Ask HN: Review My App | "LifesBook" = Twitter + A Diary

Please review my app AND business model:

http://www.lifesbook.com

WHAT THE SITE DOES

LifesBook is a private online diary (or journal) that works much the same way twitter works (in terms of SMS and hopefully user frequency of posts).

To make an entry all you need to do is send in an SMS, make as many entries as you like whenever you like! If you start to get lazy with your entries (like you would with a normal diary) don't worry we can kindly remind you.

THE BUSINESS

So I think this is the kind of app that a few months ago you would see with no business model apart from ads, basically fuck that. I have gone for the typical subscription based approach set at $9.99 per month for now, I hope to get this cost down and I will be able to when I get a bit of the economies of scale loving.

I aim to and hope that I have created such a good product that $9.99 seems like great value. As you would expect after a user has been using the site for a few months the data (their entires) we store for them becomes really quiet valuable to the user. This makes me want to extend the trial period from the current week to as long as possible (eg 3 months) but SMS costs are just to crazy to be able to do that right now.

What do you think about this business model and approach?? Its an app that I think allot of people would use if free but how can i make that financially viable? I don't think I can so thats why iv done what iv done.

FEW MORE THINGS

Due to the SMS cost I currently only have a UK number available, this may mean it will cost a user outside of the UK more to send a text in. I am not to sure. But either way I plan to add a US number as soon as its financially viable, I am guessing thats within the month.

Search has just died on us in production, its a hosting issue and we are on to it.. Decided to release anyways. Meh

FEEDBACK

I want as much feedback as possible and not just on the app I also want feedback on the business behind it.

good luck, but I dont think u will find many customers for this due to the fact that:

wordpress if free & twitter is free and lets u keep your updates private if you want i believe

it does look very well done though

I see what your saying and thats why I am looking for feedback on a business model

First, as always, congratulations on launching and getting something out the door. I think that's one of the hardest things to do, so kudos to you for getting something out there.

I kinda like this idea though I'm not sure I'd pay $9.99 a month for it. Also, if you were industrious enough you could do this yourself with a private WP blog that you email posts to, but obviously not everyone knows how to do that.

A few thoughts about your web site that after a first look.

1.) The first thing that grabs my eye is the "A Diary + Twitter = LifesBook" yellow block in the center of the page and it immediately confused me. I first thought that the app somehow integrated with Twitter and then thought "There's no way I'd post my private thoughts to a Twitter stream." At this point, peeps who feel the same way might move on.

2.) The phrase "(SMS type functionality)" in the yellow box only confused me more and I still have no idea what it means even after realizing that you can text thoughts to your service.

3.) The next block under the yellow block focuses more on features than benefits. I wouldn't lead with "SMS Diary Entires", "Memory Bank", and "Locked and Secure". Those don't mean much to me as the user. Try something like "Post from Anywhere", "Never Forget a Thought", and "We Keep Your Secrets" instead.

4.) Small typo under the Spare Change heading on the home page. You end with "Seriously just got nuts." I think you mean "just go nuts", right?

5.) Others may disagree, but I don't love the name. I think my biggest fear of using a service like this is that I'd be posting my most private thoughts out into the cloud, so a name that somehow let me know that you're storing my secrets as securely as possible would be a plus. Sorry I don't have a good name suggestion right now, but it's something to think about.

Anyway, best of luck to you. I think if you keep tweaking and iterating you'll find something that people really dig.

Thanks for the great feedback!

Regarding 1,2 and 3, I agree Ill look into changing this now.

5. I see what your saying but I think its possible to put these concerns to rest by building a strong brand based on things such as security. I don't think a new name is what should express that, I think thats the brands job.