Finding beta testers

MyMicroISV has some great tips today on getting people to test your software beta. I experienced some issues with this when I was developing File Phantom during it’s beta period but I found many of my beta testers in my circle of friends and online contacts. This isn't always the best way to find beta testers though because friends and family aren't always the target market for the product you may be building. It could have been for File Phantom so I was glad they were testing it and I received a lot of really good feedback from those that were able to beta test.

Be sure that if someone does beta test your software and finds a bug that's good, make sure that when you finally release the product to at least give them a free copy of your software because hopefully they'll tell others about what you've built and will also beta test it again later.

My favorite point that he makes is the following.

Make getting the beta as painless as possible. That means no registration form, no required email, no hoops to jump through. Your beta is competing for attention against a thousand others. Beta testers are doing you a huge favor - you owe them, not the other way around.

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  ¶ 10:46 PM