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.

AdMob Cross Promotion?

I have had to wait for the programmers and exercise my patience. Old problems find their way back into the app and appear in testing. This time it is faking a malady to the phone, a screen crack. This will get you rejected. I took it out long ago. Good things seem to happen when I slow down. Though I am aggravated somewhere I know things will work out. It is part of the "letting go" process.

I row on weekends, mainly sculling in a quad. Four people, two oars each. The idea is to get your oars in and out of the water at the same time. My buddy Ed says that you can find yourself at a standstill if you row fast enough. Sometimes we row 19 strokes a minute and go faster than when we do 22. It's about patience and timing.

While waiting, I read a Linked-In post on the www.iphoneintouch group. It was suggested to use a free version to earn credits to spend on paid ads on AdMob. You cross promote for FREE on their network of other admob enabled ads, it costs nothing and you can then up-sell to your main app. Plus, you earn 20% more to take ad credits instead of money.

There are downsides. Admob requires a web connection plus people leave your app and never come back at times. I have to think about this.

FaceBook Promotion

It's almost time to submit. I am delayed because of the Indian regional festival of `Makar Sankranti'. It has taken almost 8 months to create this app, so what's another 5 days. Waiting is interesting, it really makes you think. What I have done in the past is rush to finish. I must say that is not the case this time. I have been forced to go slow and pay attention to all details. This is good.

I have assembled all the elements necessary for submission. My last mistake was exceeding 100 characters in my keyword list. The devil is in the details. The app, website and promotional materials are all together. A few more clicks and I'm in the system. I am hearing about one day approvals these days, so my day is coming.

Marketing is the next phase. There are two separate ends to the marketing that have to addressed. One has to do with app reviewers, the other consumers. The reviewers are the most important. Appalon will handle that aspect. I was researching FaceBook as a method to reach consumers but I am not a huge user. This leaves me short on everyday experience. Learning all the ropes in the next week is a stretch, so do I skip it?

While organizing my Linked-In presence I was contacted by Craig Dalton at mPlayit. They specialize in FaceBook promotion of iPhone apps. This is a better idea than me trying to figure it out on my own.

Completing the game has taken forever, but if it happened any sooner I would probably have crashed and burned. The app market is evolving by the day and the insights and contributions that happened in the last two months will be key to the games success.

Game Change - The Letterman Connection

I know this a blog about the creation of Beat the Boss but I just got side-tracked again. If I wasn't mistaken, on the day the book "Game Change" comes out, Sarah Palin is named as a regular on Fox News. In cartoons, this is where you would shake your head and hear b-e-y-o-b-b-i, then blink.

Usually bad publicity hurts your chances. What I first saw on TV was one of McCain's handlers telling stories about Palin's complete lack of American history knowledge. She didn't recognize North and South Korea and couldn't stop calling Joe Biden, Joe Bin Laden. That's why she did the "Can I call you Joe?" line in the debates. In my head I'm thinking, Oh Sarah, there you go again. Then Fox announces her hiring having her join team credible with Newt Gingrich, Glen Beck and company. Shake head, b-e-y-o-b-b-i, blink.

But I see behind this whole scam. It's all about golf. This was all an evil plot by Tiger Woods and his ultra boss, Dave Letterman. When Tiger was an infant, Letterman beat him in a million dollar miniature golf tournament including the windmill shot, Tiger never paid up. With interest, he now owes him 786 billion dollars. This has always been Letterman's plan to cover his infidelity. He knew he could call in his marker someday…today is that day.

From his lair Letterman disassembled late night TV, ruined the life of the world's best golfer and created a Fox political team so ridiculous no one could remember his marital transgressions. You know, it's kind of working.

Picture Dave in his high tech underground communication center reminiscent of 24. Whispering brainiacs in head sets type 80 words a second while he paces back and forth in his glass constructed conference room overlooking his opinion factory. While petting his fuzzy cat he barks out network commands to affiliates controlling American eyeballs manually with a joy stick.

Split screen to Tiger's office / driving range. Dressed in a Nike pimp cape and felt hat he orders his wishes/bitches like pancakes to willing wenches mesmerized by power, grace and half a zillion dollars in old Gillette, Nike, Buick and Accenture funds.

Tiger's no punk, he's not pulling guns like Gilbert Arenas or Javaris Crittenton. Tiger played golf with Rupert Murdoch and he owed him. Because of Tiger's juice, Fox hires Palin as the last payment to an evil Letterman. He gets back at Leno over the The Tonight Show snub, ruins Conan O'Brien and saves his marriage after doing Wilt Chamberlain numbers. He pets his cat with a heavy hand again, accompanied with a guttural, B-W-W-O-O-O-O-HA-HA!

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.

Promotional Video

Now it is a new year, thank the Lord. The delays releasing Beat the Boss have been necessary. The market has changed, having to wait created deeper understanding of the situation. There are 125,000 apps at this time, there are 100,000 developers. I believe many thousands have dropped out of the game. Making a profit creating an app takes experience combined with a good product. The days of iFart are over. The average guy does not want to go through the pains of creating a hit and sustaining it. Quality iPhone entertainment will take careful preparation and skillful promotion. Personally, I am not planning on luck.

Marketing a game is like promoting a new song. You have to tell your exact audience that you exist and how they can buy your game. You have a short time frame to get this done. It is not a slow building process, you have to come out throwing punches.

Now I am in the process of creating a promotional video the IndiaNIC will use to talk up Beat The Boss. I purchased a Flip HD Video recorder, set up a tripod and had Marianne interview me over the weekend. I also got Final Cut software to edit the piece together.

Now I am my own client. All aspects of the project need attention at the same time. Having programmers and marketing help makes the task a little easier.

New Directions

Thinking about it, I wanted to make the directions clear but still leave
room for specifics revealed on the website and using Twitter.

1. Use your thumbs
2. Aim for the face
3. Smack him silly
4. Before time runs out!