Go to http://www.tucows.com/ and look up free software called Spyware Doctor 3.2 for Windows. You can download it free, you along with the 500,000 other consumers who download it every week! OK, now go to http://www.download.com and check on the number of downloads for the AVG AntiVirus Free Edition. This title was downloaded 1,126,408 times last week and similar astounding quantities every week!

Many shareware titles never hit these big download numbers but what if you had a title that got downloaded just 100,000 times every week. Could you make some money with it?

What do shareware developers know that most people don't? Here are some ideas: 1. To achieve big download numbers try to develop an application that has mass market appeal. However, even niche market applications can do very well.

2. Research your market to see what the competition is doing. If the market is big enough you may decide to spend the time and money to improve on the most popular title out there. Get lots of free publicity with word of mouth advertising by developing a five star shareware program.

The good news is that shareware is a digital product. There are no delivery or manufacturing costs once bandwidth issues are handled. It costs you little or nothing to get your title into the hands of millions of users. Consider this an enormous source of free advertising.

With over ten million people having downloaded Spyware Doctor so far you can see that the traffic to a site like www.Download.com is enormous putting their Alexa traffic ranking around 89. Post your shareware to similar shareware sites to have a chance of having your title downloaded a lot.

My research showed tens of thousands of such sites but there are probably more. Just type in free downloads or free software as a search term in Google, Alexa or Yahoo.com . You could not spend enough money to get anywhere close to that level of traffic. So, why bother? Why even have a web site?

Show Me The Money! When I was a bit less informed I asked my personal computer/Internet guru, Thomas Deedy, how these software developers made any money. His answer opened my eyes.

There are several powerful income generators that you could employ. For example, if you create a complicated program that has many applications you may want to offer paid support services. Some developers know the answers to every possible complication in the installation, development or on-going operation of their software. So, they create a powerful trouble-shooting menu tree that any technical person can follow.

You can actually sell support by the minute, hour or for an annual fee. You can install your trouble-shooting tree on a site accessible only by support staff. The database of solutions keeps growing until there is virtually no problem that a mildly technical support person can suss out by following the support issue tree.

Of course, every time that happens the programmer adds that problem or glitch to the trouble shooting menu until it is a rare day indeed when someone asks a question that has never come up before. When a customer encounters a problem he clicks on "help" (from within the software) and finds out that support is happily available for a modest fee by "clicking here". He pays for support by the minute or by the hour.

Believe it or not 900 numbers can be a profit source with support. The user simply picks up the phone and is charged either by the minute of a flat fee.

On an expensive program you could sell a support package that includes video and troubleshooting software. For a shareware program that might sell for $2500 at retail you could easily sell this package for $250.

So, imagine you've got a valuable business application that should sell on the open market for $2500 but since it is free around 250,000 people download it. If just 2% of those people decide to opt for the support package @ $250 you'd have a winner.

Do the math: 5000 orders @ $250 each is $1,250,000 in gross sales!

If you outsource the production of the video and support software you have just developed an automated way to monetize your shareware that could make you a millionaire.

Then, go to http://www.elance.com or http://www.scriptlance.com or www.Vworker.com and enter your Project Proposal (no charge) to get a pile of bids from experienced programmers who want to work for you. You will be shocked at how reasonably you can get powerful software programs designed and built.

As the creator of the project you own the copyrights and you'll need to pay no royalties on your earnings. but, you can make more money if you sell a private label license to a software company.

This may be America's easiest way to become a multimillionaire and you don't even have to be a programmer to do it!

While you can make money providing support many simpler program make money in other ways.

Many programs are offered on a free trial basis. After 30 to 40 days the program requires you to register and pay the license fee or it expires. Or, you can set up a "DONATE BUTTON" and collect donations. As an incentive offer your users unlimited access to any upgrades plus some support for their modest donation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " Please support my efforts to provide users with support and improve this software with a small donation. In return, you'll receive a link to an extensive tutorial, help files and you'll be advised when you can download the latest updated version of XYZ software. You'll receive lifetime updates all for your small contribution of $10 or more." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would then include three pay links. To contribute $10 click here. To contribute $15 click here. To contribute $25 click here. I would add a bonus of some really nifty software worth several hundred dollars for those who donate $25.

You can be sure a substantial number of people will contribute $$ but the capturing of the user's name and email address may ultimately be worth more than the donation. Anyone who can build a massive opt-in emailing list has the potential to earn roughly a dollar per name per month. Major players like Mark Joyner built lists of around a million names. A single email to his list could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales.

When you are ready to get started with your own shareware project look for a broad niche that has a real need. Research the competition and make your shareware better with more power and features.

Here's a few more ways to earn money giving away software:

1. You'll want to create a full version and a basic version from the start. Deliver the full version but make it function with an unlock code. Then, when users pay for the upgrade just send them the unlock code.

2. Offer users a newsletter and collect their emails.

3. Create a "player" for games or lessons. Give it away with a package of outstanding free games or lessons. But, include an online, updateable link to new games (or lessons) with even more features. People love games! Once your publicity is out and the public is aware that they can get highly rated games free simply by going to your site or download.com and downloading your "game player" you will have an automatic customer base of hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions. It all depends on how good your free package of games is and the buzz that your package generates.

I hope this has been helpful and that you realize that coders can do all the technical stuff for you. If so, you may just have found the perfect way to become a shareware millionaire.