Tag: app

    Why and How to Create an App for Your Business

    If you are looking to get more out of your smartphone as a business owner or entrepreneur, then you might start looking for apps that can do particular jobs for you on the Android Google Play Store or on the iTunes App Store.

    But what if you don’t find what you’re looking for?

    One solution is to build your own app. And as it happens, this decision can benefit you in more ways than one and might just be easier than you expect.

    Top Reasons to Build Your Own App

    The first reason you might want to build your own app is to extend the functionality of your phone. If your business has specific requirements, then by adding a custom built piece of software to your smartphone or the smartphones of your staff, you’ll that way be able to work wherever you are. This will increase your speed and flexibility several fold and it can even prevent errors if it means that your team can update information ‘in the field’ rather than waiting to log it on their return. Bear in mind that apps on a mobile device will also work on tablets, which allows for ‘upright computing’.
    At the same time, this kind of functionality is something that will always impress potential clients and customers. It makes your business look more cutting edge and that’s something that you shouldn’t underestimate.
    Meanwhile, you can also consider building apps for your partners, clients and customers. If you run a takeaway restaurant this might mean letting your customers order food through their device, or if you provide a service then the app could help to improve the quality of that experience. Again, this can impress your customers no end but it also helps them to use your company more quickly and easily thus encouraging increased sales.

    How to Build an App
    So how do you go about building an app?
    Essentially there are two options which are to either outsource the process to a third party, or to do it yourself. Each has their strengths and weaknesses of course.
    If you are going to outsource app development then you should look for a company that specializes in this and that has experience. Ask to see previous samples of their work and do be willing to pay a little extra for quality (some cheap developers on sites like Elance will cut corners).

    If you build it yourself, continue adding a new department to your team, or see if there are easier methods you can use. For instance if you’re making an Android app then using ‘Basic4Android’ may well save you time.

    Categories: mobile Tags: Tags:

    Brainstorming Apps for Your Business

    Creating your own apps is not as hard as you might think. You can find apps that are already created that you can resell as your own, or you can hire a coder to create an app for you. But first you need to figure out what apps make sense to add on to your business. To do this, take some time to brainstorm apps for your business.

    1. Know Your Audience – A deep understanding of your audience is an important factor in brainstorming a new app for your business. Who are they? What do they want? What do they need? What are their deepest desires (in context of your niche)?

    2. Understand Your Niche – Remember that your app should focus on solving a problem that your audience has that’s within your niche. If you go outside of that niche it will confuse your audience and you’d have to find a new audience to buy the app. Instead, stay focused on your audience and solving their problems.

    3. Determine Your Budget – Your budget to creating the app will be determined by a few factors such as whether or not you have the skill set to create the app, whether you have to hire someone, or whether or not you’ll be able to find a reseller app to sell for a good price.

    4. Search for Apps Using Search Engines – A good way to find out a budget is to search for the apps on search engines. Regardless of whether you find a reseller app or a regular app like one you want, you can get a lot of information about pricing and your competition. But don’t worry, even if there are apps like yours and no resellers you can still make the app and sell it to your audience.

    5. Find a Coder – Once you have an idea, if you cannot locate a reseller then you need to find a coder. You can find them on oDesk.com and Elance.com and other freelance websites that have coders. Be sure to have your entire proposal ready before going to a job board so that you can be very specific about what you want. The fewer changes you make later, the less expensive the cost will be.

    6. Market Your App – Once your app is completed and even before, you can start marketing the app. You can mention the exciting project you’re working on and give them hints, and you can set up an email autoresponder series and more to get your audience educated and ready to purchase the app.

    7. Repeat – Honestly; you can do this several times, and create many different apps for your audience. If your first app sales went well and you were profitable, then you should do it again. Identify another problem, solve it, and sell that app.

    Adding an app (or two) to your product funnel will increase your income, as well as expand the view of others that you’re an expert in your field. You will boost your credentials, and offer something awesome for your audience to use that helps them with one of their problems. What a great way to add value to your business offerings.

    Categories: Run a Home Business, Technology Tags: Tags:

    Eight Apps with Resell Potential

    If you want to sell private label rights or resell rights apps, you can turn a good profit without having to know anything about coding. The trick to selling an app is to ensure that it fits in with your audience’s needs. Do they need that app? Why do they need it? Can they afford the price? Ask questions that your audience may have about the app before you choose which apps to promote and sell. Here are eight apps with great resell potential.

    1. BiznessAPPS – If you want to create and sell mobile apps in your area to small business owners, this is a great way to get on board with that. You can create quality apps without knowing any coding, and make them specifically for a particular business. The white label program means also that only your business name will be on the apps you create.

    Link – http://www.biznessapps.com/mobile-app-reseller.php

    2. Google Apps for Work – Believe it or not, Google has a reseller program. You can bring professional email, cloud storage, online video meeting capabilities and more to businesses near and far. What’s more is that you an even get free training if you qualify as a reseller.

