As someone who has been helping global technology firms implement their mobile strategies for nearly 10 years, I consider it my duty to educate companies on what truly works, and what does not.  Mobile is not as new as you might think; it is now picking up steam in the United States.  The reason for this is because it took longer for US carriers to reach market saturation. Thus, until recent years, there were less pressures to promote more data services (high margin) over their networks.  Now that we’re reaching new subscriber saturation, you’re seeing competition amongst carriers to poach subscribers and now the incentive to promote data services to increase the ARPU (average revenue per user), a key indicator on Wall Street. This is evident in the “unlimited” plans you see from Sprint that spawned competitive offerings from AT&T, Verizon and now Boost Mobile’s aggressive “un Wrong” push.

Europe and other countries got there much sooner so we can take a few pages from the books of others and not make the same mistakes, or at least minimize them as much as possible. For example, in 2001 I was working in Helsinki Finland and I could send a text message to a short code of the soda vending machine in my office - out came the soda and it would just show up on my mobile bill that month.  We still aren’t there in the US (8 years later) but are catching up now in leaps and bounds; you’ll see similar with parking meters sprouting up in some markets.

One thing that readers must consider is the buyer experience (or user experience [UX]) before considering any solution.  Many solutions will suffer in consumer (buyer) adoption not because they aren’t cool, but because of how consumers interact with their mobile device and their surroundings.  Otherssimply do not reach critical mass for a consumer-focused solution because they are too platform-specific.  Ask yourself if that solution will show up when voting on American Idol or The Apprentice and you’ll have your answer - no.  To reach the masses the answer is obvious: it has to work on the most devices, users, and networks.  Walk a mile in their shoes is what I tell people, and of course, Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS).

Many mobile solutions make the mistake of trying to duplicate the interactive web experience of browsing and searching on the device.  This is why uptake and ROI is painfully low for consumer-based marketing campaigns.  Instead, keep it simple and take a UX approach to solution design.  Buyers are often walking down a sidewalk, at a stoplight, or pulled up to a curb when a sign, billboard, or banner catches their eye.  Buyers in these instances are not “surfing” their mobile device; they desire information instantly - we call this point-of-interest marketing.

For over 5 years now, top VC firms in Silicon Valley, Boston, Europe, and Israel have tried to find that killer “mobile search” startup and they’re still floundering.  Contrarily, SMS (text) messaging has nearly saturated the global market because it gives consumers what they want - quick, instant results. M:Metrics, the leading provider of global mobile metrics, reported that 13.2% of subscribers used mobile web and of them 6% used mobile search (2008).  These numbers continue to creep up.  Compare this to a staggering 72% using SMS (text), which has grown exponentially.  Do you ignore 85% of potential buyers and only seek out 13-15%?

Location-based tools will flourish in time; they are still years out from reaching enough critical mass to add value to sellers.  GPS may solve common issue with search: not knowing the address of where you are standing, stopping or parked, or the time required to browse through various pages of listings on a 2-inch screen.  Europe has faced this for years and there are cost, device, and consumer privacy issues that slow adoption considerably.  Popular social network tools will smooth over privacy issues, but it will still take considerable time before the market is ready. The key here is to see metrics on the application download rates in a market for such tools, and compare with those that already have built-in apps like SMS (staggering gaps yet again).

I hope at least my insights give “food for thought”, and I’m happy to answer anyone’s questions over the mobile landscape.  For many, we’ll see you at the various shows this year. For others, we’re a blog post, tweet, text, email, or call away. The bottom line when considering mobile is User Experience (UX) so walk a mile in their shoes and ask what experience is ideal. 

Here’s to a prosperous 2009 everyone!

Mike

–
Mike Sparr, CEO
http://www.GoomZee.com
“Connecting buyers and sellers”

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift which is why they call it ‘the present’.” 

I read once that:

“There are two rules for ultimate success in life:

#1.  Don’t tell everything that you know.

It looks like the next battle will be for the browser of the future, allowing synchronous, presense-based interaction and security like a typical OS.  Expect to see more apps built as browser plug-ins instead of just web pages hosted on a remote server.  Google Chrome, Firefox and the new Microsoft Gazelle browsers will likely be duking it out in the not-so-distant future.

