When it comes to making money from iPhone or iPad apps, it all starts with a great app. No amount of clever marketing will help sell a ho-hum app.

The most important part of the development process is to have an original idea for an app that will help people in their everyday lives. Your inspiration is the core of your software. And, having a great idea behind your app will help it stand out.

Of course, coming up with a good iPhone app idea is easier said than done. Racking your brain until it hurts probably isn’t going to work. There are strategies you can use to come up with not just one idea, but lots of winning ideas.

Just as important as coming up with ideas of what your app could be is knowing how to edit those ideas down to one gem. Knowing what separates an idea that will be popular versus the rest is one of the first big decisions you’ll need to make when creating an app. You want to learn the strategies behind coming up with many great ideas, then pairing it down to the one best idea that you’ll be excited to work on and sell.

So what makes a great app? Is it the slick graphics, the list of features that go on and on? I say that the key to a bestselling app isn’t what you might think. It’s not the features you’ve put into it, even if those features took you days to program. No, the real measure of an outstanding app is the benefit it gives your user.

Your user will buy your iPhone app because it does something for them. In some way – big or small – your app helps make their life better. It’s that reason why people will want your app.

Ask yourself, what problem does my app solve? Making money is all about solving your customers’ problems, and the best developers know that they can only profit from an idea that truly helps make their customers’ lives easier (or a little more fun).

It’s not the flashy graphics or the clever features. If you really want your app to be irresistible, here’s what to do.

Choose the one top benefit that your app offers. Then, do everything you can to play up that feature. Design your app to really provide as much of that benefit as you can. In your app description, say it clearly.

The real key to selling more apps is not the marketing tactics you use. The big secret is to learn that you need to think like your customer. What do they want out of your iPhone app? What problems are they trying to solve?

Change your thinking from “how do I sell my iPhone app?” to “why would someone want to buy my iPhone app?” While it may sound simple, this change in the way you think about marketing your app can have a huge impact on the way you sell your iPhone apps.

You are putting yourself in the shoes of the customer. After all, they are in charge. Selling iPhone apps is a matter of understanding their needs and helping them solve a problem by using the app you made.

To sell iPhone apps to your customers more effectively, ask them what they want to see in your app while you are creating it. You can use surveys, send out an email, or ask your friends on Twitter or Facebook. Use this feedback to make the best app you can, which will make it much easier to sell your app and reap bigger profits down the road.

Now that you know that the best way to sell your iPhone app is to listen and respond to your customers’ needs, take action. Take a look at all the ways you are marketing your app – online and offline – and make sure they speak directly to your customer by putting their needs first. You will quickly see that selling more apps comes naturally when you learn to think like your customer.

This is the one day of the year you don’t want to miss if you’re selling an iPhone app, and it will likely be larger than ever this year. Retailers have ‘black Friday’, the day after thanksgiving in the US, as their day to rack up sales when customers mob their stores. Not many iPhone app developers know it, but they have a special day all their own – December 25, Christmas Day, as well as the days following it. Find out why and learn what you can do to maximize your sales on this mega-shopping day.

According to 148Apps, Christmas Day has historically been a global day for huge app sales, with some apps seeing 2x to 4x spikes in sales. What makes this the perfect time to have your app in the App Store? Gadgets like the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad are popular gifts (especially the iPad this year!). Once people unwrap their new devices, one of the first things they want to do is download new apps for it. That’s a big part of the fun of a new iPhone or iPad – getting the latest apps to see what this new toy can do.

Plus, gift cards for iTunes are super-popular presents for the holidays. With free money in their hands, shoppers love to browse the App Store and will buy apps they might have been considering before or try new apps all together.

It’s clear that the holiday season this month will be a big money-maker for the App Store, and can be for you too. How can you make the most of this golden opportunity?

First, make sure your app is in the App Store in time to cash in. Submit it as soon as you can to allow Apple time to review and approve it. Take extra care to review your app to make sure it’s free of any bugs and follows Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines. And, double check that your submission meets all of Apple’s rules, including the icon, description, and keywords. You want to give your app the best chance to sail through the review process. Having your app rejected would cost you in lost time and sales at this critical time of year.

If your app is already in the App Store, do all you can to help it stand out.  This might be the time for a new and improved description. Or, launching even a small website for your app can help you promote it in new ways this holiday season, such as with social media. If there is something new about your app (new features, reduced price, etc.), you can send a press release for free.

