Making Money with Custom Software .............................................................. 2
You Can Make Money in the Software Business ............................................. 4
Step 1: How to Get Started: The Idea............................................................... 5
An Unlimited Marketplace – It’s Not Just Microsoft ........................................... 5
Filling a Need – Or Defining One ...................................................................... 5
Major Software Categories................................................................................ 6
Software for Individuals..................................................................................... 6
Software for Businesses ................................................................................... 7
Before You Start Developing............................................................................. 7
Step 2: How to Make Your Program – Or Get It Made For You ....................... 9
Major Development Languages and Tools........................................................ 9
Java............................................................................................................. 10
C.................................................................................................................. 10
C++.............................................................................................................. 11
PHP ............................................................................................................. 11
Visual Basic ................................................................................................. 11
Perl .............................................................................................................. 12
C#................................................................................................................ 12
Python ......................................................................................................... 12
JavaScript.................................................................................................... 13
Delphi .......................................................................................................... 13
SAS ............................................................................................................. 13
PL/SQL........................................................................................................ 13
VB.net.......................................................................................................... 14
Lisp.............................................................................................................. 14
COBOL........................................................................................................ 14
Ada .............................................................................................................. 14
Pascal.......................................................................................................... 14
ABAP........................................................................................................... 15
Cold Fusion ................................................................................................. 15
Fortran......................................................................................................... 15
Finding Programming Resources.................................................................... 15
Elance ......................................................................................................... 16
Guru.com..................................................................................................... 16
Rentacoder .................................................................................................. 17
Scriptlance................................................................................................... 17
Custom Software Development Companies ................................................ 17
Step 3: Coding and Testing ............................................................................. 19
Working with Programmers............................................................................. 19
The Importance of Testing .............................................................................. 20
Step 4: Finding Your Target Markets Online .................................................. 21
Upload.com/Download.com ............................................................................ 21
Selling Your Software...................................................................................... 22
Supporting Your Software ............................................................................... 24
Creating Your Software “Brand” ..................................................................... 26
Software Development FAQ ............................................................................ 27
In simple English what are the basic steps for developing software?.............. 27
Explain what Open Source means? ................................................................ 27
Do I need to pay some kind of ongoing license fees for commercial
development products I use to make my software? ........................................ 28
What do I need to worry about in terms of liability with my software? ............. 28