Microsoft has been moving at lightning speed to give software away. Especially to web professionals that want to make a huge difference in their new start-up career. They may actually be on their way to provide a great stimulus package, that’s what I think. When Microsoft decides to give away thousands of dollars of software for free, you should perk up and listen. WebsiteSpark is a participation program you will not want to look past.
It’s difficult to start a business and the tools to use in your profession are required to be effective and useful. Well, that effort just got a ton easier in the programming industry. There are some “hoops” to pass through and some fees that can be assessed if you exit the program early, but they are significantly less than the upfront costs to get started. A similar program was introduced last year Dreamspark and enhanced this year to offer High School students with a free programming software bundle. It used to only be fore College students. Now, that same concept has been extended and is introduced to small business and noobies that want to start programming. I wish I had this opportunity when I was first starting out. I bought Visual Basic 1.0 Standard at my University at the whopping student discount price of $500.00, upfront.
Get on board with this and make a name for yourself. It’s definitely worth it. The worst of it is, if you exit the program and pay a measly $100.00. That’s small potatoes compared to the $1000.00 price tag for the bundle just to get the software. It’s almost like a try before you buy shareware program, but you’re actually encouraged to develop production software. What do you have to lose, $100.00, but you have everything else to gain. WebsiteSpark may be your ticket to the big leagues and eventually a big fat check.
So some of the conditions are:
- Pay $100 to exit the participating program
- Membership can also last no more than three years, after which time Microsoft, of course, hopes you sign on as a Network Partner.
- You must roll-out a new application or website within 6 months of joining.
- If you hit the big times, the ride is over; but you may not care since would be living the fat life.