Should I Provide
Free Installations To Customers?
By Robert Plank
Even though you'd probably like to think so, when you put out a
web-based script for sale, you don't hold a monopoly on who can or
can't install it. Even if you make the thing the easiest script ever
installed, you will be dealing, not necessarily with newbies, but with
people who aren't as technologically skilled as you. These people can
type, work a web browser and navigate your interface, but they don't
know how to setup a database, set permissions on files and so on, and
don't care to.
This is where you come in. People who are too afraid of installing
your script are leaving space wide open for you to swoop in and build
a steady stream of income around this demand. Installing a script
(especially your own) could quite possibly be some of the easiest
money you ever make in your programming career, if you do it right.
There are a couple of things that you need to do as a script
installer, that actually are pretty much common sense.
Tip #1. You need to be fast. This means if someone puts in a request
to do an install, do the install as soon as you get it. With most
scripts installation is 5 minutes or less so this should be no problem
for you. If you don't check your e-mail every day, it's possible to
setup forwarders or filters on your server that can send an SMS to
your phone and page you immediately. People love it (especially on
the Internet where the expected wait time for responses are 24-48
hours) when they give up their money and 5 minutes later, their script
is loaded and ready to go on their server.
Tip #2. Charge a lot! Even though you're only putting in 5 minutes
of work, the work you are doing is invaluable for the customer. You
should be charging a fee, not an hourly rate. Don't charge $5 or even
$10 for an install job. Keep at it $25, minimum. $50 is a good
number if you can get away with it.
Doing install jobs for Lightning Track, my first "big" script, the
price for an install was $50 if you were setup on a familiar web host
like Host4Profit or ThirdSphere, and $75 if you were on some unknown
host since there were a couple of unexpected things that could come up
for example on Windows-based hosts, or hosts without easy to use
control panels. People will pay, and will be satisfied if the service
is timely and reliable.
Tip #3. Don't include an install in the price of your product. Make
it optional, because some people will be perfectly happy to put the
script in themselves.
Tip #4. Use a form. Have a special page prepared with details the
person can fill out, like your web host's name, your domain name, FTP
login and password, control panel username and password, mySQL
username and password. I've found that most people who are smart
enough to ask for an install include this sort of information already
but this will keep you from someone who has absolutely no clue from e-mailing
you back and forth or calling you on the phone multiple times. Let
them know which fields are optional so even if they don't know their
mySQL password, you can check in their control panel and set one up if
need be.
You should definitely NOT provide free installs to customers, because
your time is important. With paid installs there is no way you can be
"swamped". At $50 per install, 10 install requests a day mean $500
for 50 minutes of work total. If at some point you decide even THAT
work is too repetitive, you can always hand the install jobs off to
some trusted associate, doesn't even have to be a programmer, just
someone skilled enough to add a database or do whatever your install
instructions require. Finding a person willing to make $50 for 5
minutes of work is not difficult.
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