Everyone knows they should keep track of their money, but many people think it’s a chore. How do you make an iPhone app to make it easier, and then get people excited about it?
That was the challenge for Sandro Pennisi, whose iPhone app MoneyBook 
makes it simple (maybe even fun) to keep tabs on your expenses. From building a Twitter following to creating a website, Sandro has found many ways to spread the word and build interest.
Learn his secrets for promoting MoneyBook, including how to easily make a slick video showing your app in action.
Marketing Your App: What is your app and what does it do?
Sandro Pennisi: Our app is named “MoneyBook” and is a beautiful, simple and usable financing app. It helps keeping track of expenses and your budget.
So we wanted to create an app that is both powerful and usable because we think there are too many apps which try to be a desktop app on a mobile phone. But I think that’s the problem, they forget the user and the usage scenario. It’s a mobile phone and not a desktop. On a phone you spend only a few seconds with an app, maybe also because you’re on the road etc…
I think this is one important thing for iPhone developers. Their app has to make something better than the others.
MYA: What have you done to promote your iPhone app?
SP: Of course we did everything to promote it, with writing review sites etc., and we got a couple of reviews, which helps a little. But the problem is, most of these review sites aren’t really well known and haven’t many readers. So it’s not always helpful.
Twitter is one of the biggest things we did. We started with 0 followers and now we’re nearing 200 followers in a month or so. I think it’s important to always reply on feedback and questions and show to the people that you’re actively developing it.
We also have a blog and we found this is a very good way to stay in touch with the community. We announce new features there and comment on all things about our app.
MYA: Your YouTube video looks great and it’s a good idea for developers to show their app in action. How did you create it?
I recorded the screen with the great ScreenFlow app for the Mac. So while I was clicking on the iPhone Simulator, the app recorded the screen. And then I did all post processing also in ScreenFlow. It has possibility to replace the mouse cursor with this big white dot. You can zoom in, zoom out, fade in images, background music. Almost everything you need.
Sure it’s not as cool as an Apple iPhone ad but we tried our best, also we tried to keep the video as short as possible. I think nobody wants to watch 5 minutes of a video. 45 seconds or so are perfect in my opinion.
MYA: What tips do you have for developers who are trying to sell their apps?
I think if you have a good product, make some promotion, and stay in touch with the community, then success will come.
MoneyBook is available in the App Store by clicking this link
Do you have an iPhone app? Would you like to see it featured on this blog? Find out how.
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Good Read. I’ll look forward to your next piece
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