This is the final chapter of the book… Well AT LAST eheh but getting real overall was fun to read.. Because we really could apply (and I did actually applied) the principles it has imparted to its readers… Well some final tips discussed were…

Execution

Everyone can read a book. Everyone can come up with an idea. Everyone has a cousin that’s a web designer. Everyone can write a blog. Everyone can hire someone to hack together some code.

The difference between you and everyone else will be how well you execute. Success is all about great execution.

For me, there would be about 300 – 1000 people who would be able to read this book but no matter what and how the book taught or shared to us the principles… These people who have read it would have different ways of executing the things they have learned from it.. Those who did great in executing it are the one the greatly enjoyed success the most.

People

It’s worth reemphasizing the one thing that we think is the most important ingredient when it comes to building a successful web app: the people involved. Mantras, epicenter design, less software, and all these other wonderful ideas won’t really matter if you don’t have the right people on board to implement them.

Like what our professor told us, HE WANTS STUDENTS WHO ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT our subject and in our activities and doesn’t care if you’re good at it. HE wants to see passion…

REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS COURSE:

1. I want to see passion for learning, and
2. Google everything I say.

That is what he said.. And this is what the book said:

You need people who are passionate about what they do. People who care about their craft — and actually think of it as a craft. People who take pride in their work, regardless of the monetary reward involved. People who sweat the details even if 95% of folks don’t know the difference. People who want to build something great and won’t settle for less. People who need people. OK, not really that last one but we couldn’t resist throwing a little Streisand into the mix. Anyhow, when you find those people, hold onto them. In the end, the folks on your team will make or break your project — and your company.

What a company needs are THE RIGHT PEOPLE for the job and not the people who thinks that they are right for the job.

More Than Just Software

It’s also worth noting that the concept of Getting Real doesn’t apply just to building a web app. Once you start grasping the ideas involved, you’ll see them all over the place. Sure, Getting Real is about building great software. But there’s no reason why it needs to stop there. Take these ideas and try applying them to different aspects of your life. You might just stumble upon some neat results.

Honestly, in building some of my stuff in our ISEBIZ class I always remember the things that I have read in this book I don’t know why.. I don’t even think of it but whenever I would be doing stuff, those principles that I have learned would just normally cross my mind then I would remember it so eventually I applied it in some of my works.. GOOD THING!

One Month Tuneup

For me, what does Tuneup means? When I was in high school whenever there would be a practice game for volleyball they would term it as TUNEUP game so for me it’s more like a warm up or a practice game so for this maybe it just says that TEST YOUR APPS ONE MONTH BEFORE YOU OFFICIALLY LAUNCH IT. For me, it’ll give you an idea of what your apps would run like and the things that needs to be debugged (if there would be any) and stuff like that. The book even said:

A quick update shows momentum. It shows you’re listening. It shows you’ve got more tricks up your sleeve. It gives you a second wave of buzz. It reaffirms initial good feelings. It gives you something to talk about and others to blog about.

Knowing a quick upgrade is coming also lets you put the focus on the most crucial components before launch. Instead of trying to squeeze in a few more things, you can start by perfecting just the core feature set. Then you can “air out” the product in the real world. Once it’s out there you can start getting customer feedback and you’ll know which areas require attention next.

When you have officially launched it, make sure that you’ll still constantly blog about it, put it into a lot of conversation, put or include it into some hot topics, and other major websites so that your product IS ALIVE. WHEN YOU HAVE LAUNCHED YOUR APP THEN THAT’S NOT THE END OF IT (take note of that)…

Things to include:

• Faq
• How-tos
• Tips & tricks
• New features, updates, & fixes
• Buzz/press

A blog not only shows your app is alive, it makes your company seem more human. Again, don’t be afraid to keep the tone friendly and personal. Small teams sometimes feel like they need to sound big and ultra-professional all the time. It’s almost like a business version of the Napoleon Complex. Don’t sweat sounding small. Revel in the fact that you can talk to customers like a friend.

Don’t use “beta” as a scapegoat

I have heard that when an app is in beta mode that means that your app still is imperfect or at least still has some bugs but remember that THERE WOULDN’T BE ANY PERFECT APP..

Don’t wait for your product to reach perfection. It’s not gonna happen. Take responsibility for what you’re releasing. Put it out and call it a release. Otherwise, you’re just making excuses.

If there would be bugs in your apps PRIORITIZE SOME OF THEM and ignore some of it why?

Prioritize your bugs. How many people are affected? How bad is the problem? Does this bug deserve immediate attention or can it wait? What can you do right now that will have the greatest impact for the greatest number of people? Often times adding a new feature may even be more important to your app than fixing an existing bug.

Ride Out the Storm

This means for me that (for example) you have just realesed an app and you have read or heard people saying that YOU COULD HAVE PLACED THIS FEATURE, YOU COULD HAVE DONE THIS AND DONE THAT… Don’t panic!

Resist the urge to panic or rapidly change things in response. Passions flare in the beginning. But if you ride out this initial 24-48 hour period, things will usually settle down. Most people respond before they’ve really dug in and used whatever you’ve added (or gotten along with what you’ve removed). So sit back, take it all in, and don’t make a move until some time has passed. Then you’ll be able to offer a more reasoned response.

