I recently decided to start an interview series, focusing on web designers, developers and those who run successful online businesses. The goal of this series was to give an insight into what it takes to be successful in the web application industry and get advice from those who really know what they're talking about.

First up is Tokyo based Web Producer, Jon Yongfook Cockle, who's blog is well worth subscribing to.

First off, for those who don't know you, tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.

I build apps and run them for profit. I started this a few years ago with a User Generated Content recipe website called opensourcefood.com which earned ad revenue almost instantly - recipes are great for SEO :) It was acquired after 2 years of running it. In 2009 I made a transition to the freemium model and started building web-based software. I built Peashoot (an analytics package for Twitter) and ran it for a year. It comfortably earned mid-5-figure revenues, but I've since turned off new registrations. I wrote about why here: http://yongfook.com/feature-or-company

I'm now 100% focused on a new app. It's a huge market, with lots of competition and it's going to be a massive challenge.. but I'm going to give it all I've got :) It's a survey app and you can check it out at: http://www.goodgecko.com

How did you first get involed with web design and development?

I started when I was about 16, building websites for fun.  I'm now 30, so I've spent half my life doing this :) 

Straight out of university, I went to get some professional experience and joined a web design agency.  After that I got additional experience working in some technology startups and a huge advertising agency where I honed my ecommerce skills. 

I would advise young hackers to try to get some professional experience if they can.  You learn a lot of useful stuff at larger agencies - on the business and technical side of things.  Dealing with clients, pricing, enterprise-level best practices etc etc.  You can then take that knowledge and use it on your own, smaller-scale projects for yourself or with freelance clients.

What tools (hardware & software) do you use on a day to day basis?

I use CodeIgniter religiously.  It's a lightweight php framework that does everything I need it to.

I also use Macs religiously.  I have about 6 of them in my apartment... but recently I've been doing all my development / design on my 15" Macbook Pro, sitting on the sofa.  I use my iPad every day to browse the web and read eBooks.

For those, like myself, who are just setting out into a career on the web, do you have any useful tips or advice?

- Don't obsess over technology

It's tempting to get into a tail-chasing situation where you're trying out frameworks and different technologies to see what works best.  Just decide on what you're comfortable with and use that.  If you ever can't decide, ask yourself this question, "Does this matter to my customers?".  I've never heard of a technology decision increasing sales, but I've certainly heard of a new feature increasing sales, however crappy the technology behind it.

- Get interested in marketing

Here's an ugly little truism: An "ok" product with great marketing will sell more than a great product with average marketing.  We like to hear stuff about the "network" effect and viral spread if you make an awesome product - this happens in 1 out of 100 cases.  The key point is, don't focus too hard on building the perfect product.  There's no such thing.  It needs to be good, sure, but you need to know how to market it better than your competition.

Think of the new Old Spice ads - the product itself hasn't changed.  It's the same as it was 6 months ago.  It's probably chemically identical to a bunch of other products on the market.  But the ad campaign was great.  Sales have since doubled.

- Ship and improve

Similar to the above, but forget about doing the "big PR launch".  Trying to do that means you end up focusing on building the perfect product, which is where you'll end up chasing your own tail and never launch, or you'll hit your launch date by shipping something crappy.  Ship early, talk to early-adopters and improve.  Keep doing that in cycles.  If you want to do a big launch for PR, you can do it for the "version 2" of your product after initial feedback, or to announce a big new feature.

I would like to thank Jon for taking the time to answer my question and hope to follow up his great answers with another interview in the next week or two.