(NYC Apple Store — iPhone Apps) Back in the real estate boom days, lots and lots of my Bud Light drinking friends got rich. The went out and got themselves a contractor’s license and built homes. He quickly bought corvette ZR-1s (plurl), a yacht, played golf at Torrey Pines, and bought two weird looking cats.

Sam (real name) built houses faster than anyone else in the business. He was my gorgeous green-eyed blond girlfriend’s dad. The faster he built a home, the faster the buyer could stop paying rent on their interim housing, the more money he made. His buyers loved him. He loved his money.

Funny thing about it, just beneath the thickness of three coats of paint is where he hijacked his time. He took every shortcut in the book. Then, he wrote the sequel. Wiring wasn’t grounded, beams weren’t locked in, insulation wasn’t installed. None of this really made any practical impact on the active young couples who moved in and used their new San Diego home sparingly.

The people Sam hurt were the elderly who moved into his Las Vegas and LA homes. Their heating and air-conditioning bills skyrocketed. Leaning on a wall made outlets catch fire.

It was also the elderly few who hurt Sam.

Journalists just couldn’t turn their back on their stories. Even if a dozen younger couples had complained, it was an elderly woman who commanded attention and started off a landslide of destruction in Sam’s life.

Eventually, after lurid tell-all court dates, Sam’s divorce from Linda, and his bankruptcy, Every single one of his properties were devalued. So in the end Sam’s shortcut mentality even hurt the younger active couples in Del Mar.

IPhone Apps are here to stay
I realize that there is a huge rush to stake out your marketshare in the virgin mobile world. And getting that market share fast means money. But just like Sam, if you build your app in a way that saves $1 but creates $100 liability later, you’re drinking coffee laced with your own brand of arsenic.

IPhone Apps and Android Apps are here to stay.  If you’re in a major met like NYC or LA, the sheer density of people around you can multiply the adoption of an app. Get yours out there immediately to capture your early adopter market share. But do it in a way that creates minimal liabilities. Here’s what to look out for under the third layer of paint:

1. Programmers Annotations
Every experienced and honest programmer places tags in his code that explain what any given lines of code actually do. This way, he can always go back with a “CNTRL-F” keyboard command and rapidly find the sections to modify. This also makes it simple for a new programmer to take over if you part ways. It takes a little bit more time in the first run to create annotations but if you come back with any changes (which we both KNOW you will) the changes will be quick.

Programmer Sam doesn’t do this. Sam thinks leaving annotations out or using his own proprietary code will give him job security. This is like your mate asking you to stay married because otherwise that one “video” will hit Facebook.

2. Experience Building Exactly the Same Components
The first and the very first, first thing you should do when interviewing a potential iPhone App developer is identify your mission critical functionality. If you’re going to build an app with audio, a “play button that plays” is mission critical. I’ll give you a personal example. I’m building an invoicing app for contractors. I’ve had contractors at my house. The part I hate is having to spell my street and city name for them – twice. So I’m building a bidding and invoicing app that automatically fills in their invoice with my address. All they have to do is click a button that says, “USE THIS GPS LOCATION.”

So my mission critical functionality is the ability to *extract and enter GPS address data into a field.*

I asked 12 people I’m hiring for my inhouse iPhone App developer team if they could fulfill this requirement. All of them said yes. Only one showed me an app where he worked with GPS. I’m considering hiring him as a part of my team. Nobody else ever worked with GPS. Work with people who already have experience building exactly what you need. Otherwise, you’re money will end up being a scholarship fund for some kid’s education.

3. Make the NDA Unnecessary
No, don’t skip the NDA, just make it unnecessary. If you break down your iPhone app into abstract “mission critical functionalities” you can technically hire three different groups of programmers around the world to each build pieces of the app. Then hire one more person to put it all together. If you do this, your risk of intellectual property theft is zero. Again, it’s about keeping your liabilities minimal.

Or work with an established publically known firm. If you chose to hire a team like ours to develop your iPhone App, we’ve worked so hard to build a strong reputation, that NDAs, while welcome, are really unnecessary. Our team reputation is too valuable to leave you anything less than 100% happy.

4. Ask for a Discount in Trade for Equity
Get a bid. Then ask for a discount based on a reasonable equity stake. This is important. If the programmer says no, this means that he has no faith in the long term success of your iPhone App. With that kind of attitude, how could he possibly do a good job?

5. Don’t Work with Anyone Who Quotes You a Rate and Cost Without a “Requirements Map.”
If you don’t have a detailed (free) conversation about your iPhone app’s requirements, any cost of time estimate is a guess. People who play the lottery guess. A professional will not offer an estimate until he totally understands your vision. And your vision must include the “Click Map” for every user.

If You’re Building an iPhone App and you want an experienced developer, call us at 310 598 1606. Or email bob.wan.kim@gmail. We’d love to hear your vision and see how we can help you build your app. Even if we don’t work together, a conversation with our experienced team may just help speed up your time to total world domination.

