Building eCommerce

By Stephen Davies

No need to be dismayed if your mobile app is not selling. It may not be down to the app itself. If that does concern you, ask your customers, and mobile app users in relevant forums about the app. Is it useful to them? Otherwise, its down to your strategy simply needing some refining.

Here are 6 points that will refresh your mobile app sales:

1. Every update brings in some additional visibility. Since your app may be competing for attention with 200,000 iPhone apps, 50,000-odd Android apps, and others, promotion and marketing has never been so important. By making small feature changes to your app and then re-releasing it as a new version or even a “new” application, this is a sure fire way to bring some additional visibility to your app.

2. Add a “Lite” or “Premium” version. If you’ve got a price for downloading your app, then why not consider releasing a “Lite” or “Premium” version of the app? We’ve found that not only are people more likely to buy an app if they’ve had a chance to try it, but having different versions of the same app enables you to place your app in several different categories in the app store. So by adding or removing a feature of your app and creating a new “lite” or “premium” version of it, you’ll be able to maximise your reach and visibility across iTunes.

3. Change categories if you need to. If sales are low, move to another category and measure downloads over a few days. After all, the “most relevant” category is not always the best one, especially if it’s crowded.

4. Change the price and test different price points. If your app is paid for, its worth adjusting the pricing and see what price point drives the most total revenue. It is crucial to test different price points so you can see the market response and adjust your strategy and pricing accordingly. There are also sites that list when the price drops or the app becomes free of charge, so if you are going to test different price points, be sure to set the price long enough for the sites to pick up the change.

5. Make it free. Obviously this should help revive downloads if you have been charging for your app. But one thing to bear in mind when making your app free of charge to download, is that when you set an app to free for a long period of time, the rating goes down. So plan the free cycles shortly before an update. Then set the app back to paid, which stops the casual download rating of 1 star, and the rating gets reset for the new version.

6. Test, test, test. The more you learn now about what strategies work for reviving and prolonging sales for your app the better prepared you will be next time around. Use AppFigures to measure the different strategies tried and see what has worked and what hasn’t. Its great to be able to see at a glimpse in graphic form what’s been effective and its far easier than downloading stats everyday!

These are just a few of the components that have worked. I can assure you that if you only manage to do one or two of these, you’ll still manage to create even some small type of change to your current app sales.

About The Author

AppCreatives, a fast growing SME offers mobile/PDA application solutions that help organisations communicate with their customers through custom mobile devices. We design and build mobile applications that are customer-friendly. For more information please see http://www.appcreatives.co.uk

By Atheer Fendi

Yes affiliate marketing rocks, but it’s really hard to get started. This is because there are already a lot of people doing it. What you need to do is come up with methods no one else is using. There’s also a lot of information out there about how to do affiliate marketing, so it can be confusing. Well, here’s on simple thing you can do that will put you ahead of the game.
Video marketing

No one would deny the power and popularity of video. Video online is everywhere because people love it. Keeping people’s attention is so much easier using videos. So why wouldn’t you use it in your affiliate business?

Here’s how to use videos for affiliate promotions:

* Record your testimonial
* Do a video walk-through
* Do an ordering video
* Sneak peak

Record your testimonial

This is probably the easiest of all. Just click record on your web cam and start talking. It does not need to be polished or pro. Seeing a real person on the other end helps your viewers make a buying decision. And honestly, if you mess up it just makes it seem more authentic. You really can just click record and start talking. Use one of the other ideas if you’re feeling shy.
Do a video walk-through

This is a great way to promote something without selling it. You’re taking the role of teacher and showing how to use the product. And in the process you’re actually selling the product. If it’s useful, then what you’re teaching just makes people want it. So pick some really helpful aspect of the product and show how to use that.
Record the order process

This technique is super powerful. Record yourself placing an order. Watching you make a live purchase will inspire your viewer like nothing else. First, it’s social proof. People will feel more comfortable buying after seeing you do it. This also makes your viewers trust you. Your advice is easier to trust if they can see you’re doing what you tell them to do. And finally, it creates envy. They see you getting the satisfaction of making the purchase and that makes them want it. You can add additional juice to this one with: In order to get to see the inside, you gotta buy the product.
Record a preview of the members area

This is a great way to build value. You do a tour of the members area. They get to see everything they’ll receive when they order. And it helps soften the skeptics. Once they’ve seen the back-end, they know it’s real.
Anyone can do it!

No special skills are required. Some very easy to use programs make the videos for you. The software really does all the work So you don’t have to worry about the technical part of this at all. Just focus on the benefits:

* More sales Using videos in your affiliate marketing will dramatically increase your sales. Start using videos because people love them.
* Reduce refunds You’ll lose less of the commission your earn. Your customers will know what they’re getting into ahead of time. So, very few of them will cancel their order.
* Outdo your competitors! This is a really easy thing to do. But pretty much no one does it. This puts you out in front of the rest.

Get started right now and take your affiliate marketing to the next level. The bottom line is that if you’re not using video, you’re losing money.

About The Author

Atheer Fendi, is a young Internet marketing expert who is helping small web based businesses with marketing strategies. Let Atheer show you how you can have your own report within 24 hours to give away for free and profit from it at the same time, visit http://www.freecashpullingreports.com