Today’s blog topic was to write about a good book that I have read recently. Whilst I could list endless fiction books that I’ve read, most people probably wont care for them and will lose interest! So below is the link to another blog post I made over the Xmas period about a great book aimed at giving you some advice and guidance should you decide that your business needs an App.

The Small Business Guide to Apps

It’s a book well worth buying as it gives you a great insight into what you can expect and need to think about, and if at the end of it an App isn’t what your business needs you’ve only wasted a small sum compared to the costs you would incur developing an App.

In a world which is becoming more and more dominated by smartphones and tablet PC’s many businesses are turning to Apps to enhance their brand image and also gain/retain more customers in the process.

There are many questions and problems which are associated with developing and creating an app, some of which you may not even have thought of. This new e-book written by David Howell and published by Brightword Publishing is aimed at arming you with more information about the process involved with creating an app. Be aware that this IS NOT a book that will tell you how to create an app.

The E-book is availble from the Brightword Publishing website for the very reasonable price of £5 (currently on offer at £4.25 as of 28/12/11) and covers several topics from the birth of Apps right through to how to price your app once it has been created. The book is 74 pages long and broken down into 8 chapters (below) and will take a couple of hours to read through. I found that it was better to split my reading time over a couple of sessions to enable me to take in all the information.

CHAPTERS

1. There’s an App for That
2. The Business of Apps
3. Mobile Payments and M-Commerce
4. How to Create and App for Your Business
5. Choosing Your Platform(s) and Building Your App
6. Building and App – Case Study
7. Marketing Your App
8. How to Price Your App

Each chapter gives you plenty of facts and information to enable you to decide whether your business really needs an App. There isn’t any ‘waffle’ to pad out the book, you can be sure that when you buy the book it is worth the money. If you decide that an App isn’t what your business needs right now, the £5 spent on the book is better than hundreds or thousands spent on developing a redundant app.

From my own point of view I never realised how much goes into creating an App and this book has been a real eye opener for me. The case studies in the book just go to show that if your business does need an app, it can benefit massively.

If after reading the book you decide that your business will benefit from an App there are lots of links within the text of websites/companies that will be able to help you. One thing that is crystal clear from this book is that, unless your App is very specialised or very niche, it is very difficult to make a lot of money from it when the development costs are taken into consideration. The developer of Angry Birds (Rovio) had made over 50 failed games before they struck gold.

In my opinion, if you are even remotely considering creating an App for your business this book is well worth the small investment and time taken to read it. You are left in no doubt about what is needed to create an App.

How your business can use apps to increase market share and retain customers

If you thought that the app market was just about games and big brands, think again. Businesses of every size in every sector have built their own apps and are reaping real commercial rewards.

Because of the relatively low cost of entering the app market, smaller enterprises can level the playing field, often outstripping their larger competitors simply because they have developed and marketed an app that delivers a service that their consumers are looking for.

This book isn’t about how apps can help small businesses run their business more efficiently, or an in-depth tutorial about how to create an app for their enterprise.

Instead, it provides a unique introduction and overview of the possibilities for any small or growing business. It’s a focused guide about the business of apps for those whose time is money.

Connecting with customers over their mobile phones and tablets allows a more intimate and ultimately more lucrative link between businesses and consumers to be established.

With this latest book in the popular Business Bites series, small business owners can help their companies take the first steps into an exciting and growing marketplace!

This book is available from Brightword Publishing with an RRP of just £5.00. There will be a review of this new title being post here on this blog soon. Subscribe to the RSS feed to be kept up to date when it is published.

Small Business Guide to Apps