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New Offline Gold Rush Happening Now

by gxd5
63 replies
Listen up! There is a huge opportunity to cash in RIGHT NOW in the offline market. If you are marketing to local businesses and would like to take advantage of a great opportunity, then you need to switch gears IMMEDIATELY and start marketing mobile sites to your client base.

If you've been watching the news, you will know that there is a HUGE amount of hype surrounding two mobile devices right now: iPad and iPhone 4G. Against that, you see a tremendous amount of competition coming from Droid and Blackberry.

The mobile revolution is HERE, and the time to cash in on it is NOW.

Everyone agrees that mobile platforms are the future of internet consumption. The number of people accessing the internet via cell phone or table device is only going to increase. And businesses that do not target these mobile consumers are going to be digital dinosaurs.

The problem is that most businesses (and most developers) think that CREATING mobile sites is difficult. What they don't realize is that, whereas before mobile development used to entail writing code and supporting numerous devices with numerous requirements, the growth of the market has led to widespread standardization among mobile browser platforms.

You can now target all of the major platforms by simply writing your web pages in HTML, Javascript and CSS. What does that mean? In the simplest of terms, if your site looks nice in Safari, it will look nice on the newest versions of the iPhone, a Blackberry, and a Droid. If you can make a web site, you can make a cross platform mobile app.

Understand that:

- Every businesses is going to need a mobile site
- Most of them don't have one (yet)
- Most of them think making them is very difficult
- Luckily for you, making a mobile site has never been easier
- AND... thanks to iPad + iPhone, the buzz surrounding mobile is OFF THE CHARTS right now

If you take all of those considerations together, what you get is a tremendous opportunity to cash in RIGHT NOW on selling mobile web sites.

I have made over 10k in the past month doing mobile web projects. Not only are they easier to build than traditional web sites, they are easier to sell. Why are they easier to sell? One word - touch.

Because of the touch based interfaces, the sites practically sell themselves. Demoing an iPhone or an iPad is EASY. Just HAND SOMEONE the device, and watch them sell themselves. You don't have to explain anything.

They take it... they are nervous. They start to touch it, to interact with it. They push the buttons, they slide the screen around. The device responds. All of a sudden, they relax. They get it. The touch interface makes it intuitive. They understand. They are having fun. At that point, closing is easy. When you show someone their site on their phone, it's like you just made magic.

By the way...

I AM NOT SELLING ANYTHING.

I'm just letting you know about a cool opportunity. There are businesses all around you right now that need this service. There are news stories everywhere telling them how many people are lining up for it. And there is probably zero competition at the moment. So, if you've been looking for something to bank on, this might be your chance.

I've made over 10k in the last month or so just doing mobile development, and you can too. So go do it. I hope you find this information useful, and I hope that you go out there and make a boat load of cash. If you do, please send some good karma my way.
#gold #happening #offline #rush
  • Profile picture of the author Kieron
    Excellent Post, very well written. Kieron
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    • Profile picture of the author Jagged
      Originally Posted by Kieron View Post

      Excellent Post, very well written. Kieron

      Have you been commenting on my blogs? I get that same response at least 50 times a day....lol j/k
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      • Profile picture of the author Kieron
        Hey Ken, sorry but nope I am not guilty of that crime. Cheers, Kieron
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      • Profile picture of the author Dexx
        Originally Posted by Jagged View Post

        Have you been commenting on my blogs? I get that same response at least 50 times a day....lol j/k
        Sorry, that was me...I'll stop.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    This is something that I am planning to start with in about a month or so but
    I just don't like the idea of contacting clients myself and I would rather take the
    affiliate checks from clickbank
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    • Profile picture of the author gxd5
      If you don't like talking to clients, hire a sales guy and / or a product manager. You don't actually have to have cash, just find a commissioned sales person and pay them a percentage of each sale. If you are selling the sites for $1k, then you can offer a 20% commission on each sale, and that's a clean $200 per sale.

      Think about the number of businesses in your town that need a mobile site. If your sales guy only sold 10 of them in a month, that's 2k free and clear for him and 8k to you. I guarantee there's more than 10 businesses in your town that need a mobile site right now.

      Before I found my current sales guy, I thought about going down to the local car dealership and recruiting. You can't GIVE away cars nowdays. Why go broke selling things no one wants when you can bank selling something everyone needs?

      At any rate, if there is an aspect of your business that you don't like doing, don't do it. Just find someone competent that can.

      A lot of people get caught up on the fact that they can't pay an employee. But, there are tons of businesses, like Amway, where the employees actually PAY for the privelege of selling the products. I'm not suggesting you use that strategy, but if they can convince people to do that, you can probabaly convince people to do this.

