How 26 Top Enterpreneurs Can Help Your App Business
Recently, I got some feedback about one of my weekly ‘Express’ newsletters:
“Hi Elaine, I’m feeling so inspired by your post (thank you!) that I feel I NEED to take action…..now. I’ve sat on my behind for so long, watching many opportunities go by and thinking about it just makes me sick. I’m feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed.”
I’ve learned a TON from experts I really admire who run amazing online businesses.I’ve collected all their advice together in this blog so you can learn how these 26 Top Entrepreneurs have helped my app business, and can help your startup as well.
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2. A Word From Elaine
Recently, I got some feedback about one of my weekly ‘Express’ newsletters:
“Hi Elaine, I’m feeling so inspired by your post that I feel I NEED to take
action…now! I’ve sat on my behind for so long, watching many opportunities
go by and thinking about it just makes me sick. I’m feeling a bit lost and
overwhelmed.”
I’ve learned a TON from experts I really admire who run amazing online
businesses. I’ve collected all their advice together in this blog so you can learn
how these 26 Top Entrepreneurs have helped my app business, and can help
your startup as well. So without further ado, here are 26 great tips to help
you drive growth in your business.
4. Laura Roeder
How many people say they start publishing apps because they feel they are
not ready yet? Maybe they think they need more time, more information, or
a better opportunity? People can hold off taking the next big step because
they believe they are not ready. Laura Roeder disagrees:
“Here’s what I have to say about being “ready” – it’s a big fat lie! This
“readiness” that you’ve created for yourself is a losing game with no end in
sight. You’ll never be “ready” because it’s a label you yourself have invented.
The faster you can train yourself to get into action without being “ready,” the
more success you’ll have in your business.”
6. Derek Halpern
I do see emails about people feeling paralyzed at the start – not
knowing what path to take and afraid of making mistakes. Derek
Halpern, legendary superstar and CEO of Social Triggers offers some
practical advice in this video. “Break down your goal into something
that is manageable and start immediately.”
8. David Risley
“The very notion of being strategic with your content means you must
PLAN. If you’re not operating by a plan, then it isn’t strategic.”
I’ve started to plan my work more, month by month and also in 3
month blocks. I’ve found it really useful to know where my business
is going, rather than being blown along by the wind in different
directions each day. Setting some time aside once a week to
breakdown your weekly tasks can be a very productive venture.
10. Jay Baer
Make a great app that looks terrible is a sure fire way to shoot
yourself in the foot. People are drawn to beautiful things, and in
the app store, there are a lot of beautifully designed apps. Your
app can work really well, but it should look a million dollars as well.
“Another highlight of the event was Expion’s unveiling of their spiffy new
user interface, which they hilariously (and honestly) described as: allowing
our customers to marry James Bond, instead of being stuck with Bill Gates.”
12. Pat Flynn
Pat Flynn of Smartpassiveincome recently posted “24 Questions
That Will Challenge You and Your Brand”. Question #1 was: “What
disease does your website or brand cure?”
It’s a perfect question to ask about your new app or game as well.
How will your app help people? What issue will it solve, or what
benefit will it add to their life? Will it make them smile or feel
good, be useful or teach them something? Do you know what
problems your target customers have?
14. Chris Brogan
Chris Brogan talks about how important it is to analyse your
traffic, where there are coming from, and what they are clicking on.
“The two numerical metrics are number of subscribers and amount
of revenue per active subscriber. That’s it.”
Number of downloads and ARPAU (average revenue per active use)
are two really important numbers to start tracking in your app
business as well. Chris asks: “What stats do you follow for your
business? How much of what you run is numerical? What do you do
to tweak those numbers?”
16. Denise Wakeman
Social Media was one of my biggest black holes in terms of
consuming time I should have been spending on my business. Even
for people who use social media for their business, Denise Wakeman
advises to spend 30 mins – and no more than 1 hour – on social
media per day.
18. Lewis Howes
I love sleep. Honestly. And as CEO of a fairly fast growing startup I
can definitely say that getting enough sleep has definitely been an
issue at times for me. It’s crazy though – I thought I will not do
my best work when I’m tired. Lewis Howes, a former professional
football player, two sport All-American and world record holding
athlete also agrees with me.
