Promotional contact list?

[Hunnenkoenig]

I don't want to highjack this thread, but:

I hope you are not mad at me :-)

I will expand it to other categories too, but I wanted it out as soon as possible.

I am not as good in PHP that I can scrap appstore info, so the devs have to do their work a bit

I wanted to scrap appstore but I couldn't

I am bit paranoid and there were people, who abused the system in the first few minutes, so I don't want that a dev outtakes his "competitor" by taking all the codes from other games.

The second reason is: It's for promoting your game, not to have fun
Codes are rare and I want the users have fun, not the developers.

Maybe I will change this later.

For other issues related promodispenser, please everybody use our own forum or contact form.

Thanks!

[gshaviv]

Originally Posted by Hunnenkoenig

I don't want to highjack this thread, but:

I hope you are not mad at me :-)

Not at all, I think I even explicitly gave you my permission to do so. I did my idea for the developer community and for myself. It's nice to see other's contribute to the community as well. And it's a the most flattering form of a compliment when someone takes your idea and builds on it.

I will expand it to other categories too, but I wanted it out as soon as possible.

good. I wanted to add an app of mine to beef up your inventory, but I only have non-game apps.

I am not as good in PHP that I can scrap appstore info, so the devs have to do their work a bit

I have a PERL script that does that. Don't mind sharing it if you can make use of it.

I am bit paranoid and there were people, who abused the system in the first few minutes, so I don't want that a dev outtakes his "competitor" by taking all the codes from other games.

But you made a 1 code per 24 hour limitation, so the abuse if any is limited.

The second reason is: It's for promoting your game, not to have fun
Codes are rare and I want the users have fun, not the developers.

Does the developer get notified when a code was given for his app?

Does the site send a reminder to the user to write a review?

For other issues related promodispenser, please everybody use our own forum or contact form.

Thanks!

I continued the questions on this thread cause I think this is of general interest to the community of this forum. I think once promodispenser.com picks momentum it's own forum will be an interesting place as well.

[Hunnenkoenig]

Originally Posted by gshaviv

Not at all, I think I even explicitly gave you my permission to do so. I did my idea for the developer community and for myself. It's nice to see other's contribute to the community as well. And it's a the most flattering form of a compliment when someone takes your idea and builds on it.

Yes you gave me the permisiion, that's why I dared to make the site, but I wanted to be sure :-)

Originally Posted by gshaviv

I wanted to add an app of mine to beef up your inventory, but I only have non-game apps.

EDIT: We updated the system! You can post any app you like, not only games!

Originally Posted by gshaviv

I have a PERL script that does that. Don't mind sharing it if you can make use of it.

I don't know pearl, but if it somehow automatized and you can tell me how to set it up, I would be happy to use it.

Originally Posted by gshaviv

But you made a 1 code per 24 hour limitation, so the abuse if any is limited.

As I said, I am a bit paranoid
The version 2.0 is already in work with better security and all, so maybe I will lift this at a later time.

Originally Posted by gshaviv

Does the developer get notified when a code was given for his app?

The dev can see on his account panel if a code was taken because taken codes showing up on the list red.

Originally Posted by gshaviv

Does the site send a reminder to the user to write a review?

When somebody takes a code, there is a text which tells the user, they should write a review within five days in return and the code will be mailed to the user with the same text.

Originally Posted by gshaviv

I continued the questions on this thread cause I think this is of general interest to the community of this forum. I think once promodispenser.com picks momentum it's own forum will be an interesting place as well.

If the original poster doesn't mind, I am ok with it :-)
But maybe we should follow up rather here: own topic

[andy65]

Originally Posted by jtara

Can anybody point me to a good "promotional contact list"?

That is, a list of the most prominent, influential, widely-read, etc. relevant:

- Magazines (offline/online)
- Editors
- Writers/Columnists
- Bloggers
- Review sites

etc. etc. etc. who cover iPhone apps?

Surely, somebody has collected this. (Now, are they willing to give it away for free, though?)

I'd also be interested in sources of traditional media contacts.

Being new to both iPhone development and Apple, the list doesn't just roll off the top of my head. Heck, other than MacWorld, I couldn't even name one other Mac magazine...

Experience with PR agencies? Cost? Are there "boutique" agencies that deal with iPhone apps? Any good?

I'm really afraid of the idea leaking, though, so I prefer to do the PR myself. I won't do any advance publicity - no embargo is worth the bits it's printed on. I know my app will be duplicated, so it's a matter of maximizing the time it is exclusive.

Should I try to stand-out by mailing some little tchotchka related to the app, or at least making the mailing stand-out. (Yes, I plan on using the "obsolete" postal service. I think it gets more attention than an email.) Anyone have any experience with this? I get the idea that bloggers love tchotchkas. But are traditional journalists insulted by them? (I should stress that if I do this, it will be a low-value tchotchka - I won't be bribing anyone with an iPhone pre-loaded with my app, or some-such. That is likely to get coverage, but the wrong kind...)

Sending it through postal is a unique idea, I guess it's worth trying. But, I think you can never go wrong with anything that's online. Aside from it's accessible to target audience, it will be easy to link up to your apps. You can also try tips from this site: 6 Tips to Optimize iTunes App Store Search (iTunes SEO) , it helped me a lot.

[doogog]

I'd like to add a couple to the list:

1. Jay is Games is a great place to submit your promotional releases to, also.

The site has a huge following of casual gamers, mostly Flash, but they've recently started covering mobile games.

2. TUAW -- The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Pretty big Apple coverage site.