HOW TO CREATE BETTER E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS.(Industry Trend or
Event)
E-mail newsletters can be a powerful tool for building
relationships with software customers, argues Sarah Stambler, an expert
on electronic marketing. The cost of distribution is negligible, . . .
THE FUTURE OF "PURE JAVA".(Microsoft's Java plans
in light of the court decision supporting Sun Microsystems'
ownership of the p
Who controls the Java programming language? For the moment, the
answer seems to be Sun Microsystems, which last week won a surprise
injunction against Microsoft's efforts to "pollute" Java
with . . .
A CABLE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE FOR SOFTWARE?
Hard on the heels of Oracle's new subscription model for
enterprise applications (Soft*letter, 9/30/98), a small venture-funded
startup is about to test a similar concept for mass-market . . .
HOW TO BOOST TELESALES RESPONSE RATES.(Industry Trend or
Event)
"Even with business-to-business calls, we've all become
conditioned to think of telemarketing as harassment," says sales
consultant and author Herb Fox. But Fox argues that selling by phone . . .
VALUATION: THE COMPARABLES MELTDOWN.(Industry Trend or
Event)
Whenever a software company sells stock--to private investors, to
an acquirer, or through a public offering--the inevitable first question
is, What are the comparables? Since no two companies are . . .
SPECIAL REPORT: ANNUAL FINANCIAL RATIOS.(Industry Trend or
Event)
During 1997, operating income for 63 public PC software companies
plunged to its lowest level in three years--to a negative 13% (median)
of sales. For most of these companies, this deteriorating . . .
LESSONS FROM A WINNER.(Netscape Depot)(Company Business and
Marketing)
Netscape Depot, Netscape's software Web store, is one of the
great success stories in online software sales. Originally created to
help Netscape's developer community distribute products, the . . .
THE CASE FOR LIVELY COPY.(Designing an Internet
page)(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
"There are lots of people out there telling you to stay cool
and distant when you're writing copy for your Web site," says
freelance copywriter Ivan Levinson. "I say, hold your ears and
don't . . .
WEB STORE MARKETING TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS.(Internet/Web/Online
Service Information)
For a while, the notion of selling software over the Internet
seemed pretty radical. Will customers actually buy this way? What about
channel conflict? The technology? Piracy? Credit card fraud? . . .
WHAT E-COMMERCE BUYERS REALLY WANT
In the rush to erect storefronts on every corner of the Web, a lot of
e-merchants often neglect a fundamental question: Why would anyone shop
here? In fact, we live in a world that's already . . .
THE ORACLE SUBSCRIPTION PRICING TEST
So far, subscription-based software pricing hasn't produced more
than a few sputters on the launching pad. Interliant, one of the few
hosting services to offer subscription applications, so far has . . .
THE 1998 SOFT*LETTER EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION SURVEY
How much should executive pay reflect a company's stock market
performance? So far, the PC software industry's collective answer
has been, "a lot." The highest-paid executives at 62 public
companies . . .
DATA POINTS: MARKETING RATIOS
Marketing budgets for software companies tend to reflect wide
variations in sales channels and promotional strategies, so
industry-wide averages usually don't provide meaningful benchmarks
for . . .
GORILLA BRANDING
In the consumer world, a company's most valuable asset usually
isn't products or technology--it's a well-cultivated brand.
Front-line marketing employees at companies like Proctor & Gamble
and RJR . . .
THE DEVALUATION OF OPTIONS
Has equity lost its old magic? Not entirely, say compensation experts
Hali and Mel Croner, who have tracked pay and incentive trends in the
software industry for almost a decade. "But enough people . . .
12 WAYS TO BOOST WEB STORE SALES
"Electronic distribution has become a numbers game," argues
Todd Frostad of Digital River, a leading Web store hosting service. With
hundreds of sites selling software and hundreds of thousands . . .
"Network Computing Architecture". (News Briefs)
(People)
ORACLE chief executive Larry Ellison on his company's past
failure to explain what its "Network Computing Architecture"
slogan actually meant: "We made a terrible mistake in giving
Internet computing . . .
DATA POINTS: VIDEOGAME SOFTWARE GROWTH.(Interactive Digital
Software Association's report) (Industry Trend or
Event)(Column)
According to the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the
hottest growth market for entertainment products these days is the
videogame segment. Sales of software for Sony, Nintendo, Sega . . .
WHAT E-COMMERCE BUYERS REALLY WANT. (Georgia Institute of
Technology's GVU 9th WWW User Survey) (Industry Trend or
Event)
In the rush to erect storefronts on every corner of the Web, a lot of
e-merchants often neglect a fundamental question: Why would anyone shop
here? In fact, we live in a world that's already . . .
HOW TO MOTIVATE BETA TESTERS. (Industry Trend or Event)
The typical beta test program suffers a whopping 85% dropout rate,
says Michael Shoppel, president of BetaSphere, a consulting firm that
runs product testing programs for technology companies. "Often . . .
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