Or Post Your IPhone App Online: iphonejobposts.com
310 598 1606 | 347 476 1267 | 707 931 4303

A mate leaves their lover saying, “I’m not happy anymore.”

Then, in their emptiness, they soon realize that they were indeed happy. They had everything they needed. So the mate betrays fullness for the excitement of filling emptiness.

In business, you might do the same.

There is a saying, “If you are frustrated, lower your dreams (or raise your skills)” - Taoism

You pursue a new client, a new market, or a new sector at the risk of losing what you’ve already built. Children climb up stairs for the excitement of sliding back down again. This is often called the “perspective of scarcity” or “mutually exclusive thinking.”

To be fair, there is a joy in seeing growth. The trouble happens when you unconsciously let what you’ve already grown suffer for it.

There is a saying, “If you are frustrated, lower your dreams (or raise your skills)” – Taoism

If there’s a yin way to solve a problem, there is also a yang way. There is a core cause of loss and destruction in both business and love. It’s easy to blame what’s already in the bowl for crippling your ability to collect more. The hard part, the path of a successful person, is to keep what they have and simply enlarge their bowl.

Let’s talk about business and web media marketing from an ancient Daoist perspective, call 310 598 1606 or bob.wan.kim@gmail.com to discuss the opportunities you may be undercapitalizing upon.

Posted via email from Social Media Marketing Strategies for the Closet Revolutionary

“If you are faced with a choice between this or that, how many choices do you have?” the Master asked.

I knew it was a trick question. Every question he asks is a trick question. Mahayana and Zen Buddhists would call them Zen Koans or Riddles.

“Three!” I guessed out of my ass.

“Four.” the Master said without appearing to have heard my answer at all.

“If you are faced with the choice of a sports car or an economy car, thinking you only have those two options, you choose the sports car. Every time you drive the sports car, you will feel guilty.”

The Master Continued, “If you had chosen the economy car, every time you drive it, you feel frustrated.”

I was dumbfounded.

“Buy both, this is your third choice,” the Master said.

I was as puzzled as I was enlightened. I immediately realized that so many of my life decisions were destined to bring me guilt or frustration from the moment I made a choice. But before I could take the first step down memory lane, the Master hit me with another revelation.

“If you are faced with the choice of a Susan or Sara, thinking those are your only options, you choose Susan. Every moment you are with Susan, you miss Sara. Every discomfort Susan brings you, you resent her. You have already lost Susan and Sara from the moment you made your choice.

In this case, use your fourth option. Choose neither. When true love comes, you will have no choice.”

This wisdom comes from Facebook Tao of Life Page (click “Like” for the ongoing weekly series)

If you want to quickly shoot fresh new blood into your executive and sales force. Call Bob Wan Qi Kim to discuss giving your corporate team an infusion of fresh energy. You may be amazed how a motivational discussion from a Taoist Art of War perspective can reinvigorate your team. Call 310 598 1606 or email bob.wan.kim @ gmail.

There was a day two winters ago, I was fuming with anger. You didn’t need any special siddhis to be able to smell the fury from miles away. I was betrayed. I was insulted. Everything I held dear was spat upon.

As I paced around thinking about how best to erase one person from existence, a Master appeared and began a conversation with me.

He told me of a man who had incensed him. To be insulted by a wise man was an honor. But to be insulted by an ignorant idiot was is repugnant. It would be a service to society at large to exterminate this pest.

So the Master reached for his sword to sever the idiot’s unworthy head. It would have happend faster than the moron could blink. This is when it occurred to my Master that this punishment was not nearly enough. The ignoramus would have to be made to suffer the rest of his life.

The Master swung his sword to sever the fool’s legs, arms, and tongue from out of his mouth all in one blinding lightning strike. The legs, so that the ass would never be able to spread his shit. The arms so he would never be able point out any of his foolery. And his tongue so he would never be able to speak his idiocy.

But then, just as quickly, it occurred to the Master that without legs, the egotistical dolt would be unable to go places where he’d make more enemies. So his legs were spared in the interests of letting retribution against him continue to amass. Just before his disembodied arms plopped down to the ground, the Master realized that few honorable men would strike an armless trollop. So with one surgically precise flip of his ghostly sword, the nimrod would have to see his own tongue ejected from his mouth.

This is when the Master realized the most viscious and vengeful retribution he could lay upon the head of this strumpet. His tongue was what got him in the most trouble. So the blade of the sword would have to exact the most venomous of lacerations. It would cut away any possibility that the nincompoop would ever be freed from his tongue.

The Master walked away never drawing his sword, laughing — avenged.

To Get My Team Involved In Supporting Your Mission, Contact us @journik

Posted via web from journik’s posterous – a grade A shouldery. (social media marketing wise)