I spent the weekend learning a little more about Twitter and I found some cool resources to share with everyone! These are ALL focused on managing your Twitter account, I'll have future posts about Twitter content, and Twitter marketing...BTW all these are Free!
HootSuite HootSuite is a REALLY comprehensive tool - it does a lot more than I need, or than most people need, but it lets you use multiple Twitter accounts and manage them all from one dashboard, track your statistics...you should check it out for yourself...it's free right now, but it's the type of thing they'll probably start charging for, but if you set up an account now you might be grandfathered in!
Tweepular This is another fairly comprehensive tool, it makes it really easy to manage who is following you and who you're following. Everyone jokes about the color scheme, it's pretty over the top, but I like it!
Tweetlater This is probably my favorite. Again, handles multiple accounts through 1 login, then allows you to schedule automated replies for new followers, allows you to auto-follow people who follow you. Not as pretty as Tweeplular, but good.
There was a lot of buzz about this as I was researching stuff, but frankly I don't really like it that much, it seems to have a LOT of cool features available if you UPGRADE (and pay $) but I'm not really interested in paying for what I can get free!
FutureTweets This is cool because you can schedule Tweets around specific events like your friends' birthdays, or Holidays etc. Easy to set up, it's got some other fun things to play with too.
TweetBeep This is just like Google Alerts for Twitter. It could get overwhelming though because people Tweet so much, but you can select search terms or your name or whatever you're interested in - also gives you the opportunity to keep track of people tweeting on certain topics or about you etc. etc.
You can automatically follow people who are talking about topics you're interested in! Following them you can find out what they're talking about and give them the chance to follow you!
So that's what I've seen for managing Twitter combining these tools can put your twitter on autopilot adding value for your followers, building followers, and extending your network - what tools have you seen? Leave comments below!
There is this really intersting documentary of the 1982 Video Game Championship and the players.
One of the guys says "Winners find what thier good at and then don't do anything else"...intersting concept, but I think what he means to say is NERDs find what they're good at and then don't do anything else...a real winner wins at whatever they apply themselves too. That's why those guys are now washed up loosers. 1 dimensional idiot savants are not my definition of winners.
Although this blog is typically just about my quest for the Million Dollar iPhone App, I'm going to branch out and start discussing other Marketing, Sales, and New Media topics...
Too many times, people confuse selling, persuading, communicating, and negotiating. Professional Selling is a process, involving many, many steps and many, many skills.
Persuasion is a skill. You can cajole someone into a one time transaction, but you didn't sell them anything, you just tricked them. If you sell someone something they feel good about the transaction and look forward to buying from you again in the future. If you are overly persuasive, your customer will make a bad decision, and blame you for it. There are many points in the sales process where persuasion is helpful and even neccessary, however simply eliciting an emotional "buy" may work for candy in the grocery check-out lane, but isn't the basis of a professional transaction. Too much persuasion makes you slick, like a revivalist stealing from the offering plate or a used car salesman peddling lemons. Communicating is also a skill. Good communication is often a part of persuasion, but you can communicate without being persuasive. Good communication is usually part of the sales process as you educate a client on the benefits of your product or service. However, the most valuable part of communication in the sales process is LISTENING. Understanding a clients needs makes a salesperson better able to address them. Meeting needs is the key to a successful sale. The fast talking salesman belongs with the overly persuasive huckster.
Negotiating should only take place after a sale has been made. Too many times sellers try to negotiate on price as a way of selling thier product. If you buy a product simply because it was a low price you still feel like you got ripped off , because you weren't SOLD on the fact that you needed it to begin with! You still feel tricked! Professional sellers know that price is not the only aspect of the deal that can be negotiated. Length of contract, perks, add-ons, billing arrangement, customer support plans etc. are all opportunities for negotiation.
Next time your selling something - even if it's trying to sell your friends on a particular restaurant for dinner, think about the process. Communicate first, listening to find out thier needs, be persuasive in explaining how your solution fits thier needs, then negotiate once you've reached an agreement in principle. You'll win more often and wind up with happier customers in the process!
I love movies - more than once a movie has literally changed my life. I saw a great movie last night I want to share with you! I broke my ankle 2 weeks ago. Some people like pain killers as a recreational drug, I hate them. They make me depressingly depressed, plus the immobilization, the pain - altogether, not a good time. On top of that, I was a little late getting all the graphics to my iphone developer, he tried to make up time on the project, but now he is running late so that has me down as well. I'm putting in a deck on my house and I'm litterally BROKE for the next SEVERAL pay cycles. The upcoming launch and promotion/marketing of my app is weighing on me 'cuz I know I'll need to spend a little money on a few things and I just don't have it...UGH.
