StephanieQuilao

App.Net: Why This Consumer Would Pay A Subscription for a Twitter-like Social Network

This morning on my run, I saw a peacock, a herd of wild turkeys, and a huge butterfly that hovered alongside me for a bit as I ran. I thought how magical to see these creatures in my average suburban strip-mall neighborhood. Seeing the unexpected reminded to believe particularly in things we think are not likely to happen but just might if we keep hope.

I have been following the Kickstarter-like fundraising of App.net which started a month ago with this post I saw on Techmeme by Founder Dalton Caldwell titled, "Announcing an audacious proposal." In a nutshell, his dream is to build a subscription-based Twitter-like social network where the users and developers come first, not advertisers.

I really admire the gumption of this guy.

Who is going to pay to be on a social network when we have places like Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ for free? Yeah, the ads can be annoying and there is the privacy issues, but as much as people complain, they still use the platforms because it's free and their friends are on it. If you are a personal brand like myself, these free social networks allow us to grow our reach, build influence, and create communities...for free.

Did I mention free?

After 6 years of blogging and building a brand online, I have started to wonder if free really is that good or maybe just has limited good? Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for everything that has happened for me and for others because of these free social networks. But as a consumer, I do wonder sometimes what I am really getting out of these free networks? I am starting to suffer from social network fatigue.

Why I'd open my wallet

What fascinates me about App.net and why I'd be willing to pay to be on a social network is two things.

First, ads don't bother me. It's a small price to get something for free. I will pay though to be part of a quality audience and avoid spam-bots, stalkers, and obnoxious creepy guys. From a woman's perspective, I am concerned more about safety than ads. I also long for more quality interactions. I like Facebook because I can control my inner circle, and yet have the subscription option to share with a general audience. 

From my experience on online dating sites, there is a correlation between paid versus free dating sites. It's not necessarily the quality of people you meet, but the quality of the interaction. When money is involved people behave better. Not always, because there will always be the obnoxious ones in every group, but overall, I have noticed that the quality of behaviour improves when there is a fee involved.

Another simple metaphor would be going to the Four Seasons and paying $15 for a cocktail versus $3 for a well drink at your local hole in the wall bar. The behaviour and ambiance differs depending on how much patrons have to pay, and as well, each serves a certain need. 

If paying means I can be part of a social network filled with cool people who are respectful, inspiring, and fun where the depth of my interactions are also more meaningful, I'm throwing down my credit card. But likewise, I'd still stay on Twitter @skinnyjeans because I do well on that platform.

The second thing that fascinates me about App.Net is from the company side. 

I've been watching the buzz around App.net and it's heartwarming to see the emotion and passion around this audacious proposal. If anything, maybe this audacious proposal is making many of us believe again. We love to see someone fight the good fight, and try and succeed where the skeptics think it will fail. It's fun to be a part of David going up against Goliath.

Dalton sure has been putting himself out there, and reaching out. I'm trying to think of how many founders actually do that, put themselves out there emotionally and passionately to the people? It appears on Twitter and in the App.net Alpha that Dalton is literally answering every single tweet and message sent to him. I bet the guy is running on a pure adrenalin right now and hasn't slept much.

I tweeted Dalton and asked him why women would use App.Net because upon visiting the Alpha it basically looks like a bachelor pad with a bunch of dudes hanging out. For a social network to scale to the mainstream, the women have to get on board. He responded to me, and although he didn't really answer my question, what impressed me was that he said if I didn't back the project at this time, "he understood." 

Empathy!

Empathy is a rare quality I see in this wave of Silicon Valley startup frenzy, and that's what clenched it for me, so I decided to be a backer of this audacious proposal.

We are moving into an empathy driven economy, and the brands, companies, and people who will standout are the ones who are best at capturing the hearts and passions of the people. It won't be about who has the best technology, the most money from prestigious investors, or the fancy pedigrees, it will be about heart and making people feel connected to things that remind them of magic much like the peacock, turkeys, and butterfly I saw on my run this morning.

A social network is about people, and what connects us on a human level is heart and soul. I believe App.net will get funded because it has that specialness. There's two days left on the fundraiser. Go here if you want to be a backer too.

The Un-Conventional Launch of My New Book Back in Skinny Jeans and Mobile App One Mile One Meal

Finally! After 3+ years in the making, my new digital book, Back in Skinny Jeans: How this woman got back into her skinny jeans through tiny acts of healthiness and found inner peace along the way," based on my popular healthy living blog of the same name is out and available for purchase at Amazon for your reading enjoyment, and to help you get back in your skinny jeans. Woo-hoo!

In the book, I share how I dropped 40 pounds and have kept that weight off almost five years, and now live a life of healthiness in my skinny jeans with inner peace. 

I dropped the weight through tiny acts of healthiness based on following the Four Doables each day: one mile, one meal, one feeling, and one day which gave me left-brain flexibility and creativity but some left-brain structure. The Four Doables were also broken into two categories, Awareness and Action, taking care of the inside and the outside.

(that graphic was designed to be pinned on Pinterest, and reblogged on Tumblr so share away!)

To add to the excitement, complementing the book is my mobile app called One Mile One Meal which is a living continuation of the book. Five days a week you get a visual nudge around fitness, food and feelings along with two weekly audio clips of yours truly sharing more healthiness tips.

The One Mile One Meal app is available on iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, and coming next week on Android. I'm thrilled to say that I'm trailblazing as one of the first publishers/authors to launch a book and mobile app on three platforms concurrently!

