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Alliances & Affiliates
- DemandEdge. A management consulting firm that has helped more than 100 clients answer their critical marketing, sales, and service questions. One of the principles, Bruce
Fredrickson is one of the most connected people in the industry. His consulting firm can help hook you up with just about anyone.
Advertising
- Media Finder. This location compiles the mediaselection information from over 90,000 publications plus on-line pricing. It includes prices.
- Media Buying Academy. A company providing over 48 live training sessions throughout the US annually, along with VHS and casette tapes of their program.
Affiliates
- Lifetime Commissions. Listing of major affiliate directories. These are directories that aggregate thousands of affiliate programs. If you have
an affiliate program you should be listed in these directories.
- Website 101. Additional lists of 40 different affiliate directories.
- My Affiliate Program. Excellent resource on how to setup an affiliate program.
- Affiliate-Software-Review.com. Contains a comparison database of over 55 different affiliate software applications. Have to quickly register to gain access,
but it is VERY detailed and comprehensive.
- Revenue Today. Magazine specifically about online marketing and affiliate programs.
Associations
Branding (articles & sources)
- Brand Marketing. This location features dozens of articles on branding: from Web to product to institutional. Great material!
Business
- Bizmove. This site is known as “The Small Business Knowledge Base” and contains hundreds of pages of FREE information about strategic business plans, general
management, sales and marketing, plus lots more.
Channel Sales & Training (North America - Click here for International)
- ReLaunch. Sell-in. Helps companies get into retail stores. Handles both software AND hardware. Very seasoned channel veterans. Helped a company I work with get into
Fry’s, CompUSA, Target, Best Buy, J&R, etc. Cover most popular categories (graphics, utilities, networking, games, multimedia, office supply, etc.)
- Channel Sources. Sell-in. This group has been in business 10 years and helps companies get products into retail. Successful clients include IBM, Red Hat and H&R
Block.
- Retail Vision. Sell-in. Both Retail Vision and VARVision are locations where hundreds of buyers attend to learn which new products they should carry.
- VAR Vision. Sell-in. Like Retail Vision, only it is attended by the big system integrators.
- CMPXChange. Similar to the Retail and VAR Vision events. Sponsored by CMP publications. Place to recruit resellers.
- The Distribution Network. Sell-in. The nation’s first high-tech US and Canadian rep firm - handles retail and educational account sales and distribution.
- MarketStar. Sell-Through. Specialty: sales & field marketing outsourced solutions for the IT, Consumer Electronics, Telecommunications, and Durable Goods industries.
Used to be called Technology Advancement Corporation (divisions included TempReps, Blizt America, IntroTech and DataNow). The original channel training corporation starting in 1989. Represented IBM, Lotus,
Microsoft, HP, Canon, Corel, WordPerfect, Novel, Ashton-Tate, Franklin Covey, Autodesk, etc.
- ChannelForce. Sell-Through. Based out of Atlanta, Georgia area. Broke off from a similar group. Trains resellers to increase the reseller recommendation rate.
- The Distribution Network. Sell-in. One of the nation’s largest US and Canadian rep firms - handles sales and distribution into retail locations.
- The VAR City. Sell-in & Through. Can setup a VAR and System Integrator program (not a retail program), recruit targeted VARs (great database) and help manage them like
a virtual channel director. Program can be ala cart or complete. Very pragmatic, results oriented with a systematic approach. Cater to start-ups and vendors who have higher-end software products with a
reasonable sales cycle. Also have a well-qualified VAR database --the same one they use!
- Channel Partners. Sell-in. Broke away from MindShare Associates, which broke off of TempReps (now MarketStar). Works to establish reseller relationships with
the vendor and training
- Strategic Marketing Partners. Sell-in. Retail sales and account management. Work on a commission basis. Lucas Arts, Disney and others are clients.
- Sunset Direct. Sell-through. This company has a special demo program where they ship your eval product to accounts as requested and then provide you the leads for
follow-up.
Channel Marketing
- MSI. I haven’t used them, but have heard of them a lot. They also help folks get bundle pricing at Retail Vision.
- Aegis Resources. Home for the Product Marketing Manager’s Handbook for Software. Includes excellent information about how to sell through within the channel.
- Frank Lynn and Associates - The Channel People. This company helps software companies with their channel marketing. They have a lot of white papers on subjects such as channel conflict, setting up a channel sales force, selecting the appropriate channels, plus more. Good information.
- Ready2Launch. Cynthia specializes in product launch strategy and tactics.
- RMVentures (formerly owned Re:Launch). Richard Miles wrote a great book years ago called, “The Channel Sales Guidebook” (out of print).
