How I went from financial App failure to finding success on the App Store

[Yury]

Still be carefull because they will automatically start a campaign and keep billing you

Yep your experience described in that topic hopefully will help others who will follow your way...
And also @3things 's input in that topic, wow what a good lesson to be learned -
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/how-i-lost-550-to-google.53043/page-2#post-375343
So thank you guys for not hiding the problems so other will hopefully be careful with this stuff.

 

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[Rcaraway1989]

@Rcaraway1989 do you stick with AppStore or you cover (or plan to cover) Android as well?
Thumbs up for going from AppDev to BizDev.

But I can easily imagine, once you've reached good success with your business, people looking at your latest app and some your interview about it and thinking, Hey! He just took an idea, outsourced it and earned lots of cash! Wow! I'll do the same.

And they'll completely miss all the processes of you carefully building up the experience, digging the "dirt" with your hand, validating, testing, iterating...

So thank you for sharing your real quest here!

You're welcome! I plan on sharing much, much more -- I guess I should make a progress thread?

There's an astounding lack of information when it comes to making a successful app business (Only 2 books worth reading on the subject matter, zero forums or groups dedicated to Appreneurship, only like three or four decent blogs). Most info out there is so vague and obvious (look at the top charts to get app ideas! Genius!)

Android is a whole other topic. If I ever do move into Android territory, it will still follow the same process - I'll put up a link or something linking to an android version of an app to see if anyone takes the bait.

 

[Yury]

I guess I should make a progress thread

Sounds great as your Appreneurial experience combined with your thorough approach described in this topic is surely something that can help both these who's interested in Appreneurship and to these who are yet to grasp the power of your approach.

So I figure it's going to be a very useful topic (I already kinda felt sorry for somewhat littering this topic with unrelated stuff).

BTW talking about AppStore, it might sound silly but I've always shunned it because of my strong distaste towards Objective-C. And now with (much yummier imho) Swift coming and me having my main vehicle running solidly I'm excited to be able to taste the Appreneurial stuff myself - it's somewhat far from my business route at the moment but I'd love to get a better idea of how things are done there and how to connect it with my vehicle. That's why I'll be the solid follower of your topic.

Just one thing - do you plan to have this topic in public or in the INSIDERS section? There were some cases of copycats even Inside, so if you'll put your topic in the public part of the forum probably you'd better be double-careful with some details because while many people here have their own ideas to pursue, perverted strangers might try to completely copy everything you describe including your niche etc. So watch out.

But I really hope to read more about your progress and to learn from it.

 

[Rcaraway1989]

Sounds great as your Appreneurial experience combined with your thorough approach described in this topic is surely something that can help both these who's interested in Appreneurship and to these who are yet to grasp the power of your approach.

So I figure it's going to be a very useful topic (I already kinda felt sorry for somewhat littering this topic with unrelated stuff).

BTW talking about AppStore, it might sound silly but I've always shunned it because of my strong distaste towards Objective-C. And now with (much yummier imho) Swift coming and me having my main vehicle running solidly I'm excited to be able to taste the Appreneurial stuff myself - it's somewhat far from my business route at the moment but I'd love to get a better idea of how things are done there and how to connect it with my vehicle. That's why I'll be the solid follower of your topic.

Just one thing - do you plan to have this topic in public or in the INSIDERS section? There were some cases of copycats even Inside, so if you'll put your topic in the public part of the forum probably you'd better be double-careful with some details because while many people here have their own ideas to pursue, perverted strangers might try to completely copy everything you describe including your niche etc. So watch out.

But I really hope to read more about your progress and to learn from it.

Good idea about INSIDERS's. I just joined -- I'll keep future posts there.

Ya most dev's hate Objective C -- I was too much of a newbie programmer when I started to mind.

 

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[Weavie]

Great thread.

How did you come up with the original idea? "Instagram Gif" could almost have been generated at random from a list of internet buzzwords. (Maybe thats an app in itself.. App Generator app)

What are the two books that you would recommend? I haven't found any decent ones.

I've been looking into some Phone Gap frameworks recently. Much quicker way to get an app up and running and it opens up both the Android and iOS markets.