Usually, even if 8 out of 10 people are happy about your software there are times that you would only hear the negative comments thrown at you because negative reactions are almost always louder and more passionate than positive ones.

Subscribe to news feeds about your competitors

Subscribe to news feeds about both your product and your competitors (it’s always wise to know the ways of one’s enemy). Use services like PubSub, Technorati, Feedster, and others to stay up to date (for keywords, use company names and product names). With RSS, this constantly changing info will be delivered right to you so you’re always up to speed.

This means that as much as possible KEEP TRACK of your competitors’ activities, progress, and other major projects. Indulge yourselves in services that would best do that or track your competitors for you.

Be open to new paths and changes in direction

Part of the beauty of a web app is its fluidity. You don’t wrap it up in a box, ship it, and then wait years for the next release. You can tweak and change as you go along. Be open to the fact that your original idea may not be your best one.

For me this just means that you should be able to accept the fact that your design won’t be the final one or would be the best one. As you go along the way, there would be trends that would pop up… New ideas, new innovations, new technology and that your app should be ready for it.. be ready and flexible to adopt those..

I have read in a book once about this front-end and the back-end people of a restaurant… I am not really sure if it’s called that way because I can barely remember the details but what I am sure is that the people from the front-end do different stuff than people on the back-end. In that movie, people from the back and front ends fight or argue a lot. Back-end people kept on complaining that front-end people get a lot of tips if in fact they  are the ones who do major stuff in the restaurant that without them then these front-end people can’t serve anything. Same things also happen in the IT world. The book suggested that they should

Tear down the walls between support and development.

A lot of software developers have a similar split. Designers and programmers work in the “kitchen” while support handles the customers. Unfortunately, that means the software chefs never get to hear what customers are actually saying. That’s problematic because listening to customers is the best way to get in tune with your product’s strengths and weaknesses.

So what the book suggested is that companies should avoid building walls between their customers and the development/design team. Don’t outsource customer support to a call center or third party. Do it yourself. You, and your whole team, should know what your customers are saying. When your customers are annoyed, you need to know about it. You need to hear their complaints. You need to get annoyed too.

This just means that EVERYONE SHOULD BE INVOLVED and not just several people. People who made the software, let us say, should personally handle a customer’s question so that he could fully address his/her opinion, reaction, and stuff like that.

At 37signals, all of our support emails are answered personally by the people who actually build the product. Why? First off, it provides better support for customers. They’re getting a response straight from the brain of someone who built the app. Also, it keeps us in touch with the people who use our products and the problems they’re encountering. When they’re frustrated, we’re frustrated. We can say, “I feel your pain” and actually mean it.

Make sure that when you make a software, customers won’t need to use or have a manual so they could be able to fully understand what your software does, its features, and functionalities. So the book suggested:

Well, as we’ve mentioned before, you start by keeping everything simple. The less complex your app is, the less you’ll need to help people out of the weeds. After that, a great way to preempt support is by using inline help and faqs at potential points of confusion.

It is also advised that whenever your customers asked questions to you (especially when it is about your product, the product they just bought) then it’s better if you ANSWER THEM QUICK. I have read in the book THE CLUETRAIN MANIFESTO: END OF BUSINESS AS USUAL that customers like to be given attention to especially when they asked for it.

Be willing to say no to your customers

When it comes to feature requests, the customer is not always right. If we added every single thing our customers requested, no one would want our products.

For me, as much as possible OWN YOUR PRODUCT without disregarding the preferences of your customers but as much as possible keep your software simple and if your customers demand for more features that just don’t seem to fit in the whole context of the project. According to the book:

As a software development company, you have to act as a filter. Not everything everyone suggests is the right answer. We consider all requests but the customer is not always right. There will be times when you just have to piss some people off. C’est la vie.

Related to this, it’s critical that you as a development company love your product. And you won’t love your product if it’s filled with a bunch of stuff you don’t agree with. That’s yet another justification for vetoing customer requests that you don’t believe are necessary.

BUILD A COMMUNITY FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS TO INTERACT IN…

Forums and web-based group chat are a great way to let customers ask questions and help one another out. By eliminating the middleman — that’s you — you provide an open stream of communication and save yourself time in the process.

When you screwed up on something TELL PEOPLE even if they don’t care or even if they didn’t see that in the first place WHY? Because your customers deserve to know… Inform them in a way that you are expressing your great apologies for that unexpected happening and ensure them that as much as possible YOU WOULD TRY YOUR BEST TO NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN. The book even said:

Be as open, honest, and transparent as possible. Don’t keep secrets or hide behind spin. An informed customer is your best customer. Plus, you’ll realize that most of your screwups aren’t even that bad in the minds of your customers. Customers are usually happy to give you a little bit of breathing room as long as they know you’re being honest with them.

A side note about delivering news, bad and good: When bad news comes, get it all out in the open at once. Good news, on the other hand, should be trickled out slowly. If you can prolong the good vibes, do it.

