Starting an iPhone® Application Business For Dummies®

Starting an iPhone® Application Business For Dummies®

by
Released October 2009
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9780470524527

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Book description

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.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Authors
  3. Publisher's Acknowledgments
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. And Just Who Are You?
    3. Icons Used in This Book
    4. Where to Go from Here
  5. I. Surveying the Marketplace
    1. 1. The Wide, Wide World of iPhone App Development
      1. 1.1. Touring of the Apple App Store
        1. 1.1.1. Perusing the storefront
          1. 1.1.1.1. Categories
          2. 1.1.1.2. The digital end cap
          3. 1.1.1.3. Browse
          4. 1.1.1.4. Search and power search
          5. 1.1.1.5. Top applications
        2. 1.1.2. The App Store on the iPhone
        3. 1.1.3. A word about updates
      2. 1.2. Apple's Free Marketing
      3. 1.3. The Frictionless Selling Experience
      4. 1.4. Global Distribution
      5. 1.5. How iPhone App Developers Positioned Themselves
        1. 1.5.1. Price points
          1. 1.5.1.1. Free apps
          2. 1.5.1.2. Cheap apps
          3. 1.5.1.3. Midline
          4. 1.5.1.4. Premium
          5. 1.5.1.5. Excessive
        2. 1.5.2. Market purpose
        3. 1.5.3. Quality level
        4. 1.5.4. Market size
        5. 1.5.5. Emulating existing products
      6. 1.6. Entering the Marketplace with a New Application
        1. 1.6.1. Finding your fit or unmet need
        2. 1.6.2. Identifying needs in the marketplace
        3. 1.6.3. Assessing the environment
        4. 1.6.4. Taking an inventory of what you can offer
        5. 1.6.5. Synthesizing the approaches to find your idea
      7. 1.7. Connecting with Apple's Strategy and Vision
        1. 1.7.1. Connecting between iPhone hardware and applications
        2. 1.7.2. Following iPhone releases has affected the app world
        3. 1.7.3. Writing for current or future functionality
    2. 2. Understanding the iPhone Platform
      1. 2.1. Apple's Entry into Mobile Computing
      2. 2.2. iPhone Location-Aware Capabilities
        1. 2.2.1. Telepresence
        2. 2.2.2. Telematics
        3. 2.2.3. Business automation
      3. 2.3. iPhone Networking Capabilities
        1. 2.3.1. Communication between devices
        2. 2.3.2. Crowdsourcing
        3. 2.3.3. Cloud computing
      4. 2.4. iPhone Hardware and Accessories
      5. 2.5. Unique iPhone Capabilities
        1. 2.5.1. The operating system
        2. 2.5.2. The accelerometer
        3. 2.5.3. Multitouch
        4. 2.5.4. iTunes Store
      6. 2.6. iPhone 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and Beyond
    3. 3. Pricing and Revenue Models
      1. 3.1. Identifying Revenue Streams
        1. 3.1.1. Paid apps
        2. 3.1.2. Price ranges
        3. 3.1.3. Free apps
      2. 3.2. Estimating Income
        1. 3.2.1. Determining your application's price point
        2. 3.2.2. Predicting an application's revenue
        3. 3.2.3. Testing estimates
      3. 3.3. Maximizing Sales
        1. 3.3.1. Participating in a promotion
        2. 3.3.2. Writing reviews
        3. 3.3.3. Offering a trial version
        4. 3.3.4. Repricing
        5. 3.3.5. Revising revenue projections
        6. 3.3.6. Moving on
  6. II. Pinpointing the Business Offering
    1. 4. Coming Up with a Winning Idea
      1. 4.1. Analyzing Your Competition
        1. 4.1.1. Studying an app's strengths and weaknesses
          1. 4.1.1.1. Concept
            1. 4.1.1.1.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.1.1.2. Weaknesses
          2. 4.1.1.2. Purpose
