AndroLib Gets A Makeover, Estimates Over 1 Billion Android Apps Downloaded So Far

AndroLib , the website that enables you to browse and discover apps for your Android phone far better than the Android Market site does, has gotten a makeover and a bunch of new features today. Sure, it’s still not going to win any web design contests any time soon, but the revamp makes the site a ton more useful as far as I’m concerned. AndroLib has also updated and expanded its statistics page, pegging the number of available Android apps at around 85,000 in total , and estimating that a whopping 1 billion apps have been downloaded to Android handsets around the world to date. Granted, Google is probably the only company that can really put the right number on the number of apps downloaded so far, but AndroLib lead developer Nicolas Sorel tells me his method of calculating the estimated total is based on a lot of data and complex algorithms that are capable of adjusting the number (which is updated in real time on the top of the AndroLib website) in near real-time. Sorel acknowledges that there’s always an error margin with these methods of extrapolation, but says his estimates shouldn’t be too far off – his own Android app was downloaded 3,321,826 to date, while his system estimated approximately 3,270,000 downloads. Anyway, the new version of AndroLib comes with advanced search, enabling you to find Android apps by keywords, category, pricing, minimum rating and estimated number of downloads. Now, when you’re looking at apps on the website, you can see which other apps you might like based on your apparent interests. Also new is a scoreboard , enabling you to filter your search based on these criteria: Most Rated Apps, Most Rated Developers, Top Developer Ratings and Top Developer Downloads. There’s now also a video section on the site. Finally, Android developers will shortly be given the opportunity to customize their application pages and company page, as well as access advanced statistics tailored to their needs. CrunchBase Information Android Information provided by CrunchBase

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AndroLib Gets A Makeover, Estimates Over 1 Billion Android Apps Downloaded So Far

Article Marketing + Submission for SEO | Whiteboard Friday

Posted by great scott! Content, content, content…everybody wants it, everybody needs it, and you’re great at creating it, but maybe nobody’s reading it. Since that brainy brain of yours is already pumping this stuff out, how can you leverage your great content to get some quick and easy links? “How ’bout this for a story: ‘Man with giant baby head considers gubernatorial bid’?” There are all kinds of ways to distribute your content: article submission sites, one-off submissions, self-publication…on and on.

Can You Live A Year On Virtual Currency? Dibspace’s Founder Will Find Out

Can you live on virtual currency? The founder of Dibspace , Dominic Canterbury, says yes. Canterbury is trying to prove that he can live his life (from rent, to food, to the clothes on his back) with just virtual currency for an entire year. This is of course a huge publicity ploy for his online marketplace but it got my attention. “It’s a way for me to push the site to a new level and to dramatize how this economy all fits together,” says Canterbury. Dibspace.com calls itself an “Overstock.com” for local services that trades in (yes, you guessed it) “Dibits.” One Dibit is worth one dollar but you can never cash out for real dollars. Businesses, like a local inn or a yoga studio, who have excess availability/products can post their wares/services on Dibspace . Interested consumers call “Dibs,” and then the vendor selects a consumer and invoices when the service/product has been rendered. There are multiple advantages from the small business perspective: vendors can use their credit for services from other businesses (like catering, web design) and it’s another way to bring in new clients. “With cash and clients in short supply, many are finding this new barter currency just might save them and their businesses from becoming another casualty of the economy,” says Canterbury. Meanwhile, private consumers can also post goods and services and receive Dibits for those transactions. You get 10 Dibits when you open an account, 10 Dibits for referring friends (30 if you refer a business), and 10 Dibits for posting an offer (up to 5), there is also an option to buy credits at different points throughout the year. The site is still relatively small, with just 4,000 users, but there should be enough on Dibspace for Canterbury’s venture. There are 1,500 offers on the site and roughly half-a-million dollars in goods and services have been traded (currently, the site is focused in the Puget Sound/Seattle area). Canterbury will embark on his virtual currency journey in 42 days. In the meantime, he’s preparing for the campaign by recruiting new businesses that will make it all possible. For example, he says he’s very close to getting developers on board that will let users pay for rent with Dibits. CrunchBase Information Dibspace Information provided by CrunchBase

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Can You Live A Year On Virtual Currency? Dibspace’s Founder Will Find Out

8 Secrets of Success Within SEO

Posted by chenry How does a person become successfully in the world of SEO?