      Don't let a little bump deter you. Before any great reward is the TEST. The test separates the people that want it from the people that deserve it. When it gets hard, just push on a little further. Success is right over that hill.
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  • Profile picture of the author JimmyS
    This is interesting. I might as well the potential of this market. Thanks for the tip gxd5.
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  • Profile picture of the author Christian Sawyer
    Do you mind sharing some more information regarding the sites you make and how you make them? Also, can you elaborate on how you pick a target client?

    Thanks,
    -Christian
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  • Profile picture of the author roger123
    gxd5, Thanks for this useful article. In fact I was also thinking on the same lines to create mobile sites for my clients. Now reading your article, I see a bigger opportunity.
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    • Profile picture of the author gxd5
      Originally Posted by roger123 View Post

      gxd5, Thanks for this useful article. In fact I was also thinking on the same lines to create mobile sites for my clients. Now reading your article, I see a bigger opportunity.
      The opportunity is definitely here right now. Any business that has already invested in a web site is going to need to invest in a mobile version of that site if they wish to remain relevant.

      The great thing about the current timing is that you won't have to convince them. Just print out links to stories like this:

      iPhone 4G Sells Out On Day One Popular Fidelity Unusual Stuff

      It's all over the news.

      One thing I learned as a surfer... you can paddle and paddle, but if there aren't any waves, you aren't going to go ANYWHERE. On the other hand, when the waves are big, as long as you are out in the water, you'll catch something.

      I hope that your efforts are successful and you make a ton of money
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  • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
    I've been thinkin bout this for the last couple of weeks. It's def a great earner - offline is simply amazing!
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Hackett
    Thanks for the share - and I do think you're correct. This wave will probably continue for a while yet, it seems to me. I looked at getting into this a couple of months ago but wasn't sure where to start. I did pick up a couple of wso's recently that have been helpful in getting the overall picture. I figured I'd start with a few "freebies" for people/business I know just to get a feel for it, then use them as samples to get new clients.

    I spent years in commercial art, were it was common to do artwork on your own, in your own unique "style" as samples to show new clients what you were capable of. Since I'll be new to this it seemed like a good plan. It will also help my confidence as far as actually being able to do it.

    There seem to be a lot of options coming out lately too; wordpress plug-ins, as well as themes and html templates. I also like the idea of hosting the sites myself instead of using one of the many services that are offered. (some used to be free) Do you use your own hosting? And do you go with straight html, or wordpress?

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Thanks for sharing but almost every business I've spoken to lately has NOT been interested in a mobile site.

    It's only early adopters right now.

    Most of them are happy with their existing sites and don't use mobile devices and think they're not normal yet - and they're right. Their server logs show that 97% of the their visits are not from mobile browsers.

    I do have one client who I've had an extra £5k of business from this month because their CEO has an ipad and wants their site to work on it (which means removing all flash too and streaming videos a different way to the current site method they use) so I think this is coming - but most businesses do not yet want this.

    One of my customers gets problems because she's still using i.e 6. She thinks upgrading her browser is too techy.

    Thanks for sharing though.

    Good luck with your business.

    Andy

    p.s for those interested in this - I've been using this to see what my sites look like on an ipad http://ipadpeek.com/ (remember though that flash will work on this but not the ipad so ideally you'd disable flash in your browser also)
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    • Profile picture of the author Hamish Jones
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      Thanks for sharing but almost every business I've spoken to lately has NOT been interested in a mobile site.

      It's only early adopters right now.

      Most of them are happy with their existing sites and don't use mobile devices and think they're not normal yet - and they're right. Their server logs show that 97% of the their visits are not from mobile browsers.
      I think Smart Phones are 'normal' but surfing the internet on smart phones has not become 'normal.' Things like Banks and Gambling sites are looking at mobile because these are things that are easily adopted to smart phones. things like Google maps are important too however for the most part if people really want to look at something online they will make do at the moment- perhaps not going forward.
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  • Profile picture of the author lukemeister
    Reading posts like this is kinda weird for me, as I've been working for clients for many years doing web design for many different platforms - I guess that's why the whole "offline" revelation doesn't really seem like much of a revelation from my perspective - I'm not trying to spoil the thread, it's a good way to make money, but the web design industry really isn't exactly a best kept secret

    That being said, I do agree, selling mobile sites to businesses that want them is easy pickings right now, it definitely is not that tricky to build good mobile sites, the trick is finding the businesses that want a mobile site

    Another point I would like to make though - the advent of these new phones with full browsers is in a way eliminating the need for mobile specific sites, since most non-mobile web sites can be browsed pretty easily on the full featured browsers that come with the droid and iphones and stuff - I can even use BaseCamp quite easily on my Droid, and that site is definitely not optimized for mobile but it works just fine
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    • Profile picture of the author netkid
      I totally agree with AndyHenry. Mobile local is still in "early adopter" stage. Half of all my business comes from offline consulting that I do now. 99% still have a hard time with the online marketing concept and if you pile on the mobile aspect, I think I'm going to "lose" them by going way over their head.

