Seeing how the Apple iPhone App Store is booming with millions of downloads each month, most would agree that more and more indie iPhone app developers will be able to realize their dreams of becoming millionaires. And why couldn’t they, when the industry is a gold mine waiting for developers to stake their claim upon? If you’ve always wanted to make your mark in the application development field, the time is now. Being an iPhone app developer may just be what you need to not only earn a pretty penny yourself but also to do something fulfilling in your life. Here are 5 steps towards becoming a successful iPhone app developer.

1. Draw inspiration from successful developers
Not convinced that you can make it big building iPhone apps? Steve Demeter, creator of iPhone game Trism didn’t believe so at first but the numbers say otherwise! Even with a $4.99 price tag, he managed to rake in a cool $250,000 in just two months!

So if you think building apps won’t make you a millionaire, you’re wrong!

2. Quit your day job
What if I said that you could quit your day job working on your iPhone app whenever you want? Few years earlier that wasn’t quite possible but now that the mobile app industry is booming, the opportunities are endless. Being an indie developer does not sound very attractive but believe me, it can be very lucrative if you hit the jackpot. Take the case of developer Ethan Nichols, whose tank combat game iShoot was developed during spare hours while he was still an employee with Sun Microsystems. He decided to tender his resignation when his $2.99 iPhone app went almost immediately to the top #1 spot with close to 17,000 downloads a week. With his time freed up, he can now put more efforts on his new love – building iPhone apps. Similarly you too can do the same. All it takes is to decide to take the plunge!

3. Seek out iPhone development resources
iPhone developers really need all the resources they can get their hands on because they have to work extra hard to make their app stand out. Austin Sarner, CEO of Design by a Knife, the company responsible for a great budgeting app called Pennies, said that great content – and not marketing – is what drives App Store’s success. The same goes for iPhone app developers. They cannot rely on ad campaigns (because they are non-existent for now!) and therefore need to find the means to create apps that people really want to spend money for.

Here are 43 of the best iPhone development resources. Utilize them well, young Padawan!

4. Content first, profits later?
iPhone users are now quite familiar with the phenomenal game Tap Tap Revenge, a music rhythm game that caught the iPhone world by storm. But what they probably did not know is that it hit a milestone of 1 million downloads within a fortnight after the game was released! Considering the zero price tag for a great game like this, Tapulous, the company responsible for the game’s launch, did not mind not getting millions in profits but instead, was content with the ads insertion and a paid version of the game later on. Goes to show that if you attract users with great content, especially if it’s free, you are sure to enjoy better success afterwards. It is estimated that the game nets them approximately $5,000 to $10,000 in profits per day!

5. Go freelance
You’ve got to begin somewhere, right? Search for freelancing sites or specifically iPhone app freelancing sites where you can start on jobs requiring for a certain type of app to be build. From there you can steadily build your own portfolio first and impress bigger clients – and eventually build your own mobile app empire!

Popularity: 2%

No related posts.