Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies E-Book

Aaron Nicholson

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 606

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

How to create a profitable, sustainable business developing and marketing iPhone apps iPhone apps are hot; the average app is downloaded more than 30,000 times. If you have some great apps in mind, Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies will show you how to produce and market them effectively. Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies provides clear, reliable business information to help developers and entrepreneurs create a profitable, sustainable business in this new and exciting market. * Identifies what goes into a successful iPhone application business * Helps you find the market niche your applications can fill, market and promote your business, and build your brand * Explains how to develop a pricing strategy, build your applications efficiently, and get them into the App Store * Explores finding a sustainable revenue model, including free trials, social media models, ad-based revenue models, and subscription models * Demonstrates effective ways to provide service and support to customers * Written by a team that combines knowledge of iPhone app development with sound business experience Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies can help you turn your ideas into income.

Leseprobe

Starting an iPhone® Application Business For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

And Just Who Are You?

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Surveying the Marketplace

Chapter 1: The Wide, Wide World of iPhone App Development

Touring the Apple App Store

Perusing the storefront

The App Store on the iPhone

A word about updates

Apple’s Free Marketing

The Frictionless Selling Experience

Global Distribution

How iPhone App Developers Positioned Themselves

Price points

Market purpose

Quality level

Market size

Emulating existing products

Entering the Marketplace with a New Application

Finding your fit or unmet need

Identifying needs in the marketplace

Assessing the environment

Taking an inventory of what you can offer

Synthesizing the approaches to find your idea

Connecting with Apple’s Strategy and Vision

Connecting between iPhone hardware and applications

Following iPhone releases has affected the app world

Writing for current or future functionality

Chapter 2 : Understanding the iPhone Platform

Apple’s Entry into Mobile Computing

iPhone Location-Aware Capabilities

Telepresence

Telematics

Business automation

iPhone Networking Capabilities

Communication between devices

Crowdsourcing

Cloud computing

iPhone Hardware and Accessories

Unique iPhone Capabilities

The operating system

The accelerometer

Multitouch

iTunes Store

iPhone 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and Beyond

Chapter 3: Pricing and Revenue Models

Identifying Revenue Streams

Paid apps

Price ranges

Free apps

Estimating Income

Determining your application’s price point

Predicting an application’s revenue

Testing estimates

Maximizing Sales

Participating in a promotion

Writing reviews

Offering a trial version

Repricing

Revising revenue projections

Moving on

Part II: Pinpointing the Business Offering

Chapter 4: Coming Up with a Winning Idea

Analyzing Your Competition

Studying an app’s strengths and weaknesses

Comparing similar apps

Generating Ideas

Specific idea-generation techniques

Surveying

Brainstorming

Mash-ups

Evolution

Creating Barriers to Competition

Time to market and first to market

Better product and execution

Exclusive content

Proprietary technology

Strategic partnerships

Cheaper supplies

More expensive ingredients

Products under regulation

The global scene

Undercutting

Switching costs

Network effects

Advertising and marketing

Protecting Your Intellectual Property

Copyright

Trademarks

Patents

Chapter 5: Leveraging Brand, Skills, and Content

Looking at the Big Picture

Defining your corporate vision

Writing your vision statement

Letting your goals motivate you

Understanding Your Corporate Culture

Putting Goals into Practice

Defining your operation

Introducing branding

Writing Your Business Plan

Recognizing that cynicism doesn’t work

Incorporating business plans into the culture

Inspecting the ingredients of a business plan

Seeing the forest and the trees

Chapter 6: Collaborating Internally and Externally

Getting an Idea of What is in the Marketplace

Surveying the marketplace

Utilizing Resources to Help You

Navigating the Apple Developer Forum

Meeting people in this space

Online Resources

Chapter 7: Sizing Up the Competition

Using Competitive-Analysis Tools to Analyze the Competition

Use a Spreadsheet to Make Feature-Comparison Charts

Finding Information Sources

Finding Paid Research

Listening to the Buzz

Part III: Lay the Groundwork

Chapter 8: Registering with Apple

Your Relationship with Apple

Preparing Your Data

Signing Up with Apple As an iPhone App Developer

Navigating the sign-up process

Registration information

Lining Up Your Requirements

Chapter 9: Understanding the Development Tools

Getting Set Up as a Developer

The introductory help videos

iPhone Development Tools Overview

Stanford University iPhone development classes on iTunes

Further resources

Third-Party Tools

Game SDKs

Frameworks and code libraries

Chapter 10: Staffing Your Team

Identifying the Team Positions

Getting the application programming skills

Understanding the importance of a great designer

IT skills to tie it all together

