- Why isn’t there a demo on your website? Instead, you’ve spent time explaining screenshots with dense text and a video of stick figures that has nothing to do with what your software looks like or the problem your software solves. If you want me to understand what your app does and how I’m supposed to use it, then let me just start USING it, immediately, without having to login or fill anything out.
- Why are you charging me $19 a month? Take a page out of Apple’s playbook and charge $0.99, ONE TIME, not monthly. For a web app. Not a mobile app. Take away every excuse I have to give you my credit card. After all, the marginal cost of selling that 1 extra item is damn near zero. And yes, you’re going to complain about how the ads you use to drive traffic to your site cost too much and you’re going to complain about credit card processing fees. But what do you get in return? An email address, a customer that may be like “why are they charging only a dollar”? Imagine what you can do with that?
- Why are you not standing outside talking to people on the street? Or better yet, outside the Apple store, talking to people who are already interested in well-designed software. Do you think everyone is like you and spends hours roaming the four corners of the internet? Do you think everyone over the age of 40 is on Facebook and Twitter?
- Why are you pitching your own app on-stage at Techcrunch Disrupt? Why not get a 10-year old kid to explain your app to everyone? I bet you he/she will do a 10x better job than you.
- Why are you doing all the marketing? Apple gave people a reason to talk about their products. Dropbox provided an incentive for current customers to talk about their app, which gave them extra value in the app (i.e., more space, for free).
None of these items has anything to do with your design, your development stack, or even what your app does. Find some other way to stand out in the consumer’s mind. Otherwise you’re just another social network.
