Real Business LA now has a show on Radio KSCR. Check it out every Thursday night at 6:30pm Pacific on http://www.radiokscr.com. If you missed the first episode you can listen to it at http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/why-so-serious_15530 The first episode focuses on companies that are successful and didn’t take themselves too seriously. If you have a show idea or would like to be a guest on the show please email me at info@realbusinessla.com
What Your Competition Doesn’t Want You to Know
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The Competition
You know they’re a new company, just like you are. You know they couldn’t have much as a starting budget, and yet they have a fantastic mobile app. It’s been less than a year since they’ve opened their doors and already, they’re raking in the profits from their mobile marketing capabilities.
You’ve found internet articles out there by Entrepreneur magazine that have really made you feel like you need to drop tons of cash on a great mobile app device. But you know your startup just doesn’t have that kind of capital.
The Secret
Is that small business’s great start making you nervous? Want to know their secret? They didn’t build that app themselves. Furthermore, they don’t even have app developers on their staff.
How Did They Do It Then?
Statistics don’t lie. Sales are annually increasing about 20% via online platforms alone. So how can a budding business with a limited budget partake in some of that mobile traffic? The answer is simple: Get yourself an app, but don’t waste thousands a web app developer department to do it for you.
The Solution
At Real Business LA, not only can we build your business a customized app, but one that services more than two purposes. We can provide you with mobile solutions that allow customers to contact you straight from the app, as well as connect with your social marketing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter. Want your whole inventory listed? We can add shopping carts too.
Check out our demos and our pricing options. You’ll find that no matter what the package, it’s more than enough to get you started with creating your mobile presence; also, our maintenance fees aren’t bad either. So go ahead, check us out. You won’t be disappointed. http://www.realbusinessla.com
3 Ways to Boost App Traffic
If you’re interested in investing in an app for your business, you’ve probably come to realize that a lot of money can be lost in this tricky piece of development software. You know it can cost a good pretty penny to design, but a great design alone doesn’t get your app traffic. So how can you create an app with a decent return on investment so you don’t lose out?
Ongoing Value – In addition to meeting an obvious need to be downloaded and then used, your app must have ongoing value. It’s not enough to meet a onetime need. Many times, the excitement of an app diminishes with just one use after users realize that your app doesn’t make things easier for them, or it’d be easier if they just did things another way. Figuring out the best way to make your app have ongoing usefulness no matter what stage your audience is in is one great way to boost traffic.
Two-Way Communication Path – Just like your website has a ‘contact us’ section, so does your app need to allow for communication pathways. Customers like to talk and voice their excitement, approval, and dislike. Their opinions, really. Not allowing for this makes app users feel like developers don’t care about issues within the app, or about how it affects users at all. The single most important thing you can do for your app is to create an avenue for users to report their issues, the good, bad, and the ugly.
Desktop Marketing – Publishing an app in the App or Play store isn’t enough. If users visit your site via a tablet or the desktop, they should know that there’s a better mobile experience if they want it. Examples of companies that employ this thinking are LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Let Real Business LA help you in the mobile market. We understand the challenges facing small businesses.
What Your Competitors Get That You Don’t
The Problem
Chances are, if you have a competitor and you’ve looked over their app, you might be jealous. Their app probably looks better, functions betters, and has more downloads than yours. Just what is it that they get that you don’t? Here are some mistakes you can’t afford to make with app marketing and design:
Don’t Treat an App Like a Desktop – A desktop for your business should encompass everything anyone ever needs to know if they have the time to search and find it. An app should serve one main goal of your business, and as the owner, it’s really up to you to determine what that is. This can be tricky, but generally, great web developers can you figure it out.
Apps Need a Marketing Plan? – You bet ‘cha. You can also bet that if you’ve published an app without one, it’s the reason why no one’s downloading it: No one knows about it. Marketing efforts such as press releases, twitter and Facebook sponsored posts are great avenues to get your app’s news out. But the marketing shouldn’t stop there. Include in-app prompting for reviews and star ratings. Make leaving positive feedback as easy as navigating your app. Let’s just hope that’s easy too.
Ongoing Need – Up to 90% of downloaded apps are uninstalled within 6 months. That doesn’t mean uninstalled, and then reinstalled, but quite frankly: simply removed. Your customer base has moved on, and your business? Likely to be long gone, unfortunately. So how do you fix this issue? Understand your audience’s need. That changes over time. Perhaps your business is a one-time thing, unless a circumstance or situation presents itself again in the lives of your customers. If this is the case, be creative and determine a way to encourage retention through using your app as a resource for themselves, or their friends.
Let Us Help You Build the Perfect Mobile App for Your Company.
http://www.realbusinessla.com
The Secret to a Great App
The New Market
When smart phones became big, apps were the next big thing. It was really incredible, actually. Smart phones created a whole new selling platform that was virtually unheard. Of course, with this new ability came limitless possibilities. Games, productivity supplements, anything was possible. But we know it didn’t stop there. With this new market blossoming, businesses caught wind of an amazing way to get their feet into this mobile traffic: customized business apps tailored to their desktop site.
While we’ve all come across those dead in the water apps, we’ve also come across apps that were incredible. Some apps that were three feet beyond practical; and others still, remained a nice thought. All of these failures and successes have caused businesses to wonder: What makes an app amazing? What makes users need to download an app, or better yet, share it within their network?
A Consumer’s Core Wants
Understanding your target audience is key, their age, and their interest. Just why would someone use your app in the first place? The second is user functionality. No one likes an app that constantly crashes. Notice the keyword: constantly. Some crashes are to be expected, but if the app can’t even open without crashing ten times first, you can bet yourself a rating of two stars or less, possibly even some written review trash-talk. You know the kind.
The Secret
While you can’t cater to every potential user of your app, you have the majority you can focus on. The secret of the best app isn’t how it looks, or even how well it runs. Remember that users expect some crashes. The secret is how useful it is. If your business app allows a user to do everything they need to, not want, then you can bet your bottom they’ll value it.
If you’re interested in creating your own mobile app, you probably already understand that you can’t ignore the design. While design doesn’t mean too much to app users, ignoring it will get you some negative app reviews; and, it definitely doesn’t do anything to boost your business’s credibility. Your app design needs the following factors incorporated into its design to be of any use to your customers:
Purpose – What does your app do? If users have to guess, or worse, need some ridiculous tutorial five plus pages long to help them get the gist of the many different functions, here’s a hint: You’re already off to a bad start.
The best way to tackle the purpose of your app is to determine the core needs, services, and products your business offers. If any functions and your desktop site can be combined with functions in the app, do so, but make it reasonable.
Speed – Speed is so incredibly important to your business. The mobile marketing field was created specifically for individuals on the move. This means that between meetings, while people are walking from office to office, and while they’re waiting in some kind of line to get food, users are likely to be tinkering with their phone apps, not waiting for your app to load.
Simplicity – Your app’s usability and simplicity go hand in hand. Just as a webpage can definitely be way too busy, so too can an app. The simplistic style of your app needs to cater to beauty, because ultimately, no one likes ugly.
Once you have the core purpose of your app figured out, these three elements need to be worked into your app design. Although these alone don’t make the success of your app, they are definitely three factors that can doom its success.
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