Staring at the Bottom and Rising to the Top
The year was 2009; I was just finishing my freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin. I sat in my room, proud of my year. I had decided to pay for my own college education in order to take the burden off of my parents’ shoulders. I took a look at my banking information and nearly had a heart attack. I had less than $100 in my account and a loan of nearly $25,000 staring me right in the face. Keep in mind that this was only my first year of college. At the rate at which college tuition was increasing, I was sure to be six figures in debt by the time I graduated. I thought to myself, “I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew.”
Mentally exhausted by the financial pit I was digging, I decided to play video games with some of my friends to relieve the stress. What happened next changed my life. One of my gaming friends turned to me and said, “How cool would be if you could track your in-game stats via an app?” The basic idea was to know how well you were doing without having to log in to your computer after each game. I literally sat the controller down and opened up my laptop. I was majoring in computer science at the time, and I remembered seeing news of developers who were creating applications (apps) and making a considerable sum doing it. My friend’s random comment motivated me to immerse myself into the world of development possibilities. That summer, I spent almost every waking moment learning Objective-C and the iPhone software development kit (SDK). In the fall I released my first app. It was an interactive guide for one of my favorite video games, Halo 3 . The app was an overnight sensation. It began to receive tons of recognition in the gaming world. I was getting e-mails from professional players who were using my app at events. I had companies blowing up my e-mail, wishing to advertise in the app. Although I was ecstatic with my success, I wasted no time before moving on to my next project. I knew that I had only scratched the surface of the app market.
By 2010 I was earning enough money from my app to reduce my student loan by half. Finally, I could enjoy my college career; I was even able to upgrade from my student diet of ramen noodles. I was by no means a millionaire, but I had found the App Store gold mine, and I was virtually mining away!
For my next venture I began to create different types of apps for many specialized niches. As I tracked the progress of my new apps, I noticed that the apps I made for hobbies that I lacked personal interest in didn’t do as well as I had anticipated. It was then that I learned the most important thing about the App Store: if you are passionate about something and know a lot about it, then you can create a high-quality app for it that users will enjoy.
By 2012 being an App Store expert was my career. I was financially secure and living my dream. I opened a studio called the Idea 2 App Store (www.idea2appstore.com ) because I wanted to create a way for people with no development skills to be able to sell apps and make money. If I could go from living in a 400-square-foot apartment and driving the same truck I had owned since I was 16 to living in my dream home and driving my dream car, I figured anyone could. I wanted to provide other people with the opportunity to make their dreams come true.
Unfortunately, my “dream” assumption was incorrect. I had forgotten how much I had learned in those three years. I had acquired a great deal of wisdom from my successes and failures. I decided to branch out and add consulting to the studio’s list of services. Before too long, many major companies and other lucrative clients were seeking my counsel. During a three- to four-hour consulting session, I could take a client without even a basic idea of how the App Store works and mold that person into a pro. Such clients were able to take the skills I taught them and the secrets I shared with them and integrate these into their apps. It made me feel good getting phone calls from them a few months later, explaining how well they were doing. That feeling of helping others achieve dreams motivated me to share the information I use when consulting with clients with a wider audience and create the book you are about to read.
Some of you might be reluctant to believe that my success can be your success. You might even be thinking, “I am not a computer programmer. How can I create apps?” The answer is surprisingly simple. The swift advent of technological advancements in our society has created a surge in the number of quality developers available. No matter your location, you can find a developer or studio that fits your needs and budget.
Without a doubt, creating apps can be expensive; expect to spend between $50 and $150 an hour for quality app development. If hiring a developer is your only option, consider this plan: start small, and expand. Most people do not understand that apps are software and that quality apps will take time. There is no way of accurately predicting what your app will make prior to checking your sales once the app is live in the App Store. Some apps blow up immediately, generating huge profits; some apps tank, without any profit. Such is the nature of the App Store. If you keep your first app small in the terms of price and time, you will reduce your chances of loss. If the app begins to generate steady revenue, then you can add features and update the app. This is the ideal business model for one reason: users love updates. I cannot stress this enough. There have been apps I have made and have almost given up on; however, after an update with a few extra features, these apps sprang back to life. Quality apps are never complete. If you think your app is done, then you will soon begin to see its sales drop.
So, you have an idea. What’s next? First and foremost, do your research. Check the App Store and see who, if anyone, has made something similar. If you find something that resembles your idea, you need to do three things to compete: download, dissect, and do it better. Do not think, just because there is an app out there like yours, that your idea is a bust. Sometimes, it can be the just the opposite. The first thing you need to do is download the competitor’s app. Dissect it; find out what is good and what could have been done better. Next, read each one of the app’s reviews. This is a secret that not many developers/appreneurs know. You have access to crucial customer feedback. Focus on the negative reviews. Ask yourself, “Is this a valid point? Is this something I can do, and do better?” Finally, if applicable, search for the app’s ranking. If you can find ranking data, you can get a general idea of the amount of revenue the app is producing. This is another secret many appreneurs do now know.
