A Lesson From the Kenneth Cole Tweet

Posted by Jake on Oct 27, 2011 in Strategy | 2 comments

An intern at Kenneth Cole tweeted back in February 2011:

What followed was a twitter backlash that contained thousands of tweets like this:

How to produce an app that sells – 10 tips – Part 3

Posted by Jake on Aug 16, 2011 in Uncategorized | 3 comments

This is the third and final installment in this series of how to produce an app that sells. As mentioned in my previous posts the top 10 common threads found amongst those who have developed successful apps is as follows:

How to produce an app that sells – 10 tips – Part 2

Posted by Jake on Aug 4, 2011 in Apps | 2 comments

This is the second installment in the 3 part series about how to produce an app that will sell. As stated in the previous post there are the 10 common threads successful app producers generally follow.

They are:

What business are you really in?

Posted by Jake on Jul 27, 2011 in Strategy | 0 comments

What's in your business DNA?

It’s easy to lose sight of what it is we really do.

There is so much talk and emphasis on specializing in a field that we miss the point of what it is we really do. This is why empires fall and people fail. Blockbusters – gone. Borders – gone. Yahoo! search – gone. These were behemoths that we saw fall only recently. But before them the music labels took a pounding by the internet. And before them the movie industry got beaten down by TV. And before them the railroads got killed by the automobiles….

SEO agencies failed their clients

Posted by Jake on Jul 21, 2011 in Search, Uncategorized | 14 comments

We failed because we did not stand up for our clients against those creative agencies that were not acting in their best interests. And although this happened a few years ago our clients are paying for it now, because it was our lack of fiber that has led to paltry flash replacement techniques being employed nowadays as “best practice”.

As SEO agencies we failed to resist flash only websites. On some level we have to assume a portion of the responsibility for some of the millions of dollars in redesign fees and lost opportunity that most major companies are experiencing at the moment.

How to produce an app that sells – 10 tips – Part 1

Posted by Jake on Jul 19, 2011 in Apps, Uncategorized | 0 comments

"There are common threads that most successful app producers follow"

I get asked by a lot of people how I managed to get all 3 versions of Teach Me Sushi ranked in the top 10 for New and Noteworthy, What’s Hot and featured as an App of the Week (twice).

Unfortunately there is no silver bullet that is going to make your app a success. It’s hard work, involves incredible focus and you really have to be passionate about what you’re doing.  You also need a little bit of luck to go your way. However with the tips below you will be on the right path to producing an app that sells.

Michael Vick taught me about value

Posted by Jake on Jul 13, 2011 in Strategy | 3 comments

Vick on his way to 6 touchdowns

I used to love summer.

Hot days, long afternoons on the beach, lazy weekends around the pool… I remember wishing with all my heart for time to slow down so I could extract every last drop of summer goodness before fall rolled around.

Last year my brother in-law introduced me to Fantasy Football. Coming from South Africa I had very little understanding of the NFL. It all looked a little soft really. In rugby (South Africa are the current world champions *cough*) – only sissies would think of wearing pads and helmets. Real men took tackles unhindered by protection and ran over each other with cleats.