Now that so many people are using mobile phones to decide where to eat, I wonder – how important is it for a restaurant to have a mobile-friendly menu?
So far, it seems pretty important, according to a LinkedIn poll conducted by mobiEnthusiast’s author, Holly Kolman. Have you voted yet? Read more »
My new hobby is collecting infographics about mobile marketing and mobile development. Today I heard an astonishing figure that 55% of Twitter users are visiting the 9th-ranked Alexa site using mobile devices. If you are posting links that don’t go to mobile pages, there’s a very good chance that you’ve wasted the time it took to post the link.
I’ll be talking more about Twitter and mobile in the future, but here’s an infographic from Marketo that might put mobile marketing and development into perspective. Hopefully my mobile plugin will squish it down for you – if not, let me know in the comments and I’ll make a compressed version of it.
Here you go: Read more »
As many of you know, I am very very picky about mobile sitebuilders. I get pitches to write about them all the time on mobienthusiast.mobi, and I have so far turned every one of them down because they are clunky and don’t work or make you use a subdomain or make you pay for the service every month without removing the company’s branding.
Yesterday I attended a webinar [edit: the webinar is over and now links to a product page with a how-to video from the webinar] hosted by my friends and mentors Jason Fladlien and Wilson Mattos. I know them personally, I have been coached by both of them and have paid a lot of money in travel fees and conference fees to see them speak because they are that good. Those of you who know me, know that I rarely attend conferences because I have small children at home and the investment had better be worth it for me to leave town.
The first half of the webinar is all about mobile and marketing and stats. The host, Jason Fladlien, gives slide after slide of marketing tips and techniques for why your clients should buy a true mobile site and not just one that has been modified for mobile with a WordPress plugin. I plan to use these strategies personally, as they make total sense to me.
The second part shows a mobile sitebuilder that has an emulator inside the WordPress dashboard, allows you to create icons on the fly without much editing, and has an interface that looks like the home page of an iPhone.
There will be a second webinar today at 12 noon Pacific Daylight time, and if you are interested in working with local businesses (or online businesses) without mobile sites, there are a lot of strategies here that you won’t want to miss. I would urge you to register for it even if it is the middle of the night in your part of the world, because they will email you a link to the replay.
I don’t remember everything I saw, but here are some of the things Jason touched on in the webinar and will likely cover again in the webinar today:
I am sure I am forgetting something, but the overwhelming feeling I got looking at this mobile sitebuilder is that it has what I need and what I have been wanting personally for a long time. Let’s face it, it is very difficult work to make a mobile site work on a phone, and when you add tablets like the iPad into the mix, it’s very easy to throw your hands up in frustration and say, “ok, it’s just going to look like this.” Well, as a professional web designer, you can’t afford to do that when your reputation is on the line.
Disclosure: I am an affiliate for the product because I believe in the team, their customer support, and their refund policy. I only post products with affiliate links here if I have personally tested them or if I know the developer and have experienced their customer support and refund policy to be valid.
If you see this post after the webinar, contact me and let me know.
My friends and mentors Jason Fladlien and Wilson Mattos make a lot of software for WordPress, and I’ve bought most of it. Not only that, they are world class sales pros, and really know how to put on a webinar.
Now they’ve created a product that uses WordPress to make simple mobile sites, and that could be just what you’re looking for as a mobile marketer, mobile developer, digital media agency or web developer.
Please join me for the mobile webinar and see for yourself if this would be a good way for you to add mobile marketing and mobile sites to your repertoire.
Bonus: mobile sites made with WordPress are a great small business alternative to pricey apps.
If you’re looking for coverage in a major online mobile marketing website, it greatly increases your chances if you first look at the site’s editorial calendar.
An editorial calendar is a roadmap of what articles have been assigned to be covered in a particular issue of a magazine website. If you have an app to promote, or a service, it’s best to try to match it up with an article that is already scheduled for publication.
Editorial calendars are usually published in December for the following year. Here’s the Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily editorial calendar.
If you search for more and are inclined to share, post them in the comments.
Good luck, and happy mobile marketing!
Woodbury, Connecticut is a small town in New England in the United States. It’s known as a weekend getaway and a great place to find antiques. Although Woodbury claims nostalgic charm, it’s newest addition, Woodbury.mobi is modern and high tech.
The site uses device detection, which means that if you visit the site from a computer it will look different than if you visit it from a smartphone. The desktop interface is crisp and simple, with attractive icons throughout. The business directory is sizeable and expanding, proving there is a local marketing audience for mobile-based geographical (geo) .mobi sites. The mobile version is attractive and easy to navigate, and resembles a well-designed iPhone app. (Note: mobile sites are also known as “web apps” now).
Woodbury.mobi comes right out and tells the readers a philosophy we’ve held at mobiEnthusiast.mobi for quite some time. Desktop sites are good for computers, but mobile sites are a must for handheld devices and smartphones:
Have you ever visited a website that was made for a PC or MAC on your mobile phone? Chances are you had to pinch and zoom to view the content or the information was completely jumbled up. Personally, we find that distracting when all you want to do is find information quickly and easily at first glance. What we’ve done here at woodbury.mobi is we’ve taken the information that is most important to our visitors and tailored the content to fit the size of your phone. The next time you’re travelling (not while you’re driving) or have your mobile phone handy, visit our website from your mobile phone’s web browser at www.woodbury.mobi
All in all, I would look to Woodbury.mobi as a benchmark for what a local mobile directory can offer. It is independently owned and not affiliated with any official government or municipal agency.
Thank you to Woodbury.mobi for participating in the mobiEnthusiast Japan Earthquake relief effort. A donation was made by the developer to the Americares Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund.
