In articles on JavaRush, we often talk about the financial side of programming - when we write about how a young developer can find his first job , talk about promising niches for Java coders, or talk about the growing number of vacancies for Java specialists . In these materials, as a rule, we take into account only one channel of income for a programmer who knows Java - employment and work “for an uncle,” preferably for a good pay. But there is another way - creating your own software and making money on it. This, of course, is more complicated than just learning Java using the JavaRush course, gaining experience , making a great resume , creating a page on LinkedIn and finding a permanent job in some company . But the financial return from selling your own software, if successful, can be much more significant. Therefore, today we will talk about how you can make money on your own software products and share insights on the topic from experienced programmers.
Think ahead about monetizing your software
We'll start with some basic advice from Joseph Mandelbaum, an experienced developer and head of the IT company Perion, who recommends thinking about monetizing your products from the very beginning. “Although many software and mobile application developers often set themselves the goal of making money from their products, often the monetization strategy is secondary for them, while the product itself is at the forefront for them, which, in general, is correct. However, the monetization strategy plays a key role in the financial success of a software product, so you should think about it from the very beginning,” the expert notes. There are various ways to monetize your own software, which we will talk about in this material. They can be combined or changed, trying one by one and selecting the method that will best suit the goals and objectives of the developer, as well as his software product. Some methods are best for mobile applications, while others are more effective for desktop programs and applications.
Built-in advertising
Built-in advertising is one of the most popular methods of monetization, both in mobile applications and in desktop programs. Advertisements are placed somewhere on the main screen of the program or shown to the user when moving from one screen to another (advertising inserts). Typically, such advertising generates some income for every thousand views or for every click on the banner. The amount of this income can vary greatly depending on which advertising network is connected, what type of advertising is shown to users and what its target audience is. Of course, for such advertising to bring in any significant money, the number of users viewing it must be very large. As many experts note, advertising in a software product is placed in many ways. For example, it can be shown during loading or before launching the application; an advertising banner can be placed in the side of the interface, in the top or bottom panel, depending on the type of program and its design. The main thing is that the advertising is as relevant as possible and irritates users as little as possible.
Freemium model
Freemium or shareware distribution method is the second most popular method of software monetization today. Distribution according to the Freemium model means that downloading and installing a program or application is free and available to everyone, but the free version includes only a certain set of basic functions, while other functions are available only in the paid version. This method is now particularly popular in the gaming industry (and not only there), where it has shown high efficiency in the segment of mobile gaming applications and casual games for desktop platforms. In games, users usually have all the functions available by default, but by paying, you can get some benefits, such as weapons, a new level, power-ups, etc. Freemium is good because it allows developers to distribute their software to the widest audience, because it is free. However, it can often be difficult to convert free users into paid subscribers. Another disadvantage of the Freemium model, experts note, is that it is better to create a program for this model in advance, because the developer must think about which functions will be free and which will be included in a paid subscription. This is not so easy, because the basic version must include the main functionality so that the program or application can be used, but at the same time, it must also contain functions that are closed from ordinary users, for which they will want to pay for access.
Paid software
Selling your program or application for a small fixed amount with all the built-in functionality without any restrictions is another obvious, simple and quite popular way to monetize software. However, according to many experienced programmers, this method is gradually losing ground compared to others. The fact is that with the advent of a huge number of free applications and programs in the public domain, fewer and fewer users are willing to purchase their paid counterparts. Consumers who are comfortable spending five dollars on coffee are often reluctant to spend just one dollar on an app, software creators lament. This is not surprising, if almost any application or program has a free competitor, then why pay? Therefore, it is recommended to distribute their software using an exclusively paid model either to companies with a strong position in the market and extensive marketing resources, or to developers of niche products that have no analogues at all or these analogues are also paid.
Payment for installation of other programs (Pay per Install)
Getting paid for installing third-party software is another method that allows a developer to earn money while distributing their own software for free. This method is especially common among programs that are created for desktop systems. As part of this method, the installer of other software is integrated into the installer of the original program, which by default is installed along with the product the user needs. This is the case when, when installing a free program downloaded on the Internet, something else tries to install on our computer, for example a browser or, a popular option, a browser extension. Typically, you don’t have to install this program if you notice and uncheck the box agreeing to installation on one of the installation screens. Using this method of monetizing your software may be a fairly good idea, but you need to keep in mind that usually only real software installations are paid for, that is, those cases when the user did not uncheck the box (or, more often, simply did not notice it) and allowed The program can be installed on your PC or other platform. The most common option today is to include browser extension installers in the installer. For example, this is the notorious “Yandex.Bar,” which is notorious among Russian-speaking users due to the fact that it is installed secretly, but getting rid of it is more difficult than other viruses. Companies that create extensions are willing to pay for each installation of their product, because this not only increases their user base, but also allows them to collect information about the user’s browsing habits, which can then be sold or used.
Affiliate Marketing
You can also earn money through affiliate marketing, that is, promoting goods or services from a partner for a percentage of purchases made by users who follow an advertising link. Most often, websites make money using this method, but they are also suitable for software. Thematic applications can advertise products or services that will be of interest to their users. For example, a free program for learning something might promote paid courses on the same topic, a fitness app might advertise an online sporting goods store, etc. As experienced developers say, affiliate marketing can be a very attractive way to monetize software, but it can also sometimes create problems and limitations. In most cases, a program for this method of monetization must be created in advance, because integrating affiliate marketing into already created software can be difficult or completely impossible without significant changes in functionality and interface.
Donations
Well, finally, you can simply invite users who are grateful for the existence of such a wonderful program, which is also free, to donate a little money to its creator. This method can be either very effective and bring in a good income, or not so much. Much, of course, depends on the type of program or application, the number of users and the quality of the software. But most often, creators of all sorts of niche products with a small but very loyal audience of users can earn money this way.
conclusions
As we can see, proprietary software can be monetized in many different ways. Of course, this is far from easy to do, and most programs and applications from inexperienced developers do not bring significant money to their creators. However, a truly high-quality and necessary product with the right monetization system can take off, providing its creator with such income that they no longer have to think about working for anyone else. And in order to achieve success in monetizing your software, as in everything else, you need to practice, not give up when you fail, and persistently pursue your goal. This is what I would like to wish to the readers of this article!
Therefore, today we will talk about how you can make money on your own software products and share insights on the topic from experienced programmers.
Typically, such advertising generates some income for every thousand views or for every click on the banner. The amount of this income can vary greatly depending on which advertising network is connected, what type of advertising is shown to users and what its target audience is. Of course, for such advertising to bring in any significant money, the number of users viewing it must be very large. As many experts note, advertising in a software product is placed in many ways. For example, it can be shown during loading or before launching the application; an advertising banner can be placed in the side of the interface, in the top or bottom panel, depending on the type of program and its design. The main thing is that the advertising is as relevant as possible and irritates users as little as possible.
However, according to many experienced programmers, this method is gradually losing ground compared to others. The fact is that with the advent of a huge number of free applications and programs in the public domain, fewer and fewer users are willing to purchase their paid counterparts. Consumers who are comfortable spending five dollars on coffee are often reluctant to spend just one dollar on an app, software creators lament. This is not surprising, if almost any application or program has a free competitor, then why pay? Therefore, it is recommended to distribute their software using an exclusively paid model either to companies with a strong position in the market and extensive marketing resources, or to developers of niche products that have no analogues at all or these analogues are also paid.
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