How To Start A Web Business And Survive

An SEOBook reader, Josephbm91 , outlined a problem many of us have faced: when you’re starting out, it’s easy for clients to walk all over you. So let’s take a look at strategies for those starting out, be it in SEO, web design, or other small, web-based businesses. Those of you who have established web businesses, it would be great if you could share your experiences and strategies in the comments Making The Start How do you make the start? You’ve got a computer, an internet connection, and a few ideas. How do you get from that point to a thriving business, when you have no customer base, no money and no experience? Yeah, it’s hard. But you’ll literally work through it Society Is Testing You To See If You’re Serious Ask anyone in business, sports, music or any other competitive human endeavor how they got recognized in their given field. They’ll most likely tell you it didn’t happen overnight. Whilst talent, luck and having the right connections play a part, the one trait common to those who succeed is persistent hard work. In Outliers , a book about how people achieve extraordinary things, Malcolm Gladwell found that to achieve mastery in anything – be it golf, webdesign, programming, music, fashion – takes roughly the same amount of time: 10,000 hours. Thankfully, we don’t need to be masters at running a small business before we start one, else no one would ever do so. But the underlying idea is sound – persistent hard work is the key to success. Being persistent sends a message to those around you, including potential customers, that you’re serious about what your doing. If they see you often enough, doing the thing you say you do, then you’ll eventually be recognized for it. So if you feel you need to prove yourself, you’re right. Society actually demands you do. What Is Worth Getting Serious About? Many people start businesses because they enjoying doing something. Someone who plays sport may have the desire to be paid a good living wage for playing the game she loves. Someone is good at art, so he wants to be a designer. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this approach – having a genuine passion for something will help you get through the rough times – I’m sure you can spot the potential problem. There might be a LOT of people who have a passion for the same thing. The more people who want to do something, the more effort you need to put in in order to stand out. In terms of sport, it’s relatively straighforward. The sprinter with the fastest times gets recognized and progresses. Those sprinters with slower times either get better, or go find something else to do. In business, its a little more complicated, but the principle remains the same. You need to stand out. Supply And Demand Think carefully about supply and demand. Ask yourself: is there sufficient demand for what I want to do? Let’s say you want to do web design. Is there demand? Why, yes, the demand for web design services is almost infinite. New companies start every minute, and most of them will need a web presence. Established companies who already have a web presence change their design from time to time, thus creating even more demand. All good. Now let’s look at the supply side. How many people want to be web designers. The answer is: quite a few. In fact, it would appear that web design demand is more than met by the supply of web designers. What happens in such situations is there is a downward pressure on prices, because those who create demand have a lot of supply to choose from. The world is oversupplied with web designers. At least, it’s oversupplied by people who call themselves web designers. There’s a difference, of course, between someone who owns the tools of production and those who use those tools well to solve business problems. Owning a camera does not make someone a commercial photographer. Likewise, those with the most artistic design skills may make lousy web designers if they aren’t focused on business aspects. Recognizing the reality of the situation might may you reconsider your choice of career, and opt for an area where there is heavy demand and short supply instead. Another way to face this problem is to differentiate. Can you do something better than other designers? You may be highly skilled in contemporary graphic design, in which case you may choose to place strong emphasis on displaying your portfolio, and target the type of clients who appreciate – and will pay for – this expertise. You may have, or can acquire, detailed market knowledge in one particular niche – i.e. travel sites, real estate sites, etc. Clients, generally speaking, are a lot more comfortable with providers who understand their area of business. You have an advantage if you can speak their language, rather than just the self-absorbed language of design forums. Can you focus on a geographic area? i.e. the immediate area where you live. Sometimes, people want to deal with someone local. What is the thing you can do for which there is a market? If there are too many competitors in that market, then slice that market up until you can find a niche. Aim to be top of that niche. Then put in persistent effort working that niche in order to build reputation. Chris Pearson gave away a number of popular free Wordpress themes on his site, created designs for popular sites (including Copyblogger & SEO Book), and then created the Thesis theme for web developers , which has since done 7 figures in sales volume. Yes Wordpress themes have become commoditized, but due to his strong marketing and continual increase in product value he was able to differentiate & build a solid business model. In his own words on starting out, Chris wrote : Before I launched Thesis, I created a few free WordPress themes that became extremely popular. Although these themes defined the early stages of my career, they are really nothing more than visible markers of a learning process that continues today with Thesis. Establishing Yourself Once you’ve decided on an angle, you then need to establish yourself. Society wants to see how serious you are. It is very difficult to market a business without some form of track record. But every business needs to start somewhere, and they don’t start with a track record. So, the most important task for someone starting out – in any occupation – is to get one. One way to get a track record is to treat your first few jobs as a marketing cost. This is the cost of establishing a reputation, and if you make any money at all from these first few jobs, it’s a bonus. The aim is to get referrals and a portfolio of work. Approach charities or small local business who need a web presence and offer your services for a deeply discounted rate, or for free. It’s a win-win for both parties, because they may not be able to afford web design, and you need their testimonials and experience. Be sure to make it clear that the job is being done at a discounted rate, and let them know what your usual rate it. This way, they’ll perceive value, and won’t be in for a shock when you ramp your prices up for any future work. Focus on building a positive relationship with these clients. If they are happy with your work, they may well refer you to others. Once you have a track record, the risk to a future customer of hiring you is diminished. You become a known quantity, which puts you above the wanna-bes. Is this working for free? Some might consider it that way, but it could also be seen as just another marketing expense, like advertising. Many businesses, including big, established businesses, give away products and services – in the form of loss leaders – in order to help get their foot in the door. People who train for careers pay to learn, whilst as a freelancer, you can potentially learn on the job for free. Clients can teach you a lot about your own business , especially where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Pricing It’s important not to stay cheap or free, however. Some think the easiest way to get business is to undercut competitors on price. This can be a self defeating strategy, especially for the sole operator, for a number of reasons: You get cheap clients – people who seek the lowest price probably aren’t placing much value on what you do. These type of clients, ironically, can also be the most demanding. They want the most for the least, and will often push you on the amount of work you deliver. Someone else can always undercut you . There will always be a competitor who has a cost base lower than you do. From there, you’re locked in a no-win race to the bottom. If it looks cheap, it is cheap . It’s human nature not to value something that is cheap, and place a lot of value on something that is expensive. In the book How We Decide , by Jonah Lehrer, the author describes an experiment conducted with wine. Participants were told one bottle was cheap and one was expensive. The expensive bottle got rave reviews from tasters, and the cheap one – not so good. However, the labels were switched. The expensive wine was actually the cheap wine. Perception counts for a lot. So if your angle is cheap, make sure your margins are still high enough to sustain you. Only you know how much you need to survive at any given time. Alternatively, target ruthlessly, either by offering a superior, needed product, more niche know-how, or find some other angle where there is untapped demand. Be prepared to prove your worth by providing case studies describing how you’ve solved people’s business problems in the past. Got any other tips for those starting out? It would be great if you can share what you know

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How To Start A Web Business And Survive