marketing

Do you run a small business? Want to connect with your users on the device they use the most?

There's an app for that - and now you can create it without breaking the bank.

Not only are there iPhone apps to help you run your own business, but the price of app development has dropped considerably, so now your company has a great opportunity to establish a presence on this incredibly important platform.

I've outlined some advice below for app development that I've accrued at Guideas over the past year or so.

In addition, here's a link to an interview I did for an article on MainStreet.com about app development for small business back in December. 

1. Have a plan

Having a strong, strategic plan is marketing 101. These same fundamentals apply to the world of app development as they do for any other marketing effort. 

Make sure to answer questions the following questions before you even begin thinking about getting started: What do we want to accomplish? How much are we willing to invest? Can we make this app interesting enough for users to share? How important is it to include social media?

2. Carve a niche

With well over 150,000 apps in circulation broken into a handful of categories, the whole goal is to be embedded in a niche as much as possible and own search term keywords. Examine the core reasons why a user would even want your app in the first place.

Every company in the world is taking huge risks right now. Every day in business is full of risks. But who can afford to operate this way? Can't we just avoid risk altogether? Isn't that what research data is for?

There was a time when the risks weren't so obvious, or so painful. Sadly, those days are gone. That's why it's important to understand and embrace risk, even use it to your advantage.

Risk, risk, everywhere

Many companies fear the word 'risk' because by definition it echoes the unknowns, and therefore, the greatest fears of business life. 

Does a company like Toyota have enough money or power to avoid risk? Of course not.

No matter how much data is analyzed or research is done, nobody can predict what might occur - from natural disasters, to competition, product recalls and customer disinterest. 

And that's just the beginning...

The volume of risk a business of any size assumes in a day is monumental given economies, globalization, fragmentation of markets, etc.

The sword of data

Market research as a discipline has grown in lockstep with our technological ability to collect data - and for good reason.

In business, well-researched data is like a sword - a tool with immense power. It is crucial to the life of a company or product. 

"Show me you care, don't tell me", my old advertising teacher used to say.

Sun Chips have done exactly that and strengthened their brand with their new compostable packaging. 

This leap forward in their brand perception allows Sun Chips to more effectively weave into the eco-friendly community. A deeper relationship can now be forged with the customer based on action and product.

This example shines golden compared to the empty corporate logo plastering that occurs with earth-friendly communities and events. I remember being invited to a benefit concert in an effort to clean up the beaches where I live that was sponsored by a certain energy drink and I was shocked to see their cans and promotional items littered all over the sand.

Packaging can have as much effect on consumers as the product itself. It is the visual representation of, and container for the product. In many cases packaging has a 'remarketable' staying power as in Altoids tins, shoe boxes, etc. 

Since the package is a significant visual cue toward purchase of said product, then Sun Chips has answered the question - how can packaging be legitimizing? more effective?

The recent concerns of greenwashing and overuse of the words 'natural', 'organic', etc., have created a more skeptical consumer. In this case, it should be noted that with every passing day, this same consumer is able to perform a solid background check about a brand online on sites such as Good Guide, a "...source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home."

Given that the Sun Chips brand has always had a solid niche in the saturated (pun intended) world of chip companies, the biodegradable bag is a strong statement of walking the walk. 

Sun Chips passes the test by doing what they represent. How can your brand do the same?

Do you like to help people succeed?  Is there an area you have a niche in?  Are you able to listen to what people say and honestly reflect that back to them?  Do you want to own your own business?  Then becoming a life coach may be right for you. 

When I began exploring coaching in 2006 I knew I had a calling deep within me.  I graduated from Liberty University with a degree in religion and thought I was going to be the pastor of a church.  However, counseling is not my thing.  As a pastor, counseling is one of the main things I would be doing during the day.   I found that  I was to honest, and most people do not want you to be honest with them.  I like to work with people who want to accomplish goals, people who have vision, and want to lead others.  I can not work with people who just want me to tell them I love them and it will get better.  Because I know it won't get better unless they do something to make it better.

What Is Your Back Ground? 

This series of posts will detail why innovation continues to be the most important aspect of business growth, especially in today’s flat business world.

The advent of the internet and the freedom with which information travels today has leveled the business playing field, therefore it must be understood that creativity and innovation have become increasingly valuable for future business growth.

Why should I care?

Why is this whole attention economy and it’s relationship to innovation important to you? Because we’re talking about how to engage the mind of your average customer. 

For instance, the average consumer is spending the majority of their recreational time online, doing the exact same thing he or she used to do pre-Internet, watching video, playing, reading researching, etc. The difference now is that they have a mobile phone, browser windows open, music playing - among other things. 

So the customer’s ‘attention’ is relatively scarce and developing offerings that break through and deliver is essential for business growth. Innovative packaged products will need to not only be developed, they will need to bake the marketing message into the delivered solution as much as possible because return business will be much harder to come by. 

The competition

Guest Post by Irene Watson

Recently,  Loren Woodson, author of The Passion of Maryam, said to me:

I have been fortunate now to have won or been honorable-mentioned in some 8 or so book festivals (in either wild card or spiritual category). To whom should these email announcements most efficaciously be sent and with the least annoyance factor dusted up? I get presumably heartfelt congrats but there is a point of diminishing returns in keeping the book on people's minds. Or is there? I'd be interested in your and other Reader Viewers thoughts on this. So far I've opted for a strategy of accumulating some wins/mentions before sending out a blast, so it has something of being newslettery.

And are there ways to get this news to the non friends/family community?

Loren is asking the million dollar question that I'm not sure there is an answer for. The one thing that came up for me is something Roy H. Williams, from Wizard Academy