If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that I’m pretty excited about what I like to call the “indie software business”. On Windows and other platforms this segment of the market is often referred to as “MicroISV.” Leave it to Mac developers to have a prettier name for it ;) but basically these terms refer to the same thing: small, usually 1-5 people software development shops, often based out of homes or other non-conventional office spaces. We fall somewhere in between the hobbyists and the full-fledged venture startups. Our ambitions range from self-sufficiency to funding a small staff, but we’re usually putting our own savings on the line. We’re bootstrapping our way into the hearts and minds of customers.

One of the challenges therein is getting the word out to … everybody. The customers, the press, other developers. The more people who know about you, the more likely they are to tell other people. You know, the whole viral thing, except Mac developers haven’t yet come up with a term for it that doesn’t sound like a sickness.

When I put on the One Finger Discount promotion last year, I was trying to tackle this problem on a small scale, and it worked. The excitement of the 20% discount, and the feeling of all this great software clumped together in one place inspired customers to check out lots of new things which had previous fallen beneath their radar.

But it was nonetheless on a small scale.

I’m excited to learn that Macworld Expo is taking the indie developer community to heart with this year’s show-floor offerings. A new $1250 entry-level exhibitor’s place gets you a spot at a kiosk with other indie developers, where you will be exposed to the thousands of enthusiasts and hundreds of members of the press who are expected to visit the show.

But Macworld has also taken a page from the One Finger Discount playbook, offering a free level of participation that closely mirrors the One Finger Discount model. The Indie Developer Spotlight invites developers from around the world to put their apps on sale for 20% off during the week of Macworld. In exchange, they get to be part of the virtual community and have their stuff listed on Macworld’s indie developer spotlight page.

I spoke with Paul Kent, Macworld Expo’s organizer, a few weeks ago. I tried to express on behalf of the indie community what we need from a trade-show like Macworld. Well, it’s not much different from what any business needs: maximum exposure for minimal cost. In our case, very minimal cost ;) Space on the show floor at an event like Macworld will never be dirt cheap. I have to imagine there are too many expenses in renting the space, paying for insurance, union laborers, etc. So $1250 feels like a very compelling price to me.

If you can’t afford that, or can’t make the travel work with your schedule this year, at least you can get in with the free, online community.

Thanks to everybody who participated in this holiday season’s Wishes Do Come True promotion.

In all, I counted at least 80 participants, which far exceeds the expectations I had going into this. Being able to grant the wishes of 12 lucky participants was a great mood-lifter for me, and judging by the reaction of the winners, it really raised their spirits as well.

But how do I thank the other 68 people? I am so thrilled that you chose to take part in my fun holiday game, that I’m giving everybody who participated a HALF-OFF coupon for any purchase in the Red Sweater store. I figure cutting the price in half might bring your wish a little closer to reality. Even if you didn’t win outright, this might save you a bit of cash. The deal is also good for winners. If you were thinking of picking up another app besides the one you purchased, now is the time.

To claim your coupon just drop us a line. Be sure to include:

1. Your name.
2. A link to your wish tweet, posted between Dec 21 and Dec 31.

I’ll send you a coupon code good for any purchase you make during the next week. It might take me a little while to get back to you, depending on how many people get in touch!

For the record, here is the list of participating tweets by my estimation. If I missed yours somehow, don’t let that stop you! I’m sure we let some fall through the cracks.

