In 2002 I developed a web application code generator which allowed the user to select a database, and it would create a fully functional Search/Add/Edit/Delete application in either ASP or PHP.
It was something I needed in my day job, but couldn't find an existing one so wrote my own. It didn't make me rich, but provided a reasonable "second income".
While looking for a job recently, I decided to create an ASP.Net version, redesigning it from the ground up to make it N-Tier, take advantage of Ajax and so on. It creates all the stored procedures, and writes the code and creates a Visual Studio project.
http://www.citybusinesslogic.com There are now of course lots of such programs, but I've tried out the leading competitors, some of them very expensive, and I still feel that mine is better in some respects.
I've got it listed on the main shareware sites, and it's getting about as many weekly downloads as the market leading programs, but after 2 months no sales, not even as much as an enquiry.
I'm now trying to figure out what to do next!
ComponetSource are interested in adding it to their site, but feel I should increase the price. They charge a significant amount to be listed, so I'm not convinced there will be the demand to justify it.
I've contacted a few companies who produce developer tools (but not code generators) to try and find one who will take it on and use their marketing experience to promote it. But no takers so far.
I thought about making it free, and adding advertising to my website, in the hope that making it free will increase the number of users, and the forums may generate a lot of traffic. But then if you only get paid when people click on an advert, how often do people really do that?
I could of course use it to promote myself as a kind of resume, has anyone ever been employed as the result of creating freeware/open source?
I also thought about approaching companies whose target market is developers (e.g. companies who sell developers software) to find one interested in sponsoring the software, i.e. putting their name on the splash screen. Not sure if anyone has ever done this?
Maybe it is just missing some killer feature that would make it more useful?
Any suggestions would be gratefully received!
