[raffi]

I'm debating some of these questions myself. I'm getting ready to launch a software as a service product to add language checking tools to CMSs (i.e. Wordpress). I'd like to offer some sort of free version but the processing I do is very CPU intensive not to mention the R&D effort to create this product. Writing improvement isn't a trivial problem :) http://www.hick.org/~raffi/afterthedeadline.jpg is my SS.

Some days I think of charging for usage (similar to other SaaS models), having a monthly per user flat rate, or just making the whole thing free initially until I have enough users and figure out how to monetize then (with more features, ability to add new rules, etc.)

[sam_in_nyc]

Very interesting screenshot. How is this application run? Is it a browser add-on?

[raffi]

Its a TinyMCE plugin that talks to a web service I wrote. It does require a proxy script on the server side. My wordpress plugin comes with one of those. Getting ready to go beta with the whole thing soon.

[sam_in_nyc]

Not to burst your bubble, but a lot of people write their blogs in a word processor.. then just c+p it into WordPress.

[raffi]

One of my challenges is educating my market on the differences.

1) A word processor provides spellcheck, grammar check, and some text enrichment aka style checking. My software provides spellcheck, minor grammar things, and very heavy text enrichment. Desktop software comparable to my text enrichment technology retails for $130. My spellchecker also detects homophones (where, were, etc.) which the Firefox spellchecker and the Wordpress spellchecker do not do.

END USER BENEFIT: checks you don't get in a word processor, improvement over the default spellcheck.

2) c+p from a word processor back into Wordpress is cumbersome. Claiming that all people follow this practice is misguided. I agree some people do this and others use standalone blog editors. However I see CMSs bringing in more and more word processor functionality as time goes on. After all, you are editing and producing content in the CMS, these tools should should be available.

END USER BENEFIT: convenience, safety net built into the CMS for those times when writers are too lazy to open a word processor

3) my engine makes it easy to add rules to enforce organizational style guidelines in writing. Imagine you have a corporate blog where many employees are producing content that the public sees. Most organizations worth their salt have a style guide. My software makes it easy to enforce style guidelines. I don't have a rule editor in place for everyone yet but my engine can support this.

END USER BENEFIT: centralized control of style guidelines, ability to enforce style guidelines

Think beyond Wordpress. Any web app with TinyMCE can use my service to embed language checking capabilities as shown in that screenshot.

(note--even though I'm building writing tools, its 6am, I've been up all night, please forgive my sloppy writing style right now)

[sam_in_nyc]

It sounds really great. I didn't say all users use a word processor.. just that a lot of them do. Besides that, writing content for the web has been around for a very long time, and people have seemed to managed to write pretty good content.

I like how you've realized the challenge of "education your market," very strong words there, and it sounds like you have some plan put together.

I think 2) is the greatest draw, the convenience factor.

Best of luck.

[raffi]

This thread will go on forever with our tit for tat responses. But thanks for the encouragement!

People have written quality content for awhile now, agreed. They did so before the word processor too. My claim is that I will speed up the polishing process for writers using my product.

My tool is a billy club, bopping writers over the head with their bad habits. We all have them. How many engineers write "utilize" over "use". You may think, "who cares?" but read a paper where everything is said with complex words, passive voice, etc.--it gets dense.

One of my favorite books is Write to the Point by Bill Stott. He advocates concise writing to communicate ideas quickly. I breezed through his book like it was a Neil Stephenson novel. This is a testimony to the difference clear writing makes.

Sure, I'm hocking a product, but I also believe in what it does.