The world of computers has changed greatly since the 80s. Back then I spent a lot of time on graphics drivers for expensive hi-res (1024 x 768 was very high res!) graphics boards, The customers would pay $1200 for a 19" monitor and almost as much for a graphics board.
Today I don't worry about all that, everybody has a decent screen with 24 bit color, and Windows takes care of the drivers.
The internet didn't really exist back then, and we relied on direct mail, phone calls, and trade shows for marketing. It worked well because we had a product with a defined market, and little competition.
Using VB.NET and a varity of graphics tools such as Corel Draw, Solidworks, and 3D studio, I managed to complete and test my first product (which I'm calling ShipDash here) in less than a month. Amazing.
ShipDash also has a defined market, but I'm not planning direct mail. I set up a web site, advertised on Google, and offered a free downloadable demo. I got thousands of clicks, hundreds of downloads, but few sales. The problem is our the product is not really a do-it-yourself installation. Actually, the software is but there is specialized hardware involved that most potential users would need help to install.
Then I realized my Google ads were largely wasted. I had allowed Google to use automatic placement on their "content network". Don't ever do this. They placed my adds on a lot of free file sharing sites, none of which were relevant to my product, and I got a lot of clicks from un-qualified users. A waste of money. I changed the ads to "managed" and I select the sites to advertise on. More work and more effective.
Considering these factors, I decided to sell through dealers, and set about establishing a dealer network. The criteria was pretty loose, they just had to be in the Marine field, and willing to represent us. I changed the Google ads to say "dealer wanted" and did direct email to a couple of hundred companies I thought qualified. Within a week I had 25 dealers, although only one actually placed an immediate order.
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