Back up your work

I'll tell you, finishing this game has been one son-of-a-gun. Little things keep cropping up and we are stuck at 99.5%. Unfortunately, if certain shortcomings violate Apple's rules you will get rejected. The problems we have now fit in that category. I spent the morning working out details including the re-write of the press-release announcing the game to the app community. While typing away, suddenly my monitor turns off. Like anyone you curse first, leading to minor panic followed by quick disaster planning. We were in the middle of a huge rain storm. I looked at the floor in my office and I was 1/2 inch deep in water. My back-up power supply was filled with water and turned off like it is supposed to. I spent the next 9 hours dealing with the flood and I was lucky. It ends up the city had a back up of the entire system.

This brings up another point, back up your work and have a back-up power supply! Here is what I do.

I use a Mac Pro tower with a 23" monitor plugged into a back-up power supply. Two internal drives, one external. I have Time Machine backing up hourly to the internal drive, Deja vu backing up daily to the external. I also have a portable drive I keep in another location in case of disaster. Back-up came into play during the last few months, I'm glad I was doing it.

Come hell or high water I am finishing this app. More storms are coming, so I better watch what I ask for.

Do U H8 Your Boss?

Finishing the final files has been elusive. I want all the similar screens in the Free and Paid game identical so it looks pro. Sooner or later this thing is going to get finished. I have honed in the YouTube ad to be more specific. (Do U H8 Your Boss?)



It is almost time to submit the app. Marketing efforts start now. The next addition will be a FaceBook fan page where people can post their "Bad Work Stories".

www.BeatTheBossGame.com is the hub for all things related to the game.

Pimp'in ain't easy!

Being that "Beat the Boss" is back in the shop for some tweaks I am involved in the marketing aspects like keywords and description. The biggest news of the moment is Tiger Woods infidelity. He has bowed out of golf for the moment to collect his thoughts and arrange his life. What sucks for him is that he is so famous that almost every conversation in the world starts with a Tiger joke. I am contributing as I always have. Sorry Tiger.

Howard Stern

I have established that I will go proactive in gaining recognition for Beat the Boss. Steve Ochs from HERO Entertainment contacted me about using my video "1982 Circus of the Farts" in an upcoming DVD. It meant no money to me, but the project will get some merit. Steve may get an audience with Howard Stern who will see another video series I made 4 years ago called "The CFC". One episode pits Howard against Anna Nicole Smith in the Celebrity Farting Challenge. While rendering the movie I included an ad for Beat the Boss. I want the name of the game as well as the icon to be memorable. Getting a plug from Howard Stern would be great, he's a major player.

Two headed cats

Having two cats has effected Beat the Boss during it's creation. Just when you have a great thought one of my little buddies kills something or wants a thorough petting. Today is no different. I got up in the middle of the night and stepped in a huge hair ball making a gross squishy noise. A few days ago it appeared that Yuuki had been in an altercation. His head had been in something's mouth but it didn't appear serious. This morning he jumped on the bed and it looked like he had Bell's palsy. The right side of his face was swollen to where his eye was almost shut. It looks like he has two heads. He's at the vet now, I think he'll live.

I mention this because the development of an app or any other creation is effected by outside influences. Just when you have a good thought, the phone rings or your kid needs a sandwich. It's part of life, I have learned to roll with the punches and use unplanned occurrences as a springboards. In the game, you throw cats at the Boss. I wonder where that idea came from?

This is a picture of Yuuki as a kitten before he messed up his head. He also has a crooked tail.

The vet just called, $400 for surgery... I need to sell some apps.

Steve Jobs and tweet size headlines

I was sent an article discussing why Steve Jobs is a great speaker. He has been suggested as being "CEO of the decade". His secret has to do with simplicity and surprise. People were on their knees waving their arms in the air when he pulled a laptop out of a manila folder. Another thing he does is break down his message to visuals and simple quotes. He creates tweet size descriptions and people get it. Here is the list of tweets I plan to send out once the game is available.