Helps companies get prepared for the channel, does packaging, business plans, direct response, tactical sales assistance.
- SalesDriver. Provide a turn-key sales incentive program to motivate resellers to learn and sell your product.
Clients include Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, etc.
- OneCLE. Contains over 900 sample sales and marketing agreements - including copies of actual distributor agreements for Netscape, Redhat, Ingram, Tech
Data, etc. A great find for samples.
Copywriting
- Ivan Levison. Please see the comments within the consultant section. I’ve used his services. Great ideas, common sense. Also reviews copy for a set
fee.
- Jeffrey Dobkin. Awesome direct response copywriter. Website is full of great tips on how to increase response, increase loyalty, sell the response, and the “single most important piece of paper.” Entertaining style.
- Karl Freitag. Karl has a Website with some great “Power Tips” for direct marketing. It also includes copywriting do’s and don’ts. Good info.
- Hoffman Marketing Communications. Translate high-tech jargon into marketing white papers, brochures, web content, newsletters, etc. Great articles on the value of
white papers, good writing guidelines, sales guidelines, etc.
- PowerWriting. A Lot of promotional copy--not very technical, but good direct mail and fast-paced promotional pieces.
- Ed Gandia Copywriting. High-Tech freelance copywriting for direct response. Produces a good monthly newsletter to increase response rates for software marketing.
Direct Response
- AMS Response. One of the nation’s largest direct mail companies. Ask for Allison, the VP of Sales. (562)634-6484.
- Computer Market Research. A great source for lists of resellers (with e-mails). Classified with certifications. Ask for Del and mention Chanimal.
- National Mail Order Association. Just know they exist.
- Karl Freitag. Karl has a Website with some great “Power Tips” for direct marketing. It also includes copywriting do’s and don’ts. Good info.
- CRM Today. Great relationship marketing tips and publications.
- CardBrowser. A great way to find specific titles from select companies (to sell into the high-tech companies) with real contact information (e-mail, actual mail box #, cell
phone, etc. Ranges from $99/month to thousands...but you own the names (not rent them).
- The VAR City. Has an excellent database of qualified VARs--the same list they use regularly to recruit VARs for other companies. Reasonable pricing, excellent
response.
- SoftScout. SoftScout - Business Software Directory - Find Enterprise Software companies. Great resource if you sell software or services to the software industry.
- VARBusiness. Searchable databases of VARs and integrators. This one links to the VARBusiness 500 resellers.
- ChannelWeb. Consolidated website containing content from VARBusiness (above) and others. Has over 200,000 solution providers via this link. It is not
comprehensive and is missing a lot of resellers I know personally, but it has a lot of accounts.
Distributors (wholesale)
- Ingram Micro. 800-456-8000. They are the world’s largest wholesale high-tech distributor.
- Tech Data. 727-539-7429. Used to concentrate on VARs. Now universal.
- GE Access. 1-800-733-9333. GE is a relatively new technology distributor, but they always aim to be #1 or #2 in their markets.
- Merisel. 800-637-4735. Used to be the 2nd largest distributor. Not a major player anymore and are reducing their assets.
- Douglas Stewart. Distributor for schools.
- Navarre. Distributor for Staples and other office locations.
- Infogrames. Games distributor. Now Atari.
- Visco Entertainment. (888)291-1900. Entertainment distributor.
- EduTech.
- Dr. Bott (Mac Only)
- D&H Distributors. Handle PC, education, Home Entertainment , Security and Government products.
- Activision Value. Games distributor.
- Triad. Canadian distributor.
Event Marketing - Trade Show
- Trade Show Central. Trade Show Central is a free Internet service providing information on more than 30,000 Trade Shows, Conferences & Seminars, 5,000 service
providers, and 5,000 venues and facilities around the world. TSC connects people who organize and support trade shows with those who attend and exhibit at them.
- Mobile Marketing Solutions. Comprehensive trade show equipment for mobile (roadshow) events..
- 123 Signup. Online software for event registration and membership management. Handles database, payment, reservations, nice.
Financing
- Please see the Finance Resources within the, “How To Finance A High-Tech Start-Up Video” section for a complete section with links about financing.
.
Fullfillment
Graphic Design (box, collateral)
- UserFriendly Graphics. This is the firm that I have used numerous times when I needed bright and creative box designs.
The box they designed for me won an industry award. They also won another award for the box they developed for one of my referrals. They are a small quick moving agency and their prices are much better than the bulky agencies with all the overhead. Please use them sparingly--they are a rare find and I want them to be available when I next need their services.
- JH&A Advertising. This firm designed my packaging at Motorola and Metrowerks. They follow the Chanimal Guildlines and do good work. Not cheap, but very good.
