App Empire E-Book

Chad Mureta

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 274

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

A guide to building wealth by designing, creating, and marketing a successful app across any platform Chad Mureta has made millions starting and running his own successful app business, and now he explains how you can do it, too, in this non-technical, easy-to-follow guide. App Empire provides the confidence and the tools necessary for taking the next step towards financial success and freedom. The book caters to many platforms including iPhone, iPad, Android, and BlackBerry. This book includes real-world examples to inspire those who are looking to cash in on the App gold rush. Learn how to set up your business so that it works while you don't, and turn a simple idea into a passive revenue stream. * Discover marketing strategies that few developers know and/or use * Learn the success formula for getting thousands of downloads a day for one App * Learn the secret to why some Apps get visibility while others don't * Get insights to help you understand the App store market App Empire delivers advice on the most essential things you must do in order to achieve success with an app. Turn your simple app idea into cash flow today!

Leseprobe

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Treasure in Your Hand: Why Mobile Apps Can Make You Rich

A Bigger Opportunity than the Internet!

Ludicrous Speed

Take Advantage of This Phenomenon Now

The Players

Apple—iPhone/iPad/iPod

Google Android

BlackBerry

Setting Up Shop

Future Trends

Build a Gold Mine

Chapter 2: Install This First: The App Millionaire Mindset

Winning Beliefs in the App Business

Create a Golden Mindset

Qualities of a Winning Mindset

Chapter 3: Discover the New World: The App Store

Gathering Intelligence

Read Between the Apps

Two Types of Apps

App Discovery

How Developers Make Money

The Impulse Buy

Hooking the Customer

Traits of Successful Apps

Serious Fun

Chapter 4: Your Golden App-ortunity: How to Create Hit Apps

Don’t Fall in Love with Your Idea

Stop Hatin’, Start Emulatin’

Learn from Existing Apps

Narrowing Down Your Ideas

Timing Is Everything

Taking Small Steps

Chapter 5: You’re the Brains and They’re the Brawn: How to Hire Great Programmers

The Importance of Programmers

What to Look for in Programmers

Finding and Selecting Programmers

How to Convey Your Idea

Testing Hired Programmers

How to Manage Programmers

How to Test Your Apps

Chapter 6: Sex App-eal: Marketing Basics to Attract More Buyers

Dressed to Kill

Icons

App Title

Descriptions

Screenshots

Keywords

Categories

The Power of Free Apps

Course Correcting

Chapter 7: Keeping Score: What to Measure to Win the App Game

The Stats that Matter

Tools for Tracking Stats

Using Stats to Your Advantage

Paying Attention to Reviews

Cutting Your Losses

Chapter 8: Ninja Techniques that Will Grow Your Business: Advanced Marketing Tips and Tricks

Hitting a Plateau

Your App Network

Nag Screens

Promo Pages

Push Notifications

Your Developer Network

Updates

Paid Traffic

Chapter 9: Show Me the Money! Monetizing Your Apps

The Three Revenue Models

Banner Advertising

Affiliate Marketing

In-App Purchases

Translating Your Apps

Reinvesting in Your Business

Your BackEnd

Selling Your App Business

Chapter 10: Cruise Control: How to Automate and Monitor Your Business

Be Dispensable

Setting Up Your Team

Remote Management

Outsourcing Your Life

The Seven Pillars of an App Business

Your Daily Routine

Afterword

Resources

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

Praise for App Empire

“Five months ago, I started making iPhone apps and was generating about $25 per day. Then I met Chad. Chad taught me that marketing in the app store differs from every other medium in the world. It’s absolutely nothing like advertising in newspapers, radio, or online. Using the techniques Chad told me in just one meeting put me in the top 20 of the app store multiple times. I often have days where I break $2,000 profit and more. This is a book you don’t want to put on the shelf. Read this from beginning to end as it has simple secrets that are making people millions.”

—Trey Smith, Underground Marketer and iPhone Game Developer

“Chad has radically changed the game again. He is insightful but challenges the status quo in the mobile app space. His proven system breaks down the daunting tasks of researching and creating apps all the way through to marketing and monetization. App Empire is a must-read for anyone in the app game or anyone who wants to quit his or her nine-to-five for a long-term sustainable business. And not just any business. A business where you have the flexibility to work from anywhere, pick your own hours, and have higher margins than almost any other business.”

