It’s easy, really, to have a successful web app these days. Just follow these easy steps* and you too will be on your way to fame and fortune:
- Think of one function that doesn’t already have a web interface. Anything. How about a web inventory of your socks?
- Register a hip ccTLD from another country in combination with a subdomain. http://m.ysock.it, for instance?
- Write your app using Ruby on Rails
- Have a clean, efficient design, don’t forget huge text input boxes
- Don’t forget Ajax! You’ll need lots of script.aculo.us effects all over. Drag and drop icons of socks to a laundry bin perhaps?
- Weeks, nay, months before your app launches, offer a teaser page that allows folks to enter their e-mail address to be notified when the app launches. Don’t forget to remind them that you won’t tell their info, cause you’re a nice company ;)
- Weeks before your app ships, pick a few e-mails from the list and invite them to beta test. If they provide useful feedback, give them a discount when you launch
- Offer a tiered subscription model, but it is imperative that the first tier be a free trial. For free you can track 20 socks (10 pair), but pay just $4 a month and track 100 socks (50 pair), $7 a month will let you inventory 1000 socks (500 pair)... what a great value!
*Dramatization: Individual results may vary.