Rounding out the team with business skills

Filling the Gaps on your Team

Adding business sense

Applying technology

Borrowing skills within your company

Effective Outsourcing

Staying within your budget

Streamlining the integration

Making sure everything is solid and robust

Part IV: Assemble Your iPhone Application

Chapter 11 : Building Your Application Specifications

Creating an Application Blueprint

Documenting your app’s basic functionality

Creating mock-ups

Creating a full feature list

Defining the look and feel

Looking at the Role of Quality Assurance

Writing your test plan

Defining success criteria

Chapter 12: Assembling Your Development Team

Tooling Around with Your Programming Skills

Hiring an iPhone App Developer

Where to find an app developer

What to look for

References and a portfolio

Terms of engagement

Estimating Development Costs

Getting competitive bids

Comparing developer capabilities

In-house or outsource?

Getting Contracts in Place

Bid rate versus an hourly rate

Change management and billing

Licensing and ownership

Source code

Chapter 13: Greenlighting the Budget

Counting Up the Costs of Developing Your App

Estimating application development costs

Getting graphic design for your artwork

Budgeting for marketing expenses

Pricing the legal costs

Funding Your Project

Self-funding

Getting investors

Finding a client

Pitching your idea

Chapter 14: Managing the Development Process

Setting Up Hierarchy and Roles

Establishing a Timeline

The Software Development Process

Creating the specification

Building the application

Testing the application

Iterating (repeating) the build-test process

Submitting Your Completed App

Part V: Market to the Masses

Chapter 15: Capturing Free Publicity  

The Importance of Getting Reviewed

Overview of iPhone app-review sites

How to write a press release

How to submit your app to be reviewed

High-Profile Endorsements

Celebrities

Opinion leaders

Writing Articles

Putting together your article

Be an opinion leader

Chapter 16 : Building the Buzz

How to Set Up a Blog

Identifying your blog audience

What to write in your blog entries

Reach Out to Your Social Networks

Quizzes

Create a widget

E-Mail Marketing

Crafting your e-mails

Generating and maintaining your list

Buying a list

Create a Demo Video for YouTube

Concepting

Scripting

Rehearsing

Shooting

Editing

Communication Is Two-Way!

Chapter 17: Promoting Your App with Paid Advertising

Marketing to Your Niche

Creating a Paid Advertisement Strategy

Researching needed keywords

Allocating your budget to multiple campaigns

Google AdWords

Banner Ads

Creating your banner ad

Finding the right banner ad network

Chapter 18: Planning Your Next Project

Building Your Brand

Keeping an app ideas inventory

Picking an app idea that fits your brand

Partnerships and joint ventures

Using Your First App to Promote Upcoming Applications

Surveying Your Existing Customers

Planning Your Future

Creating Your Own iPhone App Consultancy

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Traits of Highly Successful Applications

Great Design

Unique Data and/or Functionality

Connectivity

Stickiness

Specific Purpose

Ease of Use

Correct Pricing

Smart Use of iPhone Features

Fun to Use

Special Sauce

Chapter 20: Ten Influential Review Sites

148Apps

AppCraver

Apptism

AppVee

Gizmodo iPhone App Directory

Macworld

Major Newspapers

The Apple Web Site

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Wired Gadget Lab

Appendix: App Store Submission Checklist

Starting an iPhone® Application Business For Dummies®

by Aaron Nicholson, Joel Elad, and Damien Stolarz

Starting an iPhone® Application Business For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009936809

ISBN: 978-0-470-52452-7

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

Aaron Nicholson is the Creative Director at Perceptive Development (www.perceptdev.com), a Los Angeles-based consultancy that develops iPhone software and accessories. He is an interactive media designer/developer, a musician, and a theater geek who lives at the intersection of culture and technology. His interactive media boutique, Open Secret Communications, has developed online properties for top entertainment companies, Fortune 500 firms, and many small- and medium-size businesses. He holds a BA from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication.

Joel Elad has written five books about various online topics, including LinkedIn For Dummies, Starting an Online Business All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, and Web Stores Do-It-Yourself For Dummies (all from Wiley). He is the head of Real Method Consulting, a company dedicated to educating people through training seminars, DVDs, books, and other media. He holds a master’s degree in business from UC Irvine and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from UCLA. He has contributed to Entrepreneur magazine and Smartbiz.com, and has taught at institutions such as the University of California, Irvine.

Damien Stolarz is an inventor with a decade of experience in making different kinds of computers talk to each other. After studying computer science and electrical engineering at UCLA, Damien co-founded Blue Falcon Networks (formerly Static Online, Inc.), where he supervised, architected, and developed networking software for seven years. He has written and spoken at conferences about Internet video, content delivery, and peer-to-peer networking, and he created Robotarmy in 2002 to provide high-technology consulting in these areas.