—Amish Shah, World Renowned Marketing Expert, Co-founder of Digispace, an Inc. 500 company of 2010

“Chad is a total gangster when it comes to iPhone apps. The money he has made in such a short time is astonishing.”

—Frank Kern, Highest-Paid Internet Marketing Consultant in the World

“Make millions with apps while traveling all over the world? Well, there is a book for that, and you’re holding it in your hands. I’ve seen first hand the amazing results Chad’s strategies can produce in the App Store. Seize this opportunity to become a top appreneur and join the growing ranks of the new rich.”

—Tayfun Karadeniz, Leading iPhone App Monetization Gangster

“The strategies for making money with apps detailed in this book are proven, effective, and simple. There are very few people in the app space equipped to author this book, and Chad is one of them based on his repeated success from the beginning. The market for apps is still in its infancy so my best advice is to read the book and execute. Chad has made it easy for you.”

—Alan Johanson, App Publisher, 18m App Downloads, 11 Apps in Top Overall

“It’s not just about having an idea. It’s about executing it. As the app market grows, it’s getting harder to gain visibility, and visibility is the key to success. This book breaks down the process into understandable concepts. It guides you step by step in executing the most efficient way to gain that visibility you need. Chad has it down to a science.”

—Michael Moon from Free the Apps! Top App Company and App Millionaire

“If you are getting started in appreneurship, Chad Mureta is your perfect personal trainer. This is a book that teaches you how to make millions of dollars in apps. Chad shares his mistakes and successes on these highly guarded secrets. He guides you to focus on the things that make millions of dollars rather than leaving it to luck. Often, developers like myself forget the reasons and bury our heads in app building. Chad’s methodology will lead you to the lifestyle you dream about.”

—Bess Ho, Mobile Architect at Archimedes Ventures, Book Author, and iOS Instructor at Udemy

“Chad is the classic example of the American Dream. I’m fortunate to know Chad from the start of his wild app success. A regular guy with an exceptional plan. His formula for app success is scientific and repeatable by anyone. His down-to-earth style and earnest love of helping others makes for an understandable method that produces results fast. I’ve created my wealth and success through years of overworking and stress. Please save yourself the time, the energy, and the stress and follow Chad’s simple app plan today.”

—Joe Barresi, Entrepreneur, Owner of Several Manufacturing Companies and Recently Added App Business

Copyright © 2012 by Chad Mureta. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

ISBN 978–1–118–10787–4 (cloth); ISBN 978–1–118–21680–4 (ebk); ISBN 978–1–118–21694–1 (ebk); ISBN 978–1–118–21704–7 (ebk)

I dedicate this book to every student of life who consistently dances in the face of fear, who pushes through obstacles with unyielding certainty, who has unrealistic dreams and pursues them against all odds, and, as President Theodore Roosevelt once put it, “Whose place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

I am humbled by the opportunity to inspire you in your own journey to connect the dots.

Introduction

How I Accidentally Became an App Millionaire

THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ON EARTH

I spent some of the happiest days of my life sleeping on dirt and foraging for food. I hiked through rainforests and saw hidden waterfalls. I hunted wild boar alongside the villagers, and I toasted the tribe’s 97-year-old chief with a bitter tonic called kava kava, which we drank from coconut shells.

I was on the island of Savusavu, one of the remotest of 336 islands along Fiji’s archipelago. The people there laughed easily, ate simply, and lived off the earth. The island was made up of vibrant green mountains that shot up out of the pristine turquoise waters of the South Pacific.

I chose to spend a week living amongst the villagers there because they are considered to be some of the happiest people on earth. The people of the Savusavu villages seemed about as content and satisfied as one could get, and though their ways puzzled me at times, their smiles didn’t lie.

It was refreshing to see how the Fijian people lived, which differed from anything I had ever experienced before. What I learned from this culture in such a short time can be summed up in seven words: Less is more, and love is everywhere.

