Market Symposium
SD: iPhone App Business Development and Marketing
Feb. 12, 2010 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Speaker(s):
Brian Akaka, Founder & CEO, Appular, Peter Cohen, Executive Editor, The Loop, Kevin Ford, CEO, Parliant Corporation, Michel Kripalani, CEO, Oceanhouse Media, Naomi Pearce, CEO, Pearce Communications, Zachary Waibel, CEO, Tricky Software Inc.
You're already putting an enormous amount of work into getting your app into the App Store and out to iPhone and iPod touch users. But this isn't Field of Dreams. "Build it and they will come" only works in the movies. Learn how to separate yourself from the pack and build a sustainable, thriving iPhone development business.
Attend this symposium to learn:
- How to get your app seen
- How to build a sustainable business as an iPhone developer
- How to price your iPhone app successfully
- How to market your iPhone app
- Alternative business strategies
- Protecting your products and your business
This symposium is geared toward iPhone and iPod touch application developers and business development people looking to understand the App Store ecosystem better.
Throughout the day, topics will cover the following:
Getting your app free publicity: Making friends with the press
Building relationships with the press is one of the most important things you can do to separate yourself from the hordes of other iPhone developers with great ideas. Learn how to get your foot in the door with fickle reporters and reviewers when it comes time to publicize a new application or a big update.
Building an iPhone publishing house
You can build a team without having employees and overhead, and you can build product without having to pay people up front. Learn more about how to find and use good contractors, understand the intricacies of back-end royalties and find out other methods for keeping expenses low.
Securing content is another important aspect to building a successful iPhone app business. Rather than reinventing the wheel and depending on your own intellectual property, you may find that licensing content can offer you better opportunities for quick turnaround and fast return on your initial investment.
The good, the bad, and the ugly about iPhone app pricing
iPhone apps have been in a death spiral since 2008 - developers have raced to the bottom of the 99 cent dumpster. But is that a smart way to build a business? Learn more about "loss leader" apps, and understand how pricing can affect your app's average review score.
Having good visibility on the App Store demands that developers drop their prices, and it's a loser's game. Stop fighting for exposure on the App Store, learn how to build an app that will sell itself. Leverage reviews and social marketing techniques
A big factor that's driving down the average price of iPhone apps is how the App Store works The only way to have good visibility on the App Store is to have a cheap price! Stop fighting for exposure on the App Store, because you can't win. Instead, learn how to build an app that will sell itself.
Letting others do the heavy lifting: being an App Store mercenary
Let's face - the App Store isn’t a gravy train. While a few developers made a lot of money in the beginning and some are still hitting it big, the vast number of developers and the even bigger number of their applications makes it harder and harder for developers with original ideas to make their mark.
That's why it's worth considering becoming a mercenary: working for other companies willing to take the risk of marketing and supporting iPhone apps themselves. Learn more about white-label development, working with other companies' intellectual property, and getting paid to make other people's applications.
Get help marketing your iPhone app
Getting a product on the App Store is only the first step: now you have to convince people to buy it. Many developers forget how important it is to have a marketing plan.
Marketing your product doesn't mean you need to hire full-time staff, though it does mean you should budget for it. Learn ways to negotiate a fair payment structure, understand the different types of services that marketing companies offer, and find out how to measure your return on investment.
Making your dream iPhone app a reality, and protecting your turf
You may have a plan to build the best iPhone application the world has ever seen, but it takes a lot more than good intentions to bring a product to market. Understand the criteria for judging whether an idea isn't just good, but is a viable product. Learn how to get it made, how to market it, and how to make money on it. Make sure you pick the right size project for the resources you have available.
But seeing your dream become reality is just the start. Now that you have a successful iPhone app, you're a target for everyone else who wants to make money. Lawyers aren't the solution - they cost too much for everyone. So let us suggest a few things you can do up front to reduce or eliminate the likelihood this will happen.
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