Who Are You Going to Tell About Your Android Application?
The answer to that question is obvious: everyone. Technically, when you put something on the Android Market, you have told everyone. However, the chance of everyone hearing about your application is pretty small, unless it is earth-shattering front-page news. Even if your application really is the most innovative thing to hit the Android Market, this big news can easily be ignored. It helps to have unique words in the application’s name and description, as that will target a specific group.
The truth is, we live in a world where headlines change daily and news web sites change faster than that, and there really isn’t a pattern as to what is the biggest story. I still can’t figure out why we talk about Charlie Sheen, Paris Hilton, or Kim Kardashian. As I said before, word of mouth is a fickle thing. You can try to put out an application that covers current trends, but there is no guarantee that the fad will still be there by the time the application is done.
So, as you write your application, you should be thinking about people in the media that you will want to inform when it is complete. Not only that, but you’ll also want to figure out how you are going to tell them. You will want a press release, which I’ll cover in Chapter 8 when I discuss your “prerelease buzz.”
For now, you should find media outlets such as blogs, journals, and others that would be interested in reporting on an application like yours.
Blogs
Web logging, or blogging, has really grown into a phenomenon in the last decade. It is interesting to see how journalism continues to change thanks to the blogosphere. The digital format of the Internet makes everyone a writer, and with no waiting on the printing press, news is made as quickly as one can write it. Practically everyone who owns a computer has a blog, and there are several that are backed by big media companies who hire out bloggers for paid work.
There are many blogs whose sole purpose in life is reporting on any advancement in tech. As a professional tech blogger, I have reported for a few of them, and I can say that tech blogs are some of the best ways to get the word out on any technological product, including an Android application.
You can run a search on tech and gadget blogs in any search engine, and you will have quite a list. The ones I read daily are some of the bigger ones, such as Gizmodo.com, Engadget.com, and Crave (owned by Cnet.com). These have followings in the millions, where other tech and gadget blogs are in the hundreds of thousands at best.
Tech and gadget writers are always looking for a scoop. I know that it is a lot easier for me to write about something that has been given to me by someone else. This way, the story becomes a report on my experience, and not just a rephrasing of information on a press release. For best results, you will want to send a reviewer a complimentary copy of the application so that he or she can experience it fully.
You should keep in mind that tech is an ever-changing landscape, and there is always something to report on. Sometimes a big tech story (a new Apple product, a new version of Windows) can eclipse other technological news. You should try to get a contact on your tech blog, but don’t be surprised if he or she reads you the “I’m too busy act” at first.
When you go to any of these tech blogs, they will usually have a link for contact information (see Figure 4-3). In some cases, they have some place for leaks. You should be able to contact someone at the blog and get your story about your application known. You should probably start a list of the blogs that you will want to contact when your application is ready.
Figure 4-3. From the Droid Gamers web site. Note that the Contact link in the Other Info section. This is how a lot of blogs can be contacted.
Keep in mind that a lot of these tech and gadget blogs have a particular focus on what kind of tech they report about. This Droid Gamers screenshot in Figure 4-3 makes it very obvious about what types of applications it reports on. You don’t want to be sending them any Android application that isn’t a game of some type, as it will be ignored.
Let me give you another example: I used to write for a blog known as image-acquire.com, which specialized in digital cameras, scanners, and photography. If someone were to send me an idea for a story about an application, I would not write about it unless the camera or camcorder on the Android device was somehow related to the application’s functionality.
Therefore, you should check out the tech and gadget site that you will want to submit to, to make certain that it has covered Android applications in the past.
I ran a search on “Android app blogs” and found some blogs that specialize in Android applications. These are probably not the only ones, as I am sure that others have sprung up while this book was being printed. These would be a good place to start for spreading the word about your application:
- Android and Me (
http://androidandme.com/): This is an Android blog devoted to news, devices, and applications. - Android Edge (
http://androidedge.com/): This is a blog devoted to “all things Android,” which includes news, applications, devices, and games. - Android Guys (
www.androidguys.com/): This is an Android web site devoted to many topics, including conferences/events, hot rumors, news, reviews, and discovering apps. - Android Tapp (
www.androidtapp.com/category/apps-blog/): This is a blog with a rating system from 0 to 5, and it would be excellent if your application made the top of the list. - Androinica (
http://androinica.com/):It is, in its own words, “A Google Android blog,” and it reviews apps and covers related news. - Droid Gamers (
http://droidgamers.com/): This site is pretty much what the name implies. Its business card states that it is “the only site dedicated to Android games and gaming.” I’m not certain whether that has changed, but if you have a gaming application, then I would highly suggest contacting them. - Droid Life (
www.droid-life.com/): This is a Droid community blog; it reports on general news, reviews phones, and features applications. - Phandroid (
http://phandroid.com/): Here is another blog for Android phone fans, and it includes daily posts about applications and other Android-related news. - Planet Android (
www.planetandroid.com/): This is an interesting blog that is devoted to devices, news, and developers of Android.