      But I do think CPA mobile marketing for us IM'rs are getting big.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave Lianelli
    Just wanted to share this site. I think a lot of Warriors know it already.

    It allows easier checking browser-compatibility:

    Check Browser Compatibility, Cross Platform Browser Test - Browsershots
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  • Profile picture of the author -Jericho-
    Few questions.

    Is there a way to find out what people are searching for with their mobile phones/ipads?

    Do you have to run the site on a special platform to get the best results ie design, SEO, etc?

    Is there a way to monetize it ourselves?
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    I had a client all hot and heavy asking me for a mobile site. their competitors had a link on their homepage to their mobile site, and they wanted one too.

    My mistake - I asked him to pull up his existing site on his blackberry. Low and behold, there was the site.

    here's the only reason I see to build a mobile version of a site:
    1) their existing site uses flash.
    2) you can create a mobile sitemap for google, and get good serp's for mobile searches.

    #2 could be great for towing companies, locksmiths, etc
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    • Profile picture of the author GuerrillaIM
      Originally Posted by jasonl70 View Post

      I had a client all hot and heavy asking me for a mobile site. their competitors had a link on their homepage to their mobile site, and they wanted one too.

      My mistake - I asked him to pull up his existing site on his blackberry. Low and behold, there was the site.

      here's the only reason I see to build a mobile version of a site:
      1) their existing site uses flash.
      2) you can create a mobile sitemap for google, and get good serp's for mobile searches.

      #2 could be great for towing companies, locksmiths, etc
      I cant stand looking at sites on my blackberry. All the zooming in and out and left and right makes me want to throw the thing out the window. The only sites I use on my phone are mobile optimized sites.
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      • Profile picture of the author MarkR
        I don't believe that the mobile dedicated site is ready for primetime quite yet.
        Nic, totally agree. My stats show .5-2% of visitors to my clients sites are mobile. When I can show them that they are missing >=20% then we'll talk.

        I'd love to hear stories of offline clients getting a XX% boost in traffic by adding a mobile site if anyone has any.

        But it has it's place right now if you use it where it is strong - facebook, twitter, maps, food, SMS, etc.
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        • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
          Originally Posted by MarkR View Post

          Nic, totally agree. My stats show .5-2% of visitors to my clients sites are mobile. When I can show them that they are missing >=20% then we'll talk.

          I'd love to hear stories of offline clients getting a XX% boost in traffic by adding a mobile site if anyone has any.

          But it has it's place right now if you use it where it is strong - facebook, twitter, maps, food, SMS, etc.
          The midwest is far slower to adopt. Right now, we still have fairly low demand for mobile marketing in any form. They're aware of it, and watching, but the perception is that for now, they'll just use their site on the web and allow mobile users to browse it. No real push to retool. HTML5 may change some of that down the road, but right now there's simply no perception of compelling financial return.

          And we simply won't hard sell our clients of many years on something that they're not ready to buy. B2B marketing is about the long haul, not the quick bang.
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  • Profile picture of the author gxd5
    Aloha All,

    Thank you for your responses. I have attempted to respond to everyone below.

    Mahalos,

    Rob

    ==



    @michael hackett
    As far as html vs CMS, it depends on the client. Offer a basic list of options (html, cms, custom) with the ability to customize it to the customer's needs. Regarding hosting, I have my own set of servers that I use, but you can also just zip up the files and send them to the client.


    @andyhenry
    I think the key is in the approach. The way that people consume online content is changing. You have to show businesses that this is the future. Of course the majority of their traffic will be non-mobile at this point. But I am willing to bet money these businesses are not marketing to mobile users. The key question is: Do you want to market to mobile users? If the answer is yes, they will need a mobile site.

    I don't think businesses can afford to sit back and wait for the customers to show up at their door. You can't look at a stats report and say, 3% of my current traffic is mobile. I'll wait till that number comes up, then do something about it. Forward thinking businesses need to take advantage of trends in advance in order to really profit.


    @likemeister
    "the advent of these new phones with full browsers is in a way eliminating the need for mobile specific sites, since most non-mobile web sites can be browsed pretty easily on the full featured browsers that come with the droid and iphones and stuff"

    Absolutely false. Non-optimized mobile sites have an incredibly different user experience than optimized mobile sites. The game changers with the new mobile devices like iPhone and iPad are:

    1. Smaller View Ports
    2. Gesture Based Navigation
    3. Different Input Interfaces

    Mobile screens are waaaay smaller. If you don't set the viewport correctly, you can't even see the whole site when you open it up. It might show up just fine, but you have to zoom and scroll everywhere. What if you opened up a site on your computer, and you could only see a tiny fraction of the page? To have a good user experience, you need to accommodate the fact that mobile view screens are much smaller.

