Rana June Sobhany, co-founder of Medialets, the largest in-application analytics and advertising platform for the iPhone, puts forth thoughts
on marketing mobile APPs in this transformed world. Focus is on Apple's
IPhone and its applications, which is understandable in such a new marketplace.
The beginning reviews the past few years and the growth of
Apple's App Store. Mentioned are the number of new App hits and their
creators. There isn't much to learn here since most hits blossomed
in a small fish pond. Developers needed to do little but create an
product that didn't break on the IPhone.
The next portion of the book was a bit trying, droning on and on about
how the developer needs to create a great product. Sure, there is no
reason not to mention this, but the idea is churned out over and over
with little information on how to create a good product on the platform.
Things pick up after that. As I said, the focus of the book is marketing
applications on the IPhone, so the focus is on getting the public aware of the developer's App. Perhaps target marketing sticks out the most in this early part of the book. Given the way our world as become so fragmented,
with so many outlets to get information, it seems more important than ever
to know who your customer is. Ms Sobhany does a good job of emphasizing this point. Trying to capture everyone is a mistake, if your application
will only be of interest of 5 percent of the public. Know who your target
audience is, where they get their information, where they hang out, what they like to do, etc.
Another good point, given the emerged social networking explosion, is how
the developer should place their App in front of Twitter and Facebook users. Also, a great point, is the importance of creating a community of
App users. They are the audience: a great source of critisizism and new
features list. They carry the message of the App to the rest of the world
with their posts on Foursquare.com, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
A good number of other topics are discussed: the importance of the App
launch, press releases, networking with other developers and writers
at events, conferences, blogs, twitter, etc., positioning the product,
monitoring sales and using metrics to make intelligent decisions on how
to increase sales.
The book could have been better without so many examples that did not
support the topic in that particular part of the book. Often Ms. Sobhany
seems to mention stories simply because the developer has a hit App, even
though they were hits do to some piece of luck or timing which could not
be replicated by the reader.
On the whole, the book is worth the read for any person thinking of
creating a product running on cell phones, IPads, and such. There is
enough here to help the reader to improve the launch of their
application.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
What you can do when you have too much money
This link to yahoo shows a garage door which is dressed up as some siding and windows, but electronincally opens up to allow for the car to come in. Very slick! The uglyness of garage doors has always baffled me. There were always better ways to dress them up. Garage doors dressed up as carriage house doors always had a nice look to them.
Then again you could always donate the money to the homeless ;D
Then again you could always donate the money to the homeless ;D
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Review: The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
Having been "around the block" more than a few times, I didn't expect the contents of Timothy Ferriss' book The 4-hour work week to make it possible for me, or anyone, to earn a living spending that little time per week on their business. But then, many books in this niche do much the same: tout exaggerated claims or impossible feats. So my approach was to simply glean what I could from the pages.
The beginning of the book is more motivational than useful, giving a look at the author's history and snippets of successes and failures. His sense of humor was entertaining, and I liked that he gave out more bits of his defeats and missteps than trying to spout about how great and smart he is. What caught my interest was his tactics in the martial arts field. Mr. Ferriss claims to have won a tournament not by great martial arts skill, but by pushing his opponents out of the ring and forcing the judges to declare him the winner on technical grounds. He even admits to losing excessive weight to enable him to enter lower weight classes. This is not unknown in the sports world, but he went down two weight classes. This foreshadows business techniques described later in the book that may stretch the readers capability to follow his lead on such shaky ethical ground. But it is to his credit that me mentions it, for good or ill.
Before getting to the meat of the book, Mr. Ferriss takes the reader through a mental excercise course in which he lays out his philosophy. Many of the ideas are not new, but he does it in an entertaining way and includes a good number of motivational stories. Thinking smarter, make-work is ineffecient, scaling down to the bare essentials, having more is not necessarily living better are just a few of the ideas presented. This section of the book might ware on the patience of those who have read books along the same vein, and may be skipped with little loss to the reader.
The meat of the book covers running a small business that can scale up easily. Several examples are carried through over a number of the business areas that are discussed, from initial idea, test marketing, production, staffing, and stepping aside when necessary. One example in the book is an American who gets the idea to sell French made shirts when he is often asked where he got his shirts. He researchers the costs of having the shirts shipped over from France, test markets the concept to prove the ideas viability, and even offers a satisfaction guarantee of 200%. Here is a spot where I don't think Mr. Ferriss stresses the negative sides to some approaches. A 200% satisfaction guarantee could be very costly, especially for a small business.
A few internet posts I've read blasted the author, his book, and his aggressive personal style, but overall I think there is enough good in the book to justify Mr. Ferriss' efforts. Granted readers surely will not be able to run their businesses with only 4-hours of effort a week, but there are numerous ideas that can be explored and exploited with the right mind-set, and the compilations of books and web sites that offer virtual assistants, web hosting, web site analytics, credit card handling, etc. definitely provide the small business owner (or wannabe) the tools to help run a business effectively.
The 4-hour Workweek was more than a four hour read for me (I'm a slow reader), but worth the time. One suggestion is to be open minded and remember that not every technique is for every person or his/her business.
Copyright © 2011 Daniel Dunleavy
The beginning of the book is more motivational than useful, giving a look at the author's history and snippets of successes and failures. His sense of humor was entertaining, and I liked that he gave out more bits of his defeats and missteps than trying to spout about how great and smart he is. What caught my interest was his tactics in the martial arts field. Mr. Ferriss claims to have won a tournament not by great martial arts skill, but by pushing his opponents out of the ring and forcing the judges to declare him the winner on technical grounds. He even admits to losing excessive weight to enable him to enter lower weight classes. This is not unknown in the sports world, but he went down two weight classes. This foreshadows business techniques described later in the book that may stretch the readers capability to follow his lead on such shaky ethical ground. But it is to his credit that me mentions it, for good or ill.
Before getting to the meat of the book, Mr. Ferriss takes the reader through a mental excercise course in which he lays out his philosophy. Many of the ideas are not new, but he does it in an entertaining way and includes a good number of motivational stories. Thinking smarter, make-work is ineffecient, scaling down to the bare essentials, having more is not necessarily living better are just a few of the ideas presented. This section of the book might ware on the patience of those who have read books along the same vein, and may be skipped with little loss to the reader.
The meat of the book covers running a small business that can scale up easily. Several examples are carried through over a number of the business areas that are discussed, from initial idea, test marketing, production, staffing, and stepping aside when necessary. One example in the book is an American who gets the idea to sell French made shirts when he is often asked where he got his shirts. He researchers the costs of having the shirts shipped over from France, test markets the concept to prove the ideas viability, and even offers a satisfaction guarantee of 200%. Here is a spot where I don't think Mr. Ferriss stresses the negative sides to some approaches. A 200% satisfaction guarantee could be very costly, especially for a small business.
A few internet posts I've read blasted the author, his book, and his aggressive personal style, but overall I think there is enough good in the book to justify Mr. Ferriss' efforts. Granted readers surely will not be able to run their businesses with only 4-hours of effort a week, but there are numerous ideas that can be explored and exploited with the right mind-set, and the compilations of books and web sites that offer virtual assistants, web hosting, web site analytics, credit card handling, etc. definitely provide the small business owner (or wannabe) the tools to help run a business effectively.
The 4-hour Workweek was more than a four hour read for me (I'm a slow reader), but worth the time. One suggestion is to be open minded and remember that not every technique is for every person or his/her business.
Copyright © 2011 Daniel Dunleavy
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