Jeffrey Hughes - iPhone and iPad Apps Marketing: Secrets to Selling Your iPhone and iPad Apps (2nd Edition) (Que Biz-Tech)

Second Edition

Secrets to Selling Your iPhone and iPad Apps

Jeffrey Hughes

800 East 96th Street,
Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA

iPhone and iPad Apps Marketing: Secrets to Selling Your iPhone and iPad Apps

Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-4833-1
ISBN-10: 0-7897-4833-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing: September 2011

Editor-in-Chief
Greg Wiegand
Acquisitions Editor
Katherine Bull
Development Editor
Kendell Lumsden
Managing Editor
Kristy Hart
Project Editors
Samantha Sinkhorn
Jovana Shirley
Indexer
Erika Millen
Proofreader
Language Logistics, LLC
Technical Editor
Zimana
Publishing Coordinator
Cindy Teeters
Book Designer
Anne Jones
Compositor
Nonie Ratcliff
Que Biz-Tech Editorial Board
Michael Brito
Jason Falls
Rebecca Lieb
Simon Salt
Peter Shankman

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Que Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an as is basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book or from the use of the CD or programs accompanying it.

Bulk Sales

Que Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact

U.S. Corporate and Government Sales
1-800-382-3419

For sales outside of the U.S., please contact

International Sales

Jeffrey Hughes is the creator and lead instructor for Xcelmes (www.xcelme.com) iPhone and iPad App Marketing course, which has helped hundreds of independent developers market their iPhone and iPad apps effectively in a very competitive market. He has two decades of experience as a marketer, publisher, and speaker, working with high tech companies including McAfee, Blue Coat, and Novell.

Jeffrey consults and gives seminars around the world to developers, corporations, and universities on how to position their apps, improve their marketing approach, and win new customers. Hughes is the author of 13 books including Android Apps Marketing: Secrets to Selling Your Android App. Hughes has a B.S. degree in marketing and a minor in computer science from Brigham Young University. He resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This book is dedicated to my daughters Laurin and Mckenna who inspire and encourage me each day. May your dreams come true.

I would like to acknowledge senior acquisitions editor Katherine Bull whose guidance and support over the past several years has been unwavering. She is one of the best in the business and always finds time to encourage and remove obstacles along the sometimes bumpy path of publishing. Moving words around the computer screen can be hard work, and nobody understands this better than Katherine as she provided gentle reminders of upcoming deadlines.

I would also like to thank Romny French for her amazing editing and organizational skills. She was able to pull this project together to meet critical deadlines and keep the project on track. I also want to thank Samantha Sinkhorn for her speedy production of the book into its final form. She has worked tirelessly under very tight deadlines and does incredible work.

Finally, I want to thank the many developers who have contributed to this book with their marketing suggestions and ideas, app photos, and other support. This is a remarkable industry with incredible growth similar to the early years of the Internet. It is exciting to be a part of this growth and help many developers achieve success with their apps.

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinion and want to know what were doing right, what we could do better, what areas youd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom youre willing to pass our way.

As an associate publisher for Que Publishing, I welcome your comments. You can email or write me directly to let me know what you did or didnt like about this bookas well as what we can do to make our books better.

Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book. We do have a User Services group, however, where I will forward specific technical questions related to the book.

When you write, please be sure to include this books title and author as well as your name, email address, and phone number. I will carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book.

Email:

Mail: Greg Wiegand
Editor-in-Chief
Que Publishing
800 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

Visit our website and register this book at quepublishing.com/register for convenient access to any updates, downloads, or errata that might be available for this book.

Over the past three years, I have witnessed something remarkable as iPhone and iPad developers have created and posted apps to Apples App Store at a breathtaking pace. The App Store has swelled to more than 400,000 apps and still shows no signs of abating. The gold rush to sell iPhone and iPad apps is still on, and youve created (or want to create) the next blockbuster iPhone/iPad app. Each time another Tiny Wings reaches the pinnacle of success, you see dollar signs and want to be a part of this explosive business opportunity. So do 135,000 of your friendsall toiling late nights and weekends to strike it rich. Large development companies also want a piece of the action and have teams of programmers cranking out apps as quickly as they can bring them to market. The accelerated pace of technology is compounding the problem of getting noticed. We have moved beyond Internet timereferring to the incredible speed at which technology advancesto mobile time, where technology is deployed almost instantly to anyone with a mobile device. This means that consumers have an avalanche of choices when it comes to the technology and content they consume.

What we are seeing on the App Store, however, is not a new phenomenon. Amazon boasts hundreds of thousands of book titles, most selling perhaps a few copies a month. Only the most publicized and best books make Amazons Top 100 list on its home page. The fact that the top 100 selling books are on the list helps them sell even more copies. Its self-perpetuating, so every author aspires to be on that list. In a similar fashion, every iPhone/iPad app developer aspires to make it on Apples Top 100 or Top 10 or on the New and Noteworthy or Staff Picks lists. They know that making it on those lists will catapult them into realizing dramatic sales, for a time at least.