One of the hottest topics in the marketing and software development fields today is writing apps for the popular iPhone. With stories of outrageous success from authors that wrote an iPhone app and almost overnight sold hundred of thousands of copies. This not only brought them in the public eye, but also a large amount of money in a very short period of time.
Take Joel Comm as an example. He’s an internet marketer who came up with a crazy idea for the ‘iFart Mobile’. He decided to put a team together to develop his app and then started marketing it using social media like Twitter, YouTube, blogging and more. Sales started trickling in at first. Then the viral effect kicked in as more people heard about the app. He sold 75 copies one day, 296 the next day, and 841 the day after that. So far so good, right? Sales were increasing every day.. now fast forward just a couple weeks later, and Joel pulled down 38,927 copies in a single day… which means he earned $27,249 in those 24 hours!
Then there’s Ethan. He originally launched his iPhone app to lukewarm reviews and moderate downloads. Eventually his $2.99 iPhone game just faded away, buried under the rest of the new releases. Then Ethan did a simple thing that literally turned on the faucet. Shortly thereafter he sold $35,522.40 of his app in just one day.
These success stories are peaking the interest of software developers and marketers worldwide, including myself. How do you get into the market, even if you’re not a software developer?
Enter Simon Hodgkinson. He’s recently published a step by step guide that shows you exactly how to write an iphone app, regardless of whether you’re a professional software developer, marketer or have never written one line of code in your life. I picked it up, hoping to learn more about the market, especially since I’m not a Mac user or iPhone owner.
After going through the guide quickly, I went back over it another time since it had me racing with ideas after the first scan. It was a thorough overview of the market, the applications that are popular, how to write an app, how to get an iphone app written, how to market it, the options and alternative revenue sources even if you decide not to write an iphone app.
I was able to walk away from the book with a good grasp of the market, what apps to consider, how to go about the process of getting an app written (since I’m not a software developer) and the steps to market an app and let it grow virally. I actually didn't want to put it down since it got my mind running with lots of ideas. Every question I had prior to reading it was answered in the book or the follow up emails. I also appreciated the detail he went into regarding the process to apply to the Apple Developer program which is crucial.
It’s well written and Simon’s marketing background is revealed in the follow up messages he sends after I purchased that adds additional ideas, tips and strategies not found in the book itself. Some of the topics covered in the follow up messages include how to quickly get your iPhone app to market, more examples and secrets to popular iPhone apps, how to brainstorm app ideas, and many more. Some specific to iPhone apps, some to marketing, some to business. All of them were dead on target and valuable.
The latest statistics show that in January 2009, the App Store surpassed an amazing half a billion downloads, that’s 500,000,000! These numbers are staggering and if you’re looking for a market that's growing and has a seemlessly unlimited potential for earnings, developing an iPhone app is something to strongly consider. One of the reasons for such opportunity is that apps are normally priced quite low, most are under $10 and even more under $5. iPhone users are eager and willing to pay a few dollars for a fun or useful application. Combine that with a huge market of iPhone users and the Apple App Store being the only place to get apps currently, lays a market with great potential.
If you’re looking how to learn how to write an iPhone app, or how to get one written and market it, I highly recommend Simon’s book.
To learn more about Simon’s book and the iPhone app market, visit the official Istormer web site.
For more reviews, visit: How To Write an iPhone App at Proven Product Center
