2010 Mobile Apps

Mobile apps have made a spectacular rise in 2010. Mobclix has a post of IDC's predicitions for Mobile Apps in 2011.

Here are the highlights:

1. In-App Purchasing, Enabling a New Economy
2. Apps aren't a One Trick Pony
3. It Pays to be Pushy
4. Apps Are Everywhere

According to this study 3 out of 5 people use an app before they will go to the web for search.

Also, amazing to me, the average smartphone user spends 2.8 hours a day using apps.

We all need to be thinking not if we need a mobile app, but what that app is going to do.

2010 - the Year of Mobile

Great video on 2010 as the year of mobile...

How We Use Cell Phones

Interesting look at cell phone use. Three out of ten in U.S. used them in 1999. Nine of ten in U.S. use them today. Click on image to see larger view.

Our Latest Development Project

Sometime in Dec of 2010 we will be releasing our first mobile app.

Here is an idea of the benefits we think it will provide you.



After the first release we will be adding functions such as claims reporting, request a change, self service Proof of Auto Liability Insurance and self service Certificates of Insurance.

These functions are all for you to provide to your customers and prospects. 

Still later we will be releasing an app for our Cap Dat ACORD users to manage and work with their Cap Dat ACORD accounts.

The world is changing and it is going to be a great year.

Introducing SehMobile

I am really thrilled to announce a new product line we are in the advanced stages of development on.

SehMobile is our soon to be family of Mobile Apps for the general insurance agent and as an additional front end to our Cap Dat ACORD and SehHey online services.

The way we communicate with customers has changed dramatically. Your Internet presence is more than your web site.

We will do our best to provide you with the tools you need to extend your contact and communication with your customers to devices of their choosing.

The business with the most choices wins.

Engine on a Horse

In Larry Kramer's new book C-Scape , Larry relates how he was once asked "If you put an engine on a horse do you have a car.

This is his analogy for taking your existing business model and trying to do exactly the same thing on the Internet.

The point is having a web site that doesn't provide the interaction or services that your customers expect will not work. You need to create a strategy before you deploy technology.

I couldn't agree more.

I think the best way to figure out your strategy is to ask yourself "What business am I really in?"

You may think this is obvious, but there is a very long history of businesses that thought their answer was obvious but were absolutely wrong.

Railroads thought they were providing railroads but their customers were buying transportation. Landline phone companies thought they were providing phones but their customers were buying voice communications.

So what business are your really in? Maybe you should ask your customers what they are actually buying.

iPad Growth - Fastest Adoption Ever

ReadWriteWeb has an very interesting post on the speed at which the iPad is being adopted.

I have taught two Insurance Agency Internet BootCamp's with the brillant Steve Anderson in the past two weeks, and I was stunned to see multiple iPads used instead of laptops at each event.

Here is the killer quote from the report for me...

"At this rate, the iPad is poised to become the fourth largest consumer electronics category, passing up gaming hardware and the cellphone. Televisions, smart phones, and notebook PCs are currently the largest categories"

I will actually be surprised if most business folks have not made this switch - not to the iPad, but to tablets in general - by this time next year.