I just launched a new version of the Snip-It Pro web site. The original site, I built on my own and although I don't think it was as effective as it could be. After reading Bob Walsh's new e-book, "Micro ISV Sites that Sell", I made a redesign a top priority.

So I broke down and bought a template from template monster, which I then spent about two days customizing. I think you'll agree the results are much more professional. Besides the redesign, I also released a few more snippet libraries and introduced a new lower price of $24.95 until June 3rd, when it will go back to $39.95. I think these moves have helped. It's been less than a week and the percentage of users who download the trial has increased.

In case you don't know, Snip-It Pro helps programmers organize, search and share code snippets. It is my first attempt to build and market a piece of shareware. The entire experience has been eye opening. I always thought that builing the software would be the hard point. What I've found is, that just getting people to find out that you exist is really hard. At times I have felt really ineffective, wasting a lot of money on pay per click campaigns with poor conversion rates.

After reading  The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, I am looking for way to out source what I can. Especially stuff that I don't feel confident about. Search Engine Optimization is one of those things. I've tried to read a couple of books on it, but I still don't feel comfortable doing it myself. Taking a page out of the four hour work week, I am in the process of getting a SEO consultant to help me out through elance. I also hired SoftPressRelease to create and distribute a press release on my product.

Hopefully I'll get a nice return on investment. I'll let you know how things go.