Human Resources (HR) - Also, See Recruiting
International
- SoftDatabase. A huge international database of over 32,000 VARs, System Integrator’s and ISV’s. Many are added, others are self-registered. Specifically for enterprise software.
In addition to a database, they also consult and have helped over 100 companies (small and very large) setup sales and distribution in Europe and and China.
- The York Group. Have local offices and partners throughout the world. Can help with international global channel development, channel sales, international marketing,
business development for software, wireless, and information technology products.
- Raw Digital. International marketing and channel sales development. Will act as a virtual VP Marketing & Sales for your UK operations.
Internet
- ChannelSeven - “The Information Source for Internet Marketing and Advertising Decision Makers.” Internet marketing and ad campaign news.
- ClickZ Network - “The Ultimate Resource for Doing Business On-line.” This entire site, which is packed with content, is dedicated to Web site marketing issues. Their positioning statement is also close to mine.
- Dan Janel. Unlike other industry consultants, Dan has written over six books about on-line marketing (Online Marketing Handbook, Risky Business, Guide to Marketing
on the Internet, etc.). He consults, speaks, can be on the board of advisors, etc.
- eMarketer - “Where Business Begins On-line.” Site’s own description: A one-stop resource for online marketing information, eMarketer is the first stop for everyone doing business online. Complete and comprehensive, it searches the web for articles on e-commerce and then aggregates, filters, organizes and analyzes the statistics, news and information business people and webmarketers need to succeed online.
- Iconocast - “E-marketing Intelligence for Intelligent Marketers.” Site’s own description: A good source for facts, figures, trend analysis and insider information in the Internet marketing industry.
- Web Marketing Today. An on-line magazine about marketing your Website. Also contains tons of great content. Site’s own descriptions: The largest collection
of Web marketing and e-commerce articles, links and resources to be found at any single place on the planet. Also known as “Wilson Web.”
- Metamend. Search Engine Optimization SEO - Web site promotion and marketing. Includes analysis, site optimization, search engine submission, consulting, and site traffic
reports.
Internet Service Providor (ISP)
- MindSpring. This is where the Chanimal.com Web site used to be hosted. It is also PC Magazine´s Editor´s Choice for 1998 ISPs. It offers a premium
service (great support, pre-defined scripts, etc.). However, the price is not as competitive as it used to be.
- CNet ISP Reviews. Find out more about ISP’s here.
- Successfullhosting.com. This is where Chanimal.com is currently hosted. They are always up (I have never noticed a single downtime), are relatively
inexpensive, and offer the coolest control panel to access everything from your site instantly.
Liqudation
- Computer Liquidation Center. Call my former Channel Manager, Chris Dolan at Metrowerks, at 512-873-4700 and ask him for the contact name.
- uBid.com. This on-line bidding location often has refurbished and older inventory that is sold on an open auction, or at low opening bids.
Magazines - Marketing Related (also see Newsletters)
Management Training
- FranklinCovey. Stephen R. Covey is the author of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”
Franklin Day Planners are part of the other-side of the business. Both offere incredible seminars that change the way you manage time and people.
- Kenneth Blanchard. Author of the One Minute Manager series. I highly recommend.
Marketing Resources
- Zenith Media. Calls itself “The Marketer’s Portal.” It is primarily a media company but there is a lot of content and links to hundreds of marketing resources.
- SoftwareCEO. SoftwareCEO.com is a one-stop reference site for software executives and entrepreneurs: Industry research and news, a calendar of events, Web search
and look-up, and hundreds of links to software-specific resources. You “must” subscribe to these weekly newsletters.
- Software Market Solution. A directory of resources for high-tech marketers. Compiled by Rick Chapman, author of SoftLetter and The Product Marketing Manager’s
Handbook for Software. Consider it an advanced version of this links page.
- Software Marketing Resource. Resource for software developers, publishers and user groups. Sort of an advanced version of this links page (without
comments) but does not contain hundreds of pages of actual content like Chanimal.
- PaloAlto Software. Makers of Marketing Plan Pro, Business Plan Pro, Advertising Plan Pro, and others. I haven’t tried these out, but they seem to contain many of the proper categories in template form to help create an effective
plan.
Merchandising
Newsletters - paper and electronic (also see Reports)
- SoftLetter. Soft•letter is a twice-monthly insider's newsletter that reports on trends in personal computer software publishing. Written for an audience of senior
level industry executives, Soft•letter tracks emerging technologies, financial and operations benchmarks, product development, and marketing strategies.
