The Mobile Web Gold Mine

In my previous post I was referring to a medium which is growing at a phenomenal rate yet has very little barriers to entry and is probably sitting at where the Internet would have been 9-10 years ago. I’m referring to mobile. Entrepreneurs are still shying away from using mobile as an e-commerce tool however this is starting to change with the introduction of the iPhone as well as advancements in PDA style phones, Blackberry’s and most recently Google Android. These advancements have also extended through to “normal” phones with screen resolutions of 128×128 through to 240×320.

Technation released figures stating growth of 23% in 2007 and 30% in 2008. VKI studios talks about Nielsen report data stating that mobile growth has occurred 8x faster than PC Internet growth! More? Well the CNN mobile site now receives 30 million monthly page views compared to 2.7million when it launched in June! Take a look at a company such as Admob. Admob is the leading mobile advertising agency providing a service similar to Google Adsense (and Mobile Adsense of course!) however targeted to mobile phones. To date Admob has served over 70 billion mobile ads and has only been serving since 2006. As of the other day the company launched an iPhone download exchange supporting iPhone developments.  This is a mega dollar infrastructure supported by companies who understand the importance of mobile. This is not a stagnate or even a steadily growing market. This is growth at a tremendous rate. What this outlines is proof that plenty of people are browsing the net using their mobile and where there is an abundance of traffic then there is a requirement for good content to service this traffic. This is content that you can profit from through delivering great value and meeting a demand.

I think the reason behind people not flocking to mobile is the misconception that mobile sites look terrible and functionality is limited. Yes, you cannot serve funky flash banners, frames and complex coding through all mobile browsers (some do allow it.. and this is also growing) but why is this a bad thing? What this means is that you have limited options in order to get the most out of your mobile website. In the online PC world there are practically no restrictions with what you can do so your left with a world to choose from with your budget deciding your next move. You don’t really have this problem with mobile and this is great news for the entrepreneur who wants to start with very little. You create a functional, mobile friendly site which incorporates a good user interface and design and you are already at the top of the game!

Do they look that bad? No, I don’t think they do. If you have a look at your mobile providers main mobile page (ie Vodafone Live ),it’s not your usual html text style site. There are colours, pictures, banners and a decent user interface. However unlike developing for the PC world, it’s not really that complex. It doesn’t need to be and frankly it can’t be. Currently a mobile site is great if you include images, clean style and has clear functions. This means that with very little outlay you can immediately start competing with the big boys! This will obviously change over time but the key is to get in first, develop a solid customer base and grow from there. To single yourself out from the traditional boring mobile sites takes only a little effort but the rewards are well worth it as along with the PC world, to be successful you  need to create the perception of being an industry leader, a forerunner and an expert in order to be a success.

People are yet to provide great content specifically for mobile. I am a motor sport fan and currently there is only 1 decent F1 site dedicated to mobile. One. Do a PC web search and there are hundreds! On top of this their service can be greatly improved, its only scraping the surface. Imagine how many people are needing your expertise via their mobile? Yet no one is there to provide. First mover advantages are in abundance in the mobile world where the traditional web really only has room for ‘me too’s’ with a few exceptions (don’t ask me what these exceptions are because if I knew I would be on to them!).

I can only see this growth continue to escalate. Mobile phone advancements are rapid but most importantly, network operators are also understanding the importance of web browsing via mobile through to provision of data caps and data packages to support mobile web browsing. Only a year ago browsing the net via your mobile was extraordinarily expensive while now, its often included in your package. This alone is testament to the phenomenal growth of mobile.

I currently have a few projects on mobile and am looking at setting up a mobile business course over the coming months to help people get the most out of mobile. I will also be going over a few of my current projects as well as a new one I will be starting shortly. What I will do is cover the process of creating the mobile site, marketing the site as well as it’s progress including traffic and revenue details. I’ll be candid and open so I appreciate any feedback or advice you may wish to give.

I recommend you jump on your mobile, open your browser and do a search for your area of expertise. You’ll be surprised at the opportunities that are still available, especially with such a large and growing user base. The best time to find your second business opportunity is while your still working on your first one.