My Beautiful GoodBarbers... I know it's June, and Christmas is far away, but it's always time for presents. Isn't it? This summer is so full of surprises—Santa really has his work cut out for him :) But for now, let's just focus on today and see what GoodBarber has just released for you.

A lot of GoodBarber users ask us the question: Can I create an app that can be used without Internet? This can be a great asset for people targeting users in locations around the world with little or unreliable internet sources, or just for anybody who knows the struggle of a faulty connection. The answer is yes and no. One of the many wonderful things about native applications as opposed to web apps is their increased accessibility. Without internet, viewing the mobile version of an app in a browser is quite difficult. Native apps have a much better chance of being used in non-internet zones, but there are restrictions that must be kept in mind. We will give you all the info you need to know on your constraints specifically within the GoodBarber platform, and some tricks you can use to get around these limitations in certain cases!  

Today is a great day at GoodBarber!!! We just got back from the MIDEM festival and are ready to present two new, amazing templates to give your apps a little twist.

One of the most popular and useful tools of the platform is the Map section. You can use it to generate geolocated directories containing businesses, products, services, etc. by either creating your own customized map section (if you have the skills!) or utilizing the mCMS option, which is what we focus on in this tutorial.   

With the ongoing development of new technology such as streaming, the music industry has undergone many changes over the past several years. Although it wasn't given much of a chance in the early 2000's, we realize today that it has demonstrated flexibility and creativity to adapt to the new standards, particularly in terms of digitalization and gradual disappearance of physical music media.  The music market consists of participants that differ greatly from one another, with both varying and common needs. Today, I decided to show you how apps are an indispensable part of the music industry's digital evolution. Skeptical? Put yourself in the place of four types of music industry players for a more complete perspective: artists, radio stations, those in charge of events/festivals, and producers.

If you have an Apple Developer account, you should have received an email announcing the release of the new App Analytics available at no additional cost in your iTunes Connect account.  Devices operating with iOS 8 or later will be able to agree to send information on their app usage to Apple, who will generate reports concerning the user engagement, marketing campaigns, and monetization of your app. 

A lot of people don't realize the extent of all they can do with the GoodBarber platform, but we are here to give you some insight into the possibilities. This tutorial will provide some ideas on content organization—if you like the layout and appearance of the GoodBarber News app (check it out if you haven't!) you can create something similar by following this quick guide.   

To advertise or not to advertise? This is a common question that many GoodBarbers have, due to the ongoing debate regarding whether or not the money earned is worth the compromised user experience many believe to occur. There is a definite line between effective and obnoxious when it comes to mobile advertising, but if you can manage to incorporate ads in a tasteful way there is certainly an opportunity for profit, which is apparent in the spike in mobile advertising revenues seen over the past year. The following is a summary of the results and trends seen in the mobile advertising industry intended to guide and help you make advertising a successful part of your strategy.

Convincing someone to buy your product is no easy feat, especially for brand new products that have little to no visibility in the market. If you are currently struggling with this dilemma, fear not—there are many things you can do to increase conversion rate and gain new clients. Today we are offering 6 simple tips for your marketing strategy that will help increase customer conversions and boost your sales according to the most popular theory in the marketing psychology field: Cialdini's Six Principles of Influence. Influence is all about psychology. Through many experimental studies, Robert Cialdini , a highly respected psychologist and psychology/marketing professor, found the 6 principles of influence that have helped many brands to understand the mind and strengthen their strategies according to high-potential sources of influence. Take a look at his findings and consider applying the Cialdini principles of influence to your marketing strategy.

Employee engagement has been a highly talked about topic over the past few years. Enterprises have an increasing need for a solid employee base that fits in with the company culture in order to get the maximum value out of each position and provide end users with an optimal experience. The question of the day is: how can this engagement be brought about, and more importantly, be retained?  I'm going to share with you some of the most important keys to obtaining employee engagement, and even a tool that will allow you to set this up (you guessed it—it's a mobile app!) However this application is an internal one (which means it's not available to the public), that will be used specifically by and for your employees. First it's important to understand what your employees are looking for and how you can best respond to their needs by using a simple app.