    Link – https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/landing/partners/resellers/

    3. Mobiloud Apps – If you want to create mobile apps, you can use Mobiloud as a white label apps creator that you can resell to others. You can create your own branded demo app for you customers and get huge discounts on every app you create using their system.

    Link – https://www.mobiloud.com/help/knowledge-base/resellers/

    4. PluginMill – This is a great way to jump right into selling apps. You join a membership program where you get one new app a month that you can sell to your clients for whatever price you want to. It’s a great way to jump in with both feet without understanding anything about apps at all.

    Link – http://www.pluginmill.com/

    5. ShieldApps – You can resell under your name brand the anti-virus and anti-malware solutions plus other tools that they offer. They offer the support you need plus good suggestions on how to set up your business to be most profitable.

    Link – http://shieldapps.com/white-label-software-program/

    6. StreamSend – This is a chance to become an autoresponder and social marketing company under the private label of StreamSend. This does require that you’re prepared to offer customer service at a high level.

    Link – http://www.streamsend.com/reseller.html

    7. Pinnacle Cart – Becoming a reseller of Pinnacle Cart enables you to market a shopping cart solution to your members without having to offer them a lot of support if you choose to have them host it; they will do everything while you just market the solution.

    Link – https://www.pinnaclecart.com/resellers/

    8. Social Report – If you are involved in online marketing and social media marketing, your customers need to get social intelligence, and you can offer them a full range of reports under your own business name.

    Link – http://www.socialreport.com/white-label-social-analytics.html

    These potential reseller apps could be potential game changers for your business. You can make them your entire business or an additional source of income. It’s totally up to you. The white label programs in particular offer you a way to keep your own branding while using technology you don’t even have to create. What could be better than that?

    Categories: Run a Home Business, Technology Tags: Tags:

    Getting Started Creating Apps

    Today, you don’t have to be a coder, or even a professional app designer, to create your own apps. The barriers to entry into this marketplace have been drastically lowered due to technology. There are now apps to help you create apps that you need to market to your audience. You just need to know where to find the software to help you make your ideas come to fruition.

    * MIT App Inventor for Android – This app inventor runs with Google Labs and enables people who are not coders to invent and create apps. It has awesome tutorials to teach you want you need to know, and anyone can use it. It used to be called Google Apps Inventor but was abandoned and now MIT has taken it over.

    Link – http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/

    * BuildFIRE – Using this builder you can create your own mobile apps, or even hire a BuildFire app developer if you don’t want to do it at all or you have a more complicated app that you want to build.

    Link – http://www.buildfire.com/

    * Como – Also a mobile app builder, it takes things one step further and offers marketing and selling features too by helping you publish in the Amazon App Store. They also have features that help you market your app on Facebook, plus other business features like payment gateways.

    Link – http://www.como.com/

    * Appsbar.com – Create Android, iOS, Windows Phone and more easily with a choice of themes, buttons and more. It doesn’t offer as many selling features as Como, but it does offer the ability to build and sell your apps as well as distribute them via their marketplace.

    Link – http://www.appsbar.com/

    * Appypie – This is a fully-featured app builder that builds apps for all platforms, and even offers many business features that you need to promote, market, and sell your apps to your audience.

    Link – http://www.appypie.com/

    * WPAppStudio – Make your own WordPress plugins without any PHP coding, and also get support for selling your apps and making a business of it. There is a fee per website but you can also get free domains for each app when using their software in development.

    Link – https://wpas.emdplugins.com/

    * Windows App Studio – If you have an idea for an app, you can use Windows App Studio to help you create your app using their templates, code and more. Once it builds the app for you, you can get the code and even edit it later.

    Link – http://appstudio.windows.com/en-us

    * AppMakr.com – Using drag and drop technology, you can build your mobile app for any platform. They also have tools to help you monetize your apps which make it super easy to make money.

    Link – http://www.appmakr.com/

    As you can see, the lack of coding knowledge will not keep you from creating an app if that’s what you want to do. You can make an app that your audience needs to use on a daily basis that keeps you at the front of their mind. Apps can become a new income stream that adds to your bottom line exponentially.

    Categories: Apps Tags: Tags:

    Green App Developer

    In this world of smartphones and computer technology, there is an app for almost everything. People come up with new ideas and develop new applications every single day, for a huge array of different ideas and purposes. Lately, as the environmental movement gains ground with the public as well as with the government, there has been a huge push to come up with great environmentally helpful apps.

    Great Ideas Can Sell

    Whatever your great green idea may be, you can really make a lot of money by developing apps like this. Governments and people everywhere are looking for ideas for how to help people live green, especially if it saves them money as well. Even at just 99 cents or the few dollars that most apps sell for, these tend to be extremely lucrative. Your idea could be your ticket to living comfortably.

    Popular Ideas for Green Apps

    These are ideas that have already been developed. The majority of these ideas have multiple versions as people have come up with ways to expand upon what is already available. The entire idea, after all, is to help other people find ways to be more environmentally friendly, or to help them create less waste or environmental impact.

    * Ride Share – There are many apps in different locations all over the world that help people reduce their carbon footprint by carpooling with other people in the area. You can find a popular app for this in just about every busy city, especially where commuting is often necessary to get to work.

