How to make money with AppMakr and an iPhone app

The biggest hurdle to getting a business idea off the ground isn’t necessarily drumming up cash; it’s knowing what to do with the cash you have. I learned this the hard way. My first failed business idea was to launch a Web site that charged users to have email correspondence with strangers.

Looking back, it wasn’t the best idea in the world. Users would pay a monthly fee, then be guaranteed responses (and anonymity) to any email they sent to the Web site. I spent weeks building a Web site with fancy graphics and various tiered payment options, then sat around and waited for someone to sign up. After realizing I wasn’t going to get any takers without heavy marketing, I started spending boatloads of cash on Google Ads.

My ads generated click-throughs, but users browsed my site and quickly left. Before long my bank account was drained. I had to close up shop. Not only did my idea fail, I wasted a whole lot of money on Google Ads in the process. That’s when I decided that whatever business venture I started in the future, I was going to spend the least amount of cash humanly possible – at least until I started getting money back in return.

Too many people come up with business ideas, fork out tens of thousands of dollars to Web or App developers and publish a Web site only to realize that no one really cares. See, it’s actually the idea itself (and the marketing behind it) that determines whether or not your business is successful. It’s not the slickness of your Web site or Android App; it’s your unique value proposition – that little twist on old offerings that makes people want to defect over to your business.

The quality of your Web site has little to do with it. That’s what’s got me so excited about a San Francisco software start-up called AppMakr. The company lets anyone with a Web browser build their own iPhone App, Android App or Windows Phone 7 app without any prior programming knowledge – and they do it for free!

As of January, AppMakr’s software had helped build more than 1 percent of all the apps listed in Apple’s App Store, according to Entrepreneur magazine.

“We’ve eliminated the complexity from the creative process,” AppMakr’s founder and president, Sean Shadmand, tells the magazine. “We give you all the tools you need, and then we get out of the way. We don’t tell users what to do, but we are here to help them.”

And that “helping” part is where AppMakr makes its money. The company offers paid phone support for users who run into problems or need help with a particular problem while building their app. It’s a brilliant example of the freemium model: giving away your goods to most people (and generating lots of press and goodwill in the process) while making money off your heaviest enterprise clients.

Best of all, AppMakr gives would-be appmakers with a business idea a simple way to see if their app drums up interest. If it doesn’t, you’re only out the amount of time it took you to make the app. If it does, well, then you can go out and hire a software company that will build you a world-class app.

Three keys to making money off an iPhone, Android or Windows 7 Phone App

1) If at all possible, don’t dump much money into your app up front. Better yet, build it for free with AppMakr’s browser-based tools. If the app fails, you’ll be a lot happier with yourself.

2) The day you release your app is the day your work really begins. You’re going to have to spend more time marketing and driving traffic to your app than you did building it in the first place. With more than 300,000 apps in the iTunes App Store, it’s too easy to get lost in the shuffle. Promote your app via every free marketing channel you can.

3) Keep improving your offerings. Remember: AppMakr’s software is free! If your first app doesn’t succeed, try again! And again and again and again. Rovio (the company behind Angry Birds) built 51 apps for clients before they decided to try building their own app. All that experience paid off as their app’s turned into a global phenomenon with more than 40 million users. Who’s to say your idea isn’t next?

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