Hi GoodBarbers! Today we are going to show you one of the opportunities our platform offers to monetize your app: advertisements. Sell space in your app to advertisers and watch your revenue quickly increase! In addition to being able to create your own ads in your back office, you can also connect your app to a third party advertising service, so you don't have to worry about dealing with advertisers. In this video tutorial, you will learn how to enable the advertisement options in your back office from the Add-Ons store and how to connect those services to your app. To give you a practical example, in the video we show you the process of connecting Admob. However, you'll have the opportunity to implement ads from different services, such as Mobpartner, Swelen or dfp, amongst others. Moreover, GoodBarber allows you to define the platform (Android smartphones, iPad, etc) in which your ads will be displayed, as well as the order of your campaigns.  

GoodBarber has born like a powerful and beautiful CMS system to create native applications. The app market grows every day faster and GoodBarber does it as well. Delivering good content is not enough anymore, you need people interacting with it, spreading your words... Feeling yourself attached to an app is very difficult, but the probability of becoming faithful can increase if the user can have a special and dedicated place for him self inside the app. And so here we are... Less then one month ago I've presented to you the new and very awaited in-app login feature, that enables the app users to create their own profile, with photo and details, and to the app's owner to restrict the app access to the only registered users.  That was our first step into the social apps world and today I'm here to present you the second one. :)

Are you considering m-commerce for your business? Whether you’re not completely sold on the fact that m-commerce is necessary, or you’re unsure on how to go about forming an m-commerce strategy, it’s important to start by understanding this new way to buy. Just like transitioning from a desktop product to mobile is an adjustment, the evolution from e-commerce to m-commerce implies a few changes, to be profitable.

Engagement is an essential part of the customer relation. Years ago, the consumers were simply absorbing advertising but those days are gone. As nowadays the credo is "customer comes first", his behavior has a huge impact on brand reputation. In today's world, a lot of commercial information are displayed, but the time dedicated to purchases is decreasing. Consumers can filter the information they receive, and choose the ones they really want to see. This process brings us to the following observation: if your communication is not attractive, it will not have any impact on your consumers, because they will not even see it. To overcome that obstacle, and give your message a chance to be heard, there are only two words to say: Consumer Engagement.    

You've created your business—now it's time to start your communication strategy! But how can you reach your target without going down the very expensive route of external consulting? Here is what to do. Firstly you should reflect on exactly what it is you are offering (your product or service). Get to realistically know the sector you're working in, without only concentrating strictly on what you offer, and without thinking that your competitors are superior. Then, put yourself in the minds of your clients (before creating your enterprise you probably figured out who your target audience is): What do I think? Am I surprised (positively) by this product?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of this product/service? How would I prefer to buy? To be contacted? From asking yourself these questions you will gather a lot of information that will give you an idea of what the best strategy is for your brand. The possibilities are endless: you can work with SEO, AdWords campaigns, blogs, use an app and taking advantage of push notifications, use a guerilla marketing strategy, send newsletters, concentrate on social networks, create campaigns and competitions on social media, etc. You can improve yourself in many aspects, by using different tools, even open source (and free) and communicate via different channels. Today, I will speak about three strategies that are quite attainable—even with a budget close to nothing. In the long term, they will allow you to increase your internet traffic, gain the loyalty of your community, and simultaneously improve your reputation amongst your prospects and clients. 

Long term customer retention is definitely simpler in some industries than others. Many products and services strategically involve customer exit barriers, such as contractual agreements, high initial costs, fine print, and other ways of locking in the client. In other sectors, (the app marketplace for example, which is often described as competitive and even saturated) this is not quite the case, and some extra work is required to maintain content customers.   Even if your product is unique and of high quality, there will always be a multitude of competitors out there who have superior performance in at least one aspect and are ready to do all they can to capitalize on this and swoop in on your hard-earned customers. When there is no significant obligation or penalty preventing your clients from leaving, what’s stopping them from switching at any given moment? This is where the significance of investing in creating customer loyalty is apparent—neglecting this piece of your strategy can cause a great loss that will be a real struggle to recover from. Here are a few of the most common and detrimental mindsets that are huge drivers in destroying customer loyalty. 

Everyday we face thousands of decisions that can have a major or minor impact on our lives. We choose between products, brands, flavors, smells, landscapes, and even whether or not to take the risk of trying new products. This leads me to some pertinent questions: how is my product distinguished amongst so many similar ones? What are the most important factors for the decision maker? How do people react when facing a decision online? If you want your product to be a top contender in a purchase decision, you need to understand exactly how your consumers make choices online and what you must do to be a part of their choice. Today I'm going to help you understand the thought process of a consumer faced with a decision and what the primary factors are in that decision.   

