As we all get more Internet and mobile phone-centric, you see more and more software built to either promote or add value to a service or product.

For example:

• Nationwide Insurance created an iPhone app for their customers to help them make the task of filing a claim easier.
• There is Revver who created an official plugin WordPress to make it easier for their users to display videos and earn money.
• Pizza Hut has an iPhone app that includes a game, ability to order food and receive coupons.
• And there are countless Facebook apps created by big name companies.

I love it. On every project I have, I try to figure ways to build in an app or plugin to make people utilize the product more or spread the word about my web site but there are some issues which I’d like to highlight if you have been considering the same thing yourself.

To date, my biggest problem is licensing and distribution. Sometimes the issues occur together, sometimes they don’t. I don’t (or haven’t) yet built software for the iPhone, because I believe that if I were to build a mobile app, I wouldn’t want to piss off the rest of my customers or fans by offering the app *just* for iPhone but that’s a whole other blog post and we won’t go there today.

Building for iPhone or iTouch

Back to iPhone, if you are planning to build for the iPhone platform, you should know that:

All applications must be distributed via Apple iTunes. Your app has to be digitally signed using a system that Apple approves off which is tied to the distribution available only via iTunes. If you try to install an unsigned app, then technically you’ve broken the law under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

You are free to give away your software once on iTunes. You just can’t distribute it in any way other than the manner Apple set out.

And if they reject you?

Well… I suppose you can appeal, but good luck! Keep in mind, Apple can do this anytime because they control what Apps are allowed to be sold/given away on iTunes and since you can’t distribute it anyway other than iTunes… you get the picture.

Building for WordPress

This is another hotbed issue and interestingly enough is the opposite side of the pendulum. First of all, no matter what it says on the box, no software is free. It costs thousands and probably millions of man-hours. Similarly, let’s say you want to build a plugin that would make your services more valuable for your existing customers only. I won’t be far from the truth to say you would probably hire a developer to do it correct? So would I but you or your company pays the developer to develop this. So the cost is on you.

Because WordPress uses GPL licensing, plugins also have to be licensed as GPL as well. Which means, if you are going to distribute the plugin, even under limited circumstances say, to your own customers, you must also give them access to the source code. It doesn’t matter whether you sell or give away the plugin but whoever receives or buys the plugin must be able to access the source.

Which means, users of your software can take the plugin, build upon or even not do anything and simply re-distribute it openly. They can even re-brand it as their own and distribute it via channels you may not want.

There are plugin authors who go against this by hiding the code and issuing different licenses. I haven’t heard of any big crackdown but the bottom line is still a violation of WordPress license. Which means if they want to pursue it, they could.

By the way, if you develop it for your own use – no distribution to other parties, you are not required to give away your source code.

Not Scare Tactic

While all this sounds super scary and downright draconian, that is not my intention. I am merely sharing what I’ve encountered while pursuing Technology-Based-Marketing strategies. It has not scared me off from developing these apps. I did spend some of my own money to develop a plugin that is released as GPL on WordPress.org. It is a risk and eventually it will be outdated or eclipsed by someone else. Right now, I am enjoying a some traffic as a direct result of releasing it.

Photo courtesy of Jason Rogers

Now that summer is here, I figure we could all use a little dose of self motivation. It’s not always easy to be motivated to get your work done, even I as a long time entrepeneur sometimes tend to get either bored or lack self motivation to get my own work done.

So I figured, I’d share some ways to increase and grow our self motivation.

While self-motivation is a simple concept, we all know that it’s one of the hardest things to attain.  Despite purely good intentions, most of us are better at slacking off than getting motivated.  But, no matter what your attention span it is possible for you to motivate yourself and reach your goals; you just need to follow a few simple steps.

Know what you’re doing

A to-do list is nice to have to help you get things done, but it doesn’t do much to help you stay motivated.  Before you can make your to-do list, you need to set goals and priorities.  They may be short term like “finish this project to attain more work” or more general like “increase workload to attain promotion”.  If you give yourself a goal or vision to work for, you’re going to be more motivated to finish things than if you’re simply completing tasks.

Stay positive

A positive attitude can go a long way.  People have probably told you this over and over, but you’re still not inclined to believe it.  Take a little extra time each day to remind yourself of your accomplishments.  It is also a good idea to try to surround yourself with positive and encouraging people.  If you don’t have any at work, find positive and encouraging statements from successful people and post them around your office.

