Trial software and registering

[kee nethery]

On Mar 16, 2005, at 5:00 AM, Karen wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Does anyone have any advice on how to go about putting in time limits 
> to a
> program to give, say, a 30-day trial?  And perhaps even more 
> importantly,
> how to implement a key system to remove the trial restrictions for
> purchasers?

I highly recommend that you do not time bomb your software if you want 
people to use it and pay you for it.

Instead think addiction. Give them a product for free that does 
something useful. Let them have that functionality forever. Get them 
addicted to your software. Then, make sure the hook gets them to pay. 
For example, if it is server software, pause after some long period 
random number of days (30 to 60), at say 3am, and halt operation until 
they answer a math quiz. Let them keep using it but remind them to pay. 
Or if the software has some form of data entry, let them enter and use 
it with 100 records but if they want that 101th record, they need to 
pay. If they've entered 100 records, they are hooked. Or if the 
software manipulates data, manipulate the data so that they can see 
that it really does manipulate the data, and perhaps do it for files 
that are small with no restrictions, but for files that are large, mark 
them in some way so it is obvious that it can do the work, but they 
cannot use the results professionally. Think addition. Let them keep it 
and use it forever and make your hook be something that tips them over 
the edge.

If you time bomb it, or do a phone home, you'll eliminate potential 
customers before they get hooked and they will remove it from their 
hard drive before they can pass it to a friend.

Just my two cents.

Kee Nethery
Kagi