Printed Journals
Whoever said that print is dead was quite premature, considering the amount of newspapers and magazines that are still in print. We are a long way from an all-digital media society, and you should take note of the local and national printed journals that cover stories about digital technology.
I live in a small town myself, and if I was in need of some press for my application, I would find out if the town paper had some sort of tech section or even one on applications. I would then check the masthead to see who the editor of the tech section is. If it is not listed, then I would make a call to the editor and see if he or she would be interested in doing a report on the latest application for Android . . . mine!
The same rule applies for going to papers or magazines with a much larger circulation. However, you don’t want to be limited to talking to the guy in charge of the tech section. For example, if you have an application that is made for the stock market, don’t you think the editor of the Investment section of a newspaper would be interested in this? As long as it is useful, the answer is yes, by the way. You should check the Sunday or weekend versions of national newspapers to see what sections your applications could apply to. You should also do the same for any magazines that might be interested in an application like yours.
Social Networking
Where would we be without social networking? Probably with a lot more free time, but a little less connected. I’m pretty certain that I would have fewer “friends,” but the very word itself has changed meaning. I can’t think of any other place but Facebook where I can see pictures of my friends’ vacations, whether I want to or not. It seems like everyone and their dog leaves 140-character comments on Twitter, so it would be wise to develop a group for your social presence.
I am just going to assume that you are on Facebook. However, if you are one of those that have never bothered to start social networking, this would be an excellent time to start. Go ahead and get started on www.facebook.com/.
You should take time to set up a group on Facebook that is all about your application or the company that makes your application.
For Facebook, it isn’t difficult:
- Log into your Facebook account. Simply go into the program, and in the left sidebar click Create Group (Figure 4-4).
- Select a name for your group, definitely something that matches the name of your application.
- Select an icon for your group.
- In the Members section, select the friends you want to add to the group.
- When you get to the Privacy section, you should select Open. You should probably allow anyone to see what is on the group, who is in it, and what members post. Closed groups allow only members to see the posts and what members post.
Figure 4-4. Creating a group on Facebook
You can also build your own Facebook page just by going to www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. Once you log in, you should see a screen like in Figure 4-5.
Figure 4-5. How to create your own page on Facebook
You can choose from any category provided here, but you have to choose a category and name. You will see a window appear that looks like Figure 4-6.
Figure 4-6. When you select a box on the Create a Page screen, you will see something like this, unless you select Local Business.
I selected Brand or Product, but the closest thing to a category for an application that I could find was Software. From there, there are three more steps:
6. Profile Photo: I suppose that you could use an image of your or company, but perhaps you have some promotional image, icon, or screenshot that you can use. You have the option of skipping this section for now by clicking the Skip button. See Figure 4-7.
Figure 4-7. Step 1 of creating a Facebook page for your application and/or business
7. Get Fans: From here, you can set up friends from the get-go to be fans of your new Facebook page. You can also share your page and import your contact list, and send your contacts a message. You can share this page on your wall, and even “Like” your page. See Figure 4-8.
Figure 4-8. Step 2 of creating a Facebook page for your application and/or business
8. Basic Info. On this screen (see Figure 4-9), you can include the URL for your web site and some information about your page (in 255 characters or less).
Figure 4-9. Step 3 of creating a Facebook page for your application and/or business
As for Twitter, it is quite simple to develop a new identity there. Once again, I am going to assume that you already have a Twitter account, but if you don’t, you shouldn’t feel too out of the loop. Go ahead and go to http://twitter.com/.
Twitter is all about “tweeting”—posting about what you are doing right now in 140 characters or less. You should probably have a username that is similar to the name of your application or your development company, so you should set up an account for it with that name. From there, you can start posting about the progress of your application.
Other Social Networks
I’ll talk more about spreading the word on a social network in Chapter 8, but you should probably consider other social networks as well. There are social networks for all kinds of interests. One of them is LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social network.
LinkedIn is a place where you can post your resume, and a terrific place to make business contacts. As a professional blogger, I have found that practically every PR person, company representative, and developer is on LinkedIn. If you haven’t done so already, you need to get as many people as you can on your LinkedIn profile.