Should Jaiku sell mobile phones? Hell yes!
I just claimed my Jaiku profile on Technorati and as I did so I got thinking about the comment which Mika Raento (of Jaiku) left on my blog earlier today.
I had confused an advert on the Jaiku site as being for a mobile phone when it was actually for Jaiku’s client software which allows (Nokia) phones to connect to the Jaiku service.
The original comment is here, but in the last line Mika asked:
Why would we advertise phones?
The answer should be obvious. You guys have a software client which allows a large variety of Nokia phones (list of supported phones) to interact with the Jaiku service, update your presence and post Jaiku’s.
I would be looking to strike a deal with Nokia to sell handsets from the Jaiku site.
The phones should be preloaded with the Jaiku client and you guys should be getting a good percentage of the cash for each sale.
Not only that, but I see that you guys have a Java version of the client in private beta!
I don’t know if you are or not, but if I were in your shoes I’d be out pimping this client to mobile network operators and demanding a percentage of the profit earned from data being sent through the network as a result of people using the Jaiku service.
It would be a win-win situation for all involved. Nokia and the network operators get handed another reason for people to choose their phones or their network. Plus they get increased revenue from increased data usage.
You guys get exposure and a percentage of the profit generated from data transfer in return.
That’s what I call a win-win situation, and it is one major advantage that Jaiku has over Twitter.
Without an actual mobile client Twitter is forced to rely on revenue generated from advertising (which they currently lack) and attempting to cut deals on SMS usage. I also believe that at this stage it would be to late for Twitter to change its system so that they could use a client.
Still, it’s the simplicity of Twitter that I love and the fact that I can use it with any old mobile because it only requires SMS.
Yet Jaiku’s mobile client, if marketed properly could provide the features and users necessary to put Jaiku ahead of Twitter in the public consciousness.
