Making and selling iPhone apps has truly arrived as a real business opportunity. The worldwide audience is there – over 50 million users. And, they are excited to buy iPhone and iPad apps of all kinds.

But, when you’re trying to make money with apps, there are some key challenges you’ll likely face. How you deal with these obstacles can make the difference in your success and profits.

I don’t want to discourage you – just the opposite, in fact. Some developers hit roadblocks and give up. Some never even start making an app because they think they won’t be able to do it, or won’t be able to make money from it. But, if you know some of the obstacles you might face upfront, it will make it easier for you to turn your app into a success.

One challenge is getting in the App Store. Before you start selling your app, Apple must first approve it. Because you are only allowed to sell your app through the App Store (not by yourself), submitting your app to Apple is an important step that cannot be avoided. Visit their website and carefully read the rules for submitting your app before you send it in.

When you submit your app to the App Store, you are taking the first step to selling and making money from your 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. After approval, you can begin selling your app and making money on the App Store.

Your job is not done once you appear in the App Store, however. To sell more apps, you must start marketing your app to potential customers. There are many ways to promote iPhone apps you create so you increase your sales and boost your profits.

Another one of your top challenges is how to stand out in the App Store. Once you’ve made an app, how do you let people know about it? There are hundreds of thousands of apps in the App Store – that’s a lot of competition. You might feel like your app gets lost in a sea of competitors.

The App Store is a very popular megastore, but just having your app in it is not enough to guarantee success. It can be hard to set yourself apart.

You really have two jobs here: getting people to find you or hear about you. Then, once they know about you, you have to convince them that your app is worth downloading or paying for. Those are two different challenges, and you’ll want to address each one differently.

Now that you know some of the key challenges you’ll run into while selling your iPhone app, you’ll be ready to face them head on. All developers looking to make money with apps have to submit them to the App Store, and everyone is trying to find ways to stand out in the App Store. Don’t let these obstacles stop you on your way to bigger profits.

Big profits start with a great iPhone or iPad app. You can create the app yourself or you can hire someone to design it for you. There are advantages to each, and what  you choose depends on how much  you want to learn about coding, your budget, and your goals for the app.

If you’re looking to create the app yourself, there are many ways to learn the best ways to get started with iOS development. (iOS is the operating system for the iPhone and iPad.) Writing software for iOS is something that you can easily learn if you’re willing to put some time into it and are technically inclined.

The advantages to developing your own app is that you can get your hands dirty and really understand how the code works. You can make the software work exactly how you like. Plus, you can save money by doing it yourself.

It can take longer to write the code yourself, however, if you have not done it before. There is a learning curve so, if you are going the do-it-yourself route, invest some time and money to learn the best ways to create your app.

But if you would rather not learn how to code, you can still make big profits from apps. There are many skilled app developers that have put their services up for hire. You can enlist them to create an app that meets your exact specifications, and deliver to you a finished product ready to be submitted to the App Store.

The advantage of hiring a programmer is that you can get an experienced professional to create your app. You do not need to spend the time to learn iOS development, and you may get a finished app faster than if you made it yourself. However, hiring a pro costs money and you will need to provide them with a clear idea of what your app should do.

The good news is that you have options. Whether you write the code yourself or find a programmer to do it for you, you can choose the best strategy to get your app.

Congratulations! Your iPhone app was approved by Apple and is now for sale in the App Store. Your hard work to code and test your app is about to be rewarded.

But wait, how will people know your app is there? When they find it, how will you convince shoppers your app is worth their money? In other words, how do you market your iPhone app?

Having a bestselling app is about more than just creating the best software (although, that certainly helps!).  How you market your iPhone app will make the difference between having sluggish sales and raking in huge profits.

One of the most effective ways to market iPhone apps is by making the most of your spot in the App Store. Your app should do more than just sit on the shelf. Use the App Store as your launch pad to successfully selling your software.  Learn as much as you can about the ins and outs of this superstore so you can maximize your chances your app is seen and downloaded.

While at first it might seem like you don’t have much control over how your app will appear in the App Store – after all, Apple controls all aspects of their shop – you have more ways to market your app than you might think.