Our world is quickly moving towards a global village where information is available digitally and people are connected through digital platforms—SMEs, freelancers and other businesses need to digitize themselves to keep up with the current needs and trends. In the beginning of the digital revolution, many CEOs of leading companies were convinced that the shift to a technological world would last only for a short period of time. Nowadays, these people have had to radically change their opinion and accept that if they don't follow the digital trend, their business will be unable to withstand the strong, international competition. No company can afford to ignore the changes caused by digital technology anymore. 

This tutorial will show you the simplicity of the Android generation process, which will allow you to test your native Android app on your phone before submitting it to Google Play. If you opt for the "GoodBarber Takes Care" option, no need to read this article. If not, don't stress—it's not as complicated as it seems. Follow the instructions closely beginning with clicking the "I'll do it myself" option, and your app will be generated in no time. 

Our new User Authentication feature is the first step to make your app more social. From now on your app will represent not only your voice and ideas, but those of your users as well. In the new Add-Ons store you can see it alongside two other new social features, Community and User Groups. But today we'll focus on Authentication, with the Login and Profile page. 

The tourism market is very vast and contains a large number of sectors. Travel agencies, hospitality, transportation companies, local businesses, and more. Today we are also seeing new professions emerging, such as travel bloggers (professional or not), playing a considerable role in the tourism industry. We've said it before—we can't emphasize enough the importance of having an app in order to be successful in this sector. You just have to choose the proper tool to create the perfect tourism app. So, why choose GoodBarber?

A typical sequence of events when a company is first created normally begins with establishing the business along with a website, and allowing it time to get on its feet before incorporating supplemental “Add-ons”, such as an application. However, as we’ve said before: apps are no longer an optional, bonus feature, but are rather a must-have for any successful business. Perhaps waiting to create an app isn’t the most strategic choice, and maybe one should even consider it a preemptive step in the entrepreneurial process.  No need to wait around for the physical business to get under way—create the app now and gain traction for later on. 

Yesterday, as you've probably already noticed in your back office, we released our new Add-Ons store. In the Add-Ons store you will find some of our major free, as well as paid features.  Each feature has a detailed description to help you understand how to take full advantage of it and where it can be found in your back office. If you don't see certain connectors or menus anymore in your back office, this is where they went ;) 

Everyone knows that there is an extraordinary bond between children and their parents. It's strong, beautiful, and nothing (or almost nothing) can come between them...well let me tell you, it's also good for business! Why? Simply because if children are too young to be consumers, their parents have no problem doing it for them. And in this case, there are no feelings of guilt. They aren't consuming for themselves, but for the well being of their little ones, and that makes the difference.  The change today comes with the increasing emergence of technology gadgets for children. This market is undoubtedly growing, and the industry is finding more and more ways that represent children in terms of sales opportunities. Parents today are part of the generation that grew up with the Internet and technology, so it is natural for them to use these tools in educating their children. Wearable devices, mobile apps, or connected objects are all innovations that can be adapted to the childhood industry, and that can easily appeal to this new generation of parents due to three fundamental characteristics. 

In May, Google Play will introduce a new content rating system for apps and games that will help consumers with their purchases. The main goal of this new rating system is to improve app engagement by better targeting the appropriate audience. This will be done by evaluating content and respecting each country's internet advertising policies. Since the current Google Play rating scale will be replaced by this new system in May, this rating is mandatory for all developers. Google says that the “Unrated” apps may be blocked in certain territories for specific users. If your app is not rated, Google Play has the right to delete it from the Play Store, so be sure to rate it now. The rating will be calculated based on rules defined by an international organization (IARC), based on informations given to google by the developers about the content of their app.  The International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), born from a global initiative, gives a classification for games and apps, depending on the minimum age requested to use them, according to the territory where they will be sold.   The IARC is composed by different classification institutions, each one corresponding to a different area in the world : - the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) - North America - Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) - Europe -  Australian Classification Board - Australia - Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) - Germany - Classificação Indicativa (ClassInd) - Brazil An app can get different ratings depending on the territory it will be downloaded from. This new way to rate apps will, as Google says, " inform consumers about the age appropriateness of your app, block or filter your content in certain territories or to specific users where legally required, evaluate your app’s eligibility for special developer programs."