    And then there's gestures. Gestures change everything! Mobile devices are driven by gesture based navigation. UI's designed to deal with gesture based navigation and smaller viewports completely change the way that mobile apps look and feel. Buttons need to take into account someone will be pressing them with their fingers (which isn't as precise as a mouse). The forms need to take into account that people will be inputting into them with their thumbs or two fingers. Traditional sites may 'render' on mobile devices, but they fail to account for fundamental changes in the interface. As a result, they won't feel right.


    @Jericho

    "Is there a way to find out what people are searching for with their mobile phones/ipads?"
    There are lots of ways to find out what people are searching for. Mobile phones and ipads use query strings just like any other browser, so you can sniff the URL requests and detect that. Your regular stats package should be able to do this for you, in fact. You can also do custom things like checking what kinds of on-site searches they are making.

    "Do you have to run the site on a special platform to get the best results ie design, SEO, etc"
    There are emulators that you can get that will allow you to see what a site will do on a specific device, but BY AND LARGE all you need is a webkit compatible browser like Safari. A large number of mobile manufacturers are standardizing on webkit. What this means for you is that if it renders correctly on the latest version of safari, it will render correctly on the device you are targeting. Just resize your safari window so that it approximates the view screen of your target device.

    "Is there a way to monetize it ourselves?"
    Sure... Build a list. Run an offer. The limit is your imagination.


    @jasonl70
    Blackberry's specifically have tiny view ports. You have to zoom and scroll almost everything. If you mocked up an optimized site, it would look much better than the default site.
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  • Profile picture of the author nelsonbiglar
    Wordpress offers a few plugins that automatically convert to a mobile website. I think if you can build wordpress websites well, install this plug it will then add that whole mobile dimension in seconds. Plus if you know some PHP and CSS you can edit up the pages too...
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  • Profile picture of the author gxd5
    @nelsonbiglar

    I've used WPTOUCH successfully in the past. You can download it here:

    WordPress › WPtouch iPhone Theme WordPress Plugins

    It can't do all of the cool things that you can do with custom solutions, but it is super easy to get started with if you are running Wordpress.
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  • Profile picture of the author da1fitz
    Top Post gxd5.

    Both the internet and ecommerce are shortly going to become bound to the mobile networks, but unfortunately web technology doesn't seem to have caught up with mobile concepts.

    I think that perhaps a new mobile web and scripting language needs to catch on before mobile ecommerce can really move forward.

    I tested mobile PPC using admob several months ago, and although the PPC adds (at least in the niche that I was promoting) had a phenomenal click rate, the conversion was rubbish, and I think the thing that was missing was the appropiate "buy now" casebase to allow a logical progression.

    Its a difficult barrier to break but I am considering a couple of options to make the buy button more appealing...
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Hackett
    Thanks gxd5. I had been wondering about WPTOUCH myself. When I first started looking around a few months ago for some self-made solutions, this was the site I found: WordPress to Create iPhone Web Apps | Denver Knox | Denver SEO Trainer and Consultant | iPhone Templates (I'm not affiliated with him in any way)

    One of his buyers put up a site for his church at: WWOC that I thought was so simple and effective that it really convinced me I needed to do something in this direction.

    Your surfing analogy was spot-on. It may only be happening with early adopters right now, but I do think it's time to paddle into the next set.
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    • Profile picture of the author gxd5
      For anyone interested in getting started, here are some tools that will help you. As mentioned above, if you would like to quickly convert your WordPress site into a mobile version, I have personally used WPTOUCH with successs. You can download that here:

      WordPress › WPtouch iPhone Theme WordPress Plugins

      If you are developing a site using HTML, then the BEST tool kit I've used so far is JQtouch. You can download that here:

      jQTouch — jQuery plugin for mobile web development

      Jqtouch supports advanced transitions and effects. For clients new to mobile, the transitions are jaw-dropping. Making the actual mobile pages is as easy as making an HTML list. And, you can just copy and modify the example files and have your very first mobile site up and running in minutes.

      If you want a reference book, the best one out right now is "Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS and Javascript" by Jonathan Stark. It's an Oreilly book, and you can get it at borders for $29.99.

      OR, you could go here and read it online for FREE:

      Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

      In order to do more advanced sites, I've integrated a lot of the tools listed above with my own custom backend code. But that's definitely not required. You could literally get started right now building mobile sites by reading that ebook and then either downloading JQtouch or WPTOUCH.
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      • Profile picture of the author JackBenson
        Originally Posted by gxd5 View Post

        If you are developing a site using HTML, then the BEST tool kit I've used so far is JQtouch. You can download that here:
        So you are building mobile sites for smart phones specifically rather than the older WAP/xhtml type site that is compatible with non smartphones? Or do the sites you build render on those phones as well?