            1. 4.1.1.2.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.1.2.2. Weaknesses
          3. 4.1.1.3. User interface
            1. 4.1.1.3.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.1.3.2. Weaknesses
          4. 4.1.1.4. Design
            1. 4.1.1.4.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.1.4.2. Weaknesses
          5. 4.1.1.5. Usability
            1. 4.1.1.5.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.1.5.2. Weaknesses
          6. 4.1.1.6. Interoperability
            1. 4.1.1.6.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.1.6.2. Weaknesses
        2. 4.1.2. Comparing similar apps
          1. 4.1.2.1. Concepts
            1. 4.1.2.1.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.2.1.2. Weaknesses
          2. 4.1.2.2. Purpose
            1. 4.1.2.2.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.2.2.2. Weaknesses
          3. 4.1.2.3. User interface
            1. 4.1.2.3.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.2.3.2. Weaknesses
          4. 4.1.2.4. Design
            1. 4.1.2.4.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.2.4.2. Weaknesses
          5. 4.1.2.5. Usability
            1. 4.1.2.5.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.2.5.2. Weaknesses
          6. 4.1.2.6. Interoperability
            1. 4.1.2.6.1. Strengths
            2. 4.1.2.6.2. Weaknesses
      2. 4.2. Generating Ideas
        1. 4.2.1. Specific idea-generation techniques
        2. 4.2.2. Surveying
        3. 4.2.3. Brainstorming
        4. 4.2.4. Mash-ups
        5. 4.2.5. Evolution
      3. 4.3. Creating Barriers to Competition
        1. 4.3.1. Time to market and first to market
        2. 4.3.2. Better product and execution
        3. 4.3.3. Exclusive content
        4. 4.3.4. Proprietary technology
        5. 4.3.5. Strategic partnerships
        6. 4.3.6. Cheaper supplies
        7. 4.3.7. More expensive ingredients
        8. 4.3.8. Products under regulation
        9. 4.3.9. The global scene
        10. 4.3.10. Undercutting
        11. 4.3.11. Switching costs
        12. 4.3.12. Network effects
        13. 4.3.13. Advertising and marketing
      4. 4.4. Protecting Your Intellectual Property
        1. 4.4.1. Copyright
        2. 4.4.2. Trademarks
        3. 4.4.3. Patents
    2. 5. Leveraging Brand, Skills, and Content
      1. 5.1. Looking at the Big Picture
        1. 5.1.1. Defining your corporate vision
        2. 5.1.2. Writing your vision statement
        3. 5.1.3. Letting your goals motivate you
      2. 5.2. Understanding Your Corporate Culture
      3. 5.3. Putting Goals into Practice
        1. 5.3.1. Defining your operation
        2. 5.3.2. Introducing branding
      4. 5.4. Writing Your Business Plan
        1. 5.4.1. Recognizing that cynicism doesn't work
        2. 5.4.2. Incorporating business plans into the culture
        3. 5.4.3. Inspecting the ingredients of a business plan
        4. 5.4.4. Seeing the forest and the trees
    3. 6. Collaborating Internally and Externally
      1. 6.1. Getting an Idea of What is in the Marketplace
        1. 6.1.1. Surveying the marketplace
      2. 6.2. Utilizing Resources to Help You
        1. 6.2.1. Navigating the Apple Developer Forum
        2. 6.2.2. Meeting people in this space
          1. 6.2.2.1. Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference
          2. 6.2.2.2. Other live events
        3. 6.2.3. Online Resources
          1. 6.2.3.1. Outside Developer forums
          2. 6.2.3.2. Keeping up with the commentariat
    4. 7. Sizing Up the Competition
      1. 7.1. Using Competitive-Analysis Tools to Analyze the Competition
      2. 7.2. Use a Spreadsheet to Make Feature-Comparison Charts
      3. 7.3. Finding information sources
      4. 7.4. Finding Paid Research
