How to Leverage the Mobile Tidal Wave for Your Business

By Mark Michuda

http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/9651/1/mobile-tidal-wave-leverage.htm

What you are going to see in mobile for 2011 is TONS of attention from large and small businesses. The reason is clear…there is so much opportunity in this field, and the field itself is wide open. We are pioneers in the wild west right now. It's all very exciting!

The New Buzzword   

According to the research firm IDC, half of all web users will be mobile in 2011. Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley states that smartphone sales are expected to exceed PC/laptop sales as soon as 2012, with more than 650 million unit sales. Clearly, the market is massive, and it just keeps growing. 

However, I am not going to bore you with additional stats here. Instead I’m going to simply point out what matters most to your business -- that almost everyone with money has a cell phone!

Remember the last few years the buzzword was “social media”? Well, the new buzzword is “mobile”.

Emerging Mobile Markets

When looking at mobile, we are not just referring to one defined business opportunity but instead need to consider the vast array of opportunities in the market. Below are just a few of the emerging markets for mobile:

• Mobi Software (apps)
• Mobi PPC (ads)
• Mobi SEO
• Mobi Web Pages
• Text Message Marketing
• Mobile Donations
• Mobi Commerce

If you are in one of these areas right now but just not for mobile--for example, SEO--then it is a very easy transition to the mobile space. So in the example of SEO, become an expert in Mobi SEO if you are a current SEO guru.

However, if you have no experience whatsoever in the mobile space, then explore the following questions for your business with regards to mobile:

• What are you good at?
• What are you passionate about?
• What has high demand?

Stay Focused

You are going to see a lot of marketers hype up mobile in general in 2011, because it is easy to talk about many areas of mobile…but only 2 inches deep.

Please do yourself a favor and select ONLY one area to focus on and get really good at. It will keep you focused, make your business more money, and keep you sharp in that area. It will further help you differentiate your business by being more sophisticated in the mobile space than your competitors.

This is what I did. I saw a huge potential in text message marketing/communications. Text messaging will only grow in popularity, because our society is getting busier with information & communication overload. Too many calls, emails, Facebook updates, etc. To me, it’s a breath of fresh air to have a text message get straight to the point (i.e., dinner sat 8pm @ parents house?). 

And again, I am focusing on just one specific sector of the mobile landscape. With all the hype in the market it's tempting to try to cover the entire landscape, but you'll increase your probability of success by focusing. 

The Global Potential

The greatest opportunity as I see it revolves around text message marketing/communications worldwide. According to Wikipdedia, there are more than 5 billion mobile phones globally (compared to approximately 285 million in the U.S.). Every business, every school, every social group around the world can use this in a million different ways. So that's where I will continue to bet big.

In general, if you are a business owner, you really need to start thinking about a mobile strategy immediately. We are riding a tidal wave of momentum, and you do not want to miss the boat, allowing your competitors to leave you behind. So make 2011 the year that you get going and get mobile!

Provided by StartupNation community member and entrepreneur, Mark Michuda, co-founder of Texthub. Mark is also a tri-athlete and currently resides in Chicago.
Read additional business articles on StartupNation.com.