        It seems you are going with a premium mobile site angle which I like, and probably makes sense since the majority of actual mobile browsers are using a smart phone (I think?)

        Care to share how much you charge for these mobile sites? And what kind of features you pack them with for the typical local business?
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Riddle
    Mobile sites are really good for certain industries, especially impulse buys such as when someone is out & about and needs movie times, nightclubs, theater tickets -- Dare I say Massage and escort services.
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  • Profile picture of the author JayPeete
    Originally Posted by gxd5 View Post

    So go do it. I hope you find this information useful, and I hope that you go out there and make a boat load of cash. If you do, please send some good karma my way.
    With this great information that you have just laid out I'm sure that you will get more good karma than you can handle...
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  • Profile picture of the author laird
    Coding for an iphone/ipad allows you to craft a killer mobile website/webapp. There are even webdev kits specifically made for them - are you developing specifically for this audience segment or are your sites degrading to whatever mobile device is being used?
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    Regarding the whole mobile thing, I am still not convinced about it from a commercial point of view.

    I mean, think about it: are you really sure you're in "credit card swinging" mood when browsing something off your iPhone while waiting for the bus? I mean, really? I am only in "buy mode" when I'm comfortably sitting at my computer at home...
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  • Profile picture of the author Always-A-Warrior
    Aloha Rob,

    Kauai in da hale.

    I like your info and notice .mobi and .tel (free hosting) isn't mentioned here. What's your take on these mobile .ext?.

    Also if I may add, you can view your mobile site on all mobile phones here Mobile Phone Tools

    Mahalo,
    Rus
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    • Profile picture of the author gxd5
      @JackBenson
      "So you are building mobile sites for smart phones specifically rather than the older WAP/xhtml type site that is compatible with non smartphones? Or do the sites you build render on those phones as well?"

      I am targeting next gen phones, specifically phones that use webkit based browsers. As was mentioned above, the mobile boom is actually driving standardization, and I try to use that to my advantage.


      @JayPeete
      Thank you very much

      @Laird
      "are you developing specifically for this audience segment or are your sites degrading to whatever mobile device is being used"

      I am targeting newer phones like iPhone, Droid, Blackberry and devices like iPad specifically, and I have a compatibility matrix to show what will and won't work in older platforms. However, I try very hard to set an expectation that we are positioning ourselves for the FUTURE, not the past, and that older hand sets will not be fully supported.

      @Anonymous Affiliate
      I think you are right, that's why I do not use mobile e-commerce as a selling point AT ALL. I think if you are going to tell a business that they are going to sell a ton of widgets through the phone, you are going to be promising something you can't deliver. On the other hand, if you can position the mobile site as a marketing tool designed specifically for a desireable sub-set of customers, you have a better starting point.

      For instance, one of my clients runs a restaurant. I had created an online menu and wine list for them. It was a no-brainer to figure out that we needed to take the existing menu and wine list and convert it so that it was visible on iPhone. Allowing customers to browse the menu or wine list on their mobile devices is a delight for the customer, and it makes the restaurant look cutting edge.

      I may be letting the cat out of the bag by sharing my specific niches, but I want to demonstrate that you don't actually have to get people to enter a credit card on a mobile site in order for the site to be useful. Menu's are a perfect example for this. You could also use it for prices, schedules, etc.

      @Always-A-warrior
      Island style no ka oi! I haven't used the .mobi or .tel TLD's much because usually I will redirect the visitors to a subdomain based on the browser's user-agent. If the client has an existing web site, they usually want to keep the user on the same domain. Sometimes, users freak out if you send them to a different URL, so I haven't used those domains much. OTOH, if you are starting from scratch, those are definitely TLD's to consider.

      That tool that you link to is very nice for graphical testing. But, if you do start pushing volume with mobile sites, I would recommend just getting the emulators or physical devices to test with. With online tools like that, you can see how things look, but you can't see how they act. Sometimes, the problems are not with layout, but with buttons not working (you can't click), transitions breaking (it won't slide), or something like that.

      So, I would definitely use a viewer for the UI portion of design, but I would switch to emulators or actual devices once you get to the functional testing.

      TIP: You usually only have to do the functional testing once. After you have a nice template set up, you won't have to change the functionality much. You should be able to simply tweak the CSS for a majority of your clients.
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  • Profile picture of the author gxd5
    I want to add another thought... while compatibility is a great thing, when you are positioning something as a premium product or service, exclusivity - NOT supporting everyone, NOT making it available to everyone - is sometimes a great tool.

    The 20/80 rule is alive and well, and online, it can even go up toward 1/99.