Last night I watched this movie on Showtime 'My Date with Drew' - it's a documentary about a regular guy that has had a crush on Drew Barrymore since he was 10, and he decides to spend 30 days trying to get a date with her. The guy is a bit of a dork, which is endearing to some, but drove me nuts, but in the end, well, you guessed it - he gets a date with Drew.
It's not a movie about love, or being a stalker, or even 'getting the girl.' It's about believing in yourself and daring to do something you want to do...something other people will think you are stupid for trying, something you have little chance of success at, something that may not even have that big of a payoff in the end. Most sales training is about motivation. Staying movtivated is the MOST important factor for being successful, and a 'positive mental attitude' is the foundation of every Tony Robbins / life coach in the world. It's hard. This movie helped me get my mind back on course, so I recommend it to you!
So Vicodin be damned, I'm back on the horse - pursuing my Million Dollar iPhone App!
I've got to design some logos, build some websites, test the beta version, plan the marketing (and oh yeah, buy an iPhone!) but I can do it! I can do it all night!!!
Ironic that I got an opportunity to be included in an article in the 'American Way' magazine around July 4th...for those of you unfamiliar it's the American Airlines in-flight magazine - perfect audience to talk to about iPhone apps!!!
Apparently they are doing an article on the emerging app industry and want to talk to developers about the process - my PR person heard about the opportunity and is going to pitch our little project to them for coverage!!!
I had to do a "1 Sheet" about the project and me so I'll include that below for your review - would love to hear your comments about how I should revise for future use.
Status update...Audio is DONE - Thanks to Adam Schneider! Graphics will be done this weekend - Thanks to Amber Osborne! 1st draft version of the code will be done this weekend - Thanks to Alfred the Great! Still expecting a Beta version on the 17th of this month WOO HOO!!!!
Here's the pitch I sent to the magazine...
Mark Osborne thinks the iPhone is the Wild Wild West of marketing. The fastest guns, tghe savviest snake oil salesmen, and the hardest working prospectors are striking it rich. He decided it was time to practice his quickdraw and pick up a shovel. Mark has promoted bands and sold advertising with radio stations for years. He had friends boom and bust in the dot.com rush of the late 90's and recognizes the same opportunity with the iPhone. He is on a quest to develop a "Million Dollar iPhone App." The irony is he doesn't own an iPhone and has never programmed software!
"Originally it was a project to become more familiar with new technology. I bought a 'for Dummies' book and was going to Tweet and blog about the experience of learning to write and application and sell it through Apple's AppStore," says Mr. Osborne. Then he came up with an idea he thinks will sell and decided to get serious about the project. Calling on his wife's graphic design skills, a friend's closet sound studio, and a college-kid he met on Craigslist who said he could teach him how to code; he is pursuing his dream in his spare time while continuing his day job.
"I have always fancied myself an inventive marketer - the AppStore is an incredible opportunity to test my skills."
Not only is Mark writing a "Million Dollar iPhone App," he is also writing a guide to show others how to turn thier own ideas into success.
"I wanted to write a book that condensed all the things I've learned about marketing from being on the street pushing demo CDs, selling door-to-door, and working with top advertising agencies around the country. The story of developing and selling an iPhone Application seemed like the perfect format."
Mr. Osborne plans to launch his application by Summer's end, completing a 60 day plan to go from day-dream to product. Then the real challenge comes - turning a $.99 application into a goldmine. Every step of the process is documented in his blog, with headlines going out over Twitter and through Facebook status updates, building more and more followers, all of them wondering - Will he succeed?
I'm gonna pat myself on the back today - feel free to watch...
I've fancied myself an entreprenuer for a while, but the fact is I've spent most of my life working for other people. Part of the reason is I'm a bit of a nerd, I like to research, and read, and study, and plan, and review options - Paralysis by Analysis is the catchy way to say it.
I was reading an article by an entreprenuer one time who said we often make the mistake of confusing LEARNING about what we want to do and DOING it...Success isn't learning about it, Success is doing it.
In another article I read the phrase - "You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going." That phrase has served as a good balance to my over analyzing everything. Toward that end, I've tried to just get things going on this project, not worrying about making them perfect.
