Re: Selling Shovels for the Latest, Greatest Thing

If you are selling the shovels and let other people dig, you win.  Don’t take that as an endorsement.  It’s just the truth.

The new latest, greatest thing is mobile apps.

The barrier to entry was if you didn’t know how to code, you would have to either find a programmer to do it for you or learn how to code yourself.  Apparently, now there is a program that will let you create your own apps yourself.

They will gladly point you to the fact that more people are spending more time on their smart phones than ever before.  They will tell you will get left behind if you don’t go mobile and learn how to create an app.

But before you go running out purchasing the shovel, consider this-

Marketers will point to the growing smartphone App usage and clamor to get a app in the app store, without first asking: what apps are people actually using?

This is from Justin Whitaker’s wonderful Tumblr page and it is a question that should be asked.  Because most apps go nowhere.  And in some cases, even the best apps don’t generate the income that you would think.

This isn’t me being a Debbie Downer, by the way.  It is just a gut check. Because, as Justin puts it, sometimes it isn’t about creating the apps but finding ways to leverage the traffic that comes from the apps already created.

In a lot of cases, that is a far easier goal to accomplish than going about digging holes with your brand, spanking new shovel.

image attribution- http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/3253350222/

No related posts.