“Sleep might be the most important aspect of building a great business, and
having a high performing body. It is also, one of the most overlooked aspects
considering the focus on diet and working out.”
20. Kristi Hines
Kristi of kikolani.com underlines the importance of getting the most
value from any courses, downloads, books or webinars that you buy
or listen to.
“You want to get the most out of your ebooks and courses, otherwise it’s like
chucking money in the garbage on a regular basis. And who wants to do that!”
22. Ramit Sethi
Ramit Sethi wrote a wonderful post recently about how people
complain they can’t reach their goals, but at the same time do not
have any noticeable effort to achieve want they want. I see this in
the app business as well. The people who are disheartened are
usually the ones who are putting in the least effort.
“I know dozens of people who claimed they wanted to go to elite universities like
Harvard or Stanford, but when the time came, they didn’t apply, saying, “I
could never get in.” Guess what? They’re right. And because they didn’t even
apply, they didn’t deserve to get in!”
24. Andrew Warner
When Andrew Warner graduated college he needed some money to
start his first company. He was looking at J Crew catalogs and
realised if he hadn’t spent so much money on clothes he would have
had the cash to start his business. But he didn’t let that stop
him. Read on…
25. Andrew Warner
“One time, when I looked at a J Crew catalog, I noticed their return policy on the
back cover of their catalog. It boasted that their refund policy didn’t have an
expiration. Out of curiosity, I called up their customer service number and asked,
“would you give me a refund for clothes that I WORE.”
The customer service woman said, “Yes. That’s our policy.”
It seemed too good to be true, so I wanted to make sure. “I bought clothes from you
throughout college. I wore them. They’re used. Are you telling me I can return them
to you and get a refund check in the mail?”
26. Andrew Warner
She said, “Yes. That’s our policy.”
So I boxed up my clothes and sent them back. Within a few weeks, I got a check. I
considered it my grubstake and used it to launch my business. There’s always a way.
I would never have come up with that idea, if I hadn’t spent years reading about the
resourcefulness of other entrepreneurs. I’m telling you about my experience because I
hope it’ll spark some creative idea in you. There’s always a way.”
28. Tim Ferriss
No one has to be constrained by what other people believe is
normal or is possible / not possible. I don’t think many people
believed that I could quit my job & starts successful app business.
Hell, I didn’t really believe it, but that didn’t stop me from trying.
29. Jeff Walker
Why not building a team could be the biggest mistake
you can make.
30. Jeff Walker
This is a great video. I knew I needed to do this as well but I also
had a block… for me I was just too busy (sounds daft right?). I
now have a strong & growing team and it has definitely helped me
to grow my app business. You can check out the full video here.
32. Dane Maxwell
One thing I’ve learned making apps is while you can do your best to
make a great app that people want, sometimes the result you are
hoping for doesn’t happen. There’s not a lot you can do. Dane
Maxwell gives this advice.
“You let it happen, you roll with it, you understand that it’s uncertain
that shit happens and you adjust along the way.”
34. Chris Ducker
I hired a VA a few months ago and they have been a tremendous
help to my app business. In his podcast Chris Ducker goes though
the following useful info for your business.
35. Chris Ducker
How to avoid the biggest mistakes when starting with outsourcing.
What Superhero Syndrome is and how it’s hurting your business.
The different types of outsourcing, and when to choose which.
The 6 main types of VAs and what they can do for you.
3 lists that can help you figure out what kind of VA you need.
How to know when it’s time to hire your first VA.
The easiest way to lose a good VA.
37. Vishen Lakhiani
“While it’s great to be ambitious and bold, it’s also dysfunctional to
postpone your happiness.”
Vishen explains how to instantly double your happiness in the
following video.
39. Nathalie Lussier
Nathalie Lassier tells it like it is here. This is a place where I think
a lot of appreneurs go wrong.
“Why did you start a business? It likely wasn’t to spend your days feeling
busy and stressed out… But it’s really easy for us to fall into the busy trap.
