Saturday, December 29, 2007, 10:04pm
Using Software to Promote Your Website
Most people tend to think of a website promoting a product, not a product promoting a website. However, when online advertising is at an all-time high and still on the rise, it’s a better time than ever to discuss the idea of a software title promoting a website. This is exactly what I did with AudioGizmo Ringtone Creator, a one-trick application that creates MP3 ringtones for mobile phones that support them.
In the Fall of 2005, there were very few inexpensive applications that created ringtones and uploaded them to a cell phone via a mobile web browser. Therefore, I felt the best way to break into the market was to create a product that was simple and easy to use, and that cost less than $10. I figured that most people interested in creating their own ringtones were younger and, in general, had less money. Generally the purchases were going to be made by Mom or Dad on behalf of their children, their thinking probably something like “instead of paying $1.99 per ringtone and facing the “please, please, please!” each time a new ringtone comes out, why not just buy them something they can use to create their own?”. Fortunately for me, this is exactly what happened.
I released v1.0 of Ringtone Creator a little before Christmas in 2005 and it sold for $5.99 a copy. Within a month, I had a little over 200 registered users, which is pretty good for spending literally nothing on advertising and using only Download.com for distribution. I soon realized, however, that the real money wasn’t in the software itself, but the website “portal” that promoted it. Therefore, v2.0 was released with a built-in, mini-browser (based on IE) that funneled users to a special promotional page on the AudioGizmo website. On this page I’d feature the latest ringtone news, ringtone creation tips and tricks, and of course, advertising by partners and for affiliate programs offering related products (such as a mobile phone data cable). Within weeks my income from AudioGizmo almost doubled, just by adding that one new feature and by offering related information directly through the application.
I guess my point here is that most of the time, good ideas are merely variations of existing ideas. Had I focused more on making the website promote the software, rather than the other way around, I doubt the entire project would have been as successful.
