The Google Android Application Example

I love my Google Android phone. It is fast, lets me check e-mail on the go, and has a growing market of applications that I can download and use on my phone. I see a lot of potential for this device in the future, but it will have to overcome one major hurdle that all user developed application model platforms have to overcome . . . moving from free to paid applications.

The Problem with Many Free Applications

Here is the lifecycle for many applications on the Google Marketplace:

• A developer has an idea for a great application. The developer creates the application, tests it, and then posts it on the market for others to use for free.
• The application catches on and starts to get downloaded by thousands of users. A small number of those users provide feedback to the developer so that the application can be improved.
• The developer updates the application, posts the updates, and finds that even more people are using the application.
• The developer then has a dilemma. He or she has spent many hours creating this killer application, thousands are using it, but the developer has not gotten paid a dime for the application. They then have a brilliant idea.
• After spending a few days adding a feature or two, the developer re-releases the application as a paid application.  The old application is also updated to tell the users that it will no longer be updated and if they want updates, then they have to buy the paid version. Sometimes the developer will even make the free version ad supported.
• After a few months on the market, the developer realizes that a very small percentage of people are buying the updated version of the application compared to the numbers downloading the un-updated, old, but free version.

When Free Doesn’t Create Revenue

In the Google Application example, the developer is not converting many of the free users to the paid application because as long as the free version works, then the users have no financial motivation to move to the paid application. Even if the developer cripples the free version, the marketplace will create another free application that can do the same tasks but still be free. In this case, free is not going to put food on the developer’s table.

How Can Free Create Revenue

A free product can help create revenue when it is used as a corresponding component of a paid product or service. It can also be used to demonstrate your expert knowledge of the topic or ability to provide a great product or service. When you are adding non-essential components to a product or service to make it something you can charge money for, you will not convert as many buyers as a new corresponding product would.

How to Do it: Beginning with Your End Goal in Mind

In application development and your business, you have to begin with your end goal in mind and develop your product and services around that end goal. If you want to create the next killer application, then create a mini-application that demonstrates the final end goal of the application without giving away the entire application.

If you wanted to create an application that interfaces with a Customer Relationship Management system, then you could create an application that allows accessing just the contacts of the system for free and charge for the application that allows for managing contacts, creating leads, and assigning leads to team members. The free application demonstrates the greatness of your idea while the full paid application gives the killer functionally of the full application.

How You Can Make This Happen in Your Business

Other businesses can do this by creating a report, blog, or application that solves a small customer problem while allowing them to connect with you for solution to larger and more complex problems. Maybe you are a life coach, so you could create a free report that gives someone the ability to organize thirty minutes a day for exercise. This can then be part of a larger program that helps people with both physical and life goals were exercise is a component.

The key is that is that the free product is a small complement to the larger program. The free establishes you as a creditable source, makes you the expert, and demonstrates your wiliness to part with some knowledge now for the potential of stronger customer connections in the future. Don’t give the killer feature away, but give your customer proof that you have a killer feature by giving them some value out of your free content.

How Not to Do Free Content is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. The Reason for Success
2. 5 Reasons Smart People Fail at Creating On-line Businesses
3. How to Overcome Procrastination

When I got the phone, my girlfriend believed that she was going to become a Smartphone widow. The first few days after receiving the MyTouch, it seemed she was right. But after goofing around with it for a few days, I have gotten into a routine with the phone that has given me more free time and not less as some might have predicted.

Here are a few ways the phone has simplified my life:

No More E-Mail Breaks

Before buying the MyTouch, it would take 5 to 10 minutes to get my computer set up, turned on, and to check my e-mail. With the MyTouch, I am notified when I have e-mail and it takes just seconds to see if it is something important. I have even chosen a few times to ignore the beep of an incoming mail with the knowledge that it is there and I can check it at a moments notice.

My Lists are in Sync

With the program Astrid, I don’t have multiple to do lists strewn across a multitude of locations and computer systems. I have one master to do list that can remind me of what I need to get done when I need to get it done. Because I always have my phone close at hand, I can enter a task as it comes up and I am not writing it down on scraps of paper to transfer to my calendar or to do list later.

Social Media Simplified

As with e-mail, I have got my phone set up to notify me of replies on twitter and notifications on Facebook. I am not sneaking off to see what is going on, because I know what is happening on my Twitter and Facebook streams with a quick glance at my phone. When I want to post something, I can now use Pingdroid to post to multiple services using Ping.fm.

Effective Use of Downtime

This has been one of the greatest benefits of the myTouch. Whenever I am faced with a long wait or delay, I am able to use that downtime to catch up on feeds in Google Reader, check e-mail, or clean up my to do lists. Then when I am back in front of my computer, I am able to get down to work without wondering if I have an e-mail, reading feeds, or catching up on what people are saying on Twitter.

What are your experiences with Smartphones?

Have they made you more productive or less?

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

P.S. The comments are only open for 14 days. I have found that leaving them open any longer makes them a spam target. If you want to let me know what you thought of the article after 14 days, then contact me from my contact me page.

How a New Phone Can Make You More Productive is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. How to make your speaking, e-mail marketing, and blogging more effective.
2. How Not to Do Free Content
3. Make Yourself More Transferable