Creating Self-Help Apps

I’ve been waiting for some time to write this blog entry, expecting that creating apps would be easier as technology develops.  But I decided to stop waiting.  My experience over the last six months, creating three different apps, is that developing an app takes a fair amount of knowledge and a good deal of money as well.  Apps are great, and there are hundreds of highly useful self-help apps now available for free or for very little money. Creating a self-help app is certainly something you might want to consider—with your eyes wide open.

In the next few blog posts I’ll write about each of the three apps I’ve help create, and maybe you’ll want to download them.  Each one provided a different learning experience. 

The most recent app I helped develop was based on a book I wrote with Stew and Kim Leonard.  The book, Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim, teaches young kids water safety rules.  The book and the app were published by the Stew Leonard Children's Charities, a foundation started by the Leonards after they lost their four-year-old son to a drowning accident in their back yard pool.

The first thing we considered was whether the original book should be an iBook or an app.  There is a big difference in cost and functionality, but the Leonard’s desire for a multi-media experience to engage young children made the app the best choice.  The app is best played on an iPad.  It’s usable on an iPhone or iPod touch, but its’ hard to read on a small screen. It’s not available for the Android platform. 

Download the app if you get a chance, and certainly share it with anyone who has small children. It's free, and it quite literally may save a child's life.  The apps shows many ways that books can come to life for kids,  and includes a game within the book, a separate “extra” matching game, a song, and of course the book can be narrated or read by the user. A Parent’s section plays a video of the Leonard’s talking about their loss, and also links to their foundation. 

Even though the app has only been out a few weeks, it already has thousands of downloads.  The Leonard’s highly successful grocery stores in CT and NY provide them with an in-house publicity department, as well as numerous partnerships with organizations like the YMCA and the CT Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  It was developed by the Allen Group, a very professional group of developers who brought the app in on time and within budget.  The app is great, and pretty much everything went right because the foundation had the resources to get it all right. 

So is there a lesson here for individual authors who want to create a self-help app?  Yes.  One good option to help you develop an app is to align yourself with a foundation or association.  Apps are expensive, and unless they are highly entertaining games, they will not likely make enough money to even cover the development costs.  This type of organization will also have the wherewithal to help market the app, a difficult task for an individual or even a small press. Having your app funded will allow you to offer it for free, and this will certainly help you reach more people with your self-help message. 

In my next post, I’ll talk about an app that teaches social skills to children, and although it is  free, it is designed to be the start of a “conversion funnel” for a paid self-help web site.

Writing A Book Based on Mistakes

There are many types of self-help books, and one of the most appealing books in this genre promises to help people avoid common mistakes.

Who doesn’t want to avoid mistakes? Mistakes cause lots of problems, from simple embarrassment to terrible catastrophes. When I think back on the mistakes I’ve made in my life, I get filled with negative emotions, and a book that would  help me avoid these feelings in the future would certainly be appealing.

However any book that arouses negative emotions in the title can also arouse negative emotions when someone is considering purchasing your book.  While people want to avoid making or repeating mistakes, just thinking about mistakes can be depressing, and depression often leads to inaction—including not buying your book.

One way to make your prospective reader stay focused on your book’s self-help message is to make it clear that mistakes in any given area of life are limited.  A title like “The 12 Biggest Mistakes Women Make in Dating and Love Relationships” by Lyn Kelley is a good example of how a title can help the prospective reader feel that a problem is manageable. The title suggests that the author has determined there are only a dozen really important things to learn to avoid a broken heart.  Not a 100, not even 50, just twelve. The title also implies that the author has some secret knowledge that will help the reader out, and without this knowledge, painful mistakes will be made.

Another good title is “Finding the Right One After Divorce: Avoiding the 13 Common Mistakes People Make in Remarriage” by Edward M. Tauber and Jim Smoke. The title and the subtitle present a double punch in grabbing the prospective reader’s attention.  The title "promises" that the reader will learn how to find a partner after a divorce, and the subtitle makes the promise even better telling the reader that he or she can avoid painful mistakes.  The word “common” also engages the prospective reader, suggesting that mistakes are really likely if you don’t read this book.

Another good title is “Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them,” by Larry Swedroe and RC Balaban. This title makes the prospective reader feel that mistakes are okay, even smart people make them, and that when you read this book you’ll be as smart as the smart people.

Self-help books written to help people avoid mistakes lend themselves to a clear format, which can be both easier to write and easier to read.  The introductory chapter should make the reader feel that it is okay to make mistakes in the specific subject area, everyone does. You might want to draw on some aspect of psychology or human behavior to make the book more authoritative and help the reader understand how and why mistakes are made.