See MSFT’s research team project: Gazelle browser

As I have been uber-busy lately, I haven’t started up my 4-wheeler this past year.  In light of recent snowfall, I thought it would be good to get it running and hook up the plow so I can clear sidewalks and also have a little fun.  This turned out to be more of an adventure than planned.

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Albert Einstein defines insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I read one of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s speeches, “The Chance for Peace,” and saw some striking resemblance to situations we currently face here in the US.  It seemed that promoting fear to justify military spending and running the country into a deficit while ignoring the needs of the population was a major issue 55 years ago.  We continue to repeat these “cycles” it seems and I wonder if that falls under Mr. Einstein’s definition. 

The Chance For Peace - Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953) [55 years ago]

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Aside from annihilating sudoku books, I’ve never seen my wife Jamie read an actual book in over 4 years.  That all changed last month when Guy Kawasaki was kind enough to send me a copy of his latest book.  Before I could even read the first page, Jamie had started reading the book and she could not put it down.  Just the other night, she made it through the 500-page compilation of two decades of lessons learned, case studies, expert reports and Guy’s famous “lists”.  I will read it over the holidays so I’ll officially be smart by 2009 - watch out!

I can say that Guy’s book, Art of The Start, is a must-read for anyone embarking in entrepreneurship.  You will find yourself nodding and smiling the entire book and then after the first read, will reference the chapters as events come up and find out how true the no-bull assemblance of knowledge is.  Reality Check will be Art of The Start on steroids and the “mantra” of this latest book in my opinion is “make meaning”.  You’ll get it after your read it, hopefully not too late.  - Thanks Guy and Happy Holidays!

I thought it was appropriate to take a photo resting on my new Macbook Pro given Guy was the original Mac evangelist.  If you read the foreward, you’ll laugh your butt off regarding the “Fake Steve Jobs’” take on Guy’s “claim to fame”…

Who am I to argue with wisdom?  I guess we’ll have to kick butt with Goomzee! 

As a mobile industry veteran for nearly a decade, I would consider myself a trusted source on advising an organization, large or small, on implementing mobile technology, or any Internet technology for that matter.  In parallel, I’ve been involved in the real estate industry for nearly 13 years, and the moving industry for nearly 20 years via my family business and personal investments over the years.  My company, Goomzee.com, has combined both these passions and provides a leading mobile marketing solution throughout the United States to real estate sales professionals. Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight Jamie and I had dinner at Hong Kong Chef in Missoula.  I have had some interesting fortune cookies during lunch meals here and tonight I thought the message was very timely and interesting.  The message reads “You will be successful through innovation and determination.”  See below.

I am still not sure whether I like the “Fortune not found.  Abort.  Retry.” fortune I had earlier in the year or this one but who am I to argue with the wise Chinese. 

This post is primarily for my later reference.  I found that when upgrading from Java 5 to Java 6, xml-driven apps may have errors and it seems to be caused by the SAAJ library.

Error:

To remedy, I simply moved the saaj.jar (or saaj-impl.jar) to the /endorsed/ folder on the Java app server.

—-

I also needed to ensure that a server clock was in synch and every time I try to auto-update it seems buggy.  Instead, I just updated the system clock, then updated the hardware clock using the following commands:

> date 112822052008   (11/28 10:05pm 2008 uses 24hr time)

> /sbin/hwclock --systohc   (sets hardware clock to system time; I used GMT and not UTC)

I took a break this afternoon to go play at the BMX track with my remote control truck, the Savage XL.  This time we actually took some photos to show how it flies.  It’s a fun way to release.

Jumping the Savage off a table-top double - it often lands past the jump and flies about 20 feet through the air with ease.

Veering off course a tad, this jump picked up a little of the sage brush before taking flight.  Big Air!

A few months ago I toured the Lehman Brothers office in San Francisco.  The views were spectacular, similar to my old office views from 42nd floor of Spear Street Tower.  Here are a few photos of the board room, trading floor and typical investment manager’s desk with 3-4 monitors and the Bloomberg terminal, etc.

View of E. Bay and Coit Tower

Yours truly posing for the tourist photo.

Investment brokers’ desks.

Typical workstation for securities traders.

This summer my wife and I spent a weekend in southern California with friends, taking their boat out and sailing to Catalina Island.  Jamie broke the boat record (sharing meals w/ the fish).  It was a great trip and I thought I would share a few photos.