After leaving the village, I was so inspired that I wanted others to share the experience with me. To my surprise, I found a WiFi signal in a remote shop on the island, and I e-mailed two of my buddies, Patrick and Nadim, to join me. Being spontaneous by nature, Patrick jumped on a plane from South Carolina, and Nadim took the next plane from Bangladesh.

Two days later, we were sitting on the beach, soaking up the sun and the island’s natural beauty.

“Hey, what should we do next?” asked Nadim.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to learn to scuba dive,” I said. “I’ve never done that before.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” he said.

I did a Google search on my iPhone and found a place on the island that offered scuba diving lessons. The Google Maps function showed it was across the street. We found a tiny shack near the rocky beach with a sign across the doorway that read “Diving lessons.” Inside, a thin man with missing teeth and a huge grin said he would teach us to scuba dive and take us out in the water.

Two hours later, we were submerged 40 feet down, swimming in the purplish-blue ocean with a rainbow of fish and coral beneath us and huge, four-foot-long turtles beside us. Breathtaking . . . literally.

THE APPRENEUR LIFESTYLE

My life is about doing what I love while earning easy income. I run my business from my iPhone. I work in a virtual world, earning real dollars. I’ve hiked Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback, trekked with Aborigines across the desert, hiked the Rocky Mountains, got certified in solo skydiving, heli-skied in Whistler, Canada, saw my favorite team play in the NBA finals from courtside seats, walked on fire, went bungee jumping, and most important of all, learned not to take life so seriously.

For my next adventure, I plan to spend three months at a time in nine places I have always wanted to visit. This includes learning martial arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina; dancing salsa in Bogotá, Colombia; running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain; and riding gondolas on the canals of Venice, Italy.

I have an amazing life and the truth is anyone can have this lifestyle regardless of his or her background. I am part of a growing community of appreneurs, entrepreneurs who make money from applications, or apps, that are used on smartphones like iPhones and Droids, and other mobile devices such as iPads or iPod Touches. Appreneurs can live anywhere and can start a business regardless of their stage in life. As of this writing, the world’s youngest appreneur is nine, and the oldest is 80.

Appreneurs earn money, while creating lifestyles of great freedom. Two of my appreneur friends spend several months of the year doing nonprofit work in Vietnam, while their businesses are generating seven-figure incomes. Another is taking his kids to see the Seven Wonders of the World, creating priceless memories with his family. Still another friend goes backpacking throughout Europe with his wife for most of the year.

No matter what your dream lifestyle is, you can have it as an appreneur. You don’t have to be versed in computer programming to do this.

When I started, I didn’t have a clue about programming languages or how to write code. I still don’t, but I was motivated to succeed at this business.

Due to my unique circumstances at the time, failing wasn’t an option.

STARTING FROM A HOSPITAL BED

When you are on your deathbed, will you be able to say you lived a fulfilled life?

I nearly couldn’t.

I started this business from a hospital bed, wondering if I even wanted to live. I had survived a terrible car accident that shattered my left arm. I had gone through two groundbreaking operations, and spent 18 months in painful rehabilitation.

With limited insurance, I had racked up $100,000 in medical bills. Even though I survived, I had no clue how to get out of the deep hole I felt trapped in.

Up until that point, I had worked for and started several companies and ultimately failed because I had burned myself out. My last business was a real estate franchise I started right before the real estate bubble burst.

Yes, my timing was exquisite.

Even as my own boss, I was tired of working 18-hour days without freedom. I wasn’t an employee. I was a slave to my own business with all the pressure and responsibility. So, it was much worse.

The doctors put my arm back together with a titanium rod holding things in place from my elbow to my shoulder. It was an agonizingly painful ordeal but a huge wake-up call that I realize I was lucky enough to receive. After that, I made the decision that my old way of going through the motions of life would not do anymore. I had to find a way to live a life I could look back on without regret.

After my accident, I was moved to a physical rehabilitation center and worked on reconstructing my body, my mind, and ultimately my life. While rehabilitating, the books of thought pioneers like Anthony Robbins, author of Unlimited Power, strengthened my mind, and Timothy Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, inspired me with the idea of lifestyle freedom.

During that time, my good friend and future business partner, Tayfun, gave me an article about appreneurs and told me I should get into the business. I learned that most appreneurs were one- or two-person teams, with low costs, and the successful ones were bringing in millions in profits. Still in my hospital bed, I drew app ideas while taking intense pain medication.