- SoftwareSuccess. Software Success provides tactical guidance to managers and employees of software companies. More than 5,000 privately-owned software firms
subscribe to the weekly newsletter, operating benchmarks and popular seminars and conferences to increase sales of their technology products and services.
Their information products are developed specifically to meet the everyday challenges of software CEOs, software sales professionals and software marketers.
- Guerilla Marketing. This weekly e-mail newsletter is FREE and is sent out by the authors of Guerilla Marketing. I subscribe and would recommend it to all as a
primary source of new ideas. Lot on to their site and subscribe.
- Software & Technology Newsletter. This newsletter contains articles for hi-tech sales professionals.
- SoftwareCEO. Has excellent weekly newsletters.
OEM & Open Source
- The OEM Software Licensing Site. This site contains the Stromian’s OEM Software Licensing Guide which explains all the ins and outs of software OEM licensing deals.
In addition, this site contains the Open Source Software Licensing Page which contains information about how to establish an open source agreement (i.e., Linux, etc.). The author also offers OEM consulting.
Public Relations (PR)
- The PetersGroup. I used this group at Metrowerks, Motorola and GE. A mid-sized firm with the personal attention of a small company. Exception promotional PR
- Lorenzo Communications. Cristina came from The PetersGroup where she handled much of the day to day activity. Very good, gets ink. Great value.
- PRWeb. FREE newswire service. They post via opt-in e-mail (like Bacon’s), on search engines, assisted by PR Newswire, etc. They operate by contributions and have some nice
upgrades for modest prices. I paid $30 to upgrade to include immediate paid Google listing, plus other wire services. A lot less than the $300-$400 for PR Newswire.
- Copithorne & Bellows. I used them at DCA. They were great, but it is highly dependant on who your rep is.
- Cunningham. I’ve used them with mixed success. They get a lot of ink, but they could not keep to their budget (usually over twice the allocation!).
- Clipping Services. This links to over 20 clipping services listed within the PR section of Chanimal.
- Dod/Pritchard Communications. 770-209-0805. I worked with Bob before. Great writer. His partner, Dod is well-known in the high-tech and gets ink.
- Katy Dunn Communications. (919)832-4001. Katy did the press for me when we launched Netscape. I hired her to help with the launch of Red Storm Entertainment. Very good. Hard to capture all her time.
- The Internet Press Guild. This is a very simple site that helps you understand how editor’s think. You must read the guide called, “Care and Feeding of the Press,” a guide to sending press releases. Don’t send a press release without first reading this article!
Pricing
- SoftwarePricing. This site contains resources to help software companies set prices and discounts for their products and services.
Product Management
- 280Group. The 280 Group helps companies define, launch and market breakthrough new products by providing Consultants, Contractors, Training and Templates
- Pragmatic Marketing. Has excellent training courses on Product Management. Also, sign up for the valuable monthly newsletter with all the latest trends, trends, salaries, etc. for product managers.
Publishers
- Broderbund. Broderbund has an affiliate label publishing program where they will use their resources to help launch a software product.
- KISS. My friend from TouchStone heads this up now. Good packaging.
- InterMark Corporation.
- Avanquest. Owns their own products and publishes others. Including the MySoftware line.
- MacMillan Publishing. They publish a lof of previous versions--a great way to milk sales out of previous version applications.
- Sirius Publishing. Sirius is well known for their 10 PACs of discounted CDs and PC Karaoke. They also publish several movies on CD’s for PC’s.
Recruiters - Help Wanted
- Headhunter.
This is one of the best sites that I have found. They have thousands of listing and the search engine is the most accurate of the lot. They also have a place to post your resume. This is the only place I found where I got calls from recruiters.
- CareerMag. Nice site. Smaller than Headhunter but seems to have good listings.
The search engine is simple to use but not as accurate (pulls up the same listings for too many of the different titles).
- Sales Recruits. An online recruiting service focused exclusively on software & IT solution sales professionals.
- Dice.com. One of the better job boards for hi-tech positions.
- Monster. The most popular job board. Used to have a poor search engine, now it is one of the best--be sure to subscribe to the automatic daily/weekly e-mail notice of
openings.
Reports
- Financial Benchmark Collection ($95!). Here are the up-to-date numbers you need to benchmark PC software company performance--employee productivity, sales growth,
cost ratios, executive salaries, and much more. Collection includes three Soft•letter special reports for just $95: 1) SoftLetter 100 (top 100 software companies with revenues, ratios, etc.), 2) Annual Financial
Ratios (see how you compare, use to set your own budgets), and 3) Executive Compensation from 261 executives (CEO, COO, VP Marketing, Sales, Engineering, etc.).