A free iPhone app that really kicks butt - BeatTheBossGame.com
Beat the Boss on your iPhone for free - BeatTheBossGame.com
Kick Ass / Take Names! - BeatTheBossGame.com for the iPhone for free
Smack your boss in the chops with your iPhone! - BeatTheBossGame.com
Hit your boss without getting fired! - BeatTheBossGame.com for the iPhone
Suggest a weapon, win a free T-Shirt! - BeatTheBossGame.com
Take out your work frustrations on your iPhone! - BeatTheBossGame.com
Hate Your job? Have an iPhone? - BeatTheBossGame.com
Corporate anxiety therapy using your iPhone - BeatTheBossGame.com
Pink slip in your future? Have an iPhone? - BeatTheBossGame.com
Believe in executive punishment? - BeatTheBossGame.com
Ticked off at your boss?...hit it him with your iPhone! - BeatTheBossGame.com

Monetizing Mania

Digital media is a twin edged sword. It allows for unlimited creation, but it also allows the same freedom to other creators similar to yourself, there is a lot of competition out there. These days if you have an idea for a show you can make it and publish it all over the net, it's easy. This is a big win for people that have a project they want to get noticed. The problem is how do you make money? A chosen few are actually paid by YouTube for content, but the majority of folks are not in it for the money, they just want to share.

As a professional cartoonist I looked at 2010 back in 2005 and figured out something important. Everything in mobile is monetized. From the beginning mobile operators made sure that you pay for everything. Even if it's free you still pay for the service. I decided to follow the mobile path because people are willing to pay for communication. That is how I will monetize my mania.

My deal with mobile aggregators and phone companies left me a very small piece of the pie. I had two wallpapers surpass the 100,000 mark on T-Mobile. I would have made $70,000 each if that was an iPhone app. I made a fraction of that after agent fees and phone company splits. Apple takes 30% but offers a platform with over 50 million possible customers.

Though the app store is crowded, I still think it is a good place to be if you have a product worth buying. Being in the App store does not guarantee success, you have to promote. I am going to take advantage of all the methods available to shout these days. If the typical numbers happen 2-3% will buy. If I want to sell 100,000 apps I need to tell at least a few million folks.

Barking Signals

In a football sense, I am at the 1- yard line barking signals and the clock is ticking. It has been a long game. Once I cross the goal line, the game really just gets started. From everything I have read the only way to be successful is to create a game that is truly fun to play and gets good word of mouth promotion. First you have to get through the submission process, during that time you have to plant digital seeds.

My rolodex is ready, I have a lot of major players to contact. YouTube promotion and the website will be Tweeted. The missing element is a press release and overall timing of the announcement of Beat the Boss to the correct news outlets. I am exploring different avenues. I reached out to some business folks I know and have gotten some great referrals, I am also checking online. Working with some PR geniuses might be a good move, I can only do so much. I'll meet with Christina Jorgensen at Drizen-Dohs Corporate Communications. They have been publishing my cartoons for a few years but are business communication specialists. This should be interesting.

Completing a free and paid version that works is quite an accomplishment. This is good for promotion as well. Turnover rates are often over 50% from free to paid, so the free version will be my main sales tool. Taking suggestions from users and implementing it in the game will be great for keeping interest. My plan is to update at least every two weeks for the first three months.

My goal is to get a lot people trying the free version. If people like playing the game the upgrades will take care of themselves.

Checkered Flag

The final builds are being completed. I played the final version and got through 12 levels in a little over 5 minutes. That is the sort of game I wanted to create from the very beginning, challenging without having to think too hard. Kind of like whack-a-mole or throwing darts mixed with a little office angst. My hope is that angry office workers will grab their iPhones and smack the crap out of the Boss and feel better about themselves… without getting fired.

Next will be completing the free version which is a derivative of the paid one. One of the problems with long term projects is that you have too much time to think. What looked like a good idea in January can look pretty stale in June. That can mean advertising pieces that don't reflect new elements, making decisions to alter the game or creating a website that supports the whole venture. How things turn out has a lot to do with timing.

The checkered flag is visible in the distance. It's about to get interesting.

More Time

It occurred to me while watching people play the game it gets kind of frantic. This is a good thing. The music loop combined with the game play makes you want to achieve each level before time runs out. My next move is to add a timer that records your overall time.

Recently at a street concert I heard someone say, "People will do anything for a free T-Shirt!" Sounds like a good idea to me. I will sign up with Cafe Press and send out a T-Shirt once a week based on the overall top score.

