July 17th, 2008 PLEASE FORWARD
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News, Rants and Case Studies for Web Design Professionals
by Brendon Sinclair
Read the HTML version of this newsletter, with graphics, at:
http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=2&issue=405
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The iPhone App Store is a heady melting-pot of marketing at its
brightest and best, and in this week's issue we take a look at
what we can learn from the tactics of hundreds of companies
vying for a sale.
Then we borrow the principles of this marketing cleverness and
put them into practice to help attract notice in the SitePoint
Marketplace you'll find three top tips which will
entice more people to look at your offer.
From the forums, we look at a web developer copyright
question and, still sticking with the same theme of
learning from the lessons of the App Store, we look at why one
answer to a forum question would be perceived as far more
credible than any other.
We finish off with discovering something I've been
wondering about for years: an idea of the search volume for
keywords from Google searches. This is data that will have the
search and ecommerce gurus salivating in their quest for
success!
Happy Reading!
Brendon Sinclair
mailto:tribune@sitepoint.com
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IN THIS ISSUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Introduction
- Editor's Perspective: Learning from the iPhone App Store
- Marketplace Moments: Three Ways to Be Noticed
- From the Forums: Contract Conflict With a Client
- Tips & Tricks: The Keyword Tool on Google Adwords
- Latest Tutorials
- Hot Discussions
- New Blogs
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I was looking around the iPhone App Store [1] for voice recorder
apps this week, and it was a revelation. For those of you who
haven't visited the App Store, it's a part of the
iPhone innovation. It allows developers to create and sell
iPhone applications via the iTunes store.
My search efforts yielded three different applications ranging
in price from $1.19 to $12.99. Which one is the best? No idea.
Which one is best value? Still no idea. All descriptions in the
store made basically the same claims.
So I checked out the particular web sites linked to each app:
RecorderTheApp [2] ($1.19) shows a very casual video with
poor production values, which tended to make me feel that the
people behind it don't pay attention to details
Zarboo [3] ($5.99) looks nice, but there's not a lot
of info
Quickvoice [4] ($12.99) ticks every box in terms of slick
web site presentation, and reduces perceived sense of risk in
buying because it goes out of its way to offer social proof
(there's mention of winning awards), testimonials, and a
guarantee.
Is the $12.99 version really the best, and well worth the extra
money? Well, the product is yet to prove itself, but it was
certainly the one that raised its profile by being in the App
Store in the first place, and it's the one that reduced my
perceived sense of risk by adhering closely to some pretty basic
tenets of copywriting and design. This extra effort nonetheless
situated it head-and-shoulders over its competitors in the
iPhone App Store.
Check out the iPhone App Store yourself, and evaluate how the
various providers go about grabbing your attention from
including the sneaky asterisk (*) as the first character in the
name in order to get first place in the listings, to their
pricing structures (many people equate a higher price with
better quality, and this tactic can be used as well as any
other) and the wording they use.
Now, this isn't about picking up the best product at the iPhone
App Store. On the contrary, this is a great way to pick up tips
for how to present or how not to present! your own
business and services or goods. And for good measure,
here's a solid copywriting tutorial [5] that's well worth
applying to all your written content.
The same principles apply to every business, whether
you're a web developer, a publisher of made-for-Adsense
sites, or an affiliate. Be in front of the right prospect at the
right time with the right offer and with the right
presentation.
[1] <http://www.apple.com/iphone/appstore/>
[2] <http://www.recordertheapp.com/>
[3] <http://www.zarboo.com/>
[4] <http://www.nfinityinc.com/quickvoiceip.html>
[5] <http://www.copyblogger.com/copywriting-101/>
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When you're on a theme, I say stick with it!
Now we've looked at what helps to rake in the sales in the
iPhone App Store, let's apply that same thinking to
SitePoint Marketplace listings. I give you ... a Top Three list
for ways to make sure your listing is noticed!