    Another gold nugget that I will give you is that the sales people in the AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint stores are your friends. They are hugely motivated to sell phones. They always need cool apps to show people to get them to buy. So demo your apps to them, and if you are lucky, they will demo those apps to the people that are looking to buy a new phone.
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  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
    Great information here. The real key is explaining this well enough to the business owner (whether you do it yourself or outsource is entirely up to you of course) so that he or she understands the implications and lost opportunities of not having a mobile-optimized site.

    My question is this though - if our mobile websites are optimized for a touch interface and work well on the iPhone and Android touch phones, how are these sites going to work from a usability and user-friendliness standpoint when viewed on more basic phones with smaller screens and traditional keyboards, such as the Blackberry and cheaper smartphones that do NOT have a touch interface? Is there any way to create a mobile site that would work well on these two divergent (touch vs. traditional keyboard) mobile technologies?
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    • Profile picture of the author gxd5
      Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

      My question is this though - if our mobile websites are optimized for a touch interface and work well on the iPhone and Android touch phones, how are these sites going to work from a usability and user-friendliness standpoint when viewed on more basic phones with smaller screens and traditional keyboards, such as the Blackberry and cheaper smartphones that do NOT have a touch interface? Is there any way to create a mobile site that would work well on these two divergent (touch vs. traditional keyboard) mobile technologies?
      Blackberry is standardizing on webkit, which is the same browser that is used on the iPhone / iPad, so moving forward, you won't see that much of a problem supporting Blackberry users.

      The easiest way to get into supporting multiple platforms is to use some form of detection, like htaccess, javascript or server side useragent sniffing. However, I would try to avoid supporting past platforms. It's a quagmire that will completely kill your productivity for a very small subset of users. If you can position this as a premium product for current and future mobile platforms, you can avoid a lot of headaches, charge more, and not have to support tons of legacy platforms.

      @CDarklock
      From your comments, it's obvious you have no experience in mobile development or user interface design.

      The entire point of this thread is that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR PC AND MOBILE SITES TO LOOK AND WORK EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. I'm not yelling at you, I am talking in caps to make it clear that THIS is the point of the thread. __THIS IS WHY THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY__ The new mobile devices require change. You can make money by helping businesses transition to this change.

      To make it simple, just look at a phone screen. Then look at a computer monitor. See any difference? One can fit into your pocket. The other one requires two arms to carry. Do you really think you can display the same amount of information in the exact same way on both devices?



      Look at a PC keyboard, and look at a phone. PC keyboards are large. You can use two hands and ten fingers to interact with it. Phones either have a small thumb based keyboard (blackberry) or a pop up keyboard that you either use two thumbs or two fingers to hunt and peck with (iPhone, iPad). Do you really think you can take input the same way?

      Look at a PC mouse. You can use your hand to move the mouse, and your fingers to click buttons. You can move and position it VERY precisely. Now look at a mobile device. If you have a mouse based interface, like trackball or trackpad (blackberry), they are not very precise. You use one finger or thumb to both move and click.

      If you have a touch interface, you have to point and click with your fingers. To support that, you have to have a larger margin of error... bigger icons, more spacing, larger fonts. It's really easy to misclick if you use traditional web site design.

      Let's go back to the displays. A PC web site will use displays that are around 1000 pixels wide. An iPhone will have a display size of 320 pixels wide. Thats 1/3 of the real estate. If you try to fit the exact same web site on that screen, it will be way too small to read. Even if you can read it, you will NOT be able to click anything. You will have to zoom in, scroll around, zoom out, and in general have a very bad experience. Here's an example:



      Those are just active inputs. There are also new inputs PC's dont consider. You have to take into account things like orientation changes (how the site looks when they turn the device), geolocation (the fact that you know where they are) and other considerations that are not as relevant to PC based sites.

      Mobile users have different requirements than PC based users, and if you understand the differences, you have an opportunity to make some money right now by helping businesses meet the needs of their customers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Always-A-Warrior
    create a .mobi or .tel site. .Tel acts as a business card and hosting is free. type in rusty.tel
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  • Profile picture of the author xfogo
    Thank's for the tip. Making mobile site's really has never been easier due to the iphone currently dominating the market.
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    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      Nice thread.

      I think any reason you use to get yourself contacting business owners and helping them is likely to make you some serious money.

      Andy makes an important point...many local business owners won't see the value in this because there are less of them accessing the internet this way than the general population.

      Talking about mobile marketing might get some business owners excited and not others.

      That's really not much of an issue though.



      If you're talking to business owners or approaching them by mail, email, phone or any other method and you focus on getting them into a conversation where you ask them questions about their business and listen then you can hone in on the strategies you can implement that they ARE excited about.

      You might find they're excited about email marketing, marketing with online video, facebook marketing etc etc.

