If you are a developer and are looking for ways to make some money, chances are high that you are mulling about joining the phone app gold rush. The phone app market is rife with news like Infinity Blade crossing million mark within 5 days of release and Angry Birds being downloaded over 50 million times since its release. These news will obviously make developers want to join the app development bandwagon and rake in some mullahs. However, is it really easy to make money in app development? If yes, how? Let’s find out.
The burgeoning app market
No doubt, the app market is going through a boom. The Apple App store has reported a total of 10 million apps downloaded since it was introduced. Google on the other hand has an impressive lineup of around 800,000 apps in its store. The third in the list is MS with 160,000 apps. No doubt, the app market represents a revolution in terms of making money and engaging developers. The number of jobs in the field of application development is increasing at a steady pace.
The numbers are not enough to indicate the potential of the app market to generate revenue. Apple has announced that in the last year it has paid around $5 billion to the app developers. For Google, the figures are even higher. It has been found out from the financial records of the company that it has paid around $900 million to the developer community.
The data related to top three players of the mobile markets clearly indicate the amount of money that is being made through app development.
How to make money through app development?
No, there is no straight formula to it. While some developers have been extremely lucky to make money from their first venture, others had to wait to hit the golden jackpot. Rovio, which shot to fame as the creator of Angry Birds had developed 52 games before coming up with this grand invention.
So, it takes a super idea and a killing attitude and a great deal of marketing skills to make money in the app market. Let us elaborate.
Offer something unique
As we shared before, there are currently millions of apps in the app stores and to make yours stand out, you have to be really creative. Your app needs to offer something unique and be useful to the users to become successful. So, check the viability of the idea before investing your time and energy in it.
Even small can be big in the world of app
It took Rovio 8 months to develop Angry Birds with its own team and don’t get put off by its success. There are hundreds of developers who work alone or in small teams and produce apps that make decent money. All depends on how useful or interesting your app is and how you are marketing it.
Do you know free apps make millions of money through the ad bars? If your target base is wide enough and your app runs for a considerable amount of time, you can put ad bars that will fetch you money even if you give your app for free.
Retain your users
By frequently releasing updates and giving those away for free you can keep your users hooked to your app. Make sure to advertise the app properly so that the target base expands and new people download it. Remember, an app becomes successful and makes money if people talk about it a lot.
Angry Birds is still very popular with its users although it is 4 years old by now.
Advertise it properly
At the end of the day, advertising is necessary. Have your FB page go abuzz with new features of your app, ask users to leave comments and let them know of the new versions in advance. All these are ways to promote your app in the virtual world. You need to work on your advertising campaign and build a steady and expanding audience who will in turn promote your app.
Be innovative, give something exclusive to your users and build something that would further future developments. Be a thought leader in the app market and you can definitely be a part of the gold rush.
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