What is the best way to sell a software product?

Question

Marketing

I know several directions that are currently working.
1. Make the product free and earn on paid plugins and add-ons.
2. Make the product paid.
3.Make the product completely free with all the add-ons and modules, though I have a hard time imagining the monetization of this item.
Does anyone have experience on this matter? Which way is the most effective, under what conditions, perhaps there are more options. What is the best way to promote a product? How important is brand and design?

Answer 1

It depends on many factors, including the quality of your product, the quality of competitors' products.
If the product is b2b, then paid is better, but the quality should be at the level.
If b2c, then you need to think carefully, it will be difficult on the Russian market, but if it is sold abroad, then even less, but still b2c products are not expensive, 50-100 dollars for the most expensive product. an average of 20-30.
It is easy to calculate how many sales you need at least a month to have.
Now there is a large entry threshold - there are definitely many ready-made products of competitors in almost every niche, at least 10-15. You will have to invest in promotion. 15 years ago, you could throw any craft on the market and earn decently.
In short, there are many different strategies, but they depend on the product. You can first make the first version free, the second paid. You can make an open source and take it for finalizing the product (but it must be very complex and promoted). You can make it paid, but at a low price. In any case, the product must be promoted so that it is at least a little recognizable. It is unlikely that you will be able to earn money on it immediately without investments.

Answer 2

4. Make a free limited version and a paid full-featured version.
5. Make a free trial.
In these cases, a limited version or a trial version act as an advertisement for a full-fledged paid program.

Answer 3

Do you have the product itself? is there a demand? If not, then the question is meaningless. Everyone has his own path.