      5. 7.5. Listening to the Buzz
  7. III. Lay the Groundwork
    1. 8. Registering with Apple
      1. 8.1. Your Relationship with Apple
      2. 8.2. Preparing Your Data
      3. 8.3. Signing Up with Apple As an iPhone App Developer
        1. 8.3.1. Navigating the sign-up process
        2. 8.3.2. Registration information
      4. 8.4. Lining Up Your Requirements
    2. 9. Understanding the Development Tools
      1. 9.1. Getting Set Up as a Developer
        1. 9.1.1. The introductory help videos
          1. 9.1.1.1. Introduction to the iPhone SDK
      2. 9.2. iPhone Development Tools Overview
        1. 9.2.1. Stanford University iPhone development claasses on iTunes
        2. 9.2.2. Further resources
      3. 9.3. Third-Party Tools
        1. 9.3.1. Game SDKs
        2. 9.3.2. Frameworks and code libraries
    3. 10. Staffing Your Team
      1. 10.1. Identifying the Team Positions
        1. 10.1.1. Getting the application programming skills
        2. 10.1.2. Understanding the importance of a great designer
        3. 10.1.3. IT skills to tie it all together
        4. 10.1.4. Rounding out the team with business skills
          1. 10.1.4.1. Legal skills
          2. 10.1.4.2. Accounting skills
          3. 10.1.4.3. Marketing skills
          4. 10.1.4.4. Project-management skills
      2. 10.2. Filling the Gaps on your Team
        1. 10.2.1. Adding business sense
        2. 10.2.2. Applying technology
        3. 10.2.3. Borrowing skills within your company
      3. 10.3. Effective outsourcing
        1. 10.3.1. Staying within your budget
        2. 10.3.2. Streamlining the integration
        3. 10.3.3. Making sure everything is solid and robust
  8. IV. Assemble Your iPhone Application
    1. 11. Building Your Application Specifications
      1. 11.1. Creating an Application Blueprint
        1. 11.1.1. Documenting your app's basic functionality
        2. 11.1.2. Creating mock-ups
        3. 11.1.3. Creating a full feature list
        4. 11.1.4. Defining the look and feel
      2. 11.2. Looking at the Role of Quality Assurance
        1. 11.2.1. Writing your test plan
        2. 11.2.2. Defining success criteria
    2. 12. Assembling Your Development Team
      1. 12.1. Tooling Around with Your Programming Skills
      2. 12.2. Hiring an iPhone App Developer
        1. 12.2.1. Where to find an app developer
        2. 12.2.2. What to look for
        3. 12.2.3. References and a portfolio
        4. 12.2.4. Terms of engagement
      3. 12.3. Estimating Development Costs
        1. 12.3.1. Getting competitive bids
        2. 12.3.2. Comparing developer capabilities
        3. 12.3.3. In-house or outsource?
      4. 12.4. Getting Contracts in Place
        1. 12.4.1. Bid rate versus an hourly rate
        2. 12.4.2. Change management and billing
        3. 12.4.3. Licensing and ownership
        4. 12.4.4. Source code
    3. 13. Greenlighting the Budget
      1. 13.1. Counting Up the Costs of Developing Your App
        1. 13.1.1. Estimating application development costs
        2. 13.1.2. Getting graphic design for your artwork
        3. 13.1.3. Budgeting for marketing expenses
        4. 13.1.4. Pricing the legal costs
      2. 13.2. Funding Your Project
        1. 13.2.1. Self-funding
        2. 13.2.2. Getting investors
          1. 13.2.2.1. Business planning
          2. 13.2.2.2. How to put together a proposal
          3. 13.2.2.3. Types of investors
        3. 13.2.3. Finding a client
        4. 13.2.4. Pitching your idea
    4. 14. Managing the Development Process
      1. 14.1. Setting Up Hierarchy and Roles
      2. 14.2. Establishing a Timeline
      3. 14.3. The Software Development Process
        1. 14.3.1. Creating the specification
        2. 14.3.2. Building the application
