Posted by Kevin Matthews on August 02, 1999 at 20:00:51:
In Reply to: Additional Exposure to DW posted by Gary Veasy on August 01, 1999 at 22:30:23:
Hi Gary. The mail order catalogs do provide good exposure. Software shelf space has continued to shrink over the last couple of years, so nothing much beyond broad market bestsellers (with big marketing $$ behind them) gets into the stores.
What computer users may not be realize is the basic racket run by the mail order companies. Not only do they demand big discounts from publishers (much of which get passed on to customers), but IN ADDITION the mail order places charge high prices for products to be included. That's right, publishers pay thousands of dollars a month for each little ad in those catalogs.
In fact, advertising in a premiere magazine like Architectural Record costs roughly the same as advertising in a funky software mail order catalog.
The catalog advertising prices are as high as the market will bear, which of course is based on the value of the catlog for selling broad market best-selling products. While DesignWorkshop is the leading software in the design-oriented 3D modeling category, we've still basically ahead of the technology wave, with a smaller special audience -- even compared to something like PowerCADD. PowerCADD is in a more established category, drafting, and sells to both mechanical as well as architectural markets. Since the mechanical market is much bigger ($$) than the architectural, the effect is magnified.
Therefore, consider that when we do mail order catalog advertising (as we did for a couple of years while we were getting going), we're faced with paying for the whole software market, while our real audience is just a tiny segment of architects and 3D designers. DesignWorkshop Classic Home Design helps us provide software to a broader market, but even in the home design category it's a premium option.
Our bottom line at Artifice is that by communicating with you directly we can create the best deal both for you to affordably use the software, and for us to support and create it. Our business situation right now is better than ever, and cutting out the costs of inefficient marketing vehicles is a really big part of that. Together we can just cut through a lot of the empty hype of the high-tech sales frenzy, and get right into the good stuff, with integrity intact.
Study after study shows that word of mouth is the biggest factor in software buying decisions. So keep doing what you're all doing, and spread the word!
best,
K
PS: With over 1,000,000 visitors since Fall 1998, the Great Buildings Online really builds the base of our user pyramid, with great numbers of DesignWorkshop Lite downloads daily. But for those more serious Pro users, your personal endorsements are golden. Thanks!