30 days ago I decided to write an iPhone app, for fun, and blog about it, for fun. Here's what I've done since then, in chronology (all while working my day job, tavelling every week for work, and handling some stuff around the house ).
Bought an instructional book on how to develop and sell iPhone apps (thanks Charlie Parker).
Started a Blog to chronicle the process (thanks Blogger).
Gotten iPhone Developer Status from Apple (thanks Steve Jobs).
Came up with a marketable idea (thanks god).
Registered 6 domain names related to the idea (thanks GoDaddy.com).
Learned enough HTML code to run this blog, set up tracking/analytics on this site and build another website with analytics code and e-commerce built in (thanks StatCounter.com).
Launched a web-site re-selling the instructional book (I thought it was so good I bought licensing rights) (Thanks 000webhost.com).
Registered the web-site and this blog with search engines (thanks Ping o Matic.com).
Learned to integrate Twitter and Facebook for Marketing (thanks blogosphere).
Attracted the attention of new Twitter followers (Thanks Twitter).
Launched advertising campaigns on Yahoo Search, Google Search, and Facebook to promote my web-site and blog (Thanks to all my employers past and present).
Put together a Non Disclosure Agreement (thanks LegalZoom).
Solicited bids from Developers (thanks Scriptlance.com).
Put together a demo movie and uploaded to YouTube for use with developer bids (thanks Wondershare).
Reviewed bids from Developers (thanks for nuthin, most of them were terrible).
Conducted conference calls with Developers from 4 different countries (thanks Skype).
Put together a Freelance Development Contract (thanks again LegalZoom).
Contracted a developer to help me with the heavy lifting on the code (thanks Alfred the GREAT!).
Learned about inserting Analytics into the app (thanks PinchMedia).
Learned about inserting advertising into the app (thanks AdWhirl).
Written the basic framework of the application (thanks For Dummies!).
Developed a Logo (thanks to doodling in High School).
Developed the artwork and graphics for the app (special thanks to my lovely wife for cleaning it up for me).
Taken photos for use in the Application (Thanks Kathie Winsor).
Recorded audio for use in the Application (thanks Adam Schnieder).
Worked with a PR agency to develop a marketing strategy for the application (thanks Deanna Anderson).
Come up with some "Secret Weapon" guerrilla marketing to hopefully push this over the top (thanks Seth Godin).
Contracted an Accountant to make sure I'm doing everything up the right way for the IRS (thanks Lynda Galler).
Set a development timeline and launch deadline (thanks Dad for making me so anal).
PHEW - Sorry to be so self indulgent, but the stated purpose of the blog is to chronicle the journey, 30 days is a big milestone...and I need a little self congratulations to stay motivated and positive.
If you show people a video of a professional basketball team (with or without Kobe and/or Lebron) playing in a darkened gym (and missing lots of baskets and bumping into each other BECAUSE they are in the dark) they will rate the players WORSE than the amatuer players in a video playing with the lights on. Even if you point out that one team is playing in the dark, they will "take that into consideration" and still rate the other team as better. Even if you show them the SAME team - one video they're playing in the light, the other in the dark, they will rate the team playing in the light better. This is called Fundamental Attribution Error.
Fundamental Attirbution Error is the tendency for us to blame the person, not the circumstances. For example, I never let my band play a gig with a bad sound system, because everyone will walk away thinking the band sucks, not that the sound system sucks.
This is the same reason why I cannot tell you about my idea for my iPhone app untill it is ready to roll out. If I don't explain it correctly you will loose interest and decide it's no good. But if you had seen it when it was all done, with the bugs worked out, you'd think it was great. And you never get a second chance to make a first impresssion!
The other reason is I need to focus EVERY purchase/page view I can into 1 24hour period. The AppStore ranks apps based on activity in 1 24hour period. Breaking the top 200, top 100, 25, 10, etc gives an INSTANT lift to sales just because it puts the app on the radar for more people, meaning more sampling, etc etc etc.
So - please stay interested, I'm still shooting for a launch within 60 days! In the meantime I'll keep you posted on the process...
As I'm working on my idea, I'm also working to publicize it...(hence this blog).
Everyone I know is now VERY aware that I'm working on an iPhone app (I went out the other night and people I haven't seen in months asked me about it) so I guess Facebook works.