Perhaps the holidays would be a good time to try a sale on your app. Offering a limited-time discount, like  retailers do this time of year, can boost sales even more from the larger number of shoppers looking around the App Store.

This holiday season is expected to be huge for sales of apps, especially because of the launch of the iPad. Don’t let this money-making opportunity pass you by. Get your app in the App Store and check that you’re set to cash in.

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To make your iPhone app a success, you not only have to be a smart developer — you also need to be a savvy marketer. Tim from LogYourRun.com is both and shares his strategy for maximizing sales of his LogYourRun app.

It’s another example of trying something new with how you sell your app. If it doesn’t work as you expect, try something else.

Learn from Tim’s experiences with choosing to make his app free or paid — and how it paid off for his popular app.

Marketing Your App: How did you make the leap into creating an iPhone app?

Tim: I am an independent software developer and I run a website called LogYourRun.com.  About a year ago I decided to supplement the site with an iPhone app since the iPhone has GPS and the iPod touch has the capabilities of a pedometer.

MYA: Choosing a price is difficult for many iPhone developers. What did you decide to price the LogYourRun app?

Tim: I have always believed that the best things in life are free so I put the app out for free.

As many other developers have experienced, this resulted in a series of poor ratings from people that downloaded the app but was not really interested in the functionality of the app and when they delete the app they are asked to rate the app.

MYA: What did you do?

Tim: Since the first edition of the app was released I had been working on an improved version which would use the map feature as well as download training programs to the device.

When I launched this version I decided that I was not going to give it away for free due to the ratings problem that plague free apps. But I did not want to deter people from getting the app since the app drives traffic to my site and I wanted loyal users to have a chance to get the app for free.  So I put the app out for free but with the clause that it was only going to be free for the first 2 weeks.

This information was widely distributed to my users and posted on my website.  This meant that people would not delete the app after downloading since they would then have to pay if in the future they wanted the app – thus no ratings would be submitted.

After two weeks I increased the price to $1.99.  Downloads immediately dropped – but has since increased again – and now I am actually making money on the downloads.

I have since then also put out a free version with limited functionality which has helped drive traffic to my website as well as to the paid app.

I can share that it definitely worked to charge for the app – all of my reviews are 4-5 stars now and I have very good retention of users. You can read more about my adventures at http://blog.indieiphonedev.com/

The LogYourRun app is available in the App Store by clicking on this link .

Have you created an app for the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad? If you would like to be considered for a feature on Marketing Your App, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us for more information.

If you want to get exposure for your iPhone app, entering it in a competition can be a great way to go. Contests can get your app’s name out there to reach new customers. And winning is sure to get you more attention than you know what to do with.

Plus, if you win any competition or even come in the top 10, make sure to use that in your marketing. Show it off in your app’s description in the App Store, send around a press release, and feature it on your app’s website. Awards show your users that your app is worth buying.

To help you get started, here is a list of awards and competitions that accept iPhone apps:

Apple Design Awards: In Apple’s official competition for the best iPhone apps, your creation could be among the app elite. Check out past winners at the link above.

Best App Ever Awards: These awards aim to “recognize the best, not just the best-selling iPhone apps” – is yours one of them?

The Crunchies: Presented by the influential blog TechCrunch, The Crunchies invite people to nominate their favorite apps for voting.

Mobile Excellence Awards: This competition gives awards in many categories, such as Best Start-up, Best Mobile Innovator, and People’s Choice. Entries are judged on creativity, ease of use, success in the market, and other criteria.

Open Web Awards: Claim your spot as “best mobile app” in Mashable’s annual competition.

Sammy Awards: This competition focuses on social media: you can enter your app in their social branded app or content/entertainment app categories.

Which iPhone app competitions have you entered? Do you have any tips for making your entry stand out? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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.

Having a website to advertise your iPhone app is an essential part of getting all the sales you deserve. It is now easier than ever to set up a low-cost website in very little time, but that does not mean you should overlook some of the basics that can help you succeed.

One of the first decisions you will need to make when creating a website to promote your app is what domain name to use. While it is easy to actually buy the domain (we will show you the service we use below), choosing the right URL can be more difficult. It is what everyone will be typing in to get to your new website and it is the first impression they will have, so we share some tips to help you select a winner.

Many people will just use the name of their app as their web address – which is often the best choice – but the decision is made more difficult if that URL is already taken.