rheddry
bismark
cheleball
zbrimhall
danauer
jakefowler
sashachh
rsfinn
solarce
jenclark15
carsonkahn
M_Michal
somerandomperso
mkrzych
adamleonard
mandaris
eimantas
ccwells
larryv
inkedmn
verso
msolocinski
SebaSonido
jasoncmartin
jasonphilo
charismaticdog
FrederickDing
DarkAthena
eyeonpower
saurabhg
intrntmn
luomat
samuelcole
candyspotting
TiBook
hXcpat
trevbaker
rickcurran
headboysband
ibvanmat
BooneJS
abeckstrom
silentrhythms
urbanfort
twitpt
webis_mobile
canalugi
cpfusion
zombiesheep
stevex
gthank
stupidchicken
RamJaw
preshit
vrunkel
claypowers
alxknt
Gasport
ZLannie
flpatriot
C3D_RickGraham
benkimball
kingcobra84
welchre
axodys
jasonphilo
cpfusion
crouchat7pcc
macfixer
brunomoniz
pemmax
dogboi
turkeypants
treblig
zanson
jasonbaldwin
mikergray
gbukalders
tuxedobuford
wears2sox
shanezilla

Thanks again, everybody!

Dan Wood has picked up on something I said in Core Intuition 19, about how running a business and attracting customers can largely be seen as an exercise in extracting as many fish as possible from the proverbial customer sea.

Mac Indie Marketing Blog: Fishing For The Big Picture

Dan does a good job of summarizing my version of the metaphor, which is essentially a mental model that customers will always be swimming by your offerings. Whether they get stuck on them or not is mostly up to steps you take to make the software more attractive, functional, and engaging. If they swim away, don’t worry. A new fish will swim back around, and even that “one that got away” is likely to come back to your part of the sea eventually.

But Dan turns the metaphor around, suggesting that when customers go actively seeking for a specific solution, the products should be viewed as the fish. The software or other solution is being fished for by a customer, so you want your product to stick to the hook, instead of somebody else’s.

We’re just dealing in metaphors here. At the end of the day we’re talking about products for sale and the desires of users. We want their desires to stick to our products. To that end, while I find Dan’s inversion interesting, I think it’s simpler to continue with a single model where customers are the fish (no offense intended!).

We don’t need to invert the model: if a customer is seeking out specific solutions or styles of application, our fishing metaphor already has an answer for that. It’s called bait! To recap, at any point in time, you’ll maximize your haul of new customers by:

1. Having a net in the water.
2. Having as large a net as possible.
3. Having as few holes in your net as possible.
4. Placing attractive bait in that net.

As a vegetarian, I really should have called this metaphor “Fishing For Tofu,” but I know that most customers would be even more offended were they identified as “the tofu.”

One of the beautiful aspects of open source software development is that individual contributors are, generally speaking, under no obligation to contribute their work. People who find time on their hands, and an inspiration to do something great, write some code and share it with the world. End of story. Or at least, that’s the way I see it.

Jeff Atwood is pissed because John Gruber hasn’t been a “good mommy” to Markdown.

Disregarding whether the accusations are true or not, it pisses me off when somebody is criticized for giving something away, yet somehow not giving enough. What part of FREE don’t you understand? Somebody, in this case John Gruber, wrote something great, and gave it to you for free. It’s a technology you would not have access to without his generosity, and which you could not even obtain commercially, had he chosen to keep it private. A completely new, compelling solution which is available to you because one man had the community-serving idea that it should be open. Are you getting my drift?

I grew up in Santa Cruz, California. A city famous for its hippies, vagrants, and college students. (At some point in my youth I aspired to fit into each of these classes of people.) One day I was walking down the main downtown strip, Pacific Avenue, with a half-finished paper cup of coffee in my hands. A panhandler yelled out to me: “Can I have your coffee!?” Feeling generous and well-caffeinated, I surrendered my cup and strolled off. Moments later, the man shrieked after me: “There’s no whisky in this coffee!”

You can’t please everybody. In the open source community, and in the larger community that consumes open source goods, there will always be complainers. For some people, free simply isn’t good enough.

I believe that anybody who gives away the results of their hard labor for free should be praised. By no means should they be expected to contribute more than they already have, or to bend to the screeching whims of their consumers. If you don’t like all of what you’ve received, take what you do like, and modify it to make it perfect. Take the free cup of coffee, and add your own damned whisky.