#: 127421 S3/Comm Programs [C] 25-Dec-88 23:13:55 Sb: TELEWARE Fm: Terrance Tomkow 76060,2270 To: all Someone took the bait and asked me to explain what I mean by "Teleware". That's our term for the way we are marketing our shareware package BackMail. Very briefly (a full description of the program and the program itself were uploaded to this forum a few days ago) BackMail is a TSR program that gives you everything you get from an E-mail system like Easyplex, without the mainframe middleman. Your machine calls up another and delivers messages and files to another unattended at both ends. We're proud of it, but I'm not here to advertise, what may be of general interest is the way we have users pay. The program is fully functional, but every so often the program will ask you to "register" and will complain for 20 seconds if you decline. If you accept the offer to register the program presents you with a registration form which asks you to fill out credit card info. When you confirm the registration the program posts this info to our 800 number and immediately stops bothering you. What you are registering is your phone number... that is your return adress for BackMail mailings so the program has to know that. If you give the program to someone else then they will need to enter in thier phone number. That tells the program they are a new user and it starts asking to be registered at that station. Now obviously the unique character of our communication package makes it possible to market it in just this way. But the existence of the program makes it possible to market other shareware in a similar way. Instead of broadcasting your shareware to the world at large, broadcast a description and your backmail number. Anyone who has the program anywhere can post an order to your backmail and you can send them the program by return post. All of this happens in the background... so niether you or the buyer have to turn yourselves into BBS's. Instead of asking $50 for a registration ask for $10-15. That will compensate for phone charges at both ends and, we believe, you will do better than usual shareware hit rates. Note that you and anyone else can use our software for this purpose without paying us (though it will whine.) so this isn't a promotional gimmick. We really do want to save the shareware industry. Questions? Comments? Seasons Greetings. Terry Tomkow Alethic.