Hi there! I am writing this so maybe some of you could give me some unique hints of how to improve online sales. Up to now I achieved about one order a day, but would like to see some more. I''ll shoot the first who tells me: Upload it to download sites. I said UNIQUE hints, I already did the common stuff. If someone of you can reach a big number of people and is interested in becoming a reseller for Smugglers, I am willing to give you up to 25% of the sales you achieve. ------------- http://www.nbsd.de E-mail: contact@nbsd.de

Before any flaming starts.....

Let it be known I am only posting my opinion here as my attempt at helping Jester101 out. I am not trying to bash anyone

End of disclaimer...

Jester,

I took a peek at your web page and it really didn''t jump out and grab me. In fact, the few minutes I spent on your page gave me absolutely no incentive to even look at your game titles. Because of this, I am entirely unlikely to consider ordering a game from your site. Even if your page was advertised everywhere, I don''t think you would get the purchases you hope for. (I know, I know...I''m as guilty on my own web site).

This said, I think by re-designing your web site in a way that highlights your products might be a good alternative. Let one of the first things people see on your site be images of your products. Entice them to click the "Purchase Now" button by letting people know you have some serious products.

Designing a great web site is a tough thing to do. There are many factors you need to consider. Some of them are:
1. Clearly define your message. What are you trying to accomplish?
2. Easy navigation. Contrary to popular belief (and most of the sites I have been to), the higher number of mouse clicks is not better.
3. Keep the text on your primary screens brief. If the user wants to read more, give them a "more info" link or something. Most people are just quickly browsing and will skip long sections of text (like this reply).

There are many more things to consider in your web design. If you have trouble focusing on what you want to accomplish, consider contracting the design of your web site out. These designers should also know most of the tricks of getting your web page noticed.

I hope this helps you rather than offends you. Again, I am just as guilty as many other people when it comes to making these mistakes. It''s tough to make a great web site when you are also trying to make great games.

borngamer

Getting a sale per day is actually pretty good. Congrats! =)

I''ve found that the best approach to improving sales is just keep improving the product (and the product''s web page presentation). Major improvements aren''t required. Just focus on making one part "better" at a time. Incremental improvement with reasonably frequent updates (once a month, for instance) will result in increasing sales and increasingly-professional product.

Listen to your users and incorporate their suggestions and bug reports. You''ll be amazed at how much customer loyalty that inspires. Word of mouth marketing from happy, loyal users is best kind.

Persistance pays in the shareware industry. Just keep on moving forward and you''ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.


DavidRM
Samu Games

Well, I''m exactly qualified to give advice, BUT... I''ll do it anyway:

Word of mouth is probably the most important advertising for your game. Making it the best it could possibly be is the most productive thing you could do.

Second... have you tried sending free copies to magazines and websites that cover games? Normally they wouldn''t give shareware a second look, but extremely well-done shareware games *can* get coverage in major computer game mags and websites. Examples: Spiderweb Software''s Exile series, Dink Smallwood, the new Star Control and Starflight fan projects.

That Exile series rocked for it''s time.
Too bad if you reformated your computer you couldn''t re-register it without getting in contact with them.

I agree, nothing beat''s word of mouth, when a personal friend recommends something your more likely to buy it then some marketing, how ever an ''appealing'' website also helps.
www.novalogic.com there website isn''t very good but it advertises there main products as soon as you hit the front page so might want to check that out. Let the internet community know about your game, Word of mouth and download site''s will do the trick but not always.

Yes, borngamer. You are right. I have slightly changed the design like putting the news in a extra window and bring more product information on the first pages.
Better now?

-------------
http://www.nbsd.de
E-mail: contact@nbsd.de

Yes, much improved! I looked at it briefly yesterday and couldn''t even load the screenshots... but maybe that was because you were moving them.

SpiderWeb Software does all their sales through their own website (or snail mail like old school shareware):

www.spidweb.com

Check out their site for a good example (of course, they make killer games also).

Also check out DavidRM''s site... his game is online-only I believe. (?)

Better, more to the point less searching to find want you are looking at.

www.samugames.com created both ''Artifact'' and ''Paintball-NET'' both online-only shareware game''s.
www.davidrm.com created ''The Journal'' which is standard shareware