Dedication

Aaron dedicates this book to his father, whose steadfast love and support have helped him more than words can say.

Joel dedicates this book to one of his best friends, Michael Bellomo. Not only did you get me started in this crazy world of being an author, but you always support me, make me laugh (with the big joke — you know the one) and believe in me. Thank you for the e-mails, the two-hour conversations on the phone, all the laughter, and (sniff sniff) the inspiration that tells me I can climb any mountain!

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

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Composition Services

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Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

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Introduction

When Apple opened its App Store along with the iPhone 3G in the summer of 2008, it took a mere three days for iPhone users to generate 10 million downloads from the 800 apps that were available, averaging 12,500 purchases per application. Barely a year later, the App Store has swelled to 65,000 applications and boasts over 1.5 billion app downloads. In short, the App Store is its own economy. Perhaps you’ve heard of the iPhone or you own one, or even several, applications and you want to see how you can take advantage of this 21st century gold rush. Perhaps you’re a software developer looking to create something for this booming economy. Perhaps your company is looking to reach out to new and existing customers. To all of you, welcome to Starting an iPhone Application Business For Dummies.

When the iPhone launched in June of 2007, it was a smash success. The ability to use a handheld device that was a real Apple computer enthralled Apple enthusiasts. The device’s sleek, leading-edge design and innovative features elevated it to a status symbol quickly in the eyes of the general public. But there was only one problem. What about all that space for more apps? Apple hadn’t made it possible to install additional apps and was mum about the subject.

By the time the iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit) was announced in March 2008, the thirst for apps on the iPhone was palpable from both consumers and developers. As soon as the SDK was released to developers, the mad dash to develop apps for the upcoming unveiling of the App Store resenbled the land grabs of the homestead days out West.

The success of the App Store is not the only source of excitement about iPhone apps. iPhone apps are fun to develop and use! A robust mobile platform that rivals the power of a laptop computer with an innovative easy-to-use interface is a real game changer in both technology and lifestyle. The fact that you or anyone else can sign up cheaply, learn what you need to know for free, put your ideas into action, and sell mobile computing software supported by a world class leader like Apple is an opportunity unlike any other in the world.

We’ve written this book to help you with the aspects of iPhone development you can’t find on Apple’s Developer Connection Web site: How to start and operate an iPhone app business.

You do not need to be a programmer to read this book!

Like anything else, this is a business and many of the modern business rules apply, with some Apple twists. We hope you enjoy the process of creating your very own iPhone software business. It’s fun, challenging, and rewarding.

About This Book

This book covers all aspects of creating, launching, and marketing an iPhone application. There’s a lot of advice and many concepts, but also some step-by-step instructions to get things done, and it’s all right here in this book.

This book is organized as a guide. You can read each chapter in order or read only specific chapters. Throughout the process of building an iPhone application, you can think of this book as a reference, where you can find the chapter you need that applies to your situation and the knowledge nugget you need to know, and then be on your merry way. We do a fair amount of cross-referencing too, so if you need to look elsewhere in the book for more information, you can easily find it.

In writing this book, we assume that you know a bit about computers, as most folks do today. But you may be utterly fresh to the concepts of programming an iPhone application and submitting it to the App Store. Despite what you may think, you do not need to be a programmer to create an iPhone application. (Naturally, though, it can make the process simpler if you are a programmer.) This book is designed to help everyone, from the aspiring entrepreneur who wants to enter this exciting world to the programmer who knows how to write XCode but needs help with the business and marketing aspects of the iPhone application to the company that wants to reach out to the iPhone user community and extend its brand with its own application.

We divide this book into six handy parts:

Part I starts with the basics, as we talk about the world of the iPhone, the App Store, mobile computing in general, and a crucial step in the process: how to price your iPhone application.

Part II goes into the idea generation process, helping you come up with your winning idea, figuring out what you can bring to the table, and identifying which market forces may affect your development. We describe how to craft the core of your iPhone application and make a competitive analysis of the idea and then show you resources where you can learn more.

Part III is designed to get the necessary stuff done up-front so you don’t have to worry about it later. We talk about how to register with Apple, gather all the development tools, and think about all the different team members you may need to help create your iPhone app.

Part IV takes everything we’ve covered and gets you into the nuts and bolts of turning your idea into a functioning iPhone application. We’ll talk about how to flesh out a concrete app specification, hire developers to write the code, put together a budget and figure out how to fund this project, and keep everything running as the developers are writing code and the designers are creating graphics.

