Profit From Your Applications without being spammy or sleazy – Sound Theory or Just Smoke With No Fire?
A very good friend of mine asked me about having lunch with him to talk about the business model he wants to use to sell products online without being all “spammy” or “sleazy”. I dedicate this to you Cody.
Creating income from software is not a new thing. But many argue that market saturation or the condition of the economy really have an impact on your ability to make money on your applications.
Don’t be misled, markets are fickle. Today they love Microsoft (late 90′s) tomorrow they are not so sure (late 2010′s apple is all the rage.) The economy is bad but people are still buying what they want because tomorrow the economy may completely collapse.
With this in mind, here is a theory you can operate from… it will hopefully help you understand how you can generate income with your applications.
Success selling anything amounts to understanding some common laws of marketing.
I know… the LAST thing you probably want to hear about is marketing… But, in the end, if you want people to buy your application they will need to find it and when they find it you will need to help them understand HOW it will impact them. If you don’t take the time to figure out how to explain this well, people who NEED your application simply won’t buy it.
Regardless of the API you’re using, if you plan on charging for your application these ideas should help.
The first rule of selling anything – is that nobody talks about selling anything! (Tyler was right…)
Before talking about selling any product, it is really important to know that anything can be sold BUT, “nobody wants to hear your sales pitch”. And, I’m sure you don’t want to pitch sales “fluff” (because we all know it is BS) to the customers that would also be your friends…
With this remarkable piece of integrity in your pocket, you must ponder what is REALLY important.
Even BAD ideas and bad things are purchased and sold all the time. Heroin is sold to people who want it. Overpriced homes are sold to people who want them. Unhealthy food is sold to people who want it. And, jobs that sound like dream jobs (but are really just bottomless pits of time destruction) are sold to unsuspecting talent all the time. (No, I’m not jaded, and I’m not a victim! I just have to escape, without losing my life savings, dammit! Yeah Kurt, I know you know what I mean! And, I feel you my brother!)
The lesson here is simply that people want stuff… period…
It isn’t bad, it isn’t evil. People just want stuff, and it is as simple as that (don’t add to that or subtract from it). People want stuff, and needs for the most part are taken care of these days so we don’t have to kill each other to get the stuff we want.
Your good idea can be sold to people who want it, but everyone else really doesn’t care!
Jack Johnson talks about advertising interruptions best in this great song!
My buddy, Justin, is promoting his girlfriend who is an amazing musician and I believe he is working hard to find her audience. This is a clear example of a good idea that is moving toward selling very well. She went from 180, to 70, to something like 10 for San Diego musicians in the last few weeks. Good ideas are worth spreading, but they have to land on “good soil” so not everyone will want her music (or this site for that matter).
The “key” is finding and working with people who want it, not shoving it down someone’s throat who would rather be playing nintendo or xbox.
Argue with it all you want, the simple fact is even “total shit” is sold and even “total shit” is bought. (Home electronics are great examples of total shit being sold. Brian! Thanks for sharing this killer laugh with me. BWAHAHA!)
This is a truth you cannot avoid. (No matter how much you deny it.) Good stuff and bad stuff will sell, because people want “good” and people want “bad” (for what ever reason). Regardless of your ideas people will do what they want and you can capitalize on that, (as well as give people what they want).
On the serious side, here are the two most critical rules to follow, when describing anything you want to sell.
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Does your application fill a want? “Wants” are way cooler than “needs”. (“I want a Fast Ferrari” is a lot more fun, and motivational, than “I need a car”.)
“I want to keep my plants alive on my vacation” is a much more likely what someone is thinking when they are in the market for an automated plant feeder. They are not likely searching for an “automated plant feeder” after all.
Focusing on a “want” rather than a “need” is much more effective from a marketing perspective. People figure out how to buy what they want. As long as their basic needs (as in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) are met all other “needs” are NOT “really” needs.
YOU may think they are (because you want to sell something), but many will argue that what “you think” they need is pretty subjective. My, non-conformist, advice would be don’t try to create a “false need” just to inflate your product’s “sense of self”. Instead focus on the want that you’re product fills, it will be MUCH easier to sell.
A good example of this is smoking:
One could argue that people “need” to quit smoking. But people who “want” to smoke will do it. Ask yourself WHY they want to smoke and you could be like RJReynolds and sell cigarettes to anyone who wants them, even though they are classified as “bad”.
Another example of this is financial accumen. One could argue that people “need” to learn how to manage their money better. The state of the American economy is overwhelming evidence that people don’t pay attention to this foundational “need”. Ask ourself WHY people would want to learn more about managing money well, and you will be able to sell this to anyone who wants to know how to master their own finances.
Needs are subjective, but “wants” are marketable. So focusing on an application that people will want for “emotional reasons” is a much safer bet than one they need for “logical reasons”.
I can’t think of how many advertisements that told me I “needed” to buy anti-virus software. In true form, I said I’ll skip the “need” and buy what I “want”. So my solution to the anti-virus dilemma was to escape it all together and use, unix, linux, or Apple Mac. (This is a great example of anti-virus companies trying to create an “artificial need”.)
Emotion is all about “want”. Logic is all about “need”. And, like a champion boxer, emotion will win a lot more often than logic.
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This “emotional vs logical” concept ends up being the one-two punch you will need to help people understand the value of any application you create.
When you write your description of your application, focusing on how your application helps both emotionally and logically makes for greater appeal.
Here is an example:
Does someone buy a car with air conditioning because they will die in their car without it? Or do they buy it to keep themselves cool on those traumatic commutes to and from work?
If you wanted to sell an air conditioned car to someone who owned a car without one which sentence makes more sense to write?
This car has powerful air-conditioning to keep you cool.
Or
This car has a SPECTRA PREMIUM A/C COMPRESSOR, NEW — With clutch; 100 percent factory run tested and endurance tested using endurance simulator to ensure optimum product performance; Manufactured under QS-9000, ISO 9002 certified quality systems to meet or exceed OEM specifications; Carefully packaged for product quality and installation.
Notice the second tells more, but says less.
If you have ever driven on a long miserable commute you know that you could really care less about he specs and more about the fact that it will work as you expect.
This is a fundamental thing to remember when describing your fancy new application… how can it help someone? This is the question to answer in anything you create to help people understand why they should buy your application.
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