Hollywood Launch

If you want to create some thrill first for your customers then do it the Hollywood style.. To build up buzz and anticipation, go with a Hollywood-style launch: 1) Teaser, 2) Preview, and 3) Launch.

First with TEASER… Months before, let people know what you are working on… Drop some hints about your project or product, let us say. Don’t put or release first the whole details about your project. INTEREST them.. Excite them. Make them wonder for a moment.. Their curiosity would pay you off big time.

Second with PREVIEW… Few weeks before, make customers to preview the features of your app let us say. Give people behind-the-scenes access. Describe the theme of the product. Also, tell people about the ideas and principles behind the app.

Lastly with LAUNCH… RELEASE TIME! Launch full marketing. Spread the news about your product.. Get blogs to link to you. Post about your progress… SURE THING YOU’LL NEED A PROMO SITE TOO..

Go from teaser to preview to launch

The best promotional tool is a great product. Word will get out if you’ve got an app that people find really useful.

Still, you need an ace promotional site too. What should you include on this site? Some ideas:

• Overview: Explain your app and its benefits.
• Tour: Guide people through various features.
• Screen captures and videos: Show people what the app actually looks like and how to use it.
• Manifesto: Explain the philosophy and ideas behind it.
• Case Studies: Provide real life examples that show what’s possible.
• Buzz: Testimonial quotes from customers, reviews, press, etc.
• Forum: Offer a place for members of the community to help one another.
• Pricing & Sign-up: Get people into your app as quickly as possible.
• Weblog: Blogs keep your site fresh with news, tips, etc.

BLOG! BLOG! BLOG! BLog about your product! it is the cheapest yet most powerful form of informing others about your product compared to advertising. People need RICH INFORMATION.. Advertisements for me don’t give that they just give you specific and the most commonly asked details unlike with blogs you could actually give them rich content about your product.. You could even converse to your markets.

Get advance buzz and signups going ASAP

We’ve already touched on it but it bears repeating: Get some sort of site up and start collecting emails as soon as possible. Pick your domain name and put up a logo and maybe a sentence or two that describes, or at least hints at, what your app will do. Then let people give you their email address. Now you’re on your way to having a foundation of folks ready and waiting to be notified of your launch.

Now you have your market! It is better to stay in touch with them.. Markets are conversations right?

They’re hungry for it so serve it up

New or interesting features are a great way to generate buzz for your application. Special interest groups love to chew up “feature food” and spit it back out to the community. Alright, that’s kind of an unpleasant analogy but you get the point.

What are people looking forward to your application is ITS FEATURES. Some companies especially your competitors would love to know the main feature of your app and would either copy it (but with improvements) or would exceed that kind of technology you used for that feature.

Study your logs to track buzz

You need to know who’s talking about you. Check your logs and find out where the buzz is coming from. Who’s linking to you? Who’s bitching about you? Which blogs listed at Technorati, Blogdex, Feedster, Del.icio.us, and Daypop are hot on your trail?

Find out and then make your presence felt. Leave comments at those blogs. Thank people for posting links. Ask them if they want to be included on your special advance list so they’ll be among the first to know about future releases, updates, etc. Collect positive praise and create a “buzz” page at your site. Testimonials are a great way to promote your app since third-party praise is more trustworthy to most people.

If the comments are negative, still pay attention. Show you’re listening. Respond to critiques thoughtfully. Something like: “We appreciate the feedback but we did it this way because…” Or “You raise a good point and we’re working on it.” You’ll soften up your critics and put a human face on your product. It’s amazing how much a thoughtful comment on a blog can diffuse naysayers and even turn complainers into evangelists.

Be GRATEFUL and BE SPORTS at the same time.. Of course you’ll never hear just positive comments from your users or market but also to the people who have negative ones. Your app and NO ONE’s APP is perfect so be cool enough to accept and gratefully accept those bad feedbacks or comments.. You never know maybe those negative feedbacks would be your key to major success.. Also be grateful and humble enough to respond  to those positive ones…

Name Hook

For me what this means is that the NAME of your app, as much as possible, make it short, catchy, and memorable and then run with it. OWN IT DUDE.. Always remember

Give your app a name that’s easy to remember…

“Give something away for free. It’s a noisy world out there. In order to get people to notice you amid the din, give something away for free”

What I learned from chapter 12 is that we should make ways to attract our clients, the customers. And one way of doing this by giving freebies, there is nothing wrong in doing this, people get attracted to these kinds of strategies, so what I learned is that why not give sample apps of our products, it’s a good way to lure our customers, we make them experience our apps first hand, they get the feel of what we built, if they liked it good, news easily spread and this might even be a good marketing strategy for us.

“Make signup and cancellation a painless process”

We should make our applications hassle free for our customers, “painless” meaning we should give the users an easy time working around with the application; in the first place they would not have the interest with our application if in the start they are already having a hard time getting the feel of the application. “There should always be a free option so customers can demo the app without entering credit card information.” There should be able to provide a clear sign up button for the customers.

“Avoid long-term contracts, sign-up fees, etc.”

First of all we should gain the trust of our customers, so never do things that will just trick them just to earn more cash, so avoid the long term contracts or fees that the users has not even avail for.

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