Part V talks about everything you need to focus on after your iPhone app launches in the App Store. We talk about different ways to get publicity for your app and have it reviewed by different sites, and we help you build buzz by using the latest in social networking, blogging, and talking to the user community. We’ll show you some effective paid marketing options and describe how to build your business for the future.

Part VI is the traditional For Dummies Part of Tens — our lists detail a number of iPhone application review sites to consider and traits we found in highly successful applications.

And Just Who Are You?

We assume that you know how to use your computer for the basic operations, like checking e-mail, typing up a document, or surfing the great big World Wide Web. If you are worried that you will need a Ph.D. in Computer Operations to write an iPhone app, relax. If you can look at a Web site, you can use LinkedIn.

We use the words app and application interchangeably, to refer to the same thing.

This book assumes that you have a computer that can access the Internet; any PC or Macintosh computer will be fine, as well as Linux or any other operating system with a Web browser.

Programming for the iPhone requires a Mac. This book doesn’t.

We do not get into the core specifics of the programming necessary to build an iPhone application. In some parts of the book, we talk about specific applications, like Microsoft Excel, so we assume that if you have Microsoft Excel, you know how to use it for the purposes of building a spreadsheet and entering data, for example.

This book doesn’t describe the basic operations of a computer, accessing the Internet, or using an Internet Web browser like Safari, Internet Explorer or Firefox. We’ve tried to keep the information here specific to Apple, the iTunes store, and the App Store. Beyond that, if you need more information about connecting to the Internet or using a Web browser, check out The Internet For Dummies, by John R. Levine and Margaret Levine Young (published by Wiley).

Icons Used in This Book

The Tip icon notifies you about something cool, handy, or nifty or something that I highly recommend. For example,

A dancing clown out front doesn’t mean that it’s the best restaurant on the block.

Don’t forget! When you see this icon, you can be sure that it points out something you should remember. For example,

Always check your fly before you walk out on stage.

Danger! Ah-oogah! Ah-oogah! When you see the Warning icon, pay careful attention to the text. This icon flags something that’s bad or that could cause trouble. For example,

No matter how pressing the urge, no matter how well you know these things, do not ask that rather large woman next to you when she is due.

This icon alerts you to something technical, an aside or some trivial tidbit that we just cannot suppress the urge to share. Feel free to skip this incredibly unimportant technical information.For example,

It would be as ludicrous for us to recommend the 802.11q standard as it would be for me to insist that 1 is a prime number.

Where to Go from Here

You can start reading this book anywhere. Open the table of contents and pick a spot that amuses you or concerns you or has piqued your curiosity. Everything is explained in the text, and information is carefully cross-referenced so that you don’t waste your time reading repeated information.

Part I

Surveying the Marketplace

In this part . . .

Hey, if you’re wondering, “What does surveying have to do with creating an iPhone app?” then let us explain. The best analogy we can give is the saying, “To know where you are going, you first have to know where you are.” Reviewing the current state of this market will only help you build a better iPhone application.

In this part, we cover the exciting world that Applehas created for iPhone applications by looking at the App Store and the accompanying world of the iPhone app developers. We even take a look at the big picture of mobile application development to see how the iPhone has created some unique offerings that can change the market. We then describe one of the most challenging aspects current developers have had to face — how to price an iPhone application in the market. Trust us, this part lays a solid foundation for you to build your great idea on.

Let’s dig in!

Chapter 1

The Wide, Wide World of iPhone App Development

In This Chapter

Taking a tour of the Apple App Store

Accessing the App Store on your iPhone

Seeing how iPhone app developers have positioned themselves in the market

Sensing how to enter the marketplace with a new application

Finding your fit or an unmet need

Connecting with Apple’s strategy and vision

Understanding the connection between iPhone hardware and applications

Seeing how the progression of iPhone releases has affected the app world

Deciding whether to focus on current or future functionality

In July 2008, Apple Computer launched two momentous events. The first was an updated version of its hit iPhone product, the iPhone 3G. That same day, Apple launched something far more important to the success of its product: a central repository where iPhone users could purchase or download applications that could run on their iPhone. In simpler terms, Apple opened the App Store, where third-party developers from around the world could now have access to this new and growing market of iPhone owners who were eager to spend cash and get more capabilities from their gee-whiz phone.

In less than a year, Apple’s U.S. App Store alone has seen more than 40,000 applications approved and available on the store, and Apple celebrated its billionth application download in less than a year.

In this chapter, we present the App Store to you and talk about the different ways you can see or categorize the applications already present. We’ll talk about the link between the iPhone’s hardware and the applications that use it, and show how the development of the iPhone itself has affected the application development world. Sit back and enjoy!