You should use every part of your App Store page to its fullest to convince shoppers your program is worth buying. That means taking some extra time when you submit your app to write a compelling description and create an eye-popping icon.

If your app is already for sale, make your next update a money-making makeover: update your description, upload a tweaked icon, and use screenshots that really show off the best of what your app can do.

Also, take a look around at your competition and find ways to set yourself apart. You can make your customers’ decision to buy much easier if you price your app lower than your competitor’s. Or if you make it crystal clear in your app description why yours is better (and worth a higher price).

When you market your app in the App Store, you’ll set yourself apart from all the competition. Many iPhone developers just let their products sit on the shelves. But now you can supercharge your marketing to start selling more today.

If your app has been in the App Store for a while and you want to boost your sales, it is easy to freshen up your image.

Customers love new apps, but it is hard to keep updating your app to add new features. It is also tough for your older app to compete with shiny new products in the App Store.

Plus, a makeover is the perfect opportunity to use everything you have learned from your users and this blog. Take the feedback about your app from App Store comments and emails about what your customers love about your app and highlight the strongest parts of your app in this makeover.

The result will be a fresh new face on your existing app – one that will catch the eye of more App Store shoppers and convince more of them to buy your app.

Of course, Apple will need to review and approve the changes you make. Here is how to freshen up your little corner of the App Store:

Icon

You may not want to overhaul your icon if people recognize it, but you can give your iPhone app’s icon a face lift to help it stand out. Make the colors bolder or brighter. If you have an image in your icon, can you make it larger? Can you remove text that is hard to read and focus on a graphical icon?

Price

If your app has been in the App Store for a while, maybe it is time to spark some more interest in it by having a limited-time sale. Lower the price for a short time (announce the sale in your description to let people know) and build some buzz around your app. More people will want to try it and grab the savings before the sale ends.

Description

Are you doing all you can in your App Store description to win over shoppers? To spruce up your text, add a bulleted list of the top benefits of your app. Keep each bullet short and to the point.

Rewrite the first sentence of your description. Because it is visible to shoppers (while the rest of the description is hidden unless they click “More”), it is the most important. Make your opening sentence grab the reader by saying something about your app that is unique, surprising, or intriguing. Encourage your customer to want to read more.

Keep your app looking like new – and selling like when you first launched it in the App Store – with these tips for a quick and effective marketing makeover.

Do you want your name in lights? To be at the top of the pack? In the App Store, every developer strives to be in the Top 100 because it brings a huge visibility and loads of sales.

Many developers who write into this site say that getting their app in the Top 100 is one of their primary goals. But competition is tough. There are over 200,000 apps in the App Store and only a small fraction are people enough to market to the top. Does your app have what it takes to rise above?

Having your app in the Top 100 is like having Apple advertise your app for you every day. They give you a prominent link right to your app from the Top 100 page or even on the App Store homepage, which are seen by huge audiences. There may be no more effective way to market your app or turn App Store shoppers into customers than appearing on this coveted list.

More than the money from all the sales a Top 100 link can provide, it is a sign that you have arrived as an iPhone app developer. While many people learned to make iPhone apps, only an elite group have had their be successful enough to appear on the list.

One of the keys to having your app rocket to the top is to build momentum from their very beginning – even before you launch your app. Before your app shows up in the App Store, start building the buzz around it. Let bloggers and app sites know what is coming and build anticipation with the people who may become your customers. Build the anticipation into a fever pitch, so people will want to buy it the instant it is available.

Use the time you are waiting for your app to be approved wisely. Promote your app through your website and keep your customers updated. Make sure to tell them as soon as your app is approved and ready to buy.

Why do all this work? How will this help your increase the chances your app will break into the Top 100? You are turning your app into an event, and generating excitement so people do not need to think about buying it – they just snatch it up as soon as it is available.

You will usually see some of your highest sales as soon as your app is launched, so this strategy multiplies the number of sales you receive from day one.

The momentum you get from a huge launch can help propel you into getting more sales moving forward. For example, you can get many positive reviews earlier so people will quickly see your app is worth buying. More attention, more sales, more chances to get into the Top 100.

