Should I start a Blog or Should I create an App?

I have a strong opinion on whether you should start a blog or an app as your next endeavor. I am by no means an expert but I will say your boy doesn’t really have a fear of failing and tries things on a whim.

I have run with the bulls alone, I have gotten scammed before for almost $5000 in a pyramid scheme (of which I got back about $2,000 from the class action lawsuit), I did Amway, I used to have a Christian clothing line, I have made thousands of dollars in the stock market and lost thousands of dollars, I was a real estate agent (well not really, I just tried to sell someone a house lol and thought I could get a commission…I had no idea what I was doing), I invested in Bitcoin when it was under 4K (not as much as I would have liked), I have rental properties, I have been to 50+ countries and all 7 continents, I created a program from scratch to trade foreign currency pairs, I have this travel platform, and also just flipped my first house in Atlanta.

HGTV Here I come lol

I say that to say I have been all over the place!! But with that comes a lot of perspective and experiences, both good and bad. I fail fast so I can learn the lesson and then keep it moving. Again, no expert but here are my thoughts. Don’t do it!!! LOL. Stick to a Blog or something web-based unless you have a really good plan to address the below points I am about to go over. I have even outlined my rationale of why Blogs are a better choice in my post titled 5 reasons everyone should own a Blog. OK so here are my 4 distinct reasons you should NOT develop an App: 1) It is a Steep Learning Curve!! – I have a background in engineering so I can code. I know being able to code apps is definitely a premium skill especially in this market. However, even though I could learn it, it would take so much time to be proficient at it, it wouldn’t be worth the effort. Time is Money. Also, coding has changed quite a lot since I was growing up. Back in the day I remember having a Black Planet Page [before Facebook] where I could do something simple like having a picture scroll from the left to the right of the screen with some basic HTML. Nowadays, with Apps, the learning curve is so much steeper!!! You would have to learn varying combinations of Java (which I know), C, C++, CSS, XML, Objective C (for iOS), PHP, Python, and/or Ruby and this just the start of the list lol. In essence, if you develop an App in today’s market, you will likely have no clue what your developer is doing and will be hoping for the best. You will probably be looking a little bit like this…

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2) Creating An App Cost a Crap Ton!! – Don’t think it is going to be one iteration and then you are going to have the App of your dreams! I am on the 8^th iteration of WeWorkToTravel, my 5^th developer (after I fired the others), and it has been at least 4 years in the making. Also, remember I just have a website and it still cost me thousands upon thousands of dollars. The game is real out here! Unless you have the funds and I mean tens of thousands of dollar, a tried and true developer that is FULL-TIME (not someone that is part-time, trust me) as well as a user experience (UX) guy, I would stay away from app development with a 10 foot pole.

HOPE YOU GOT MONEY TO BLOW!!

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A mobile app survey conducted back in 2015 estimated it cost between “$37,913 and $171,450” to create an app (I am not where close to this range for the development of WeWorkToTravel). Click this Link to fact check me. Also, keep in mind that many blogs have pre-built templates so you can be all in for less than $100..[cough..] just saying. 3) You have to develop and support it for both iOS and Android – Part of what makes app creation doubly hard is that there are two major markets for it, namely iOS and Android. The fact of the matter is that you have to complete two separate development efforts! Also, iOS has there own language Objective C they use to code their apps (good luck!!). So it is already hard enough to get what you want the first time, you have to get it right a second time for another operating system..lol CRAZY!!

In addition, what would you think of a company that had an App but did not have a website? Ludacris, right? So even if you do develop an app you are still going to need a website so why not just start there. Maybe, I’m just lazy and like the path of least resistance. My thought is to spend the least amount of money as possible and if things pop off with your website/blog, you have a good following, sufficient funds, and then go ahead and take that plunge to app development. If not…well you already know what I think. 4) People only use between 5-10 Apps, so making yours one of them is going to be hard – I don’t even really need to spend a lot of time on this one lol because you know it’s true. You use mostly social media apps (i.e. Instagram), the internet, maybe a couple of financials ones, games, some travel related apps, and maybe one or two more you will look at occasionally. But in case I need to prove my point check out this article from Techcrunch which states “Consumers Spend 85% Of Time On Smartphones In Apps, But Only 5 Apps See Heavy Use”. It is going to be heavy lift to get someone to first off download your app and then use it enough for it to be lucrative.

I’m not trying to sh*t on your dreams especially if you already invested some money into creating app. However, I am just a realist who has tried a lot, failed a lot, and wins occasionally and I just want you to be doubly sure you are ready for what you will need to take on for app development. Also, just to add perspective, in order to create WeWorkToTravel it took me thousands of dollars and years to get to this point and I am just building a website that is mobile friendly. Imagine if you try to build two of these (one for android, one for IOS). I haven’t even talked about user experience (UX) design which is just as critical. Your App could be functional but if that UX is not on point, you are more than likely going to have a dudd. So I told you the reasons why you should stay away from App. Again this is my humble opinion unless you really can address my aforementioned points. However, I do think a blog is a much better alternative. Do you agree? Comment below. Also, check out my latest post on 5 reasons I think everyone and their mama should own a blog in the 21st century.

Should I start a Blog or Should I create an App?

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