Three weeks after my last surgery, desperate, broke, and grasping at straws, I borrowed $1,800 from my stepdad and jumped with both feet into the app business. The result?

In just over two years, I created and sold three app companies and made millions. Two months after launching my company, one of my apps averaged $30,000 a month cash flow. Later, the company’s income reached $120,000 in one month. In all, I’ve developed more than 40 apps and have had more than 35 million app downloads across the globe. Over 90 percent of my apps were successful and have made money.

To this day, I still don’t know how to upload or update apps. I outsource that work to programmers and let Apple do the distribution. I focus on monitoring trends and doing creative work while leading my company. Although I concentrate on Apple’s iPhone apps in my business, most concepts I show you can be applied to other platforms, including Google Android and BlackBerry.

Every morning when I wake up, I lie in bed for an hour, viewing reports on my iPhone. After that, I go for a run and eat breakfast, I take another hour to outsource tasks, and I spend the rest of the day living an incredible life.

GAME PLAN

My success came from having a game plan.

Even though I work a few hours a day, I want to build an empire that will last for years to come. To do that, I developed core areas of my business I can monitor daily, weekly, and monthly. I call this core the seven pillars of an app business. Understanding these pillars will turn your business from a one-time lottery winner to an unlimited gold mine.

The chapters in this book are set up in a modular fashion, so if you need marketing ideas, reread the marketing chapter and so on. The ideas I share will help at every stage of growth, from launch to expansion. Sure, you can find answers to specific questions, but I suggest learning the overall game plan first because this will bring you long-term riches.

Each chapter ends with actions for you to take. You can use these while building your business to ensure you stay on track every step of the way. You can also find additional helpful resources at www.AppEmpire.com/resources.

THE REAL QUESTION

Why wouldn’t you get into the app space now? Mobile technology isn’t going away, and the industry is exploding worldwide. Look around and see how many people use their mobile phones to find a restaurant, text friends, or update their status on Facebook. This hot industry is only getting started. It’s the perfect time to jump into the mobile game.

You can run your own app business because you don’t need a lot of money, skill, or knowledge to begin. All you need is a mobile phone and a desire to succeed. This industry allows you the freedom to work from anywhere and to earn a paycheck to support it. Plus, the best part, is it’s fun.

In this book, I give you the roadmap to riches in the app business. Whether you are a total novice or an experienced developer, I guide you in building a business that supports the lifestyle you want while growing your bank account year after year.

I’ll share with you how to:

Tune your mind for success.Make insane amounts of money, while working part-time.Outsource nearly everything, so you can enjoy your lifestyle.Work with people who can do the technology side of things, so you don’t have to.Make your product crazy attractive, so people love to give you money.Partner with others who can double and triple your profits.Create a sustainable app business.Live life on your terms.

This is a time in history when technology has given us the tools to live as we want. All you need is the desire and a game plan. No matter your background, gender, race, education, or situation, you can build an app empire, while you are living the life you deserve.

You don’t have to wait till someday to fulfill your dreams. You can start today.

Chapter 1

The Treasure in Your Hand

Why Mobile Apps Can Make You Rich

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

—John F. Kennedy

After I sold my first app business, on a whim, I packed my bags, went to the airport, and jumped on the next plane that was leaving. I’m glad I brought a pillow because I ended up in Sydney, Australia. With time to spare and no set plans, I decided to hang out Down Under for the next five weeks and experience the place I had always dreamed of visiting.

The harbor in Sydney is stunningly beautiful—filled with the white sails of sailboats, deep blue water, clear sky, and a buzz of great people. The sound of gulls fills the air, and brightly colored street markets and vendors line the shore.

Walking along the harbor with the sun on my face, I remembered that during my spontaneous moment I hadn’t told anyone where I was going. I wanted to surprise my mom by sharing this experience with her, so I called her using the Skype app on my iPhone. The video phone call showed my face with the harbor in the background.

“Where are you?” she asked, not recognizing the backdrop.

“Sydney,” I said.

She had a perplexed look on her face and paused for about 20 seconds in silence.

“Australia?”

