Good thread idea OP. I am in the process of starting my own software development company and I'm still working on a good marketing plan.

Regarding advice: so far I found my first clients by manually pitching my services to startups on StackOverflow, AngelList, etc. I'd tailor the pitch to each company and offer them my development services. This effectively landed me my last contract where I made 50k~ in a few months which honestly isn't bad for a first attempt.

Now I'm hoping to take things even further by the end of this year as I currently need some new customers.

>>1250301
>putting things in the middle on the top shelf
>not having a middle support for the top shelf

>>1250309
50k Sounds great, I think contracting can be quite profitable, once you get into a field of expertise and can start to build a track record.

I'm thinking on similar lines. End of this year I'm planning on creating a small brand for myself by grinding through a lot of generic problems and hopefully hands-on-enough solutions. Step two is to acquire customers with more specific problems, which I bet will find me through my outlets (as they are already doing now).

Anyway, good luck my friend.

>>1250324
Thanks, this is probably the first actual business thread I've seen here so far.

>>1250301
Yes, as a lone wagecuck making overpriced software tailored to professionals in various sectors.
The boss found clients through ""networking"", also sent newsletters targeting relevant professions.

70k yearly in subscriptions and sales, could have probably been much higher if we had a proper marketing/sales strategy.

>>1250340
Can you break down how to network for all the autists here (mostly just myself.)

hello OP

I used to sell runescape scripts (for in game botting).

>Is your software good?

>Can people get away with out using it?

>Do you have competitors?

>Are your customers willing to pay for it?
When I first wrote my software, I wasn't known in the community and it was hard for me to sell scripts (since there were a lot of free alternatives of varying quality). I knew my quality had to set me apart from the rest of the similar scripts.

What I needed was to build a rapport with the userbase of the botting forum. I sold licenses at first for 5$/license. Once people started giving me positive feedback it moved to 10$/hr.

I also had a trial version as time went on. It allowed the user to use the script for 20 minutes (not a lot for serious use but enough for you to see it works)

Not many people want to spend money on runescape let alone runescape bots, but I had to have mine work well in order to generate success.

>>1250343

I'm no networking pro, but I do the following:

* contribute to your community in some meaningful, traceable way - be helpful, polite and friendly - that's a win for all
* also: engage with the community via ML, email, conferences, questions, answers
* go to meetups, meet people, talk about things

>>1250363
And how does this lead to conversions? I.e., do you introduce yourself and say that you're such and such from X company that does Y? What is the process to turn those meetings and stuff like that to customers?

(Wasn't kidding about being a social retard.)

well, how can I say this. COuple of guys I met at meetups have more work than time, happy to pass on contracts and jobs, if they see you stick around. Guy on a ML had a problem, answered problem, guy asked if I want to work for him, deal. Be prepared, that a lot of things do not work out as well. Had many failed attempts (and will have many more) inbetween. The thing is to try, do and deliver.

If you a retard, you surely have a LOT of expertise in certain things. Try to find out what these things - because these are the things you are comportably taking about. Start there. E.g. if your life and death hangs on knowing all HTTP headers in and out, make up a nice list and aggregate your vast information into some smaller, maybe actionable knoweldge for others. E.g. there are 3000 HTTP in the wild, but here is a frequency distribution and these are the ones, that get misused/ignored/etc. the most. I'd love to hear about this stuff, and if it's coming from a shy nerd, the more credible this deep technical shit will be.

For real, I'm only partially joking.

>>1250447
Solid post anon. Thanks a lot, I very much appreciate it.