In this #AskEvan episode, Evan Carmichael answers a viewer’s question about how he sold his software to customers in over 30 countries. He clarifies that he sold his company to a Japanese firm and that Johnson & Johnson was a client, not the buyer. He explains that his product succeeded because it was the easiest to use despite having fewer features than competitors. Evan then shares three concrete tactics that helped him scale: (1) Get distribution by partnering with companies that sell complementary products and giving them a commission, which quickly brought in a five‑figure deal and broader market reach; (2) Offer a free version or unlimited trial to lower buyer risk, let users experience the product, and create a pipeline for upsells; (3) Gain exposure through targeted industry media and online influencers (Twitter, YouTube, Instagram) by getting the scientific co‑founder featured in publications, driving traffic to the free version and subsequent sales. He wraps up by encouraging viewers to ask more questions and to keep believing in their business.
Chapters
How did I sell my product to have customers in over 30 countries? I'm gonna answer that question in today's episode of #AskEvan. So I got a question from one of my loyal YouTube viewers, love you guys, Crap Stuff, who wrote in to say, "Bro, you sold a software company to Johnson Johnson, which is a huge company with over 100 years of experience. That means your software was somehow unique. I wanna know everything you're willing to share. I'm working with a web-based software myself, and no, it's not easy. I'd be the happiest guy on the planet If I had software clients in over 30 countries, how much you willing to share? Let me know. So this is a great question, and just a note of clarification, I didn't sell my company to Johnson Johnson. I sold it to a Japanese company, but I sold to Johnson Johnson as one of my clients. They bought our software. And yes, it was really unique software. The challenge we had going in was that we already had established competitors, and they had tons of features. And the problem that my partners came across, they were the researchers, they had developed it, was that there was nothing that was easy to use. So our software didn't have the most functionality, the most features, but it was the easiest software to use on the market, and that's part of what helped us get to our success. But to answer your question, things I want to share, I'm going to share with you my 3 tips that might help you grow your software company as well. So number 1 is get distribution. I struggled so much in the early days of my software company. I've told the story a couple times in this channel where I had $300 a month, was eating beans for lunch every day, and could barely survive. And the thing that helped me break through was getting distribution. I looked at companies who could represent us overseas, and the first deal I landed was for 5 figures. And when I had that check come in, it was unbelievable because finally now I had some money coming into my business. And so what you want to first do is look for people who are selling related products to your target market and figure out ways to partner up with them. How can you have them help rep your product so that you're not off going selling one at a time, one at a time, one at a time? But by connecting with them and giving them a cut of everything they sell, they'll help you reach a lot more people. Number 2 is have a free version. What really helped us get some adoption is having a free version of our software for people to try, for people to taste, for people to get a sense of what we're all about. Because at the start, it's really risky to buy a new product that you've never used, that you've never tried before, and the more expensive it is, the more risk there is for someone to want to get into your product. So having a free version where you can strip out some functionality or give them a time unlimited trial helps reduce the risk and allows people to try your product, make sure it's a good product, right? Make sure people can use it and they love it and they want to come back, something that they can't live without anymore. But having that free version really helped us out. And number 3 is get exposure. Once we had that free version that we knew people were liking, we knew people were upgrading from, my next job became how do I get tons of exposure for my business to get more and more people downloading the free version? I knew if I can get them on the free version, I can upsell them on the main version. So how do I get them finding out about my business? The main path that I used was using the media. And I had some success with major media, uh, but the biggest success I had was with targeted industry-specific media. And I tried to get my business partner, who was the scientist, the researcher, featured in as many magazines and publications as possible in our industry so people could learn about us, find out about us, visit our website. And eventually get the free version of our software, and eventually buy our product. So that really helped us. If I was starting it over now, I'd look at not just the traditional media, but also the online media. I'd look at who's really popular on Twitter, and on YouTube, and on Instagram, who's covering my market, and try to get my product, my, my message in their hands so they can help spread the message for me. So again, just like looking at the Get Distribution strategy, instead of me going one at a time, one at a time, one at a time trying to convince people to buy from me, I'm connecting to an influencer, they'll help and spread my message, and it brings a ton more people to visit my website. So get distribution, have a free version, and get exposure. Thank you so much for watching. Good luck with your business. And you have a question for me that you want me to answer in the next version of #AskEvan, ask it below and I'll see what I can do. Continue to believe.