Then, each chapter or section would:

• State a common mistake.
• Provide anecdotes or personal experience to help the reader understand how this specific mistake is made.
• State a solution to the mistake.
• Explain how the solution will avoid future problems and lead to a more positive outcome.

Even as I write, I can think of several books about making mistakes that I would like to read, or maybe even write!  

To App or Not to App

Mobile devices and apps are changing the way we live. It is estimated that 50% of American adults now own a smart phone and most people will download dozens of apps each year. Besides smart phones, apps are used on tablet devices like the iPad and the new generation of e-readers like the Kindle Fire and the Color Nook.

Lots of people I talk to in the helping professions want to create an app. It's exciting to think that your advice, your video, or some exciting digital tool you create, would be as close as a person's pocket or purse. When a person needs help, your app is there.

So what about you? Do you want to create a self-help app?

 Although I’m a big advocate of apps, particularly those that solve address life's everyday problems, it's important to note that creating an app is not a small endeavor. There are three main things to think about before you decide to take this plunge.

The first thing to consider is why you want to create an app.  If your idea is to make a lot of money, I would say to you “don’t quit your day job.” Very few apps make much money.  For example, a developer I know who creates health related apps, recently told me that he considers an app successful if it sells a thousand copies a year. If an app sells for three to five dollars, you can see that is not a lot of revenue considering the cost of development as well as the maintenance of the app to fix bugs or improve functionality.  

But making money isn't the only reason to create an app.  You can use an app to promote a product or service. You can use an app to collect e-mails or Facebook fans. You can use an app as a way to foster goodwill for your practice or your business. The reason you are creating the app is the first thing you have to think about, because this will be a major factor in determining the functionality.

The second consideration is of course the cost of creating an app. The cost of an app can range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the app’s complexity. Assuming your don't have thousands of dollars to spare, one site that can help you in funding your app is www.Appbackr.com. Appbackr is the first crowdfunding marketplace for mobile apps. Developers connect with 'backrs' to help fund, market, and distribute their apps. Backrs make a profit as the app sells in retail app stores.  Some apps are in development when a person seeks money, while others are already developed. 

The third thing to keep in mind is that after you create your app, you still have to tell the world about it. Just like creating a self-help book, your app has to be found among the hundreds of thousands of other apps.  And just like a self-help book, you will have to use a variety of marketing tools, from social media to publicity, to tell the world about your great product.

If you are reading this blog, I will assume that you want to create an app in order to help others. In my next post I’ll review some of my favorite apps that have been designed to help people with various problems, and I'll talk about why they are so useful.  

Top 5 Reasons to Publish a Self-Help Book

1. You want to help lots of people. When you publish a self-help book (or other creative product) you will help hundreds if not thousands of people you will never know. It's a great feeling.

2. You want to get known. If you are in any kind of business, you want people to know about you, and a book is one of the best ways to make this happen.

3. You want a memorable way to introduce yourself.  Keep several books with you at all times. When you meet an important person to your business (or personal life for that matter), give them a signed book. Many authors also print business cards or book marks that show pictures of their book’s cover and also information about you and your business.

4. You want more speaking engagements. Many people make money through lectures and workshops, and a book give much more credibility as an expert.

5. You want a new future. Publishing your book is a great accomplishment, but it is just the beginning. Your book will open many doors for you, both personally and professionally.

Don't Let Self-Criticism Keep You From Writing

“For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.”  -Ernest Hemingway

There is never been a better time to be an writer.  Write a blog, like this one, and thousands of people might see it. Create a book and you can have it published in weeks rather than months. And because of the ever changing landscape of the digital world, you books or creative work can include audio, video, slide shows, and much more. 

But you still have to write your book or other creative product, and this takes a commitment to developing the writing habit.  The vast majority of successful writers work almost every day on their projects, even if it is just for a short period of time. They typically write at the same time each day, working towards a goal of writing a specific number of words.

This is what I hope you will do to and to help you develop the writing habit, I will be posting at least three times week with some of the tips and tricks successful writers use to keep writing.

When you sit down to write today, try and be like Hemingway and simply write the best you can.  Before you write take a deep breath or two and clear your mind of all your negative thoughts. Focus yourself on your writing and don't be distracted by the things you could have done or should have done. Just write down what you want to say with as little self-criticism as possible. Rewriting and editing are different processes and I'll talk about them at a later time. Until your book is written, concentrate on your daily word count and just getting your thoughts out.

As you will hear time and again, lots of people want to write, but writer's actually do it.  So go ahead and write!