The Top 100 list is reserved for the best apps – and yours deserves to be among them. It may be difficult to break into this elite group, and it does not happen by accident. Start marketing your iPhone app even before it launched and continue to build the momentum and increase your sales to get the best chance to rise to the top of the rankings.

Are you looking for the best way to sell your app in the App Store? Many developers jump in blindly and overlook the simple things they can do to increase their profits by selling more apps.

In this article, we’ll show you the three key steps to set yourself up for success when selling your iPhone or iPad app. These essential ingredients can help you get more exposure for your app and increase your sales from day one.

With more than 150,000 apps currently being sold in the App Store, you need every advantage you can get to stand out and be noticed. Read on to learn how to take the first crucial steps to turning your latest app into a bestseller.

1. Think like your customer

After all the hours you are spending coding and testing your iPhone app, you know it inside out. But your potential customers do not know a thing about it yet. How are you going to sell your app to your eager audience of App Store shoppers?

While there are many ways to get the word out about your app, the one thing you should remember when doing any marketing is that to be successful, you must think like your customers.

Take yourself out of your shoes and try on your customer’s. What will really make your app appeal to them? How you sell your app is all about how you communicate what it is to people.

When selling your iPhone app, aim to be clear and compelling every time you talk to shoppers. By putting their needs ahead of your own, you will win over more buyers and accelerate your sales.

2. Do a little every day

Successfully selling your app can seem like an overwhelming task. There are so many marketing activities to try, who has time for them all?

When you want to boost your sales, do not worry about trying to do everything at once. There is so much you could do to help you increase your profits that you might just burn out by trying to do too much.

Instead, commit yourself to do just a little something each day. Marketing your app works best when it is a sustained effort, not a sprint.

By doing one thing every day to promote your app – whether it is submitting to a review site, working on your search engine marketing, or improving your App Store description – you will be amazed at how much you accomplish in a week. You will feel great and that momentum will push you to go further.

3. Don’t ignore your competition

At the same time you are selling your app, thousands of other developers are doing the same. App Store shoppers have become more choosy about the apps they will download and buy – there are over 150,000 to choose from after all – meaning you will need to keep an eye out for what your competitors are doing.

Before you launch your app and also when it’s live in the App Store, carefully watch the other apps in your category or that appeal to the same audience as yours. Here are some important things to look for: Did they raise or lower their app prices? Are they adding new features that you do not have? Do they hold sales or special promotions? Do they offer a free or “lite” version?

What you do to respond to your competitors can make the difference between winning new customers or losing sales. By keeping a close eye on your competition, you will be ready to make the most of every advantage you have.

Selling your app is an ongoing journey. Put these three opportunities into action today and start earning all the sales you deserve every step of the way.

iPhone users love games and developers have created them by the thousands. Gaming is a huge money-making opportunity for developers, but it also presents a significant challenge: how do you make your game stand out?

The iPhone app development company bees4honey, which successfully sells several games in the App Store, uses everything from videos to widgets to spread the word. Konstantin Panchenko shares the company’s strategy for marketing their puzzle game iQBloxing and gives you the insider tips to help you sell your own app.

Marketing Your App: What is your app?

Konstantin Panchenko: So, the name of our app is iQBloxing. It’s a very addictive game. Basically, it’s a puzzle game, but it is very dynamic.

You may know the Flash game which inspired us to create iQBloxing, this game is Bloxorz. You can also take a look at YouTube video of iQBloxing gameplay.

iQBloxing is free, but contains an InApp Purchase option to unlock all levels and achievements. There are 7 levels for free, and 33 total levels.

MYA: What have you done to promote your game?
KP: We’ve done many thing to promote our app, such as:

1. Created a YouTube video and put it on our site’s header, on the iQBloxing promo page, and posted about this video in our blog. Also we submitted this video to some review sites, which provide an option to post the YouTube link.

On YouTube, we found the Bloxorz videos (original Flash game) and made a video reply with our iQBloxing video, so people who are interested in Bloxorz can also see that there is an analogous game on the iPhone. I suppose it would be much better to have lots of iQBloxing videos, so we can make more video replies, but unfortunately we have only one.