Regardless of the domain name you choose to use for your app website, keep in mind these tips for a winning web address:

• The shorter, the better: While most of the very short domain names are in use, it still holds true that a shorter name will be easier for your visitors to remember and type. Less than 10 characters is ideal.
• Consider names beyond “.com”: While domain names ending in “.com” is still the gold standard, you might consider domain names that end in “.net”, “.biz”, “.us” or others to help you find a shorter name.
• Avoid confusing names: You will not only be writing down your new web address, but you will also be telling people it. So, make sure it is easy to pronounce and is not easily confused with similar-sounding words.
• You may want more than one: If you have a .com domain name, consider buying the .net version too. It will prevent a competitor from buying it and ensure that if someone mistypes your address, they’ll still reach your site.
• It is easier than you think: If you have bought clothes or airplane tickets online, you have the know-how to get a great domain name. A good domain name service will walk you through it step-by-step.

There are many companies that sell domain names online, and many of them do a good job of it. The main differences are price and support. The domain name registrar we use and would recommend to any app developer is GoDaddy (www.GoDaddy.com) because of its easy of use and competitive prices.

Keeping all your URLs in one place is a huge time-saver, so sticking with one service like GoDaddy can help make things simpler. We are proud to share our affiliate link because it is the service we use to manage our web addresses: www.GoDaddy.com

Regardless of where you register your domain name, the most important tip is to do it now. Good web addresses can be hard to find – especially the shorter ones many people are looking for – so if you find a URL you like, grab it before someone else does.

How would you like to sell your iPhone app to millions of potential customers, with more signing on every day? Imagine that you offer your product 24 hours a day every day of the year and make money even while you are sleeping. You could focus on developing a great app because details such as credit card processing where taken care of for you.

Yes, we are talking about the App Store – the online super-store created by Apple where app developers sell their software and the millions of people around the world who have an iPhone or iPod Touch shop and buy.

As a developer, the App Store is where you need to be if you want to successfully sell your app and make money. How do you get listed in the App Store? You must submit your app online to Apple for review and approval.

To submit your app to the App Store, you use iTunes Connect, a service available through Apple’s website. First, you will need to join the iPhone Developer Program and pay a fee. Becoming a member is a requirement for submitting your app, and also allows you to access development tools, sample code, and FAQ guides.

Make sure you carefully read the guidelines for submitting your app on the Apple website to help you increase the chances the application you submit will be approved. Also, double check you have everything that is required to submit your app, such as a description of your app and an icon that meets their specs.

When you submit your app, Apple will need to review and approve it before you appear in the App Store. To maximize your chances, make sure you carefully test your app before submitting to ensure it works as you intended. Fix any bugs before submitting your app because errors can be a reason for rejection.

Also, make sure you are allowed to use any and all photos, videos, music, and trademarked words you use in your app. Improper use of copyrighted materials can also lead to your app being rejected from the App Store.

Submitting your app to the App Store is the first step to selling and making money from your great idea. If your app is approved, it will be put up for sale and made available to a large audience of iPhone and iPod Touch users.

There are many ways to promote iPhone apps you create so you increase your sales and boost your profits, and this site is here to help you. Sign up for our helpful, spam-free email newsletter today and receive a free App Marketing Power Pack plus more money-making tips in your inbox.

When you are creating or selling your iPhone app, it can be tough to stay on top of all the new tips for marketing your app. We make it easy by rounding up the latest articles, tools, and ideas to help you succeed. Check out these links:

How to boost sales by putting your app on MobiHand and Handango.

Top 15 mobile marketing columns of 2009.

Will Apple go into the App Search business?

Want to promote your iPhone app? Get your press release published at prMac free.

55% of iPhone users spend most or all of their time using apps.

App Store sees record breaking sales during holidays.

How AutoWeek made its iPhone app a smashing success.

8 tips to get your iPhone app noticed in the App Store.

10 helpful tips and tools for marketing your iPhone app.

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There are many helpful articles and wonderful tools out there to help you promote your iPhone app, but how do you find them? It’s a question we get asked often here at Marketing Your App, so we put together a list of essential app marketing resources you will want to bookmark.

Check out our Ultimate List of iPhone App Marketing Resources for 73 websites, blogs, articles, tools, tips, and yes, even apps that can help you boost your sales.

Use this huge list of resources to inspire your app marketing and make publicizing your software easier. Let your developer friends know, too. See the best tips, tools, and articles in our app marketing resource list.