The remains of the first toys date date back over 2,000 years and include many indications of hide and seek and ring around the rosie. But it was not until the 17th century that the first studies were done proving the importance of play in the learning and developmental process of a child. J. Goldsteins declared that "the game is the prism through which children experience their world and the world of others".  Playing is a vital part of a child's health, as it generates positive emotions. As an only child with no cousins nearby, my childhood required a little imagination and creativity. My bunk bed became my dream home, my lamp was my friend the owl, I mixed magic potions to defend myself from monsters, all with a princess braid in my hair. 

In honor of the recent buzz over wearable devices, it seems like the perfect time to delve into this topic. “Wearable Device” is a term that gets thrown around quite often, but until just recently, it’s been more of a figment of the future. There have been some attempts here and there, and we often hear all about cutting edge gear that’s on the brink of becoming huge, but whether or not wearable devices are on their way to becoming integrated parts of our lives in the way that smartphones have is something worth wondering about. Up until now, the two most well-known wearable devices have been the Google Glass and the FitBit, and I think it’s safe to say that one has been more successful than the other. While the FitBit can be seen sporadically amongst groups of everyday people, I cannot think of one single person I know who has been audacious enough to sport the Google Glass. Why has everyone shied away from such an impressively capable product created by a company that we all know and trust? I think Google really missed the mark in terms of relatability—it seems to have taken the futuristic concept and run with it, forgetting that its customers are humans, not wealthy robots. The term “Glasshole ” became popular for a reason—it’s not easy to wear this device without emitting a pretentious, Inspector Gadget aura that makes one unapproachable at best.

Mobile devices have been seen as the bad guy in schools for quite some time now, and administration has fought long and hard to stop kids from bringing their beloved smartphones to class (I definitely endured a gloomy detention or two back in the day for texting during Calc). I think we can all agree that mobile devices can certainly play a negative role in school (they can be a major distraction, facilitate bullying/other inappropriate behaviors, the list goes on..), but the reality is that they are not going anywhere. Diane Barry, an 8th grade Spanish teacher describes prohibiting kids from using their phones as “an uphill battle that can never be won, but if kids can put aside their desire to text, check e-mail, and watch Netflix, mobile devices can be a great tool for everyone”. This is perhaps indicative of the fact that it’s time to start embracing smartphones and tablets in school and explore what kind of benefits they can offer in this previously controversial setting. The spread of technology is only going to increase, especially amongst youth, so if you can’t beat them, join them.

It's here: the new and improved version of your back office, GoodBarber 3.5! Our team of developers has put itself into the mindset of a GoodBarber user and spent a lot of time exploring the platform in search of ways it can be simplified and made more enjoyable. We think the result is pretty great!  Lesia Pietri, head of the project, describes 3.5: “The goal of 3.5 is to give users a straightforward, guided path to the creation of their apps through clearer steps and updated tools. With creating the most Beautiful Apps always being our objective, we are now offering the Unsplash photo feature—something that emulates the definition of beautiful design”.   

The Form section is a great interaction tool to add to your app. As its name indicates, this section enables you to add one or more forms into your app. The form section was designed to allow you to create all types of forms that could be needed in an app, for example: registrations, questionnaires, reservations, etc.  In this article, I will explain how to set up a form in your app. 

Hello GoodBarbers, I'm Giacomo, I'm a strategic planner, and I work with a kind of unusual colleague: a chimpanzee that orbits in "digital" communication space. That is why my business is called Space Chimp Design  and it was founded with the purpose of transmitting a fundamental principle for me: There are no impossible projects (as it would have been impossible for a chimpanzee to be in space before 1961), the important thing is to always think that they are "#StrategicallyPossible".

Has your app been in poor health lately? Low percentage of downloads? Less traffic than before? No reviews in the stores? Perhaps your app has a weak immune system and could have a nasty case of “Lack of optimization”.

Mobile applications have experienced huge growth over the past few years. There have not only been lots of new features to improve user experience on mobile, but new and great design ideas that catch our attention with their amazing effects have been implemented as well. Everyone has their own favorite mobile effects, and now it's time to discover some of the favorites of the members of our Beautiful GoodBarber Crew.  

2015 is officially here and so are the new innovations and trends to follow. We already have an idea of the major design trends for the Web, but what about for apps? I will turn it to Lesia, our expert artistic director, who is nice enough to share the best advice out there with us on creating a Beautiful App design that is on point style-wise.