2. Submitted to numerous review sites. Most of them will never post reviews until you pay them, but there are also some nice and good-looking sites, like FreshApps. But anyway I’m not sure that review sites, excluding the major ones, are effective.

3. Registered on the most valuable iPhone-related forums, such as MacRumors, iPhoneDevSDK, etc. We created posts about iQBloxing and our company and put short, non-obtrusive ads in our account’s signature. In total we get about 1,000 views of the iQBloxing post – it’s free and doesn’t take too much time.

4. We created something like a widget for our blog. It shows all our apps available on the App Store. Site visitors can easily access our apps in the App Store by just clicking on the iTunes link in this widget. Judging by statistics, we have small sales from this.

5. We have a Twitter account where we post all our news. We are trying to grow our followers base to increase the effect from Twitter.

6. We embedded ad banners in our free game Brain Twister. This banner is linked to iQBloxing on the App Store.

7. Every app we submit to the App Store has a “More Games” section which contains direct links to all our apps on the App Store.

MYA: Are you planning to release a paid version of your game?

KP: We are going to create a paid version of this game – iQBloxing Pro – with more levels and I suppose we will post some promo codes in forums. I think we’ll try this idea – create a “premium users” group. These guys will receive promo codes for every one of our paid apps via email as soon as the app hits the App Store. Premium users would post an iTunes review for our app. Not sure if it will work well, but we are going to try it.

MYA: What tips do you have for developers who are looking to sell their iPhone apps?

KP: Having a good, high-quality product is only a half of success, the other half is marketing. Create a useful program which helps users and try to get as much as exposure as possible. Work hard and you’ll reach success!

iQBloxing is available in the App Store by clicking on this link

Calling all iPhone app developers: Would you like your app featured on this blog? Find out how

Understanding your customer is one of the most important parts of marketing your iPhone app, and it is an advantage that Mark Johnson is banking on as he sells his financial iPhone app.

Even though the stock market can be a roller coaster, prospects for the app Wall Street are looking up because of the work Johnson is doing to promote his app. Learn how he came up with the idea, his advice for submitting your app to review sites, and how to get App Store shoppers to hit “buy”.

Marketing Your App: What is your app and what have you done so far to promote it?

Mark Johnson: The name of my app is Wall Street. Wall Street lets users research financial markets when they’re on-the-go.

Users can make their own stock portfolios, look at historical charts, apply analysis tools to the charts, look up company and global news, get price quotes on currencies and commodities, and more.

So far, to market my app, I’ve started to use Google AdWords, word-of-mouth, made a promotional website, and posted on just about every iPhone app website that exists.

MYA: Who is your audience for this app and how did you choose this audience to serve?

MJ: I’m gearing this app towards young professionals who would like market information when they may not always be sitting at a computer. I started writing Wall Street when there was really only Apple’s Stocks app, and I just wanted something better.

At the time, I needed a way to maybe look at stock charts, get commodity quotes, and even take a quick look at currencies. Generally, I think this app can be useful to anyone who could use mobile market data.

MYA: Based on your experience, would you have any advice for developers submitting their apps to review sites?

MJ: Make your app as clean and bug-free as possible. Of course, there will always be some unavoidable bugs. Still, it’s never a good feeling when you want to show someone your app, and it crashes right when you open it.

On another note, if you can’t think of any new ways to market your app, then buy other people’s apps and visit other developers’ websites. Developers are smart people, and they are always finding new ways to get their apps sold and onto iPhones. Take a look and see what other developers are doing, and maybe spark some ideas of your own.

MYA: Do you have any other advice for app developers who are selling their apps?

MJ: The one tip that I would give other iPhone developers is that they should not expect their apps to sell themselves. Customers like to feel comfortable when they buy something. Customers do not like to feel like they’re taking a risk on an app that might just have a good screenshot. Marketing is the best thing an iPhone developer can do to sell their apps.

Wall Street is available in the App Store by clicking on this link

Do you have an iPhone app? Would you like to see it featured on this blog? Find out how.

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.