 

[Yury]

Phone Gap

Yeah just please be sure to properly analyze the downsides of Phone Gap first as Phone Gap/Xamarin/Appcelerator/Kony/you name, each have their very specific downsides. So while they might work just fine for some purposes, for other ones you'd better use native approaches for each platform.

 

[Weavie]

Yeah I am aware of plenty of downsides to Phone Gap. If an idea proved itself I would most likely rewrite it native.

 

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[NicoleMarie]

This website looks great; one of those great things out there that I wish I knew about sooner. What happens to the people that sign up/pay? What if you ditch the idea?

 

[teabag]

So MVP sounded great and all. I set it up with no problems and increased my google adwords to $150.

Over 7 days I received 13 unique views and 0 clicks (meaning 0 people submitted their email).

My landing page and website look great visually and the offer is better than my competitors. Any analysis on this?

Also, it took 4 days for google adwords to be approved... when the landing page lasted 7 days...

 

[tafy]

13 views means people are either:

1. not searching for your product/offer
2. Your adwords keyword list needs expanding
3. Raise the CPC

I would get more traffic before changing anything about your offer or product to get more data

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Wow, great thread. Not sure how I missed it. Rep+ to @Rcaraway1989 for sharing his experience.

 

[Rcaraway1989]

Great thread.

How did you come up with the original idea? "Instagram Gif" could almost have been generated at random from a list of internet buzzwords. (Maybe thats an app in itself.. App Generator app)

What are the two books that you would recommend? I haven't found any decent ones.

I've been looking into some Phone Gap frameworks recently. Much quicker way to get an app up and running and it opens up both the Android and iOS markets.

If I'm being honest, I stole the idea from someone. I get into "Idea search" mode where I write down/brainstorm different ideas. Someone happened to tell me about this idea while I was in idea search mode, and it seemed reasonable enough to look into. After initial research, I felt it was worth testing a landing page.

I had probably 40ish ideas before I found one I thought was worth even testing a landing page for. I still come up with ideas all the time. I have like 4 landing pages I tested with QuickMVP that were complete duds.

The two books I've found are App Empire by Chad Mureta and Appreneur: Secrets to Success in the App Store. I'll also give a shoutout to Lean Analytics although its not specifically mobile.

 

[Rcaraway1989]

So MVP sounded great and all. I set it up with no problems and increased my google adwords to $150.

Over 7 days I received 13 unique views and 0 clicks (meaning 0 people submitted their email).

My landing page and website look great visually and the offer is better than my competitors. Any analysis on this?

Also, it took 4 days for google adwords to be approved... when the landing page lasted 7 days...

I agree with Tafy, tweak your ads and keywords. The ads are the top of your funnel -- if no one is clicking here it doesn't matter what's happening on the landing page. Or as I like to say, "If no one's coming through the door, it doesn't matter what's in the store". Fix this first.

If there's no market? Then you should be proud that you failed so fast. Saved yourself a lot of time and money and there will ALWAYS be more ideas to test. In fact, generating ideas should be your most important task until you find one that sticks.

 

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[Rcaraway1989]

This website looks great; one of those great things out there that I wish I knew about sooner. What happens to the people that sign up/pay? What if you ditch the idea?

The site pretty much says "Hey the product isn't ready yet so give us your email and we'll let you know when it is". When GifShare hit the App Store, i created a MailCheat(Chimp) campaign (You can download the emails and upload them to MailCheat(Chimp)) and let everyone know it was ready.

Edit: the cool thing about this is that I still have those emails. I can send out emails to the list when I release big updates or new apps.

 

[NicoleMarie]

The site pretty much says "Hey the product isn't ready yet so give us your email and we'll let you know when it is". When GifShare hit the App Store, i created a MailCheat(Chimp) campaign (You can download the emails and upload them to MailCheat(Chimp)) and let everyone know it was ready.

Edit: the cool thing about this is that I still have those emails. I can send out emails to the list when I release big updates or new apps.

Oh ok. I actually found out that people aren't making people pay lol, although I guess it could also be used for "presales." The email collecting DEFINITELY sounds great, since you already know everyone wants what you have. Best of all, they came to you!

It looks like the adwords part of it is simplified, like no negative keywords and stuff like that. Did you find it sufficient still? Sorry if I'm missing something there ha.

