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Ask HN: How to monetize for an extremely niche market?

6 points by ceeK ↗ HN
I am currently near the end of creating an iOS application that focuses on making it easier for students at my University to check the bus timetable. The timetable is only available either at the bus stops, or online as a difficult to read PDF document. Most bus stops aren't even covered, but my application estimates them from distance and time measurements. Furthermore I've pinned down every bus stop on the route by parsing OpenStreetMap. These bus stops are not available anywhere else (and especially not with any times associated with them).

Some screenshots are available here: https://i.freeih.com/7278/iphone_screenshot.png https://i.freeih.com/7279/iphone_screenshot_3.png

How would you go about monetizing such an application, if at all possible? Obviously, it will never make much, but pocket money would be pretty awesome, no one has paid me for my apps before.

My ideas: - Fully free app with ads. The ads would come from reaching out to local student centric businesses (student lettings agencies, pubs, bars, clubs etc) and possibly including student offers via the app. - Free basic version with iOS ads, pro version without ads + added features such as reminders

I wish to pursue the first idea as it sounds interesting to go and talk to these businesses and see what they think. Any advice?

15 comments

[ 5.4 ms ] story [ 40.6 ms ] thread
bradleyjg
Look into getting a grant from a student organization or university department?
ceeK
Hadn't thought of that. Will give it a look though I suppose I'm attempting to monetize more for the experience of it rather than the actual funds.
kabab
I accidentally copied and pasted the two URLs together (I didnt realize there were to URLs). It loaded a handgun, weird. "https://i.freeih.com/7278/iphone_screenshot.png https://i.freeih.com/7279/iphone_screenshot_3.png"
ceeK
Strange, the website I use was created my a member of HN, I'm wondering what's happening to have that specific string result in a lookup of that image.
jlengrand
Oh man, I am in the VERY same situation as You! (for ref :https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.lengrand.br...) I am thinking about starting to add ads too this very morning :).

Definitely bookmarking this!

ceeK
Ha! It's almost as if there should be an all in one service for university buses. What type of ads are you placing in? Generic ads or student specific? I fear if I placed iAds in my application, the fill rate would be incredibly poor.
jlengrand
Yeah, That's also the conclusion I came to. I am currently searching whether the service could not be generalized. I am not placing ads yet, but was thinking about having one ad displayed instead of a spinner during the schedule search. That would make a 100% fill rate for 3/4 seconds. You probably could make it that way too, having some kind of timer and only displaying ads once, but in full screen.

My app does not only target students, so they would be more general. :) I am currently implementing the ad, so can't provide any feedback yet :).

Update: To be 100% sure, by fill rate you mean the actual size of the ad on screen, or something else? (I find several definitions on the web)

ceeK
Cool let me know how it goes! By fill rate, I mean how often an ad is served given the number of requests. I.e. if one the students uses my app and goes to the screen with an ad on, it'll send a request to the iAd network for an advertisement. Due to my specific demographic it probably won't always have an ad for me, and thus maybe only 1% of all requests will actually feature an advertisement.

As such, it might be better for me personally to pursue ads from local companies where the students have a much larger impact.

Of course, your app will probably fair better due to more people and a larger demographic!

avifreedman
Offer the source code for the app to others looking to develop similar applications. Doesn't have to be a lot of $ and you could include N (say 5) hours of customization for a $250 or $500 license fee.
ceeK
Interesting idea! How would you personally go about this? Having an option on the website to license would be my first thought as I'm not sure how fruitful actively trying to find such people would be.
helen842000
I think this is pretty interesting. I live in a city with two Universities and the city hall refuses to open source bus time data. Public transport could really be improved if people just had more visibility.

Depending on the setup required I'd be interested in replicating this for the buses between my local Universities.

Also, in the paid app could there be some kind of user sourced live updates option. Even if it's just displaying a tweet feed of a particular uni bus hashtag e.g " The B4 bus is at the Smith Street stop." Then you can see when your bus is a couple of stops away, you know it's en route.

jlengrand
I actually really like the idea too ! This is a direct match with the app I am developing. Definitely gonna take that into consideration.
pocketstar
Make the app then license or sell it to the bus company? I am in the exact same boat, at my university. Actually, a couple years ago I started making an iOS app too for bus timetables but never finished because after a couple months of development google added the city's routes to google maps. Does google maps not have your city's routes? I'd be interested in helping out.

Also I thought that was one screenshot linked and I got this: "https://i.freeih.com/7278/iphone_screenshot.png%20https://i.... and was quite confused...