iPhone Development Strategy Tips
I recently started creating another iPhone / iPad app. From what I understand, it’s similar to running your own business (which I’ve never done). Making an app basically consists of doing three things:
- coming up with the idea
- developing the app
- marketing the app
Coming up with the idea is by far the easiest part. I mean, I’ve got three apps that I want to work on right now, but other stuff keeps on coming up. Developing the app is hard, but it helps if you’re technical because there seem to be way more artists out there than programmers. The main thing is to keep at it. Try to work on your app at least a little every day, even if it’s on a piece of paper doodling ideas and user interfaces.
As for marketing … that’s a whole other thing. The main principle thing to keep in mind is that your marketing budget should be proportional to your development budget. If you’re doing a small app, it doesn’t make much sense in spending a huge amount to market it. For example, Google Ads? Just getting someone to click on the ad could cost upwards of $5 and there’s no guarantee that they’d buy the app. And I’ve heard from friends that print ads, even in iPhone specific magazines, don’t make a dent in sales. For small apps, your best bet is to give out free promo codes to reviewers and hope that one of them reviews it on their website. In addition, you should always have some way for people to see what your app is about, either with a demo video or a lite version of an app.