Hi GoodBarbers! Today we are going to show you one of the opportunities our platform offers to monetize your app: advertisements. Sell space in your app to advertisers and watch your revenue quickly increase! In addition to being able to create your own ads in your back office, you can also connect your app to a third party advertising service, so you don't have to worry about dealing with advertisers. In this video tutorial, you will learn how to enable the advertisement options in your back office from the Add-Ons store and how to connect those services to your app. To give you a practical example, in the video we show you the process of connecting Admob. However, you'll have the opportunity to implement ads from different services, such as Mobpartner, Swelen or dfp, amongst others. Moreover, GoodBarber allows you to define the platform (Android smartphones, iPad, etc) in which your ads will be displayed, as well as the order of your campaigns.  

GoodBarber has born like a powerful and beautiful CMS system to create native applications. The app market grows every day faster and GoodBarber does it as well. Delivering good content is not enough anymore, you need people interacting with it, spreading your words... Feeling yourself attached to an app is very difficult, but the probability of becoming faithful can increase if the user can have a special and dedicated place for him self inside the app. And so here we are... Less then one month ago I've presented to you the new and very awaited in-app login feature, that enables the app users to create their own profile, with photo and details, and to the app's owner to restrict the app access to the only registered users.  That was our first step into the social apps world and today I'm here to present you the second one. :)

Are you considering m-commerce for your business? Whether you’re not completely sold on the fact that m-commerce is necessary, or you’re unsure on how to go about forming an m-commerce strategy, it’s important to start by understanding this new way to buy. Just like transitioning from a desktop product to mobile is an adjustment, the evolution from e-commerce to m-commerce implies a few changes, to be profitable.

Engagement is an essential part of the customer relation. Years ago, the consumers were simply absorbing advertising but those days are gone. As nowadays the credo is "customer comes first", his behavior has a huge impact on brand reputation. In today's world, a lot of commercial information are displayed, but the time dedicated to purchases is decreasing. Consumers can filter the information they receive, and choose the ones they really want to see. This process brings us to the following observation: if your communication is not attractive, it will not have any impact on your consumers, because they will not even see it. To overcome that obstacle, and give your message a chance to be heard, there are only two words to say: Consumer Engagement.    

You've created your business—now it's time to start your communication strategy! But how can you reach your target without going down the very expensive route of external consulting? Here is what to do. Firstly you should reflect on exactly what it is you are offering (your product or service). Get to realistically know the sector you're working in, without only concentrating strictly on what you offer, and without thinking that your competitors are superior. Then, put yourself in the minds of your clients (before creating your enterprise you probably figured out who your target audience is): What do I think? Am I surprised (positively) by this product?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of this product/service? How would I prefer to buy? To be contacted? From asking yourself these questions you will gather a lot of information that will give you an idea of what the best strategy is for your brand. The possibilities are endless: you can work with SEO, AdWords campaigns, blogs, use an app and taking advantage of push notifications, use a guerilla marketing strategy, send newsletters, concentrate on social networks, create campaigns and competitions on social media, etc. You can improve yourself in many aspects, by using different tools, even open source (and free) and communicate via different channels. Today, I will speak about three strategies that are quite attainable—even with a budget close to nothing. In the long term, they will allow you to increase your internet traffic, gain the loyalty of your community, and simultaneously improve your reputation amongst your prospects and clients. 

Long term customer retention is definitely simpler in some industries than others. Many products and services strategically involve customer exit barriers, such as contractual agreements, high initial costs, fine print, and other ways of locking in the client. In other sectors, (the app marketplace for example, which is often described as competitive and even saturated) this is not quite the case, and some extra work is required to maintain content customers.   Even if your product is unique and of high quality, there will always be a multitude of competitors out there who have superior performance in at least one aspect and are ready to do all they can to capitalize on this and swoop in on your hard-earned customers. When there is no significant obligation or penalty preventing your clients from leaving, what’s stopping them from switching at any given moment? This is where the significance of investing in creating customer loyalty is apparent—neglecting this piece of your strategy can cause a great loss that will be a real struggle to recover from. Here are a few of the most common and detrimental mindsets that are huge drivers in destroying customer loyalty. 

