In this Fortumo’s User Tells A Story, we would like to introduce AllPlayer.org, which provides the Free Multimedia Player for wide range of media formats. AllPlayer is currently one of the most popular multimedia players, No. 1 in Poland, with over 5 million users. AllPlayer.org shows us an interesting example how to embed Fortumo’s SMS-services into an application. Check out this short interview, where authors of AllPlayer.org share their experience.

How have you applied SMS-services in your application?

Because of costly server maintenance, a need to employ graphic and programmer to support allplayer.org as well as due to users’ requests, we have decided to introduce micro-payments. In general, our users needed to solve problems with video files, which they couldn’t open, so we started providing them with such a service for small fees.

Where has the idea of using SMS-services come from?

For payments of about 1 USD it is very convenient. Not everybody uses PayPal, credit cards in internet or bank transfers for such small amounts.

Why have you decided to use SMS-services in your application?

Because of easy consumer service. The whole process is automatic. Answer can be sent in text form to user’s mobile phone.

What has SMS-service additionally given you?

Not every problem with video files can be solved automatically. Often, the problem lies on the user’s side and in his software. In such a case, intervention of an engineer is necessary. Thanks to SMS-services, the problem can be approached individually, and the person who is employed in our company earns deserved salary for his work.

Great news are rushing from everywhere: Kristina Šmigun-Vähi have won a silver medal at 10km cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has gathered almost 100 000 people to announce new mobile trends, industry news and cool devices like the 15$ handset from Vodafone, not to mention hot Windows Phone 7 Series, which has an ambition of revolutionizing mobile interfaces.

But today, it’s Fortumo who is making history. We are proud to announce, that on the 16th of February a 100 000th SMS service was created in Fortumo.  With more than 35 100 registered users we can now say for sure, that mobile payments rock!

Thanks to everyone, who has chosen Fortumo’s services for monetizing businesses across the globe. We will continue improving our world’s most user-friendly mobile payment platform and bringing you cool surprises every day.

Cheers,
Team Fortumo

In the past few months, more and more countries from Eastern and Western Europe were joining our big Family. But at some point we thought that we need to even the load on both sides of our European connectivity map. Some would say that we already have Germany and it’s the center of Europe…and they would be wrong. Actually the geographical center of Europe is the village of Dilove located on the Tisza river which is in the largest country in Europe – Ukraine. So that’s why we introduce to you our new center of  balance – Ukraine.

Once the country of fearsome cossacks and still a place with pristine nature and a lot of beautiful women, Ukraine is one of the fastest developing countries in the former USSR.  It ranks among the top 45 countries in the world by its nominal GDP (according to CIA). Even more impressive is the fact that Ukraine is one of the 5 countries – leaders in the space research industry. They produce all kind of vehicles, among which is the largest plane ever – The Antonov An-124 Ruslan. What matters the most – with over 55.5million mobile subscribers (converted this is over 120% mobile penetration) it is a place that can take your mobile services to a new golden age.

The other new addition to our list is Slovenia. This jewel of the Balkan peninsula is famous with its amazing nature, wonderful wines and economic progress. If you are looking for a peaceful place to live -  the 5th most idyllic place in Europe, according to Forbes, is in Slovenia and it’s called Bled (check the picture to the right). On the other hand, if you are keen on traveling – then the famous Slovenian Karst is the place for you. It is a very special, lyrical landscape, spreading over the south-western part of the country near the border with Italy. And if you “just” want to earn more by expanding your services into one of the countries with fastest developing economies – Slovenia can offer you over 100% mobile penetration and over 2mln mobile payers.

An interesting fact: Slovenia and Slovakia(that we presented to you a week ago) are the only former communist nations that are in the EU, the Eurozone, the Schengen area, OSCE, the Council of Europe, Nato, UNESCO, WTO and UN.

Stay Mobile! Keep the Fortumo way!

Affiliate programs can be great. Sure, you might not become rich overnight like some ‘gurus’ claim in their 19.95$ e-books (actually, we have one of those, except it’s doesn’t feature any wild claims and it’s free), they can be a great way to make additional income, or, if you are really dedicated, they can even grow into a steady full- or part-time business. But, just like in life, the main requirement for becoming successful in affiliate marketing is patience, dedication (did I already mention it?), and hard work.

We know that there’s a lot of you out there who are either considering or already using Fortumo Affiliate Program - we received a lot of feedback and questions ever since we launched it back in February. And since you asked, we gave you some tips and finally created a growing Affiliate Advice section that sits right in your Affiliate account. The response was positive, and we figured there’s never too much of a good thing, so we’ll continue with the practice of publishing tips for affiliates – this time, I’ll try to focus not so much on our own affiliate program, but some of the best practices and general advices that should work for anyone trying to be effective in affiliate marketing. Read it all after the break.