It blew her away. It blew me away that she was able to see the view and enjoy it with me. It was amazing to be able to share that moment, and it was even more special because that wouldn’t have been possible a year earlier.

I use my iPhone for everything: to find restaurants, manage my employees, or look at my apps’ daily stats and rankings. I can order a shrimp burrito from my phone, put in my credit card info, and go pick it up or have it delivered. I can have yoga lessons on my iPhone without going to a yoga class. I can stand in line at an airport and with a push of a button find out how much my business earned that day.

If used properly, the virtual world can be a potent tool to simplify and improve every aspect of your life.

As this virtual world evolves, people expect to have access to lots of things more quickly and easily. Consumer demands are changing because we can do more on our phones, and they are always in our pocket traveling with us wherever we go.

We have apps that can control cars, allow us to play the piano, teach languages, and even recognize songs and name the artists. Apps are vital assets that streamline information, enhancing our lives while educating and entertaining us. With apps, it’s all about convenience, convenience, convenience.

Apps are changing the way we communicate and relay information, allowing us to connect with people from Cape Town in South Africa to Montreal in Canada to Shanghai in China. Everywhere!

You have to understand this about the app business: At the core, it’s about how consumers are using this technology to connect with the world. The more you are aware of this, the more money you can make with apps.

But how fast is this industry growing? Will it last? Who are the biggest players? What are the trends? In this chapter, you will gain essential insights into the industry, which will serve as the foundation of your successful app business.

A BIGGER OPPORTUNITY THAN THE INTERNET!

Newsflash: Mobile technology is the next big thing, and it’s still in its infancy, growing rapidly every day. It’s causing an information revolution and creating a new age where everyone is connected. Even in places like Africa, many people who don’t have the means to own computers are bypassing them and using smartphones instead. In Egypt, social media posts from cell phones contributed to the revolution that brought down President Hosni Mubarak.

More than 4.6 billion cell phones are being used worldwide, enough for two-thirds of the people on Earth. This is a global market and it’s growing at an unprecedented pace. (See Figure 1.1.)

FIGURE 1.1 By 2014, mobile Internet will be used more than desktop Internet.

The app industry exists entirely on the Internet with no physical presence necessary, making it easy to do business from anywhere in the world. What about the Internet? This is the new Internet, transforming the way we transmit and assimilate information, opening doors to a new way of making money. It is the fastest growing industry in history and shows no signs of slowing down.

As you’ve heard before, timing is everything. The mobile industry is in its early stages, as the Internet was in 1997. People who saw the opportunity then, jumped in and made bucket-loads of money. In fact, those people are still making money because they have more experience and a competitive advantage over most.

Back in the early days, the Internet offered many new and easy ways to make lots of money. People were buying domain names for peanuts and selling them for millions. They were creating useful websites and selling advertising. A few websites, like Google and eBay, became integral parts of our lives and made their creators multi-billionaires. Years later, people are still making money from the Internet. The longer people waited to jump into the Internet money-making game, the more difficult it became.

What happened with websites is exactly what’s happening now with apps and mobile technology. The only difference is that we have experienced the rise of the Internet and are conditioned to react more quickly to the app revolution. This means that the app world is running light-years ahead of the Internet, when it was at the same development stage. Developing apps is a chance to jump ahead of the masses and not be left behind, saying years from now, “I wish I had. . . .”

The numbers are off the charts. According to the technology research firm Gartner, Inc., total worldwide mobile app revenue is expected to explode to $58 billion by 2014. With more than 500,000 apps in the Apple app store, this industry is going to keep growing. There’s no limit to the number of new apps that could be created because of our constant desire to be entertained or do more work with less effort. This demand will continue to be fueled by our society’s hardwired need to evolve and grow.

Even with the recent global economic downturn, the app industry continues to grow. Many market researchers predict the mobile industry will continue to soar, but I’m not going to bog you down with more numbers. I will say that if you start now, you will be way ahead of the game. If you start later, you will still have plenty of opportunities, but why wait to live the lifestyle you can have today?

Another beautiful thing about this business is that you can start out part-time and go full-time later. That’s how Lynn Duke started Fossil Software, one of the top app companies in the App Store. The company was born from the concept of bundling multiple, simple apps into one. He and his buddy, Marshall Womack, a designer, were working 80 hours a week at a gaming company. Their friend sent them an article about a guy who made $250,000 in a month from a simple app.