Another common misconception about app creation is that you have to be a technology genius in order to create a profitable app. On the contrary, a fellow appreneur, Benny Hsu, had his app 100 percent outsourced and still turned a profit, and a hefty one at that. His app, Photo 365 , is very well done. Although you don’t often read about developers’ making money from outsourcing apps, Benny’s story exemplifies how success is possible if you know the market. I asked Benny to share his experiences so that you could see that app success is not only for the computer literate. Here is Benny Hsu’s story:
A long time ago, I wanted to create an iPhone app . As a user and fan of the iPhone since the first version, I had two reasons to create an iPhone app. First, I thought it would be cool to be able to say, “Here is my iPhone app.” Second, I wanted to start a business on the side. I wanted to become my own boss and stop working for someone else.
My only problem was that I had no idea how to code! I thought that was the only way to create an app. One night, I was on the Internet and just happened to come across a blog about creating income online. This blogger had an iPhone app company, with a partner, that was earning thousands a month. The blogger didn’t know how to code, either. He outsourced all the work. At that time, I knew about outsourcing but didn’t know the possibilities. He recommended an e-book to learn about outsourcing app development. That’s exactly what I needed. I bought that book and another small e-book . Developers who were able to create a business from apps wrote both books, much like what you are reading now, all without any coding experience.
I didn’t let thoughts of failure stop me. I was determined to learn all I could and do the best I could. The app was supposed to take one-and-a-half months, but it ended up taking approximately seven months. The delay didn’t frustrate me. I was really pleased with the prototypes my programmers were sending to me. I didn’t want to rush things just to get it out. I wanted the app to be done well.
The app was released on August 10, 2011. At that time, I would have been happy just to make my investment back. It cost me $1,119.46 to develop Photo 365. That was a lot of money to me, but an amount I was willing to risk. Little did I know what was about to happen to my app.
Within the first seven days, I had earned back my $1,119.46. This completely blew my mind. This was beyond my wildest dreams. Things only got better. The following week, I saw Photo 365 featured under “New and Noteworthy.” (“New and Noteworthy” is a category of apps selected by Apple . If your app is featured in this category, you are going to see a large influx of sales.) Not only did the app get featured, but it was in the second spot as well. I was still enjoying the feelingof accomplishment when, six days later, I got an e-mail from Apple’s marketing department, requesting art assets. I read the e-mail many times just to be clear about what Apple wanted. I had a feeling what this was for but didn’t want to get overly excited yet. There was a lot of work to do to meet the 24-hour deadline. Luckily, my brother is a Photoshop wizard and helped create the art assets needed. The contact person was really helpful in answering all my questions quickly. The next morning, I sent off the e-mail and waited.
That same week, I was working at my restaurant job. During a break I decided to check my app’s progress. I knew that Appleupdated the App Store in the afternoon, but I didn’t know exactly when, so I was not expecting much of a change. I logged in to a forum and saw a private message telling me, “Congrats.” What? I quickly went to the App Store and saw Photo 365 featured as “App of the Week”! I jumped and screamed like I had hit the lottery. My heart was racing. I went to Facebook and Twitter and shared my excitement. That whole night at work I couldn’t stand still. It was a moment that I’ll never forget. The sales that week were phenomenal. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning to check sales. I felt like a kid waking up early on Christmas Day. I had become “App of the Week” in just my third week. Even as I type this, I find it hard to believe it happened to me.
After the first 30 days, I had earned $32,865.91. Not only did I make my investment back, but I was able to start my own app company as well. How quickly life can change in just 30 days.
You might be wondering how I marketed my app. You might assume that I spent a lot of money. I’ll be honest with you, and it may surprise you. I didn’t do any marketing. I didn’t spend a single penny. I had some review blogs contact me that first week to ask for a promotion code to do a review. I was just happy anyone wanted to review the app, so I always said yes. The biggest web site to do a review at the time was AppAdvice . The same day that I got the e-mail from Apple’s marketing department, a review appeared on Gizmodo. I hadn’t been contacted by this site. That was a great surprise.
I’m proof that you don’t need to have a huge marketing budget to create an app that gets seen by users and Apple. If you create a polished app that your target customers love, they will find it, and they will tell others about it.
I would counsel anyone who wants to develop an iPhone appthrough outsourcing that it’s not as hard as you think. At the beginning, it might seem overwhelming because you’re unfamiliar with the process. But, if you don’t take a chance now, when will you? If I hadn’t risked failure, I would have never experienced the success I did.
If you wish to download one of Benny’s apps or check out his blog, the details are as follows:
- Photo 365: http://photo365app.com
- Gratitude 365: http://gratitude365app.com
- Get Busy Living: http://getbusylivingblog.com
Benny Hsu’s inspirational story represents all that can go right when you make smart development choices.
The next chapter outlines how to effectively develop your app to maximize results.