5 Lessons I learned from selling over 1800 copies of software.

So I was feeling nostalgic. I decided to go through some of my old stuff. Then, I remembered when I used to write scripts for sale. I looked at my vendor dashboard to ponder about "the good old days."

Then, I looked at the number of copies sold. The number is 1818. It may not be a lot of money as compared to later projects. But that was part of my foundation.

And then, I realized that someone just starting might want inspiration and tips to get going. Many talented developers struggle to sell their products and attract users. If that's you, hopefully, these five lessons will help you.

Lesson #1 - Search for problems.

What do you do when nobody knows who you are and you want to make money?

Solve a problem for someone. Charge some money. Rinse, repeat.

The code I wrote didn't change the Internet. But it solved problems. You want problems small enough that you can handle them yet big enough for someone to pay for the solution.

What I did was I researched through comments. I looked for patterns in the issues people complained about. Then, I wrote scripts that solved that problem - and charged a bit of money.

That's all there was to it.

Lesson #2 - Interact with your market before you launch

Before launching my first script, I commented on a lot of discussions. I asked a lot of questions. I made notes by hand in my notepad. I made it a point to understand what people wanted and how the problem affected it.

These notes became very useful later.

Lesson #3 - Make sure you have time to support your customers

This one caught me off-guard. I didn't realize that people would send in support tickets. I spent a lot of time fixing bugs and responding to support tickets. The good thing was that the support helped build a good relationship with the customers.

You don't want refunds from frustrated customers!

Later on, I ran a small discussion support forum. That was a game-changer. People helped each other based on the products I created. It reduced the load on me, and it was much more fun. Plus, there was additional revenue because it was on subscription for Premium buyers. (side lesson - have an upsell, ideally a subscription.)

Lesson #4 - Writing is everything

Many, many developers are better than me. I do not doubt that. It's not the code that got me the results. But what makes a difference is that I learned how to write. And not just to create content - I understood how to write to persuade.

Even for the sales videos, I wrote the scripts carefully beforehand. I would have sold much if not for my writing. The time and money I spent on copywriting gave me the edge.

If you are serious, put some effort into improving your writing.

Lesson #5 - Appreciate all progress

This lesson was the most painful one to learn. At the time, I didn't appreciate these sales. I compared myself to people I considered bigger than me. So what did I do?

I sold the rights to most of the scripts - only to find out I could have made way more money. I thought I had failed because I didn't understand that you start somewhere and then build it up.

In other words, because the business didn't blow up, I thought it wasn't working.

Ah well. The good thing is I validated that I could create products people wanted. And I have used the experience to build other projects. I am yet to build my biggest project to date.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.