Make Money With iPhone Apps

The last few years have seen mobile applications become a true money-making tool. Users now purchase apps just like they do any other goods or service. Many Apps have become overnight sensations, and have served as the most extreme examples of developer success.

Even without the deep pockets of some of the company’s behind the biggest commercial app successes, it’s still very possible to make money off of apps. Most mobile developers who want to make the most money choose to develop for the iPhone. There are a few reasons behind this. Generally speaking, iPhone users are more willing to spend money on apps. There is also a very large installed user base, and only having to develop for one specific platform makes development easy even for newcomers.

You can begin making money off of your iPhone apps once you’ve started to develop your product. Whether you’re making a game, a utility or some other app, the routes you can take to generate an income from it are very similar. There are several different ways to make money with iPhone apps. Your level of effort will obviously play a large role in how much revenue you generate, but most people find that it’s relatively easy and fun to make money off of their apps.

Selling the App Directly

This is the most straightforward method that you can use to earn money off of your iPhone app. In this model, you submit your project to Apple’s App Store. After it has been approved you’re allowed to set a price for it, and potential customers who search for it will have the option to buy it.

Simple enough, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Pricing your app correctly is critical in this model. As you can imagine, your app will sell a lot more copies at $0.99 than it will at $9.99. However, on the same note, you don’t want to give too much functionality away. If your app is truly one-of-a-kind and lets users do something that no other app can, then pricing it at the $9.99 mark might be more appropriate.

If you’re a new developer, you’ll likely have some serious concern about what price to release your app at. After all, buying a title from a new developer is always riskier for a potential customer than buying one from an established developer. A good way to counter this effect is to release a limited version of your app for free. This gives customers a way to use your app and see if they like it without risking their money. If they like it, they’ll be much more likely to pay for the full version as long as you’ve set it at a fair price.

Advertising Revenues

Although direct sales are great, they do limit your app’s profitability. There is a large contingent of iPhone users who, for better or for worse, refuse to pay for any app. Even if the app you’ve made is something that they really want, they’d still rather do something like download a pirated copy of your app.

To avoid this problem and reach the largest user base you can, your app can be marketed as a free download but still have advertisements inside of it. In this model, a third-party ad service places ads within your app and pays you a cut of the revenue whenever users click the ads. Users won’t shy away from your app because of an unwillingness to spend money, but you’ll still make money.

There are a couple of obvious drawbacks to this model, as well as some significant advantages. One major drawback is that some users never click ads, so you’ll never earn money from these users. Another disadvantage is that users will simply stop using the app if the placement of your ads within the app is inconvenient. However, well-placed ads and a user base that’s likely to click them has the potential to be a more profitable setup. Having in-app ads is a great way to draw residual income off of your app long after the majority of buyers have purchased it.

If you decide to go with this method, there are a few ad services available who will function as brokers for your app. Apple’s own iAd service is arguably the most sensible one. They have developers’ best interests in mind, and they also pay a large cut of the revenue to you. They just recently boosted the developer cut from 60 to 70 percent.

In-App Purchases

This has been an increasingly popular way to generate revenue from apps. It’s a very good way to earn additional revenue if you’re releasing a game, and under the right circumstances it can be a great source of primary revenue. In this model, your app is released for a very low price or for free. Your app’s users can then buy items in-game, and this is where you generate revenue.

This method works well, but it’s something that you should approach with caution. There is a delicate balance that needs to be maintained between making your app usable without the purchases so as not to drive away users, but still making the purchases useful enough for customers to buy them. This might be an option that you want to only consider if the alternatives haven’t been successful.

Tips to Maximize Your App’s Profitability

Releasing a quality product is essential to making money off of iPhone apps. You’ll find that a rushed product can generate small revenues, but it won’t earn the kind of lasting income that makes iPhone apps such an appealing endeavour. By maintaining high quality standards and putting a lot of thought into how you market and sell your app, you’ll be able to maximize the money it makes.

One last tip: A great way to earn easy money off of iPhone apps is to combine more than one strategy for making money off your apps. You can combine the paid and ad-support strategies, for example, by releasing two versions of your apps. This method has been used by popular games, including titles such as Angry Birds, to capture both the paid and free market segments. By giving your users flexibility, you’ll get more users for your app and make more money than you previously thought possible.