      It's all good if you're building relationships with business owners and running with what they get excited about.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
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      • Profile picture of the author gxd5
        @AndrewCavanagh
        Well said, probably the best advice in this thread!
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        • Profile picture of the author MarkR
          I'm interested in finding out how these mobile sites get traffic/ranked, and how I can demonstrate to my clients that these types of sites will bring in new customers to my clients. Does any real traffic data exist that shows that mobile sites bring in an increase of X% additional visitors over a standard site?

          My stats show very few mobile users trying to access them (I know that's because they are not optimized for that, I get that). Your insights would be helpful, as my clients always want to have a good feel for the probable ROI on an investment like this. I can show ranking results of my HTML/WP sites, keywords, traffic, etc. How would that work for these type of sites?
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    The whole problem with this is that the business doesn't want a special mobile site, and neither does the mobile user.

    What they both want is for the site they see on a PC to look and work exactly the same way on mobile devices.

    And we, as marketers, can't do squat about that. It's up to the mobile device manufacturers and developers.

    It sure is nice that I can fire up my phone's browser, come to the Warrior Forum, and browse the same exact site I can see on my PC. In time, I'll be able to do that on any site with any mobile device, and chances are that will happen well before business owners really care much about the issue.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    ok ok.. you're making me rethink this And heck, I did mention that google will give mobile specific sites a boost in serps if the user agent is mobile, which could be a BIG deal for some local businesses.
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  • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
    I haven't read all the posts in this thread (soz my bad) but thought I'd let you all know about this funky little plugin from ithemes...

    Mobile : PluginBuddy | WordPress Plugins (not an affiliate link)
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  • Profile picture of the author createyouwealth
    Originally Posted by gxd5 View Post

    Listen up! There is a huge opportunity to cash in RIGHT NOW in the offline market. If you are marketing to local businesses and would like to take advantage of a great opportunity, then you need to switch gears IMMEDIATELY and start marketing mobile sites to your client base.

    If you've been watching the news, you will know that there is a HUGE amount of hype surrounding two mobile devices right now: iPad and iPhone 4G. Against that, you see a tremendous amount of competition coming from Droid and Blackberry.

    The mobile revolution is HERE, and the time to cash in on it is NOW.

    Everyone agrees that mobile platforms are the future of internet consumption. The number of people accessing the internet via cell phone or table device is only going to increase. And businesses that do not target these mobile consumers are going to be digital dinosaurs.

    The problem is that most businesses (and most developers) think that CREATING mobile sites is difficult. What they don't realize is that, whereas before mobile development used to entail writing code and supporting numerous devices with numerous requirements, the growth of the market has led to widespread standardization among mobile browser platforms.

    You can now target all of the major platforms by simply writing your web pages in HTML, Javascript and CSS. What does that mean? In the simplest of terms, if your site looks nice in Safari, it will look nice on the newest versions of the iPhone, a Blackberry, and a Droid. If you can make a web site, you can make a cross platform mobile app.

    Understand that:

    - Every businesses is going to need a mobile site
    - Most of them don't have one (yet)
    - Most of them think making them is very difficult
    - Luckily for you, making a mobile site has never been easier
    - AND... thanks to iPad + iPhone, the buzz surrounding mobile is OFF THE CHARTS right now

    If you take all of those considerations together, what you get is a tremendous opportunity to cash in RIGHT NOW on selling mobile web sites.

    I have made over 10k in the past month doing mobile web projects. Not only are they easier to build than traditional web sites, they are easier to sell. Why are they easier to sell? One word - touch.

    Because of the touch based interfaces, the sites practically sell themselves. Demoing an iPhone or an iPad is EASY. Just HAND SOMEONE the device, and watch them sell themselves. You don't have to explain anything.

    They take it... they are nervous. They start to touch it, to interact with it. They push the buttons, they slide the screen around. The device responds. All of a sudden, they relax. They get it. The touch interface makes it intuitive. They understand. They are having fun. At that point, closing is easy. When you show someone their site on their phone, it's like you just made magic.

    By the way...

    I AM NOT SELLING ANYTHING.

    I'm just letting you know about a cool opportunity. There are businesses all around you right now that need this service. There are news stories everywhere telling them how many people are lining up for it. And there is probably zero competition at the moment. So, if you've been looking for something to bank on, this might be your chance.

    I've made over 10k in the last month or so just doing mobile development, and you can too. So go do it. I hope you find this information useful, and I hope that you go out there and make a boat load of cash. If you do, please send some good karma my way.
    thanks very much for the heads up. very good detailed info.
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  • Profile picture of the author ShaqirHussyin
    i'm using a system that taeaches me offline marketing at its finest,

    i think by leaning and implementing i shoukld be able to take my business up to the $100,000 month level by the end of the year.

    this is a real hidden spot my friends, get in cash in, and make bank!!!

