How Apps Help Grow Your Business

How Appification Helps Grow Your Business

It may be the Year of the Dragon,  but according to a recent article published in the Nieman Journalism Lab, 2012 is the year that consumers get “appified” and start using mobile apps more than traditional websites for all their news and entertainment.  And really, why wouldn’t they?  With iPhones, iPads, Kindles and more riding in our pockets and updating themselves 24-7, we’re becoming a lazy race, lifting just one finger for everything we need, from games to movies to social interaction.

For mobile app developers and resellers, however, it’s time to get busy.  Not everyone’s using the same apps or even the same kind of devices, which opens up an epic realm of possibilities.  Journalist Nicholas Carr even suggests that the versioning of apps is a new way to profit from this wave of appification.

Versioning

So, what’s versioning?  Well, just think about your mobile apps like cable packages.  You’ve got your basic cable, which gives you things like clear reception, ESPN and ABC Family.  Upgrade to a premium package and you may gain HD channels, Animal Planet and the History Channel.  Or go all out with digital bells and whistles watching Showtime, HBO and Cinemax.

You can do the SAME THING with mobile apps.  Companies you work with may want a very basic version of an app that any of their customers can use for free, with an upgrade or two that their best patrons will shell out a dollar a download for…or even more.

Need a more in-depth breakdown on versioning?  Read Hal R. Varian’s 1997 report entitled “Versioning Information Goods” – it’s still relevant today.

Divide & Conquer

While we’re continually fighting for financial, racial and gender equality on the “homefront,” the opposite is happening quite naturally on the World Wide Web.  Some prefer Facebook; others Google +.  Some are content with free limited use of online dating sites and news while others feel compelled to pay for subscriptions that expand and enhance their experience.

If you start making multiple versions of your apps available at different price points, your clients (and their customers) will split into mobile app classes – the penny-pinchers, the middle class and the aristocracy – based on their needs.  And the more deluxe upgrades you offer, the more someone will want to pay to have the best of the best – which translates to dollar signs and job security.

Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy

Versioning is a simple cumulative process…just start off with basic functions, up the ante with handy features and go all-out for the most high-end version of your product, then offer each version at an increased price.  It will pay off in the end, so get out there and start versioning your apps today!