I've also been submitting this blog address to search engines and directories, tyring to get listed and ranked...there are a MILLION different websites claiming to do "Search Engine Optimization" that's SEO to the uninitiated...it's ridiculous, everyone wants $19.99 to get my site "listed in the top of search engine results" and "drive traffic" etc etc etc.
It's all so much hyperbole I can't help but laugh, at the same time there are some basics that I thought I would pass along to everyone.
Submit your website to the major search engines
I went with Google, Yahoo, and MSN - other than that I think you're talking about drips in the ocean. Submit your BLOG to specific BLOG directories that reference your categories (listing here).
Use Title, Description and MetaTags so when the search engines send thier robots to crawl over your site they get a good picture of what your site is so they can.
Get people to link to you (anyone wanna link to me? Please do)
There's a few others, but that's the basics that everyone should do, and I think that pretty much makes your site "findable"
Additionally I'm getting a little sneaky and posting some Craigslist ads under Computer gigs - "get your own gig making iPhone apps, follow my story etc."
I've found some cool resources for aspiring Million Dollar App developers...
Pinch Media has posted an AMAZING presentation about App Store sales - being on the top 100 list increases your downloads by 2.3 X - They go on to say you'll need 5,000 downloads a day to make the top 100. So if I can get to 5,000 downloads on my own, I'll make the top 100 which will take me to 11,500!!! That's $11,385 in Revenue for an app @ # 100!!!
They also talked about free apps running ads inside the game (duh, I work in advertising) I really should have considered this option before - I HAVE TO incorporate this into the free version of my app.
Here's another neat thing...
I put together a PowerPoint to demo the application (keep your pants on, I'll share it with everyone soon enough)...there is a neat little program called Wondershare that will convert your .ppt slide show into a movie you can upload on YouTube!
Once I get further through the development I'll share the demo with everyone...
This weekend I'm working with a Sound Designer and a Photographer and a Graphic Designer (the wifey) to put together elements for the program!
Last night was The Crystal Method show in Atlanta. It was AWESOME! I highly recommend checking it out when they come through your town. The new album came out Tuesday and it's great, my favorite track right now is "Double Down Under."
We were lucky enough to spend some time with the band after the show. We talked about lots of things, among them, iPhone apps...Several people in the conversation admittedtheiriPhones are jammed full of apps they only played once.
It occurred to me that $.99 isn't really that much of a risk, in fact there's a whole army of panhandlers around America that making at times a very decent living based on this premise.
If you give people a decent REASON to give you $.99 - a lot of people will just give it to you. The trick is to INVITE enough people to listen to your reason.
The App store keeps $.30 out of every app sold, so to make a Million Dollar iPhone App I'll need to sell 1.3 Million at $.99...so how many people do I need to invite to get 1.3 Million to buy? Apple is promoting pretty heavily that they reached a BILLION downloads, but I can't find any current reporting on how many downloads of individual apps that relates to...if you know where I can find this PLEASE leave me a comment!
My "Dummies" book arrived yesterday and I have some work travel tomorrow, so I look forward to reading it on the plane and in my hotel room!
Too bad the "erotic services" section of Craigslist was just shut down today - I saw some really nice people in there last night...I was up till about 3am working on programming basics and graphics for my Million Dollar iPhone app...I also posted an RFP @ ScriptLance a site for freelancers that write programming script (clever name huh?)
At lunch I checked my e-mail and I had a FLURRY of freelancers, although NONE of them are local...One said they could do the type of app I'm talking about for $500 - WOW - $500 for something that could make $500,000 in a few months...There were a LOT of outsource programmers, India, Argentina, Belorus, Spain - my e-mail inbox looked like a Benetton ad...
So I downloaded a Non Disclosure Agreement from LegalZoom for $14.95 spent about 5 minutes customizing it and sent it off to a few folks to talk further - anyone know if NDAs are binding outside of the US?
I'll be calling some of the freelancers later tonight, but wanted to give you an update before I got started on that. Ugh, getting up for work after being up till 3 is draining, but, it'll be TOTALLY worth it...
When Archimedes sat in the tub and saw the soap rings he shouted out "Eureka!" which means "I have found it" and indeed - I have found it!
At about 1:30 this morning while flipping channels (I'm a notorious insomniac) it suddenly occurred to me - an iPhone app, so simple, so universally applicable, so irresistible...
...a quick tour of the store showed no one had thought of it yet. A quick tour of the web showed the same...could it be?
So now I have the challenge - I have the idea that can make me "Boy Band Rich"...do I have the wherewithal to execute?
I sent a Twitter to my few followers - a friend (pictured left) responded back that he could be my co-developer, since at least he currently OWNS an iPhone. Good Point! I should think about outsourcing, just to beat my would-be competitors to market with this incredible idea.
So I posted a Craigslist ad here in Atlanta - perhaps I'll get an interested reply and can escalate the pace on this puppy!
I mentioned to my wife that I had decided to write an iPhone app..."whatever," she shrugged.
She is the most wonderful and supportive wife EVER, and I can understand her apprehension, I sell radio ads. As Billy Crystal said in CitySlickers, "I sell air."
So why do I think I can write the next Million Dollar Application for the iPhone?
WHY NOT?
I ran across this Wired article the other day and just had to give it a shot (that's a joke you'll get after reviewing the article)...following are some excerpts that I found especially compelling:
"One independent developer raked in $600,000 in a single month with a single iPhone game. Ethan Nicholas, developer of a tank artillery game called iShoot, told Wired.com he quit his job the day his app rose to No. 1 in the App Store, earning him $37,000 in a single day. Nicholas’success story proves that there’s still plenty of potential to strike it rich in Apple’s seven-month-old App Store. He didn’t have the money to buy books to learn how to write an iPhone app, so he taught himself by reading websites."
Ethan Nichols
So onward and upward! I'm continuing to reseach some great resources on writing iPhone Apps, and I'll be sure to share it all with you in the coming days.
Ironically, I do not own an iPhone (although I have decided to begin writing iPhone apps). I have had a Blackberry since 2001 and can type more than 20 words a minute on the qwerty keyboard...I tried the iPhone and had to hunt and peck to type, which I just couldn't stand for work.
To add to the irony, buying an iPhone will not be my first step on this journey. Here are the steps I'll be following:
Step 1:Apply for iPhone Developer Status - Cost - 1 hour - $99 I had read on some blogs that this was a 6 month approval process, so I made this my first step, wasn't that hard really. I signed up as an individual, not a company, not sure if that was the right choice or not. The application only took 30minutes to an hour, I'll let you know how long approval takes.
Step 2: Buy a book - Cost - 20minutes - $30ish I was surprised at the low number of websites dedicated to training people (not programmers) on how to develop iPhone apps (hence the purpose of this blog). I did find a few lenses on Squidoo, and some recommended books in Amazon. Will take a couple weeks for the book to arrive.
Step 3: Shop for / buy an iPhone - unknown cost of time and money I'll begin this process at Best Buy tomorrow
Step 4: Play around with iPhone / download apps
Step 5: Read intro book
Step 6: Order advanced books
Step 7: Begin programming apps
Step 8: Complete 1st app
Step 9: Apply for app to be carried in app store
Step 10: Develop alternative distribution model?
Step 11: Review process, refine
Step 12: Repeat
I'll re-visit this step-by-step process along the way to futher develop the cost of time and $ of each step, and give you a play book to follow along with at home.
I've been hearing so much about the iPhone Apps and the App store I've decided to get involved. I've got some clever ideas that I think would make good Apps so I'm gonna give it a shot. Along the way I'll share what I've learned to hopefully help the others of you out there that have the next big idea for an app.
I'll be posting regularly with the step by step process so you can follow along and benefit from my skinned knees...
I spent the weekend learning a little more about Twitter and I found some cool resources to share with everyone! These are ALL focused on managing your Twitter account, I'll have future posts about Twitter content, and Twitter marketing...BTW all these are Free!
HootSuite
TweetBeep
I broke my ankle 2 weeks ago. Some people like pain killers as a recreational drug, I hate them. They make me depressingly depressed, plus the immobilization, the pain - altogether, not a good time. On top of that, I was a little late getting all the graphics to my iphone developer, he tried to make up time on the project, but now he is running late so that has me down as well. I'm putting in a deck on my house and I'm litterally BROKE for the next SEVERAL pay cycles. The upcoming launch and promotion/marketing of my app is weighing on me 'cuz I know I'll need to spend a little money on a few things and I just don't have it...UGH.
So - please stay interested, I'm still shooting for a launch within 60 days! In the meantime I'll keep you posted on the process...
Submit your BLOG to specific BLOG directories that reference your categories (listing 
I put together a PowerPoint to demo the application (keep your pants on, I'll share it with everyone soon 
So I downloaded a Non Disclosure Agreement from 