Set mini-goals

Finishing a project can be a daunting task.  If it’s a large amount of work, you’re likely to look at it, get overwhelmed, and give up or put it off before you even get started.  An easier way to accomplish a project is to break it up into smaller tasks.  This way you’ll be looking at a bunch of small goals instead of one great big one.  While it’s the same amount of work, it helps to keep you from getting overwhelmed.  Plus, each time you accomplish one of your tasks, you’ll feel successful and motivated to keep trekking on through the rest.

Reward yourself

To help keep yourself going, set up rewards for each task you complete.  They don’t have to be anything big; they could be going to see a movie over the weekend or spending 15 minutes on the phone with a friend you haven’t talked to in a while.  It’s just something positive to help encourage you.  You can also set small rewards for your mini goals and have a large reward for when you finish a large project.

Have a backup

While we may have the best of intentions, most of us really aren’t that good at sticking with our self-motivating methods.  If this seems like you, you may be in need of some backup.  This is a friend, co-worker, or associate – anyone who is dependable and trustworthy.  Let them know what your goals are (and even your rewards) and set up a plan for them to check up on you.

It could be as simple as giving you a call to see how much you’ve gotten done, or maybe have them be the keeper of some reward and administer it when you reach your goal.  This way, if your resolution wavers, you’ll have someone else there to help out.

When all of my work is done today, I plan to have some fun visiting places that I truly love to go on the internet. I always learn something new, or think on things that I’m currently doing in my business. This free time for me leads to a break from my work. I’ll most likely be spending less time on the internet over this coming Easter Weekend.

READING

1) I’ll be sure to head over to Clicknewz.com. Lynn Terry is FAB! I love what this woman stands for and she shows us all the time that she’s got guts. Lynn is very refreshing and l look forward to seeing what she about internet marketing over at her blog.

2) I’ll be checking out Lynette’s Tech Based Marketing this week because I love how she keeps me up to date on all the gadgets, plugins, and wonders of the internet world.

3) I’m going to also read over at Darren’s Problogger.net to see what’s happening with his 30 day challenge to a better blog. I haven’t officially started it yet, so I’ll be doing a few days at once.

ACTION

1) I’ll be finishing up one of my latest projects which is totally going to rock! I’m so happy about this new site, I’ll be sharing the details of it really soon. But it is service based and will help alot of people with their websites.

2) I plan to actually DO the challenge that Darren has going (#3 above) so that I can make a Better Blog! I’m interested to see how it changes this blog. I’ll also be looking towards the new re-design of this site, it’s not exactly what I want so I’ll be tweaking it again soon.

3) I think that’s enough ACTION on a weekend that I plan not to be online very much. I may twitter a bit. You can follow me on twitter here.

FUN

1) If you read my post recently about my daughter and how I was working through this journey, you’ll realize that we need to kick up our heels and have some fun. We managed to get out to the beach this week and I’m looking forward to spending more times with my family. It’s been difficult to get out since my daughters transplant is not that long ago, she’s only been home from the hospital for a few weeks now.

2) It’s my husband Leo’s birthday this weekend so we’re having family over to celebrate. There are also 2 other birthday’s that we’re celebrating so it’s going to be a family party at our house.

3) I’m sure I’ll think of other things to do, life’s not all about work right? If you follow me on twitter you saw how I had a can of diet pepsi and ate a coffee crisp… oh my! I even took pics of them for fun, yep I was in a silly mood that day. In my goofy mood, I invited people to come and listen to me over at Ustream, it was a bit of rambling but we had fun, I think in future I’ll be using this service, it was a blast!

I’m also getting a new twitter background made by Nola Cooper who did the logo here for SBB. I highly recommend her Club by the way, the prices are low and her graphics are beautiful! She also has a schedule of free items that I get each month, love it!

I think that’s it. I’m looking forward to a great weekend which will be very productive since I’m on very limited computer time.

What are your plans this long weekend?

How often do you toot your own horn about your business. Really think about it, besides speaking with clients one on one, have you actually shared (with permission of course) results you’ve been getting for a client with another?

I think it’s human nature not to brag about yourself and your business. But I think we need to start getting used to the idea of tooting our horns and spreading the word.

I’m in the process of doing this very thing myself. I’ll be sharing with you a series of interviews from clients who have worked directly with me. And I must say, I’m very excited about it because the feedback I’m getting from my clients is eye opening. Of course, I feel I deliver exceptional service, but it’s great to hear right from the person who counts most, my clients.

If you don’t have a plan to do some tooting of your own, why not watch my upcoming series of events to help you with your own plans. <