Everyday we face thousands of decisions that can have a major or minor impact on our lives. We choose between products, brands, flavors, smells, landscapes, and even whether or not to take the risk of trying new products. This leads me to some pertinent questions: how is my product distinguished amongst so many similar ones? What are the most important factors for the decision maker? How do people react when facing a decision online? If you want your product to be a top contender in a purchase decision, you need to understand exactly how your consumers make choices online and what you must do to be a part of their choice. Today I'm going to help you understand the thought process of a consumer faced with a decision and what the primary factors are in that decision.   

Our world is quickly moving towards a global village where information is available digitally and people are connected through digital platforms—SMEs, freelancers and other businesses need to digitize themselves to keep up with the current needs and trends. In the beginning of the digital revolution, many CEOs of leading companies were convinced that the shift to a technological world would last only for a short period of time. Nowadays, these people have had to radically change their opinion and accept that if they don't follow the digital trend, their business will be unable to withstand the strong, international competition. No company can afford to ignore the changes caused by digital technology anymore. 

This tutorial will show you the simplicity of the Android generation process, which will allow you to test your native Android app on your phone before submitting it to Google Play. If you opt for the "GoodBarber Takes Care" option, no need to read this article. If not, don't stress—it's not as complicated as it seems. Follow the instructions closely beginning with clicking the "I'll do it myself" option, and your app will be generated in no time. 

The tourism market is very vast and contains a large number of sectors. Travel agencies, hospitality, transportation companies, local businesses, and more. Today we are also seeing new professions emerging, such as travel bloggers (professional or not), playing a considerable role in the tourism industry. We've said it before—we can't emphasize enough the importance of having an app in order to be successful in this sector. You just have to choose the proper tool to create the perfect tourism app. So, why choose GoodBarber?

A typical sequence of events when a company is first created normally begins with establishing the business along with a website, and allowing it time to get on its feet before incorporating supplemental “Add-ons”, such as an application. However, as we’ve said before: apps are no longer an optional, bonus feature, but are rather a must-have for any successful business. Perhaps waiting to create an app isn’t the most strategic choice, and maybe one should even consider it a preemptive step in the entrepreneurial process.  No need to wait around for the physical business to get under way—create the app now and gain traction for later on. 

Yesterday, as you've probably already noticed in your back office, we released our new Add-Ons store. In the Add-Ons store you will find some of our major free, as well as paid features.  Each feature has a detailed description to help you understand how to take full advantage of it and where it can be found in your back office. If you don't see certain connectors or menus anymore in your back office, this is where they went ;) 

Everyone knows that there is an extraordinary bond between children and their parents. It's strong, beautiful, and nothing (or almost nothing) can come between them...well let me tell you, it's also good for business! Why? Simply because if children are too young to be consumers, their parents have no problem doing it for them. And in this case, there are no feelings of guilt. They aren't consuming for themselves, but for the well being of their little ones, and that makes the difference.  The change today comes with the increasing emergence of technology gadgets for children. This market is undoubtedly growing, and the industry is finding more and more ways that represent children in terms of sales opportunities. Parents today are part of the generation that grew up with the Internet and technology, so it is natural for them to use these tools in educating their children. Wearable devices, mobile apps, or connected objects are all innovations that can be adapted to the childhood industry, and that can easily appeal to this new generation of parents due to three fundamental characteristics. 

In May, Google Play will introduce a new content rating system for apps and games that will help consumers with their purchases. The main goal of this new rating system is to improve app engagement by better targeting the appropriate audience. This will be done by evaluating content and respecting each country's internet advertising policies. Since the current Google Play rating scale will be replaced by this new system in May, this rating is mandatory for all developers. Google says that the “Unrated” apps may be blocked in certain territories for specific users. If your app is not rated, Google Play has the right to delete it from the Play Store, so be sure to rate it now. The rating will be calculated based on rules defined by an international organization (IARC), based on informations given to google by the developers about the content of their app.  The International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), born from a global initiative, gives a classification for games and apps, depending on the minimum age requested to use them, according to the territory where they will be sold.   The IARC is composed by different classification institutions, each one corresponding to a different area in the world : - the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) - North America - Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) - Europe -  Australian Classification Board - Australia - Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) - Germany - Classificação Indicativa (ClassInd) - Brazil An app can get different ratings depending on the territory it will be downloaded from. This new way to rate apps will, as Google says, " inform consumers about the age appropriateness of your app, block or filter your content in certain territories or to specific users where legally required, evaluate your app’s eligibility for special developer programs."