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Apple Inc. won't be the only one cashing in on today's iPhone 4 launch in Canada, as crafty entrepreneurs and charitable do-gooders piggy back on the marketing frenzy.

The iPhone 4 is on sale now at stores across Canada. Carriers including Telus Mobility, Bell Canada, Rogers Wireless, and Fido are selling the device, as are retail locations such as Best Buy, Wireless Wave and Future Shop. Apple Stores opened doors early at 7 a.m. to sell unlocked versions of the phone, giving customers a choice of what carrier they could use.

Some self-proclaimed "digerati" were already lined up on Thursday morning at Vancouver's Pacific Centre Apple Store, prepared to wait 24 hours to buy the device. But Kerry Morrison and Chris McGuire will be doing more than just passing the time as they camp out. They'll be offering up digital services to those willing to donate to charity, winning some valuable exposure to their entrepreneurial ventures as a result.

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In a phone conversation with ITBusiness.ca yesterday, Morrison reported collecting $500 in the first two hours of waiting in line, and a jam-packed schedule of work to come.

"We've got messages coming now with people wanting to book time," he said. "It's taken on a life of its own, in many ways."

Morrison runs Reason Intelligent Design, a Web marketing firm and iPhone application developer. He's accompanied in line by Chris McGuire, a new media manager for a Vancouver-based interactive company, who also freelances his work on the side for anything tech related. All money raised by the digital duo over the day will go to Kayak For A Cure, a group of kayak-loving Vancouverites who raise funds for cancer cures research.

The main point may be to raise money for charity, but the exposure will likely help the two attract some new clients as well, McGuire says.

"It does increase our professional brands online," he says. "Hopefully we can increase our client base at the same time."

Attention around the iPhone 4 launch also boosted the fortunes of Gary Ng, founder of the iPhone in Canada blog. The Vancouver resident started the blog in December 2007 when he drove across the border to buy the original iPhone. When he brought it back to Canada to use it, he had to perform a complicated "jailbreaking" procedure, but wasn't technically inclined enough to do so. He had trouble finding Canadian specific information on forums, so he decided to start his own.

"I decided to start the blog and its steam rolled from there," Ng says. "It started as a hobby and now it's the largest iPhone blog in Canada."

The blog received 2 million page views over the last 30 days, he says. It has 10,000 readers subscribed via RSS feed. All those readers are converted into money by selling blog space to Google AdSense, private advertisers, commission-based affiliates, and more... [Next Page]

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