    Shaqir
    p.s get on my webinars and start learning the most advanced cutting edge
    marketing training that exists on our planet TODAY!!!
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    • Profile picture of the author BrianNC
      Originally Posted by ShaqirHussyin View Post

      i'm using a system that teaches me offline marketing at its finest,

      i think by leaning and implementing i should be able to take my business up to the $100,000 month level by the end of the year.

      this is a real hidden spot my friends, get in cash in, and make bank!!!

      Shaqir
      p.s get on my webinars and start learning the most advanced cutting edge
      marketing training that exists on our planet TODAY!!!

      Where are your webinars?
      I saw a on this weekend with a fellow named Kevin Wilke who does all offline marketing. It was very eye opening.
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  • Profile picture of the author netgain1
    Awesome post. I couldn't agree more and why I have created a mobile community that allows members to expand their knowledge of the mobile world, interact with other mobile experts, download marketing materials and of course create mobile websites for businesses!

    Christopher
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  • Profile picture of the author sqnwk
    I agree, mobile sites and apps are the next big thing for offline business
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    • Profile picture of the author torres28
      Originally Posted by sqnwk View Post

      I agree, mobile sites and apps are the next big thing for offline business
      Yes, Yes, and Yes mobile is the future to almost everything we do in life. I mean just look at it, imagine if you forgot your cell phone at home running late for work. Would you go back home and get it? Most people would answer "YES" I would go and get it because I can't live without it and that's basically the whole truth!
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  • Profile picture of the author Nic Lynn
    I don't believe that the mobile dedicated site is ready for primetime quite yet. However, capturing customer/prospect cell phone numbers (for SMS) and getting them to "like" your fanpage (LOTS of people check facebook from their mobile phone), etc are ways to get a mobile boost. That is where I would (and do!) concentrate my mobile offline efforts.
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  • Profile picture of the author jsherloc
    I really see this as a location issue. Metro areas I would imagine would contain a much higher percentage of "early-adopters" to the mobile thing. There are people just now getting websites (some not even), and I'd think this is much more common in the more "rural" areas.

    Those of us offliners located in/around big cities will probably have a better success rate. Having said that, I totally agree with OP that mobile is HUGE. My guess would be 2-4 years it will be A LOT easier to "sell" to a wider array of businesses, even in the smaller areas.

    - Jim
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy James
    Same in the deep south, too. It would be good to get it established - so, when the market gets hot, we're already entrenched.
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    • Profile picture of the author buddy7
      I think the time is now. I couldn't post the graphic in the post so I attached it, and I just looked at Mobile Websites on Google Trends and it is up about 80% since May with news volume up about 3X in the same amount of time.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    I can just say that I know of some people trying to do the mobile marketing thing, and while there's no doubt its cool, the guys selling websites are outselling them, in fact not to many mobile sales success stories to speak of.

    However Im sure that will change.

    We will be the ones to change it because awareness only rises as we sell the services and the success stories come in.
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    • Profile picture of the author netkid
      @John Durham,
      Yes, we need to help our clients be early adopters in this marketing channel. I believe in marketing in multiple sales channels at the same time to give an overall increase in my client's revenues.

      I mentioned mobile marketing in my last three blog marketing seminars I hold here and they are all intriqued by it. We have to educate them on how large the potential market is. Also, what makes mobile marketing very attractive at the moment is contextural advertising in this medium is pennies on the dollar versus Adwords.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bayo
    Originally Posted by gxd5 View Post

    Listen up! There is a huge opportunity to cash in RIGHT NOW in the offline market.

    The mobile revolution is HERE, and the time to cash in on it is NOW.

    Understand that:

    - Every businesses is going to need a mobile site
    Interesting read and a good post, however, I don't believe that every business will actually need a mobile site.

    Whether or not a business will need one (or want one) will continue to be determined by a number of things including how they do business, what they offer, their target market demographics and other factors.

    Mobile marketing like video marketing will surely continue to grow but its that point that I think differently about.

    BAYO
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  • Profile picture of the author k60mall
    If you use word press there is a plug in that turns your site into a mobile compatible site.
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  • Profile picture of the author RealSocialSignals
    I agree, excellent information mate
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  • Profile picture of the author John Durham
    My Partner Jacer (Brandon Hartman) has had success with this, and says its his easiest upsell. If you can just walk in with a cellphone and show a business owner how bad their websites look on a phone, he says its not hard to get their biz. I havent had experience myself with it, but thats what I have heard. Makes sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author freudianslip27
    Yes, the physical impression that is made from walking in with a cell phone and showing how lousy their site looks is very powerful.

    Some people know they "should" be doing mobile things, while others will get a wakeup call from seeing this info. The trick is getting this stuff in front of the owners!

    Matt
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