1. Be at the top of the listings. There are two ways you can do
this: analyze when there is a slowdown of listings in the
section you'll be targeting and add your listing then
(this way, it takes longer to become pushed down the page), or
take out a Featured Listing.
2. Refine, refine, refine your title. Take a look at the
listings of current sellers on the Marketplace, and see which of
their titles attract you and who is gaining the most comments.
Attention largely comes down to who has the most compelling
titles see what other successful people do, and do
likewise.
3. Set your minimum bid. This displays on your listing as the
Price, and it increases as bids are made. Understand that at the
outset the perceived price will be a big factor in visitors
checking out your offer don't scare potential
clients away with an unrealistically elevated minimum price, and
don't create a perception of lesser value with a ridiculously low
start.
For more tips, check out "Top Tips for Selling through the
SitePiont Marketplace [1]" in the Forums.
[1] <http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=558997>
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Back in March, shamarkaleo asked a question in the forums about
a contract conflict with a prospect [1].
For those who came in late, shamarkaleo's question related
to copyright protection should she as the designer retain
copyright to a web design?
She received a range of solid answers based on the experience
and situations of various people in the web design industry who
had encountered similar situations with clients.
When negotiating a contract with a client the most important
thing to ask yourself is "Do you want the job?"
If you don't, or if the client is already being difficult in
their negotiations, you should walk away before entering into a
contract that you'll ultimately be unhappy with or that
conflicts with your principles.
[1] <http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=551285>
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The Keyword Tool on Google Adwords [1] is now showing search
volume data pop in your term and you'll know
approximately how many searches have been made on that and
associated terms in the past month.
This is a terrific step forward from the previous colored bar
indicating search volume, and it provides exactly the right
information to help web developers and ecommerce gurus target
the search terms that generate top visitor numbers.
[1] <https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal>
SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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that enables you to:
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http://www.techsmith.com/morae.asp?cmp=StPtUX3
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That's all for this issue -- thanks for reading! I'll see you in
a few weeks.
Brendon Sinclair
tribune@sitepoint.com [1]
Editor, SitePoint Tribune
[1] <mailto:tribune@sitepoint.com>
LATEST TUTORIALS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Take Command with Ajax
by Stoyan Stefanov
Want to get a bang out of your Ajax artillery? In this hands-on
tutorial, Stoyan puts Ajax on the front line as he develops a
web app with which you can execute shell commands on your web
server. The downloadable code provides a real tactical advantage
as Stoyan marshals JavaScript and XML to create the app.
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1490
Rich Punctuation: How To Do It And Why You Should Bother
by Daniel Aleksandersen
Learn how to escape the confines of your QWERTY keyboardi??in this
article, Daniel shows how you can enrich your web site text with
correct typographic punctuation!
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1655
HOT DISCUSSIONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Which do you prefer, many subscribers or commenters?
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=558215>
Getting The "Rights" To A Domain Name
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=558935>
The Underquoter
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=557877>
Widely Used Screen Reader?
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=531920>
Advice for a customer satisfaction survey after a site goes live?
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=528793>
NEW BLOGS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
News & Trends Blog: INDUSTRY NEWS FOR WEB PROFESSIONALS
Microsoft Wants Ad Volume: Try AOL, Not Yahoo!
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/07/17/microsoft-wants-ad-volume-try-aol-not-yahoo/
Use Google Gears for Fast Client-Side Search (1 comment)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/07/17/use-google-gears-for-fast-client-side-search/
Microsoft Opens Live Mesh to All (6 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/07/17/microsoft-opens-live-mesh-to-all/
LinkedIn Tries Facebook-Style Ads
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/07/17/linkedin-tries-facebook-style-ads/
Report: Small Publishers See eCPMs Drop (2 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/07/16/report-small-publishers-see-ecpms-drop/
Potential Buyers for Digg: Print Media?
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/07/16/potential-buyers-for-digg-print-media/
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