JamaicanJokes.com is the Caribbean’s most successful Facebook application to date and I judge success here by virtue of the fact that it’s creator Internet pioneer and entrepreneur Sandor Panton got it developed, marketed it and now has over 40,000 daily users of the app and did this in a period of nine months. The app was launched on December 4, 2007.
I asked him two short How I did it questions
SC: What made JamaicanJokes.com Facebook App successful ?
SP:… a couple things:
1) I marketed it through Facebook itself … created a “profile” for Jamaican Jokes and used it to basically help create buzz about the app … added people as friends .. invited them to use the app … .
2) I marketed it through JamaicanJokes.Com’s mailing list of three thousand… mentioned it in newsletter mailings. NB. Jamaicanjokes.com the site has existed since 2003 before the application for it was launched and on the site is a subscribe-to-our newsletter invitation which a number of people signed up for by submitting their email addresses. This mailing list are valuable because subscribes choose to join, they give you permission to remain in contact with them, there is no spamming and hoping that someone will come to your site.
3) It marketed itself on Facebook after a while.. it went viral, meaning, people get notified about what their friends are up to on Facebook … so when someone adds the app, others see that … some will wonder what it is and check it out themselves … and on the cycle goes.
SC: How have you monetized it?
SP: Well, Facebook allows you to put ads on the app page, and I’ve put my Google ads on there, which makes some pennies per day 🙂
The main value of the app to me though, is the traffic that it actually generates for JamaicanJokes.Com the site itself. Facebook is the single biggest source of incoming traffic to jamaicanjokes.com. NB This traffic can then be converted into cash when site visitors go there, click on more Google ads or on affiliate marketing ads that are positioned on the site.
Let’s talk Caribbean Facebook apps.
We had previously reported on Caribbean Facebook apps, but as of this week the count is now four- the latest one to toss their sombrero into the ring is Caribbean Connection from the Caribbeanaxis.com, the flagship Yahoo like portal from the TrinJam power posse at CaribbeanIdeas.com. This app is the most elaborate of the ones out there right now. The app pulls the top stories from its news, professional and lifestyle sections of its site and adds a large lexicon of Caribbean terms and slangs, a trivia section to test your knowledge of the region and of course a tab to invite your friends to join in and take the Trivia challenge. I’m now listed as an Executive level with 1645 points, no real challengers for me yet. Bring it on baby!
Idletribes.com Facebook App JamaicaSayings
And while idletribes.com’s app maybe eating a little dust right now, don’t count it out, the site itself has 21,000 members and has some next level shit coming. Idletribes.com a caribbean social community owned by web entrepreneur Jamie Ranston, has launched JamaicanSayings a facebook app that teaches you how to speak Jamaican through the use of popularwords and phrases. jamaicanSayings is the second facebook ap
The very first Caribbean Facebook App was Trinidadian
The very first Caribbean app was by a bunch of Trinis, lawks dem first di Jamaicans dem. This app however was seasonal. Simply Intense Media had created VoteTnT, a virtual facebook election for the November ‘07 Trinidad elections. You could add the application to cast your vote for the Government of Trinidad & Tobago. It tracked the votes,gathered them everyday to display on your Facebook profile. It was added over 2000 times and has over 1000 votes cast to date, according to the report on Allyuh.com. With only four Caribbean facebook apps out there, we’re hoping for more out the door this year.