    * Fuel Calculators – Another popular idea that has many versions are apps that help you calculate how much fuel you are using. The premise behind these apps is that you enter how many miles your vehicle has driven, and then update the number of miles when you fill up with gas. This helps you know what kind of fuel economy you are getting.

    * Pollution Police – There are also apps that help you report when you see a person or business pollute. Usually, these are not specifically for people that throw gum wrappers out the window, but more for instances where you might see someone dumping into a water source. Many of these apps actually connect with local authorities so legal action can be taken.

    * Barcode Scans – Have you ever wondered how environmentally friendly a product you purchase is? With these barcode scanners, you can actually find out what sort of environmental impact a company has with their factories and production of goods. These types of apps come in many forms. There are even apps that can tell you if certain foods or companies are vegan-friendly, which can have a big impact on the environment.

    * Remote Power – Have you ever left the house with a sneaking suspicion that you might have left the lights running? One of the most popular types to come about in this green app movement are apps where you can actually turn your lights on and off from your smartphone. This not only helps you monitor your energy use, but can be a great safety feature as well.

    * Driving Apps – There are a plethora of apps available that can help you determine what your fuel economy is, as well as how efficient your actual driving is. For example, some apps will even tell you if you are accelerating too quickly, or if you are driving too fast or too slow, to get the best fuel economy.

    * Plant a Tree – One really neat app idea that is aimed at solving the major environmental issue of deforestation are apps that actually plant trees for every app purchase. These apps often have games or pictures to look at to entice more people to purchase their app so they can plant more trees.

    As you can see, there are already tons of green apps being developed, but there are more ideas out there. Maybe your idea could be the next big thing to help save the environment.

    Categories: Home Business Ideas, Run a Home Business Tags: Tags:

    Marketing Your Apps

    Once you create an app, if you want to get people using it, and make money, you’ll need to market it. Marketing is the process of educating your audience and getting attention directed toward your app so that you can make sales. There are a number of ways in which you can market your app.

    * Build an Email List – One thing every marketer should always be doing is building an email list. They don’t tell you that the money is in the list as a joke; it’s true. Using creative landing pages, webinars, freebies and more, work on building up an email list full of targeted customers.

    * Blog about Your App – Even if your app is not done, you can still blog about the problems that your audience has and potential solutions to them, so that when your solution is finished you can bring it out.

    * Tease Your Audience – It’s a great idea to hint about your coming app to whet the appetite of your audience. Start a countdown to launch date, and create a series of blogs or email messages that let your audience know that something big is coming to solve their problem.

    * Promote on Social Media – Create a Facebook page for your plugin to promote it and run Facebook advertisements. On that page post links to your sales pages, landing pages, videos, blog posts and so forth.

    * Build an Awesome Sales Page – A good sales page is essential to selling your app. The sales page should include all the benefits of the app, plus testimonials, and even video demonstrations of the app.

    * Make a Product Demo Video – When you do make a demo video, you don’t have to just leave it on your sales page. Putting it on YouTube is an excellent way to get an audience from there too.

    * Host a Webinar – A great way to market an app is to have a pre-launch webinar. The idea is that many of the people who come to the webinar will buy the app at a lower price, provide a testimonial and kick off sales.

    * Send Out a Press Release – Every new product that you create deserves a press release. The press release will get the information into the right hands, and also provide more information for interested parties when they do a search online.

    * Ask for Reviews – After some people have tried your app, it’s important to follow up and ask for testimonials. Most people will like to give you one, especially if they get their picture and URL noted on your sales pages.

    * Recruit Affiliates – Many people who are your early adopters will also make good affiliates. An affiliate will promote your products for a percentage of sales on their own websites, social media networks and blogs.

    The more you can do to get the word out about your new app, the better. You want to direct everything you write and produce to your audience and those who will find the app useful. Remember to always focus on the benefits of the app and name the problem it solves for the user rather than features. On the website you’ll list features, but focus on benefits in all copy and you’ll be successful.

    Categories: Apps, Run a Home Business Tags: Tags:

    Go mobile

    mobilefriendlywebsite

     

     

    Have you heard that Google Search will be recognizing mobile responsive websites in April? 


    There is a test at https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ where you can add your URL.  It will tell you how mobile responsive your website is and what is holding you back! 


    For example, some of my images were too large and slowing things down, some CSS code and other things. 


    Well at the bottom of the page, Google will optimize these images and files for mobile and give you a Zipped file!  Wow!

    MORE MOBILE

     

    Thanks to +David Amerland for this conversation share from +Padraig Ó Raghaill .

    This is true. Why aren’t more authors having an app created that people can download to their phone where they have easy availability to the authors blog and books and chat?

    iTunes has Apple magazine apps but there are only 5000 magazines over there.  They are easy to create and send out your message there !

    The future is mobile so have you even thought about apps for your business.

    I have and plan to create a magazine app since I don’t need to know the technology, all i need is to create the content. 


    Categories: Mobile Tags: Tags: , ,