beprofessional.com

[DuaneJackson]

www.beprofessional.com looks like it could be of interest to some of you.

I'm curious to know if any of you have heard of them, had any experience of them or have an opinion on what their site is offering.

[Anonymous]

hmmm..had a look..its interesting the trial version is "Free", and in my understanding that the description you give of a product needs to match what is given after a quik look i found almost eveything blocked out by thier logo and a nice black box saying its the trail version and to phone to upgrade.. not quite free then as its of no use.. much like a "free" oxygen tank for a fish.. i imagined some kind of time limit and functionality limit rather than total functionality limit... for me it doesnt do what it says on the tin..and i dont trust that...

thanks anyway :)

Rade

[DuaneJackson]

Thanks Rade.

It's not a business I am involved with or promoting. It's just something I discovered and am interested in promoting one of my own products through it.

Thanks for your feedback though.

[Anonymous]

No problem....be careful..i may be the only one with this viewpoint (doubtful) but it could end up a case of "guilty via association"..whats the product??

[DuaneJackson]

It's KashFlow, see the accounting link in my signature.

It's going very well at the moment, a lot of the people that use it are loving it, and that's a weird comment to get for an accounting product!

We'll be finding out this evening if we're finalists for Business Innovation of the Year award at the NAtional Business Awards. *fingers crossed*

[Anonymous]

goodluck... one thing..promote it yourself :)

use an offer referers (people who get their freinds/business partners to get the product) get some kind of reward and the person who got referd gets it alittle cheaper...let them do the walking for you..also do trial versions stick it on download.com etc...marketing doesnt have to be big and sparkly..but it has to be smart..also do a "donation" X copies of kashflow to the NHS or something big..then err..well newspapers get hold of next to anything these days :) (just make sure if you get interviewed to do nothing but talk about the features) me personally i dont care if 50 people say its great..because those 50 people could just be one person..all i want to know is..

is it cheap?, will it fry my brain trying to learn it? and how long will it be till its obsolete

good luck :)

[DuaneJackson]

Good ideas - we'd already thought of some of them. We have a scheme so that people can reccomend it to others and earn inthe process and we make sure all users are aware of it.

It's already free for 60 days to everyone that wants to take it for a spin. Becuase it's a hosted service there is nothing to download and install. I'll have to have a look to see if download.com do this. If not we'll just make a downloadable file that just opens your webpage to our homepage : )

We're also doing some of the big and sparkly advertising, marketting and PR. We had an advert in the recent issue of .net magazine and also in the Official MS Windows XP special eddition on starting a small business. We've had some sign-ups from those but not enough to cover the cost yet. Although it's early days!

[Anonymous]

it'll all take time.. DONT neglect networking (people networking) one thing you could do is go to conferences, accountance/finacing things etc..meet people talk to them you will be able to drum up extra interest if you dont push your product... networking is one of the most important but undervalued marketing tactic...customers are immune/indifferent to billboards...but not to other people ;)

[Anonymous]

For me personally I wouldn't use Kashflow because it's not a resident programme. My private information and my company's private information would be on your system. I don't know you, I don't know your company so personally (and possibly many others think this) I wouldn't be inclined to use your service.

If it runs on the internet it will run on someones home system. CD's that you can distribute will certainly open other doors that may be closed to you. Put the programme on the CD but use online aurthorization(ing) to make sure the person who's using that programme has bought it off you.

At the confrences I mentioned take only two CD's don't give out the URL give out your contact details and get theirs, That way you can give them a more personal/attentive service (stops them just agreeing and walking away with no intention of doing anything)

Rade

[DuaneJackson]

A lot of people have the same objection, and it's something we justhave to deal with.

"If it runs on the internet it will run on someones home system" This isn't true, unless you have a web server running on your home PC with all the required components installed and configured.

At this stage we're not planning on marketting directly to the end user, it makes no sense financially.

[Anonymous]

either way what ever your plans remeber when all is said and done business is a numbers game.. only X% of the people who know will buy only x% of those who know will tell friends etc etc etc.. survival in business is often down to X% of people buying/using your service.. its up to you which doors you keep closed product and custmoer wise...but be aware the door you leave closed today may be the door that gets you out of trouble tommorrow

and components can be installed by software and softwae can be changed to run on almost any machine..just because yours doesnt NOW doesnt mean it cant ever..

Good luck