Research (also see Usability Studies) & Business Intelligence
- PC Data. The ultimate resource for accurate software and hardware sales figures. See the review under Resources/Services.
- Dataquest. Standard stuff.
- Dunn & Bradstreet.
- Hoover. Proclaimed as “The Ultimate Source for Company Information.” Linked through AOL.
- Culpepper. Contains market studies on hi-tech salaries, most profitable software companies, effective software marketing (contains software marketing budget ratios
for successful companies), primary market research, etc.
- Internet Statistics. Plots Web and Internet growth.
- The Handbook of Focus Group Research, Greenbaum is one of the leading authorities on focus groups – recruiting, conducting, and interpreting.
- The Focus Group Kit. This kit deals very well with all aspects of focus groups through six paperback volumes.
- Focus Group Theory and Practice. This is a scholarly discussion of focus groups – why to use them, best practices, etc.
- The Survey Research Handbook. This handbooks offers practical tips on conducting
effective, timely, and cost-effective surveys.
- Mail and Internet Surveys, Second Edition. Dillman is an authority on surveying –
and this updated volume contains tips on various survey methods, including online and voice-activated automated surveys.
- The Tailored Design Method. This kit discusses all aspects of surveys in nine
handbooks.
- SoftScout. SoftScout - Business Software Directory - Find Enterprise Software. Great resource for competitive research.
- Survey Research Methods, These essays discuss various aspects of surveying.
- SpyFu. Free pay-per-click (PPC) advertising stealth weapon. See how much your competition is spending on pay-per-click and their results.
- Designing and Constructing Survey Research: This is a comprehensive guide of the philosophy, techniques, and issues in creating and conducting surveys.
- The Art of Being Well Informed. This book contains some helpful tips on tracking
down research studies and other library tasks.
- Infrasystems has a great “been there, done that” section that explains how to get product information from high-tech sources. It contains practical information on how to conduct customer surveys, setup user testing, councils and product advisory boards.
Reseller Training / Merchandising
- TempReps (TAC). Part of Technology Advancement Corporation, now known as MarketStar. The original channel training corporation starting in 1989. Represented IBM,
Lotus, Microsoft, HP, Canon, Corel, WordPerfect, Novel, Ashton-Tate, Franklin Covey, Autodesk, etc.
- ChannelForce. Based out of Atlanta, Georgia area. Broke off from a similar group. Trains resellers.
- The Distribution Network. One of the nation’s largest US and Canadian rep firms - handles sales and distribution.
- Channel Partners. Broke away from MindShare Associates. Works to establish reseller relationships with the vendor and training.
Sales Leads
- Sunset Direct. This company has a special demo program where they ship your eval product to accounts as requested and then provide you the leads for follow-up.
- The VAR City. Has an excellent database of qualified VARs--the same list they use regularly to recruit VARs for other companies. Reasonable pricing, excellent
response.
- Card Browser. A unique database of over 50,000 contacts (primarily high-tech)--all acquired from business cards. A great lead source to network within companies for
alliances, vendor services, phone extensions.
- SoftScout. SoftScout - Business Software Directory - Find Enterprise Software companies. Great resource if you sell software or services to the software industry.
- VARBusiness. Searchable databases of VARs and integrators. This one links to the VARBusiness 500 resellers. ChannelWeb has the “master”
directory that includes the 500.
- ChannelWeb. Consolidated website containing content from VARBusiness (above) and others. Has over 200,000 solution providers via this link. It is not
comprehensive and is missing a lot of resellers I know personally, but it has a lot of accounts.
Sales Training & Incentives
- Zig Ziglar Corporation. All of these provide “hard” skills (closing, objections, etc.). Check out their books at the Chanimal Store.
- Brian Tracy. Similar to Zig.
- Tom Hopkins. Similar to Zig.
- Brooksgroup. Small to medium sized company that develops sales management training courses,sales solutions,sales seminars, and do motivational speaking.
- UpsellUSA. Provides internal and partner sales training and on-line sales incentive programs. Microsoft uses them to train and motivate their channel to get certified.
Usability Studies (also see Research)
Venture Capital
- See the Finance link within the video section, ‘How to Finance a High-Tech Start-Up” for MANY more links and resources.
- The Elliot Group. This marketing firm lists over 30 different VC firms including those below.
- TLVentures. They are one of the largest in the country.
- Austin Ventures. Based in Austin, TX. Manage a very large fund.
- Garage.com - They start up startups. A great place to investigate funding.
White Papers
- That White Paper Guy. Learn how to write a white paper and case study. Great resources including a great Q&A, articles, book reviews. In addition, Gordon Graham
can write your white paper from scratch for a fixed fee, or edit existing first drafts on an hourly basis.
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