Lynn was unhappy, gaining weight, working overtime and tired of his long days. So, he worked with Marshall during nights and weekends over four months, while putting in lots of hours in their day jobs, to create their first app. Instead of creating one app, they decided to create 50 different apps and bundled them all into one app they called AppZilla. Fifty apps for the price of one. Now that’s a deal. They had more than 60,000 downloads in the first month and that was just the beginning. Lynn quit his day job three weeks later, and they have been making loads of money and having a blast ever since.

LUDICROUS SPEED

In the movie Spaceballs, Colonel Sandurz and Dark Helmet have to steer their space ship faster than the speed of light. It’s called ludicrous speed. That’s what I think is happening in the app business. Technology is moving at ludicrous speed.

If you think about it, all the major change in human history has come with shifts in technology. When humans invented the wheel, life changed. When they created the steam engine and the cotton gin, the industrial revolution kicked off. When the World Wide Web became popular, we entered the Information Age. People could instantaneously connect and communicate with the rest of the world from their home or office. Now we carry the power of the Internet in our pockets and can call and text people any time from anywhere. Our lives are truly moving at ludicrous speed. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

MOBILE APP TRENDS

These numbers from 148Apps.biz show how many apps are out there and how they’re being used. I’m sure these numbers will be dwarfed quickly.

Apple App Store Stats Summary (January 2012)

Count of Active Applications in the App Store

Total Active Apps (currently available for download): 556,793

Total Inactive Apps (no longer available for download): 156,412

Total Apps Seen in U.S. App Store: 713,205

Number of Active Developers in the U.S. App Store: 132,604

Application Approval Delay

Maximum delay: 41 days

Average delay: 5.26 days

Application Price Distribution

Current Average App Price: $2.10

Current Average Game Price: $0.99

Current Average Overall Price: $1.95

Application Category Distribution (Most Popular Categories)

1. Games (96,187 active)

2. Books (60,707 active)

3. Entertainment (57,351 active)

4. Education (53,819 active)

5. Lifestyle (45,286 active)

Here are some more mind-blowing stats:

Apple hit the 15-billion app download mark in three years—it took Apple over 7 years to sell 15 billion songs through iTunes.According to a study commissioned by mobile application store operator, GetJar, the mobile application market will reach $17.5B by 2012.Canalys is forecasting growth of $37B by 2015. Apple reports that iOS app developers have collectively made more than $3 billion in revenues since the App Store opened.Google’s Android market, a rival platform and operating system to Apple’s iPhone, hit 250,000 apps with more than 6 billion total downloads in mid-2011.On average, over 60 apps have been downloaded for every iOS device sold, according to market research firm Asymco.More than 30 million apps are downloaded every day, according to Asymco.The average selling price of paid apps will rise 14 percent year after year according to estimates by Piper Jaffray research firm and as reported in the Wall Street Journal.Apple expects to make more money on apps than on music by 2014 according to Asymco.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS PHENOMENON NOW

When I was first getting started, I didn’t know about these business trends. I was excited to learn about entrepreneurs who had no previous experience in this business but were making money and enjoying freedom. It made sense to me. I had missed the Internet boom, and I wasn’t about to miss this one, so I jumped in. Because of that, I can say that this is my time and it can be your time too.

This is the best time to launch into this business and take advantage of such an incredible opportunity.

Mobile technology is fun, exciting, and filled with possibilities. It isn’t just a virtual reality. Instead, it’s a business reality for anyone who is open and dedicated to making it work.

That being said, I will add one important distinction about the app business. People think that if they have one app idea, they can win the app lottery. The app business isn’t about getting rich quickly with one app. It’s about research, creativity, timing, and sound business sense, which includes creating several products instead of only one.

THE PLAYERS

Apps live on smartphones, just as various software programs live on computers. In smartphones, you can find several kinds of operating systems, called platforms. These platforms compete with each other for dominance in the smartphone market.

The three biggest players offering different platforms are Apple (iOS), Google (Android), and RIM (BlackBerry). Some app developers create products for all three platforms. Others specialize in one.