 

[Rcaraway1989]

Oh ok. I actually found out that people aren't making people pay lol, although I guess it could also be used for "presales." The email collecting DEFINITELY sounds great, since you already know everyone wants what you have. Best of all, they came to you!

It looks like the adwords part of it is simplified, like no negative keywords and stuff like that. Did you find it sufficient still? Sorry if I'm missing something there ha.

I didn't use the Adwords function -- I didn't need it, but also when I built my landing pages, QuickMVP was still in beta and that wasn't a feature yet.

 

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[BrooklynHustle]

Kudos and keep going!

I've not really talked in the forums, but this post is in one of my main areas of interest.

I currently run a small mobile gaming business leveraging the talents of outsourced developers & designers. My first app launched June of 2012 to the iOS store without much fanfare after 6 months of work & preparation. Since then I have built a portfolio of over 100 apps which have amassed ~8 million downloads and revenue equaling multiples of my former salary as Manager at a Fortune 50 tech company... but most importantly they granted me freedom from my employer and from exchanging time for money.

There have been ups and downs and I am far from finished with this adventure, as I have not reached my final goals, but the points consistently made in the book and the forum regarding process & struggle ring especially true. Things are always changing in the app market. What worked 2 years ago or even 2 months ago is not necessarily going to be the winning formula now, but for those who persevere, the rewards can be great (sounds familiar, right?)

Would certainly love to share more if people are interested to hear about it. Gotta run & pick up the lady from the airport

 

[samuraijack]

Great post!

For someone who wants to get into the app scene, that has only began to learn to program for a couple months, should I just focus on marketing and just outsource?

 

[BrooklynHustle]

If I'm being honest, I stole the idea from someone. I get into "Idea search" mode where I write down/brainstorm different ideas. Someone happened to tell me about this idea while I was in idea search mode, and it seemed reasonable enough to look into. After initial research, I felt it was worth testing a landing page.

I had probably 40ish ideas before I found one I thought was worth even testing a landing page for. I still come up with ideas all the time. I have like 4 landing pages I tested with QuickMVP that were complete duds.

The two books I've found are App Empire by Chad Mureta and Appreneur: Secrets to Success in the App Store. I'll also give a shoutout to Lean Analytics although its not specifically mobile.

@Rcaraway1989 Read both of those books and App Empire was definitely influential for me. It's still pretty powerful information which remains fundamentally true even though some of it is now outdated (market moves fast!) Since then I've had the opportunity to meet Chad and speak at one of his seminars. Learned a lot from him.

Another cool resource to check out is the Bluecloud Solutions blog at bluecloudsolutions.com. Carter is extremely knowledgeable about the app marketplace and very giving in terms of the information he provides. I learned countless things from his blog free of charge well before we ever met and became friends.

@ProblemOd - there are pros and cons to each approach. What attracted me to outsourcing was the potential for speed to market, a higher quality product than I could produce in reasonable time (used to program, but years ago), and scalability. Plus I figured I should be laser focused on how to earn downloads and revenue which is a whole beast on its own.

The benefits of programming yourself are that you retain more control and can save some much needed dollars before you have revenue, while also learning a valuable skill. Left to me, I'd still choose outsourcing, but that's a personal decision.

Definitely recommend checking out the resources mentioned above for starters.

 

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[Michal II]

Very interesting Post. I'm iOS Developer and about year ago I quit my job with idea of making millions with my App and just got into financial troubles, I didn't yet finished it and had to start working for other people to be able to paid my bills.

To be honest I didn't spend any time to promote my app which is stupid and really forgot about it and work as freelancer now.
Can you give me your opinion based on video on my Landing Page http://www.facestatsapp.com - I found that after installation it takes a long time to update data from Facebook Server so it's something that I would have to work on. But is it worth my work?

Basic idea is that app show you who gives you most likes, most comments on Facebook or you can see how many likes and comments you got from specific friend

 

[Wuz]

If I'm being honest, I stole the idea from someone. I get into "Idea search" mode where I write down/brainstorm different ideas. Someone happened to tell me about this idea while I was in idea search mode, and it seemed reasonable enough to look into. After initial research, I felt it was worth testing a landing page.

I had probably 40ish ideas before I found one I thought was worth even testing a landing page for. I still come up with ideas all the time. I have like 4 landing pages I tested with QuickMVP that were complete duds.

