Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Sorry it took so long to respond to your post Tangtungler. I`ve been really busy of late and missed the notification of reply.

[quote=tangtungler]I know there are thousands of software apps that need tutorials, but will people pay for them or wouldn`t they just expect the software provider to provide them for free? After a software provider sells the product, many of them could care less about paying someone to develop a separate tutorial on how to use it (unfortuneately). [/quote]

What one expects and what one gets are very often two different birds.

What`s your time worth.  What`s the time of 20 of your employees worth?  100 employees?  What`s the cost to correct mistakes made due to poor training?  This is where one finds some real value in tutorials/training and where a robust marketing plan must concentrate.  Selling the value inherent in educating the workforce/end user. 

I see three revenue streams with Scate`s Ignite2000

1. The Custom Build Tutorial - a process needs to be defined and the information made available to numerous end users.  A "content creator" must learn the process and then create the tutorial.  The process owner`s primary job skill is probably NOT tutorial creation and there is no one on-staff with those skills.  Bring in a specialist, a "content creator", market the value of a specialist by pointing out the learning curve required to bring up someone up to speed (please note that if the target company were aware of the availability of Scate`s Ignite2000 and the easy learning curve they might be tempted to just bypass your services... so lets not tell `em about Scate - Sorry Jeff) on the conventional forms of tutorial creation and the time it takes to master those skills.
2. Build for the Masses - When I say "masses" I`m referring to those end users of widely available but complex software programs that have to deal with long and steep learning curves to master an applications intricacies.  My son`s audio recording software for instance, can do some amazing things but... for many people to learn about these requires not just a good help function but a college level class. 
   
   In my distant past I recall one college course that was devoted to nothing but the operation of a Texas Insturment Business Analyst calculator - cost = $300.00 plus umpteen weeks of on campus classes.  One can`t escape the cost of the credits but I surely wouldn`t have minded paying $50 to have the course presented "on-demand" and avoided the cost of my time in attending the class.
   
   One only has to search the internet to find a plethora of forums and message boards devoted to mastering some software product. My mind races at the thought of all the code once sell over and over at minimal cost tutorials that could be created.  And unless there is a major software rewrite... the tutorial may take a few days to create and yet be sold 1,000`s of times for a nominal fee.
3. Automated Sales Presentation - Contact MiteyMite for this one.  I believe this is an area that she is pursuing with Ignite2000

Well... anyway, I`m rambling on here.  The bottom line is think back on how many times you`ve been frustrated with some software`s "help" functon or how many times you`d have gladly paid to have someone "show" you exactly how something needed to be done.  This is a think outside of the box exercise because in the past the technology has been in the form of "books" and written information.  This technology can incorporate the entire gamut of learning tools.  Visual, Audible and Text

once again  Pokerman had hit the nail on the head.

Michael T

Oh, and by the way, we are releasing a new, lighter version of Ignite two weeks from yesterday.  It will be priced at $37.95.

No, I did not mis-type that.  Stay tuned folks!

Hi Everyone,

Jeff Holth from Scate is correct....a new release of Ignite called STANDARD is coming out in a few weeks that is like the more feature rich Ignite PREMIER (the one you saw in the webinars) except it only lets you publish lessons (no courses).  At a price tag of only $37.95 it is the kind of thing that every person who commmunicates with others should own and know how to use.  I am really impressed at this move my Scate to address or position this new product so that everyone can Ignite IT !!!!!

I would suggest that we all continue to work on developing examples with the version of Ignite that you currently have and then share it with everyone on this forum.   I am working on several projects as well with Ignite and hope to share them with everyone soon.  I will also  be using the Ignite Standard version when it comes out since I see opportunity to create a ton of small lessons that can be shared easily with everyone.

Way to go Scate.....whats next!!!!!!!!

Cheers!

Mike Nunnery

Pokerman,

 Thanks for the great response. It was worth the wait! I`m also interested in what MighteyMite is doing with the automated sales presentation. Care to share ideas MighteyMite?

I`m going to be in Phoenix next week going through sales certification training with Integrity Systems, so I may not be able to respond before next Friday. Thanks again Pokerman. I`ll keep you guys posted on what I develop with Ignite.

I wasn`t clear on what Ignite Lite does. A course is basically a series of individual lessons, so what is the difference? I`m assuming Scate has the difference listed on their website. I`ll check it out. Till next week....

Tangtungler

The details about the new release will be posted two weeks from Friday.

I probably just should have waited until then to mention it! 

Yes, this type of quick tutorial will be used for sales (product features & highlights), customer awareness/education and to provide an example of ease of purchase.