Back story

I'd like to share some back story on the creation and launch of this book because, well, I think y'all will find it interesting, and perhaps my experience will spark some ideas and inspiration for you as you pursue your own dreams. 

Back in Skinny Jeans the book is not just about weight loss, it's also about putting your life back on Play if you've put your life on Pause waiting for skinny to come.

Why I turned down a book deal and self-published.

One day, I'll share with you a few stories of my attempts to get Back in Skinny Jeans published the traditional way because in hindsight it's quite enlightening and no surprise why that old world of publishing is crumbling under the new digital world.

For now, the reason I am self-publishing Back in Skinny Jeans in particular is because I wanted complete control of the creative process. I'm not opposed to working with a traditional publisher in the future, but for this book because my blog was so personal to me, I wanted to create this book my way in the time frame it needed.

I didn't want to create under a publisher's time frame, but by the time frame of divine creation. Yeah, I just got majorly metaphysical on y'all. Some of you are shaking your head and some of you completely understand what I'm talking about.

There was a story I wanted to tell with this book but I wasn't completely clear on what exactly that story was when I started the book writing process. I didn't want to just slap blog posts together and in my gut, I knew pieces were still missing.

I retired the blog in the summer of 2009, but there were still some life experiences that I needed to go through in order to finish writing this book like a couple relationships, going broke, a move to Phoenix and subsequent move back to California, the beginning of friendships, the ending of friendships, and the creation of my own startup along with the death of my grandparents particularly my grandma Rose who I write about near the end of the book.

The story you get to read now is so much more in depth than the original manuscripts I started out with three years ago. This book is the story I wanted to tell!

Why I'm doing a 90-day exclusive with Amazon and changed my mind about print

No traditional publisher would ever let me sell my book on just one vertical. The goal is to sell as many books as possible so stuff the book in every channel possible. I personally am not the type who is all about hype and flooding the market. My style is more the slow burn and tailoring.

Digital is a whole new ballgame of possibility and during the process of getting the book prepped for the different platforms like Kindle, Nook, and iBooks, and talking to various developers and seeing what's happening in mobile app development, I thought to myself, "Why not design the book for the platform instead of trying to make the platform fit the book?"

So, as a publisher, I'm going to take a risk and experiment.

The book on Amazon is designed for Kindle reading. Kindle can only handle so many photos and limited formatting, and no video. I put Back in Skinny Jeans in the Kindle Direct Program so that those subscribed to Amazon Prime could read the book for free, and I as a publisher still get to make revenue. Amazon is amazing to authors that way.

The only condition with KDP is that I have to give Amazon a 90-day digital exclusive. I'm cool with that because you don't need to have an actual Kindle device to read the book. You just need to download the Kindle reader software for your laptop, iPad, tablet, desktop, or mobile device.

When the 90-days is up. There will be a book version designed for Nook, and one designed for iBooks. With Apple's iBooks software, I can get crazy creative with photos, video, and design.

I've also changed my mind about doign a print version of Back in Skinny Jeans. I strongly believe that digital is the future, but for me to do events in places like book stores, grocery stores, community centers and other venues, I need a physical book. I want my book to be a tool to help people create a life of healthiness and yes look good back in their skinny jeans. As I got closer to launch working on promotions, talks, and demonstrations, I realized that to touch more people, a physical book is more practical than a digital book.

So, a print version of Back in Skinny Jeans will be out by or before December of 2012 right before the big January New Year's weight loss rush. Stay tuned!

And one last note about the publishing schedule, as an independent publisher, I'm not afraid to tell my audience that the book will be coming out on different platforms and in different mediums in fear that it will stall sales because buyers will wait. If you want to wait, please wait. There is no rush to buy.

I believe letting my audience know what's coming will boost sales because you can buy the book in the form you like to read versus what I want you to read in my time frame. See, I'm all about choices, and because I am an independent publisher who does not have to answer to anyone, at least not yet, I have the ability to do selling the way I want.

Why my "Then and Now" photo does not include the traditional bikini shot

Here is me in 2007 next to cake, and here is me in 2012 next to a motorcycle. From Cake to No Cages, a Harley rider's mantra. Now that is my idea of success! 

In the book, I talk about why I don't believe in Before and After. Instead, I'm more about Then and Now. Honestly, I find those typical bikini weight loss photos boring because one, they all look the same, and two it's body-centric versus holistic, and my book is holistic.

Healthiness is not just about having a banging body, but also having emotional and spiritual well-being, and living your life on Play versus Pause. So for my Now photo, I decided to show you a photo of my life on Play instead of me posing in a bikini like I'm a tournament trophy of weight loss success.

The book is the awareness. The app is the action.

One of the reasons mobile apps excite me so much is that they can be used as wonderful complents to books. Reading a weight loss book is great, but what will actually get you back into those skinny jeans is action, the work. 

In Back in Skinny Jeans, you can read about my philosophy about healthy living and expand your awareness, and then the app puts that philosophy into daily action. Weight loss in particular is a great topic for book/app combos.

If you love what I'm doing, my connection to you doesn't end when you're done reading the book. The app will give you the ability to carry me in your pocket or purse literally, so you have aid in those critical moments when you're about to make an unhealthy choice like eat a whole pint of ice cream by yourself.

The beginning

And there you have it. Thank you so much for your time! I hope you enjoy the book and app, and find it useful in your journey to create a life of healthiness back in your skinny jeans! I'm also open to any comments, ideas, and suggestions you may have. Please share!

*****

Buy Back in Skinny Jeans for $4.99 at Amazon.

Buy the One Mile One Meal app for $1.99 on iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, and coming next week on Android.