          1. 14.3.2.1. Milestones
          2. 14.3.2.2. Keeping on track
        3. 14.3.3. Testing the application
        4. 14.3.4. Iterating (repeating) the build-test process
          1. 14.3.4.1. Incorporating changes needed into your application
          2. 14.3.4.2. Handling unexpected cases
      4. 14.4. Submitting Your Completed App
  9. V. Market to the Masses
    1. 15. Capturing Free Publicity
      1. 15.1. The Importance of Getting Reviewed
        1. 15.1.1. Overview of iPhone app-review sites
        2. 15.1.2. How to write a press release
          1. 15.1.2.1. Breaking down the sections of a press release
          2. 15.1.2.2. Distributing your press release
        3. 15.1.3. How to submit your app to be reviewed
      2. 15.2. High-Profile Endorsements
        1. 15.2.1. Celebrities
        2. 15.2.2. Opinion leaders
      3. 15.3. Writing Articles
        1. 15.3.1. Putting together Your Article
        2. 15.3.2. Be an opinion leader
    2. 16. Building the Buzz
      1. 16.1. How to Set Up a Blog
        1. 16.1.1. Identifying your blog audience
        2. 16.1.2. What to write in your blog entries
      2. 16.2. Reach Out to Your Social Networks
        1. 16.2.1. Quizzes
        2. 16.2.2. Create a widget
      3. 16.3. E-mail Marketing
        1. 16.3.1. Crafting your e-mails
        2. 16.3.2. Generating and maintaining your list
        3. 16.3.3. Buying a list
      4. 16.4. Create a Demo Video for YouTube
        1. 16.4.1. Concepting
        2. 16.4.2. Scripting
        3. 16.4.3. Rehearsing
        4. 16.4.4. Shooting
          1. 16.4.4.1. Screen capture
          2. 16.4.4.2. Video recording
        5. 16.4.5. Editing
      5. 16.5. Communication is Two-Way!
    3. 17. Promoting Your App with Paid Advertising
      1. 17.1. Marketing to Your Niche
      2. 17.2. Creating a Paid Advertisement Strategy
        1. 17.2.1. Researching needed keywords
        2. 17.2.2. Allocating your budget to multiple campaigns
      3. 17.3. Google AdWords
      4. 17.4. Banner Ads
        1. 17.4.1. Creating your banner ad
        2. 17.4.2. Finding the right banner ad network
    4. 18. Planning Your Next Project
      1. 18.1. Building Your Brand
        1. 18.1.1. Keeping an app ideas inventory
        2. 18.1.2. Picking an app idea that fits your brand
        3. 18.1.3. Partnerships and joint ventures
      2. 18.2. Using your First App to Promote Upcoming Applications
        1. 18.2.1. Surveying your Existing Customers
      3. 18.3. Planning Your Future
      4. 18.4. Creating your Own iPhone App Consultancy
  10. VI. The Part of Tens
    1. 19. Ten Traits of Highly Successful Applications
      1. 19.1. Great Design
      2. 19.2. Unique Data and/or Functionality
      3. 19.3. Connectivity
      4. 19.4. Stickiness
      5. 19.5. Specific Purpose
      6. 19.6. Ease of Use
      7. 19.7. Correct Pricing
      8. 19.8. Smart Use of iPhone Features
      9. 19.9. Fun to Use
      10. 19.10. Special Sauce
    2. 20. Ten Influential Review Sites
      1. 20.1. 148Apps
      2. 20.2. AppCraver
      3. 20.3. Apptism
      4. 20.4. AppVee
      5. 20.5. Gizmodo iPhone App Directory
      6. 20.6. Macworld
      7. 20.7. Major Newspapers
      8. 20.8. The Apple Web Site
      9. 20.9. The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
      10. 20.10. Wired Gadget Lab
  11. A. App Store Submission Checklist
    1. A.1. Application
    2. A.2. Application metadata and application Web site
    3. A.3. Application name
    4. A.4. Application icon
    5. A.5. Screen shots
    6. A.6. Build

Product information

  • Title: Starting an iPhone® Application Business For Dummies®
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: October 2009
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9780470524527