The two books I've found are App Empire by Chad Mureta and Appreneur: Secrets to Success in the App Store. I'll also give a shoutout to Lean Analytics although its not specifically mobile.

There is abook called lifehacked by "Rego apps". Besides some good life advice he gives, he talks about apps. I didnt read it, but i heard it is a good book.

 

[Rcaraway1989]

Very interesting Post. I'm iOS Developer and about year ago I quit my job with idea of making millions with my App and just got into financial troubles, I didn't yet finished it and had to start working for other people to be able to paid my bills.

To be honest I didn't spend any time to promote my app which is stupid and really forgot about it and work as freelancer now.
Can you give me your opinion based on video on my Landing Page http://www.facestatsapp.com - I found that after installation it takes a long time to update data from Facebook Server so it's something that I would have to work on. But is it worth my work?

Basic idea is that app show you who gives you most likes, most comments on Facebook or you can see how many likes and comments you got from specific friend

Looking at your landing page leads me to believe you spent way too much time building a landing page. Have you verified there's a market for this? If so have you spoken to any customers?

 

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[Rcaraway1989]

There is abook called lifehacked by "Rego apps". Besides some good life advice he gives, he talks about apps. I didnt read it, but i heard it is a good book.

Wow that book actually looks worth reading. Here's the link for anyone else interested.

 

[PopEmersen]

There is abook called lifehacked by "Rego apps". Besides some good life advice he gives, he talks about apps. I didnt read it, but i heard it is a good book.

Great book and the creator is a forum member @regoapps

 

[samuraijack]

Great book and the creator is a forum member @regoapps

He has tons of posts on reddit in an AMA about his apps if you want to read, some value in there as well. He also has a youtube channel with some lectures he gave, also some valuable app tips as well.

 

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[user1995]

Thanks for the excellent thread!

Would you say that reskinning apps, submitting them a couple of times and failing fast is a good way to get your feet wet?

 

[Rcaraway1989]

Thanks for the excellent thread!

Would you say that reskinning apps, submitting them a couple of times and failing fast is a good way to get your feet wet?

Yes.

 

[user1995]

Yes.

Thank you, I shall do so.

 

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[luniac]

Hi i see u used QuickMVP to create a landing page for testing ur app idea.
Is that the absolute "simplest" service used to create an online page for ur app?
Is there a simpler way to do it?

I'm not looking to just test an app idea, i want to create dedicated web pages for my apps so i can put things like:

pictures
description
google/ios store links
company contact email widget(iOS apps REQUIRE a support website and i currently use my personal blog as the site which is less than ideal)
links to twitter,facebook
Basically marketing stuff

Is it better than me buying a domain using the hosting that i use, quick installing wordpress on it, and making a static front page with some pictures and app description and links and whatnot? I can do all of the above in wordpress but it would be a lot of manual work creating a layout... etc etc ....

Is there any web coding involved with QuickMVP like php,html,cs?

I'm looking for the absolute simplest way to do this because my hands are full actually making my apps(12+ hours a day working on them)
Is QuickMVP like a template thing? where i just supply my pictures, type in the text i need where necessary, and provide a domain name that i bought?


Thanks in advance

 

[teabag]

Hi i see u used QuickMVP to create a landing page for testing ur app idea.
Is that the absolute "simplest" service used to create an online page for ur app?
Is there a simpler way to do it?

I'm not looking to just test an app idea, i want to create dedicated web pages for my apps so i can put things like:

pictures
description
google/ios store links
company contact email widget(iOS apps REQUIRE a support website and i currently use my personal blog as the site which is less than ideal)
links to twitter,facebook
Basically marketing stuff

Is it better than me buying a domain using the hosting that i use, quick installing wordpress on it, and making a static front page with some pictures and app description and links and whatnot? I can do all of the above in wordpress but it would be a lot of manual work creating a layout... etc etc ....

Is there any web coding involved with QuickMVP like php,html,cs?

I'm looking for the absolute simplest way to do this because my hands are full actually making my apps(12+ hours a day working on them)
Is QuickMVP like a template thing? where i just supply my pictures, type in the text i need where necessary, and provide a domain name that i bought?


Thanks in advance

No there isn't. Literally choose your font, picture and type.

Oh and your credit card details