Sales & Marketing

[dcyuri7]

Hey guys, I was hoping I could gather some information from you'all.

I've got my software in it's final stages, and so, after realizing the potential it had to polymorph from a personal fun project into a fun program for all to enjoy, I have begun looking at possibly selling it online.
The fortunate part, is that I wrote the software alone, so the source code isn't shared(GPL'd). So I would imagine I can pretty much do anything I want with it as it's an original "art work".

I was curious, basically, what is required to sell an intellectual property such as this?

From my own estimations, I need the following:
1.) A basic EULA protecting me.
2.) Maybe some marketting via Download.com/cnet/etc (Do "Shareware sales" differ from any other sale?) or just word-of-mouth via my current 50 person fan base.
3.) An online Shopping Cart.

#1 can be easily typed after thoroughly reviewing a few Commercial Product licenses(video games etc) or maybe a local lawyer office? So I think I'll have that covered.
#2 is just a matter of me taking some initiative, so that's covered.
#3 is just some PHP code w/ a PayPal link, so that's definitely covered.

Is there anything else I need to legitimately sell a software item online? Any specific license I need to follow? Do I need a patent? A Copyright?
I'm fairly in the dark here on how to proceed with this... so any advice or pointers is greatly appreciated.

[c.reilly]

You should check the license for ANY libraries you used and for your compiler. I've heard Visual Studio charges you when you sell something that was compiled using their compiler, but I'm not sure on this.
Beyond that it's the same as selling anything else, as far as I know. You will need to report all the money you make on your taxes. If you're sketchy on the legal issues you should ask a lawyer.
If it's a big project you might want to implement some sort of serial code system to make it harder to steal.
It would be wise to bundle your program with a text file containing a conditions of use, liscensing, etc....best to talk to a lawyer or copy and paste from some other program you like.

[laserlight]

You should check the license for ANY libraries you used and for your compiler.

I agree.

I've heard Visual Studio charges you when you sell something that was compiled using their compiler, but I'm not sure on this.

No, as far as I know, Microsoft does not even impose such restrictions on the Express versions of its IDE, compiler included. There are restrictions on academic versions, but it is more likely simply a denial of permission to develop a commercial product with such versions of the software.