Another thought after watching people play is that I need to add a "sound off" button. After messing around with it, I changed my mind. If you play Beat the Boss, you have to listen to his bullshit. My goal is to get someone fired for playing my game.

Chia Obama

This has very little to do with my new app but it''s worth mentioning. This morning I saw a post on Facebook from my niece's husband Tony. He was floored by the fact that he saw a commercial for "Chia Obama". About 6 months ago I had pitched Chia to do an iPhone app. I had a virtual board meeting discussing the possibilities of taking their brand to the iPhone. The owner is not a young guy, he believes all the youngsters he hires who say "yes" so they can keep their jobs. He showed us Chia Obama. I almost hacked up a hair ball. Joe insisted that the African Americans he asked thought it was a great product. Hoogaduh! hoogaduh! (That is the sound of a cat coughing up that hair ball)

Who would buy this? If I walked into any one of my friend's house and saw that on the mantle I would fall out laughing...then leave. My friend's are smarter than that. I can see it on some racist liberal hating college student's toilet tank, that's about it. It is flat out a bad product. Walmart pulled it from the shelves, but amazingly they said yes to the original order in the first place.

Joe was excited about an upcoming TV interview to be filmed. It ended up a foot in mouth interview where he appeared to be a "Cracker". His minions were on vacation unable to help in damage control.

What we suggested was do a Chia app that demonstrates all their products. Virtual iPhone Chia's. Charge $1, then donate the money to charity to try and save face. They were concerned people would not buy real Chia's if they could get one on an iPhone. My question was, how many of your customer's own iPhones? The idea was to spread the word. Instead his bobble headed "Yes Men" helped him design a Chia Statue of Liberty. It looks absolutely ridiculous, the French are offended and want her back.

Lithotripsy

Exactly one year ago I was doubled over in pain suffering from my second bout of kidney stones. One of the reasons that this happens is because I don't drink enough water. Creative people are weird, kind of like baseball pitchers…head cases. The idea is to get into the groove and come up with some great ideas. Throw strikes. This can take hours or two days. Personally I forget to eat, much less drink. A kidney stone attack hurts in places you don't know you have. Twice this has happened in my life. Believe me, it's some major league pain. While you are creating your own app, don't forget to exercise and drink water. Man cannot live on Red Bull alone. I now know the meaning of a procedure called, "lithotripsy". I wish I didn't.

MotoRokr S9-HD

Sound is also part of a an interactive experience. One of the worst things as a mobile designer is to watch someone hold a phone to their ear while playing a game. It takes their eye off the screen. I am hoping that the audio is understandable when the phone is a foot away from your face avoiding such activity. I just bought the Motorola Rokr S9-HD bluetooth stereo headphones to work with my iPhone. My goodness, the sound is way better than my old plug-in head set I wear while riding my road bike. When I get a call I can pick it up immediately rather than fumble for the phone. I just tested, if you wear the headset while playing the game you can hear the audio just fine. Bad news is I can't seem to get it to skip the the next song. I hope there is a fix.

"The Part-timer"

I had a comment that my art was "sick". Hmmm, first reaction is... does that mean good or bad? It made me think. I AM co-creator of an animated show called, "The Part-Timer". It is a show written by a truly "sick" (in a good way) writer named Justin Adams, who worked 50 part-time jobs. I animated episodes where he gets fired at the end of every episode. And actually, the shark scene does make me question my upbringing. It's funny when you look back at what you have created, collaborating with Justin was unique. We had fun making "The Part-timer". I may re-publish some of the short episodes and add a "bug" promoting my new business related app in the corner.

Brain Freeze

One of the things on my laundry list is to write a blog. You are reading this so it is working and I am following the plan. Writing is cool, but you want people reading. I Googled "promote your blog" and started taking note. I joined BlogCatalogue, Technotrati and StumbleUpon. I also logged onto Linked-in. Recently, I joined a group called "Intelligent Mobile Marketing" and read a post by Matthew Spight about target marketing. His website's aim is to index and market business intelligence blogs from around the world. That can be found at www.businessintelligenceonline.org. He got back to me quickly with a personal note, so I got the feeling like I just met a new colleague rather than signed up for a newsletter. I am finding that I am reading and writing much more these days. The left side of my brain is normally dormant. I'm not as dumb as I think I be...is...am (the drawing of the frozen nerd is available on iStock.com)