Today – and today only – a special sale aims to raise money for charity: water by donating the proceeds from the sale of several apps to the non-profit organization. Apps for Water is a special fundraiser sponsored by Gaucho Software, a developer of Mac and iOS apps. Today only all proceeds from sales of the apps go to charity: water. The sale includes nearly 220 apps from dozens of developers. The apps come in all shapes and sizes and span Apple’s platforms – there are Mac apps and iPhone apps and iPad apps. They range in price from $0.99 to $63.99.

Do some good with your app purchases today, and tell us about it in the comments.

Lex Friedman, of Macworld.com, wrote a humorous piece about how his baby woke him up in time to place his iPad 2 order, “After the 4 a.m. (Eastern) diaper change that he demanded early Friday morning, I fired up my laptop to place my online order—mere minutes after Apple began accepting such online requests.” he concludes the story, “As my bleary, sleep-deprived eyes studied the online Apple Store’s iPad selection screen, I saw that it was indicating iPads would begin shipping in 3 to 5 business days.”

There’s bound to be all sorts of crazy yarns to pile up as the iPad 2 goes on sale later today. WebProNews has already reported of a gentleman who was willing to pay $900 for a place in line, along with the added cost of actually buying the device.

At least with the online purchase, you know what you’re getting into. It might not be pleasing to wait 2-3 weeks, or have to wake up at 4 a.m. but it sure beats the onslaught of what is bound to happen at 5 p.m.

Global mobile apps will be worth $17.5 billion by 2012, according to an independent report commissioned by app store GetJar. Mobile app downloads across all types of handset are also expected to increase from over 7 billion downloads in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012 – a year on year growth rate of 92%. 

This would mean that the value of apps sold would be greater than the projected $13.83 billion value of CDs sold in 2012.

Comments

You see it’s like this. We live in a world where everyone LOVES to talk and write about social media. They talk about how cool it is. They talk about the fun people they meet and have “relationships” with. They then tell you that it is the coolest thing in the world to have so many friends and to be so popular. Isn’t that great?!

Sure I guess but I rarely hear about any of the chumminess turning into business. I’m sure it happens but to what degree I don’t know. Check this story out though because it results in …….. a sale! Please excuse the vague references to the client. I swear this really happened. You can trust me. Remember, I’m Frank .

It goes like this. A start-up company is trying to figure out how to get momentum on the sales side. They have created a great product that solves real world problems for organizations. If you want the details please let me know and I would be glad to tell you. Anyway, they decide to old school the sales efforts. Phone calls from lists and trade shows are given a shot. They start their SEO efforts but they want business now to help them look more attractive to the investment community.

At that point they decide to use Twitter. Using tools like Twollo and Power Twitter they find people who have similar interests and needs that their product can meet. They come across an industry blogger who does a review of their great product which leads to inquiries that ends in a ……drum roll please …… SALE!

What didn’t happen were cheap automated pitches or direct “Hi, how are you? I sell this. How many do you want?” Nope. They just found people of like mind, discovered their needs and helped them solve their problem. Now there is a renewed excitement about their sales efforts. There is also the realization that there are people out there looking for their solution that aren’t on a list and actually want to talk with people. It works. Try it.

FT Takeaway – Twitter and other social media should be considered revenue generating tools. Relationships are nice but can they pay your bills? You must be in it in a genuine way and you must look to solve people’s problems. That’s when it works. If you are a phony you will be found out so save us all the hassle and go make a cold call.

Comments

This restaurant happens to be a short drive away from the lead-lined writing room at WebProNews HQ. Portabella’s Italian Oven & Grill is in a well-trafficked area, but the little shopping center where it is located has minimal parking, a real negative for a sit-down dinner place.

The Lexington Herald-Leader said Patrick Kelly opted for eBay and Craigslist instead of more conventional ways to part with Portabella’s for several reasons: familiarity with those services and a desire to sell quickly. His asking price is $65,000.

Kelly’s Craigslist post is somewhat bland: “Restaurant for Sale – $65000. 5000 square foot, full service restaurant for sale. Turn key, operate as is or change concept. contact owner asap for details.” No mention of Portabella’s by name; SEO professionals would find this surprising.

Our efforts to find the listing on eBay turned up nothing. Though we could have overlooked it in the Businesses For Sale category, we would be surprised to find it elsewhere on eBay.

A need for a quick exit makes the Internet an appealing choice for finding a buyer. Through the use of Craigslist, all it cost Kelly was time to create his virtual listing.

While we can admire his economy of choice and of his phrasing, selling a business seems to us the kind of endeavor that merits a little more marketing on the owner’s part. Telling a newspaper reporter that business essentially stunk at the location isn’t what we call a selling point, though we give him credit for honesty.

Our two cents: whoever takes a chance on the location needs to focus on a quick service, in and out concept that keeps the parking spaces open. Good luck to whoever gives it a shot.