Main sail.

Navigating the vessel

Sunset on the Pacific.

Catalina Island ahead.

Dingy parking.

Jamie and I on the Isthmus of Two Harbors

My company, Goomzee, recently launched its new branding for Realty Connect, Text Message Marketing For Real Estate. Enjoy this video and the new website.

Jamie and I ventured off last weekend for a few days’ camping up Glacier Park.  It is just over 3 hours’ drive north of Missoula and there are various campsites and hiking trails throughout.  Below are a few photos of our adventure.  I may post more as time permits.

Jamie and I on a turnout off Going To The Sun Road from West Glacier

View from Going To The Sun Road (West Glacier) just after Weeping Wall

Our campsite in Rising Sun (Lake Mary - East Glacier).

Snow covered our day hike trail to Lake Otokomi (5.2 mi; 1900 ft elevation increase).  Plan for a 6-hour affair; it’s a long hike and bring plenty of food and water.

We undestimated the length of the hike and didn’t pack enough water.  Thankfully there were waterfalls and streams from the top of the mountain so we took our chances with one and replenished our supplies.

Jamie in a field of beargrass.  Many portions of our hike seemed like a “fantasy land”.  The hike alone was well worth it, including the workout.

Scenery during the drive to E. Glacier towards our campsite.

Goomzee “cameo”.  I have a few of these at various sites.  Shameless! 

This afternoon I hiked “the M” (Mount Sentinel) with a friend and his two dogs.  The University of Montana sits at the base of Mount Sentinel and along the Clark Fork River.  Just a few days ago I posted photos of a freak snowstorm but since Friday it’s been beautiful, mid to high 70-degree weather and sunny.  Below are some photos (panorama) of the Missoula valley.  Facing right while on the mountain is North and up Rattlesnake Creek.  As I pan left, you can see Interstate 90, the Clark Fork River and the bridges crossing the river heading downtown.  You can then see the valley which stretches approx 6-10 miles in each direction, surrounded by mountains on all sides.  To the left is the Bitterroot valley and Lolo peak.  Two main rivers converge in Missoula, the Clark Fork and Bitterroot rivers, each with other tributaries flowing into them, including Lolo Creek, Rattlesnake Creek, Blackfoot River and Rock Creek; world-renowned fly fishing.

Facing north looking up the Rattlesnake.

Interstate 90, Clark Fork River and Washington-Grizzly football stadium (UM Campus)

The University of Montana Campus, bridges crossing the Clark Fork to downtown Missoula.

Missoula valley with U of M campus at the base of Mount Sentinel (directly below)

Missoula Valley south looking toward the Bitterroot Valley and Lolo Peak.

We had a freak weather system and we actually saw snow, in JUNE!  Here is a photo taken of snow on Mount Sentinel here in Missoula, taken by my wife’s mobile phone this evening.

Snow in Missoula Montana in June.  This is not common, I promise. 

Last week I had a flurry of business meetings in and around Washington DC.  I was in Virginia, Maryland and DC and managed to walk around downtown Washington near the White House for one afternoon.  Below are a couple photos of the Washington Monument and also standing in front of the gates of the White House.

The grounds were fenced off because some foreign dignitaries were in town.  I am across from the White House and the Washington Monument is in the background.

Standing in front of the grounds to the White House in Washington DC.  The weather was perfect and a couple hours later it was raining so I got the best Washington had to offer.

Jamie and I hung out with friends at their family ranch in Victor, MT.  It is about 30 minutes south of Missoula and the views were so cool I thought I’d share.

Jamie and I in Victor Montana at friend’s ranch.

Today I read Machiavelli’s “The Prince” which was recommended reading for my friend’s MBA education and it really got me thinking.  About 2/3 through the book, Machiavelli speaks of hiring mercenaries and how they ultimately weaken the State.  If the mercenaries are successful in their job, then the State becomes indebted to them given the mercenary could align with an adversary and destroy the State.  This invoked thought about the globalization taking place and outsourcing.  I’m curious whether the outsourcing of a company’s key functions ultimately weaken it, despite the assumed efficiency it gains, and whether there any analogs between lessons learned in “The Prince” and what we see happening today.  What should and should not be contracted?