Being busy is seductive, it makes us feel like we’re doing stuff and moving in
the right direction.”
41. Ramsay Taplin
In his post “8 Curious Reasons to Start an Online Business and
Work From Home” Ramsay Taplin underlines how little money you
needto start an online businesses.
“If you’ve ever been to an economics class you’ll hear a lot about barriers to
entry. They present serious problems for many industries and even entire
countries. Think about all the things you have to do if you want to start a
physical business like a factory: get capital investment, purchase machines and
vehicles, hire staff, get insurance… the list goes on. Online businesses, on the
other hand, have relatively low barriers to entry.”
43. Glen Allsopp
Trying to figure out what theme will make you the most money in
the app store is something that people spend a lot of time trying
to figure out.
I’ve made educated guesses along the way, but the most effective
way I’ve tried it to bit the bullet, and actually publish a small app
with the theme I’l interested in. If it goes well, I’ll do another. If
it doesn’t work, I’ll forget it and move on. Glen Allsopp of
Viperchill recommends a similar strategy to his readers.
44. Glen Allsopp
“I recommend that you try a little bit of everything (including
podcasting, article marketing, posting on forums, etc) and then
hone in on the ones that are getting you more of the type of visitor
that you want.”
46. Cody McKibben
“A location-independent professional—or a digital nomad—is someone who
leverages technology to work wherever they want—be it from home, your
favorite coffee shop, on the beach, or even from the other side of the world!”
Cody McKibben is the founder of thrillingheroics.com and he encourages
people to create their own jobs so they can work from anywhere in
the world. Apps are a perfect choice to do this, as literally all you
need is your laptop, your phone and maybe a iPad. I’m going to test
this out as I’m leaving for Bali at 7am next Monday for 4 weeks of
working abroad.
48. Cody McKibben
I saw this and HAD to include it. Cody has set up a bucket list,
published it online and held himself accountable to complete each action
on it. I would challenge everyone who reads this blog to write the first
10 items on their bucket list at the end of this post.
50. Chris Guillebeau
I’ve just signed up to attend WDS next year in Portland. Why? It
looks like a pretty unique event to meet more people who think like I
do. One of the best ways to grow my app business, and most
rewarding areas of my business, are the great friends I meet through
it. And who doesn’t need more friends right?
52. Marianne Cantwell
“It was early in my free range life when I met this man. It was at some event (I can’t
quite remember what) and the sandy haired man in the blue shirt happened to be next to
me, so I asked the usual “so what are you working on?” question, and smiled. He shook
his head and said “oh I’m working on a new idea that’s really exciting but I can’t tell you
about it.”
“Later, while going along the Euston Road in London I noticed some words on the side of
the British Library: “An original idea. That can’t be too hard. The library must be full of
them” (Stephen Fry).
Since then I’ve come to realize why good ol’ Stephen was right (and why people like the
guy in the blue shirt are rarely the success stories you read about).”
54. Neil Patel
Neil Patel already knows why mobile is such a big deal.
“Did you know that 58% of people who own smartphones have used them for
store-related shopping? It’s no surprise that ecommerce and brick-and-mortar
companies are all working hard to bring mobile shopping options to their
customers.
The real question is: are you leveraging mobile technology?”
56. Income Diary
Income diary put together 21 life lessons from Steve Jobs here. Here are
2 I like.
“Steve started life out on the wrong foot. He was given up for adoption at birth.
Tough break? Young Jobs didn’t think so: he was thankful for his loving
adoptive parents — who happened to live in Palo Alto, California (which would
eventually become Silicon Valley).”
“Obstacles are meant to be Overcome. Jobs and Wozniak ran out of money while
developing the first Apple computer. Instead of giving in, Jobs sold his van and
Wozniak sold his graphing calculator. When there’s a will, there’s a way.”
58. James Altucher
In this amazing post James Altucher proves a ton of great advice on
how to start and run your business. Here is one of my favourites.
What is the sign of a professional?
• Cutting costs every day.
• Selling every day, every minute.
• When you have a billion in revenues, staying focused. When you have zero
revenues, staying unfocused and coming up with new ideas every day.