FYI, for some reason the linkback on commentator name isn’t working, even for registered users. Cheers.

Thanks for printing some exact numbers. It’s very useful to know just how dire the situation is. A developer who I am working with wants to release some code as donation only. I am against doing so for exactly the numbers above.

Myself I’ve donated to lots of freeware and shareware projects - time, graphics, user interface and money. One thing which does disappoint me is when the application gets bought out - think of Macjournal (Dan Schimpf) going to Mariner Software or Textpander (Peter Mauer) now TextExpander at SmileOnMyMac.com - I’ve had a lot of trouble getting the developers to provide the promised free upgrade keys.

Not that they refuse. They just don’t bother answering the emails at all.

I also think that there is little advantage in putting a quality application into someone else’s commercial system. Stay autonomous and stay in touch with your users.

The marketing suggestions above - reduced price licenses to gift to your friends while making your purchase - will work btw.

I also suggest making some of the features - not the core ones, but the bonus ones like audio and video - contingent on donation after a certain period. Sure some people will pirate the app in any case. Those aren’t the ones you are after - they will do it anyway. You are just trying to provide an occasional gentle reminder to the people who haven’t bought or donated to do so.

Best of luck with Journaler.

There’s been so much though and effort put into developing this program that it’s a bargain if you ask me. You can see it’s been created with love

So thanks, Phil, Journler embodies everything I love about the Mac OS X platform. And hopefully you’ll continue to develop the software in the future.

First I would like to note that I’ve been working on purely open-source software since the late 90s (OS development mainly). The community used to enjoy a ratio of something like 1:4 devs:users, but no longer. Nowadays it’s not rare to get insulted by a user because the free software one makes has a bug. The $.01 donation is just asinine … I feel your pain. I’m not jaded, and I still do what I do for my own reasons and the work is its own reward.

I got started using Journlr while exploring for a new GTD tool, and I’m seeing that it has a lot of potential. The problem with GTD is it can be an endless quest to find the “perfect tool” and I’ve changed tool sets at least 4 times since I started doing GTD.

So far the experience with Journlr has been great. I’m starting to settle in. Some things it doesn’t have which I would like it to have (such as better blog support with image uploading) but not showstoppers. I’d love to settle on Journlr as a tool that removes a need for several other tools (such as ecto) … As much as I like ecto and I bought ecto, I need it that functionality to be in Journlr now.

Apologies to Adriaan, but he got my $18 so he can’t be too disappointed.

What interests me is where the software is going in the future. I don’t want to switch tools again in 2008 or sooner. I like to think that when I buy software, it is driving at least one new major release a year, a roadmap and enhancements, not so much paying for the current version.

I would reaily (and plan to after I write this message) pay for Journler. So my questions are: do you have a roadmap for Journlr, and what’s the process for what gets scheduled and what doesn’t? Also do you have the time as sole developer to handle more customers, large roadmap? Is this your full-time gig? Finally, would a periodic subscription pricing model work out better than fixed licenses? “Ownership” doesn’t worry me as long as the subscription terms are not hostile.

I don’t agree with some of netizenkane’s suggestions; particularly limited-use trials tend to discourage real-world use of software by a lot of users… me included. If Journlr had 20 uses I would probably not be writing this comment or donating because I’d never be able to kick the tires enough to form a real opinion. Sometimes it may take a month or more to really get a feel for a piece of software, especially one like this, and determine if it’s a buy. I would suggest time-limited evaluations and be somewhat generous with the evaluation period (45 days seems reasonable to me.)

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again for your work.

Seems to me you’re interested in running a restaurant: you’re obsessed with quality product, you spend most of your time laboring over its preparation so that people who consume it will be both nourished and delighted by it, and you keep a close eye on the menu to ensure what you offer is seasonal, fresh, and in line with what your customers’ are looking for. Regular customers are constantly in and out the door, giving your place a bustling sense of success.

It’s when the check comes to the table that you start to lose your nerve. You shouldn’t. No one begrudges - though certainly no one likes to sit next to - someone who has had a terrible meal at a restaurant and refuses to pay for it. Depending on how heated the discussion gets, it can range from easily-enough-ignored grumblings to an intense and heated argument best taken outside. But the best restaurants don’t bat an eye; they ask the diner if they can bring him something else, they fuss a little extra, and they get him out the door as soon as possible with no charge for the entree.

Yours is a different sort of restaurant, Phil. Seems to me people come in all the time. It’s one of their favorite haunts. They rave about the quality of the service and what you get here — and, like all supremely satisfied customers, they keep coming back, occassionally bringing more people with them. But it’s not a restaurant, it’s a soup kitchen — pay if you can, pay what you like, pay whenever — you’ll still get the soup. On the odd occasion you might look at someone who appears to be entirely too well-heeled to be eating in a soup kitchen and ask if he might consider dropping down a few Abe Lincolns to help keep the enterprise going, he gets up in a huff and storms out. But I guarantee you: he’ll be back for your soup tomorrow.

As a professional marketer, here’s what I’d suggest: always make a free download of the latest Journler software available. Position it loudly and clearly as a “Free 20-Use Trial.” Explain it will operate exactly like the PAID version of the program (need to get it into people’s heads that people DO, in fact, pay for this software) for 20 uses. After that, the most attractive features — the iLife integration, the mic, cam, and pics, all that — will no longer function until a valid license is purchased and entered.

Split the difference between your current average of $17 and your aspiration of $24.95, and go with $20/2 machines. You can add additional machines to the license for $5 more.

So, a 3-machine license is still an incredibly reasonable $25. I would also encourage you to take a page out of the subscription magazines’ books, and when someone is signing up for their own paid registration, give them a chance to gift the software to a friend for a dramatically reduced price. If they take you up on it, tell them you’re knocking a couple of bucks off their own purchased price because they’re helping to spread the word, which will create a nice surprise for your buyer — they’ll be happy grassroots marketers who nonetheless just PAID you for their meals.

Disappointment is the distance between where we expect something to be and where it truly ends up. If you expected to unwrap an Atari 2600 on Christmas morning in the 1970s and ended up getting a Pocket Simon and a pair of tube socks, that’s disappointment. Lifewise, Peter, the only folks around here who’ll be upset by your institution of a license are the folks who’d prefer to come into your soup kitchen and eat every day for free, without regard to what that leaves for you and your family. But I think you’ve found a pretty devoted group of fans for the delicious little confection that is Journler — and, to prove my point, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go take care of this check!

You mention that ~20% of the contributors averaged $17. With the ~80% remaining contributors (personal/non-personal), more than $17 was contributed (correct me where I’m wrong).

It’s the other way around: ~75% of licenses are personal use licenses, and the average donation is $17.

When I was developing Journler as a hobby it wasn’t a big deal. But I have in fact moved to full time programming. Unless Journler and upcoming projects pay the bill, the programming stops. I don’t think folks have a proper idea of just how much a full time job a single program Journler’s size is.

Maybe it’s worth pondering the idea of focusing on the ~80% (potentially) registered user crowd and simplifying your licensing strategy?

There’s actually a discussion over on the forums about this. Right after I wrote the post I noted my reservations about the changes. I’m not very happy with them.

So I’m thinking of simplifying the license policy. The idea I threw out was to have a single license which would cost $24.95, period. At the same time there would continue to be two “uses.” Non-personal use requires a license, personal use requests it.

Of course I don’t have any way of enforcing this, but that’s being discussed and other ideas are being put forward. Everyone may feel free to chime in on the thread.