way to get your message out and sell your product. You can capture these stories in case studies, an interactive online forum or blog postings."

In addition, "try to get a well-respected publication to test your solution/offering," suggests Allan Thorvaldsen, CEO,Panorama9, a cloud-based IT management platform. "This will validate your product (if it is any good) and generate traffic towards your Website for no cost."

8. Offer a money-back guarantee. "Studies have shown that a trusted and well-presented money back guarantee can actually increase sales by up to 40 percent," says Stephen Dodd, CEO ofOfficeTime.net, a developer of time tracking software. As for how long the guarantee should be for, Dodd suggests 120 days, which is what OfficeTime.net offers customers.

"A short guarantee makes it more likely the customer will take you up on it," Doddsays. "They feel a time pressure to cash in the guarantee before it's too late. With a long guarantee, the customer feels they have more time to make up their mind." Moreover, he says, "the longer the customer spends using your app, the more time they have to get to know you and fall in love with what you've created--and the less likely they will request a refund."

9. Include a phone number, in addition to an email address, on your Website. "By adding our phone number to our Website, we increased sales and not calls," says John Hurley, the cofounder of the business class file sharing service SmartFile. "Sure an email is easier to administer, but showing people you have a phone number gives potential customers a sense of comfort knowing that you are a real business."