How Can I Market to Mobile Users if I Don't Own a Smartphone?

This is round number two of short little training sessions on apps for writer by guest blogger Aggie Villanueva. Unless you're very techy and already know lots about apps, you may want to go to the first post in round number one and follow these posts through to day five. The first one is at http://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com/2012/03/apps-for-book-marketing-what-is-app.html Then, to get more little app tidbits about app marketing for writers, start here and come back every day for the next five . In fact, make it easy for yourself. Subscribe to this blog (see the column on the right) and let the magic of Blogspot bring each of the series right to your mailbox. (-: 

You Don't Have to Own an iPHONE to Mark on iPHONES!

by Aggie Villanueva

First a little review on why it is imperitive to have your own app:

The iTunes Store (for iPhones) and Apps Marketplace (Androids & compatible) is mostly ignored by authors. This is a mistake. It’s a market of billions of users who probably won’t ever see your website/blog even though their smartphones are capable of internet browsing. They won't see it because smart phones are often incompatible with Website so if you are relying on your Web site...well, just too bad. There are other reasons, too, covered in the first rount of article son apps.

And, Smartphone users are the coming thing. Smartphone users browsed over 97 million apps (in 2011), up from 37 million the year before. And on February 24, 2012 the iTunes App Store announced it was about to hit 25 billion downloads. Some smartphone users don't even own computers (or other phones for that matter). They're that connected to their phones.

That’s how fast this market is growing, and it’s growing at this rate because businesses have discovered there is money in being represented in this vital market. Today there are literally trillions of apps downloaded weekly.

As with Mother Nature, it’s not NICE to ignore such vast opportunity.

How Can I Market to Mobile Users if I Don't Own a Smartphone?

Some of us who would like to reach this market may not own a smartphone. If you're one of them, you may be imagining the huge sums of money you’ll have to invest to have both an iPhone and an Android phone, plus monthly connection fees, just to view and keep tabs on how your app looks and functions. Then of course the apps marketplace also extends to various tablets too, such as the iPad, Android’s etc..

No one can afford to buy every mobile device out there just to keep tabs on our apps, and we don’t need to. We can have apps without even owning a smart phone. We can afford to begin building our app campaigns today, and take it step by step.

The truth is you don't have to own anything to market in the various apps marketplaces. Even though it is in fact best to have your apps in both the iPhone and Android marketplaces, plus, when you can expand, place an app on some tablets too.

Creating a mobile presence and marketing to mobile devices requires little effort or knowledge from you. Your apps programmer does it all.  And I can help you with this for a much more reasonable price than you'll probably find if you Google "app programmers."

All you have to do is relax and be creative with fun marketing ideas while your programmer takes care of the rest.

If you have any further questions, please check out the remaining articles in this series. There will be one every day for the next five days. Or check out the first round of articles beginning here. Or leave your question in the comment section below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. And I'm happy to answer your questions.

If you wish to know more about Aggie Villanueva and her company check out this page.

Summary: Can I Afford an App?

True, there are cheap do-it-yourself-type apps available online, but they begin and end with the entry level app you purchased and a few add-ons. Plus they can’t take full advantage of smartphone functionality like the Location Based Search (mentioneded in the marketing techniques articles in this series) or most other marketing campaigns.

Each app must be programmed specifically for your needs. This from-scratch-programming is the most desirable, but where the high costs could come in.

But it doesn’t have to be expensive -- offering you competitive prices for an entry level but customized app is what my company, My Book Marketing Systems, is all about. Imagine your own app for just a few hundred dollars.

Even more importantly, we differ in that our apps can be upgraded a la carte to your heart’s desire and as you can afford it, all the way to our high-end super interactive stand-alone e-reader. Having a stand-alone built-in e-reader in your app is extremely desirable. (That desirability is beyond the information addressed here, but will be covered in-depth in an upcoming article of this series).

Don't forget to leave your comments and question on this blog. I'll get back to you. And come back tomorrow for the next installment!
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second ediction of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog: