App Trillionaires: How To Become An App Developer: Enjoy Life, Make Money, and Live Your Dreams! (2013)

3. THE APP BUSINESS

Today more than ever more people are purchasing mobile phones and tablets. The growth is so explosive that an entire industry has been created around mobile software applications, known as “APPS”.

The App Business is one of the hottest businesses to get into and is expected to grow even faster this year in 2013 and beyond! Many have started such businesses with investments as small as 10k-15k US Dollars and have become very wealthy!

In fact in many cases, the wealth has been so explosive that people have been quitting their day jobs and turning to app development and the app business full time.

This business has helped people spend more time with their families, traveling the world and living their dreams. In fact, as you are reading this book right now, I’m making money! That’s the beauty of this business; you make money while you sleep LITERALLY!

However don’t confuse this with a get rich quick scheme, it is not. It takes years to get to this level, and a lot of dedication. I’ve seen many people start in this business only to fail due to having a wrong mentality of the business and what it’s all about. This is not a magical business that will make you a millionaire overnight, even though there have been several cases in the past where this has happened.

Let me be realistic with you, firstly, it takes MANY apps realistically to make money in this industry. If you research Rovio, the company behind the popular app Angry Birds, you will learn that they themselves had built something like 50 apps before hitting massive success with Angry Birds. I’m not here to give you all kinds of fake hype and tell you that I have some magic pill to make you rich. What I do have is TRIED AND TESTED METHODS that I have used successfully to build an app business with over 25+ apps in many markets that allows me to live the life most people dream about.

So that is the goal here, to get you to a point where you can realistically make this into a business that can help you to some day quit your day job and start living the life you always wanted. I pray and hope that you’ll be able to use your new found money to not only help yourself and your loved ones but also to help out your own local communities.

If the knowledge I share in this book can help in making abundant successful people who love what they do, it is my hope that through these pages I can also build responsible “rich people”. I lost nearly everything I had to the recession in 2008 and I can attribute that in my honest opinion, to irresponsible “rich people”. The corporations who were greedy for money, who were too concerned about their own pockets than to make sure their employees who filled those very pockets had a roof over their head and food on their plate.

However, I’m grateful to God that I did end up going through that because I would have never started this business if I had not lost nearly everything, and this book would have never been written. I would not wish that fate of near Bankruptcy, loosing your house, car and nearly your family all due to the greed of others on anyone! So I do plead with you as a reader, that WHEN you make it in this business, and I’m assuming that you are in this to be successful, make sure that you are responsible with your new found riches.

Being “rich” is not just abundance in money, but it’s the quality of life that one lives. Having great faith, loving and helping out others, having wonderful health, love and appreciation from your family and peers, being able to enjoy your life to the fullest on your terms, and every day being able to SMILE! Those things that money can’t buy are in my opinion true “richness” and if you have those bases covered, then financial riches will just magnify those qualities even more.

Let us first start off with a quick exercise I like to call the SMILE exercise. That’s right, go ahead and give yourself the biggest smile from ear to ear! It should be so wide that your cheeks start to hurt a bit! Hold that for about 10 seconds and repeat 3 times. This should put you into a state of mind that goes hand in hand with success, a positive CAN DO mindset! If you start reading this book with that mentality every time you pick it up, you’ll have a better chance at success than others do at this business.

You may be wondering why such trivial things are so important to this business and may think that I may have lost my mind! I can assure you that this business is full of ups and downs and a LOT of negativity. People rarely get the chance to live a life of dreams where they can travel as they want, spend time with their families and be their own boss.

There will be jealous people, envious people, hateful people and many others who will just try and put down this new business venture idea from the beginning! Let me be real with you, any business you start will require some risks to be taken. I can assure you that in this business, the rewards are definitely worth it if you put your effort and time into it.

Lets just go over some of the many reasons why this business is the ULTIMATE business that everyone is trying to get into now more than ever before.

Reason #1: Multiple Markets to Make Money

The Apple App Store is one of the largest App Stores in the world and is also the original home of what are now commonly known as Apps. Along with the Apple App Store there are many other market places in which Apps are currently being sold. One of the most known ones is Android Google Play Market which is owned by Google.

Reason #2: New and Fresh Market

Apps have been compared many times to the website industry when it just started, in which websites were sought after by business owners and companies. Mobile Apps are now going through the same fate as many new business owners are looking to find people to develop apps for their respective businesses. Not only do Mobile Apps share that in common with the website world, another emerging and important area that is now starting to really form is that of ASO or App Store Optimization. In the website world we call this SEO or Search Engine Optimization. I will be going over some basics of ASO throughout this book however the goal of this book is to get you started in creating a successful app business using a step-by-step method. I believe the step-by-step method is the best way and will help you avoid many of the common pitfalls and mistakes that myself and many other new App Business Owners have faced when just starting this business.

Reason #3: Apps are GROWING!

2013 will introduce new and emerging areas in which apps will be used. From OUYA which is a brand new video game console based on Android, to kitchen appliances and automobiles with apps built into them. Imagine being able to put a beer into the fridge only to have your phone alert you when it’s ready to drink! Or imagine being able to set the laundry wash/rinse cycle while riding on the train to work! This will start to become the reality over the next years as mobile app technology will start becoming a part of everything we do. This industry is definitely growing and is planned to keep growing at an exponential rate!

Reason #4: New Products, App Stores and Opportunities for Profit

From Microsoft to Amazon, there are many companies bringing out new devices and various app stores and products to sell apps in. This presents an opportunity to take an app you make and place it on sale on various app markets around the world, thus increasing your chance at profits.

Reason #5: The Freedom

This is a great benefit of running a mobile app business. You get the freedom of being a business owner, and that too a MOBILE one! You can pick up and travel at any time and still run your business full force from anywhere in the world that an Internet Connection exists! I personally started this business because I was visiting another Country and was not able to manage my struggling IT Business at the time. I had customers who expected me to physically be there and I couldn’t. This in turn made me loose contracts and relationships which was quite painful. A mobile app business will allow you to be anywhere in the world and still run the business without issues. It truly is a dream business in my opinion!

Reason #6: The Money

Notice I put this reason for getting into the App Business last? Everyone always tries to hype this up, that you’ll get rich overnight. Yes you WILL make money in this business, even while sleeping, but I want you to understand that the money is just a by-product of running this business. That aside, you WILL see money coming in, even while you sleep! This business is really great in the fact that the more apps you make, the more money you make. You can literally hand out apps for free and STILL make money via in-app advertisements and in-app purchases! The money is great and I’ve seen many who make thousands every week if not every day! It doesn’t happen overnight however and will take you at least a year or two in my opinion to see a solid return on your investment. Keep in mind however that results will vary so don’t expect that you will get that. You could very well make less than that, or quite possibly even more, and it all depends on your efforts.

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN YOU MAKE SERIOUSLY?

Wow is that EVER the million dollar question there! I get asked this all the time! Let me give you a few tips on this, because many of you are going to start off with some pre-conceived negative and dare I say it, outrageous claims that you have probably heard from other people.

Firstly I’ve heard most if not all these claims, from, “My friend from out of town develops apps and is a millionaire and drives this nice car, etc.” to the age old, “The guy made 6 figures in a weekend making a stupid little fart app!”

Making apps firstly is a challenge! Making money from apps consistently and successfully is another challenge. That being said let me tell you my experience and what you will most likely see as a reality when getting into the app world. Now before I begin, let me point out that those stories that you hear may very well be TRUE and I don’t doubt that they are. However understand that if they are true, those same stories are what I like to call OUTLINERS in this business. They are not the REALITY in this business for most developers in general.

Can you make millions overnight? YES! However that’s like saying you also have the potential of becoming a millionaire tomorrow by purchasing a lottery ticket. Now tell me, if you purchase a lottery ticket, can you also make millions overnight? Of course you can, that is if you hit the correct numbers. The odds of you hitting those numbers are quite large! The same holds true for the app world!

When things were just starting out in the app world, there were a handful of apps and a handful of developers. Fast forward now many years later and we have nearly a million apps in the Apple App Store and hundreds of thousands of developers worldwide and millions more on the way! Everyone is trying to get into the app world and the competition is fierce! If you think that you are going to make it with just one app…well let me enlighten you on the same mistake I went through and a common mistake that most app developers fall into.

The Angry Bird Trap

When I first started working on my first app I thought I had the next big hit! I thought I was going to be the next big Angry Birds! This is a common idea that brand new developers start off with. They see some big app out there or come up with some big app idea they believe is worth millions and then invest every last cent into it.

My first app was Melina’s Conquest, a very ambitious 3D Retro Role Playing Game! By any standards, that game was quite technical and had thousands upon thousands of lines of code. I spent 8 months on it with a few developers and volunteers and I personally was working daily for 8 months around 12-15 hours EVERY DAY non-stop to try and get the game finished. I invested thousands into this endeavor thinking that I was working on the next big hit! 20+ levels in full Retro style 3D!

In fact there was one point where I spent 2-3 weeks with less than a few hours of sleep per day and massive amounts of energy drinks and coffee. Not only did I nearly die from this (I was drinking 2-3+ energy drinks daily, with a few coffees, power bars, and literally very little sleep and only McDonalds as my food source!) I also burnt out and was on my very last amounts of money!

The moment of truth came when I finally released the app and spent a few thousand on marketing as well. From Press releases to free app download websites to contests and much more, I had done every single thing by the book and beyond the book!

The game launched and in my first month…(DRUMROLL PLEASE)…I brought in a total of…LESS THAN $200 US DOLLARS! (In retrospect, I placed my app at $4.99 and had no LITE/FREE version, nor did I have any form of advertising or other forms of monetization built in. No push notifications, no extra special things, no game center, nothing but a plain app at just $4.99. This was doomed from the beginning!)

Shattered, confused, dazed, sad, bitter, and nearly giving up on life, lets just suffice it to say I was in tears nearly, screaming loud at the top of my lungs while driving a van that I didn’t even want in the first place, and everything around me just SUCKED!

This is the turning point in my story, and the ultimate reason why I told you earlier that faith and a major reason why you’re doing this are going to be important to you when running this business. You will have those times where things just don’t make sense and you’ve invested thousands in an app and a lot of time only to yield horrible results!

I started immediately to stop blaming God and started to become REALLY GREATFUL for all the things in life I DID have, like a roof over my head, food on my plate, I was alive with a beautiful wife and kids that love me and were with me through the tough times. At this point I reflected on why I got into this in the first place; because I had a true love for making video games and apps. I knew that this was my calling and I would do everything I could to master it. I knew this is what I wanted to do in my life, I wanted to be successful at it and make a real living from it and enjoy my life from the fruits that come from creating things.

At that moment I had an epiphany…“Just take one more step…make another app, really fast, without spending 8 months. You’ve learned how to make apps over the past 8 months. Now replicate what you have done and try and make a single app in 1 month or less!”

Hmmm what a thought! If I could reduce the time it took to make an app and start making an app in 1 month or less, I could potentially DOUBLE UP what I was bringing in. It wasn’t going to bring back the thousands of dollars I lost, but it would at least start giving me hope that one day this business could potentially lead me to a very lucrative future.

That’s when I was able to build Intimate Fireplace with the help of my friend and colleague Amit. We also built ASRI Astral Space Racer Infinity which was another 3D Space racing game.

Those two apps took me about 1.5 months to create right after Melina’s Conquest and with very little out of my pocket because I now had all the tools and experience I needed to make apps that I could just replicate what I did and reuse code from Melina’s Conquest.

With 3 apps in the Apple App Store, I started looking to alternative markets to try and get into and start making money. That’s when we entered the world of Android and got into Google Play and Amazon. At that point we were in 3 markets with 3 apps in each of the markets.

And at that point came December of 2011, where I was able to go from $200 USD in the last month to $600+!

Okay so this alerted me to the first really cool thing which I learnt early on. It doesn’t matter the TIME FRAME it takes to make an app! You could just as easily make as much money from an app that takes a day to an app that takes nearly a year!

Secondly I realized that more apps means more money! As you can see from that example I was able to easily triple my revenues from 3 apps in 3 marketplaces!

Fast forward to today where we now have over 25+ apps in over 10+ marketplaces using some of the most amazing cutting edge money making techniques for monetization and well you do the math! By the way, I also learnt something really cool as well about various marketplaces. Each market place has a TOTALLY different way to make money and after I started learning how each market place worked, I have been able to successfully capitalize on those various markets!

I truly believe that I failed on that first app just so that I could write about it in this book today and help the thousands of upcoming developers out from making the same mistakes I did in the past!

Now after doing this for quite some time, I’ve now been able to set up a business that makes me money even while I sleep! I have only myself and God as my boss and I get to live an extraordinary life!

I do this full time, and I totally love what I do! In fact just recently from all the blessings of success I’ve been able to get, I decided to finally go and buy a car I’ve always wanted since I was young. I went out and got myself a beautiful blue-grey Mercedes C230 with a beautiful wood interior and cream colored leather seats! Having a strong Faith and having a reason that was so powerful is what really helped me to stay in the game!

Here I am now getting interviews, speaking at various events around North America and living the life most people dream of! So I can assure you that it is quite possible to make it in this business without having to build the next Angry Birds app! I love the fact that I can spend time with my family, travel anywhere in the world at any time, be my own boss and get paid while I sleep! But don’t get tempted to believe that this is something that just happens overnight.

Take my own experience as your guide and understand that for many who have made it successfully in this business, it took years to do, and it is not something that you just automatically make money from (EVEN THOUGH OVERNIGHT SUCCESS IS POSSIBLE, it is not a realistic expectation!). Apps have lifecycles, trends, seasons and require a lot of marketing skills along with programming skills.

Over time I have been developing many tools and methods that also make this process faster and I have started releasing these same tools that can help new and existing app developers save hours on end as well as thousands of dollars in the app business!

I urge you to come visit my website at http://www.gamescorpion.com and click on the App Trillionaires link on the top. Use the special code onetrillion to access the special page I’ve made just for those who have read my books or have been part of my programs and use my tools. There you will find a constantly updated list of some amazing tools and resources available to you. At the same time you can even join up to one of my many paid programs that I’m constantly bringing out for app developers and app business owners and you can even purchase some of my more extensive tools right there as well! While you’re there, sign up to my newsletter where I am constantly bringing out the latest news, tips and tricks and tutorials on the latest cutting edge methods to make even more money and monetize your apps!

The app world changes DAILY and keeping up to date on things is what will help you to succeed in this business! You can even join up our Facebook page and if you join one of our ongoing membership packages, you can even join me on one of my live web seminars. In these seminars we all interact and get to learn from each other and I go over some of the great new tips and tricks and tools that I have been learning consistently as well as going over answering questions. I’ll also go over some techniques and methods that have helped myself and others to succeed in this businesses! I highly recommend it!

If you still need a reason to become an app developer, simply do a web search on mobile app success stories and you’ll read thousands and thousands of successful app business owners living the dream! There is no limit to how much you can make in this business except for the limits you put on your self! I’ve said it already and I’ll say it again, this is a business that requires your efforts and is not a get rich quick scheme that you just do for one week and forget about. It takes months if not years to make this a success, however if you create a solid base, follow my mentoring, keep up to date on the subject and stay on top of things, you can live the life people only dream of! Listen, you need to understand that this business changes fast! What worked in 2008 does not work now! What works now may not work 1-2 years from now! It changes constantly and you need to keep up with it in order to stay successful in this business.

APP BUSINESS MODELS

That being said, lets go onto some of the various app businesses models you can follow. You really need to think about which category you fall under before you even start an app business at all. Luckily I have created a nice little chart that you can take a look at that breaks down the various app business models (Image 1).

Image 1: Various App Business Models

As you can see there are several options available to you. Do you want to sell to end users just inside of app stores or do you want to sell apps to local businesses? Do you want to make apps for other APP Business Owners who would outsource your services or are you planning to work for a company as an app developer?

Depending on what you choose, you may have to agree to non-compete laws and regulations. The best (but most challenging way) to get in is as an App Developer to MASS CONSUMER. The other areas require more legal aspects and contracts in place such as NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) or non-compete contracts.

APP TYPES: NATIVE, WEB AND ADHOC

Mobile Apps are broken down into 3 Distinct Categories:

1. NATIVE APPS: These are apps that run directly on a device and can run with or without an internet connection. You will usually find these types of apps in an app marketplace such as the Apple App Store or Google Marketplace. This is the MAIN type of app people try to create, but it’s harder to get it approved.

2. WEB APPS: These apps run in a web browser and do not require any approvals. Using various forms of monetization, these apps can also make you some money as well, but they require a constant internet connection to run.

3. AD-HOC APPS: These apps are usually made for corporations and agencies that use apps internally. These are the same native apps from above, however they are not part of the App Store and can be sold on their own. It’s basically a NON-PUBLIC Native App.

The path that I will be training you on is the best and most challenging one which is becoming an App Developer and selling your native apps via app stores to Mass Consumers. Other programs and books may recommend selling to local businesses owners which is also an excellent way to start.

However, if you were planning to work for another company making apps for them, then I would not really recommend that unless you are really desperate and get a solid offer. The reason is that you could very well make the next hit app that could sell millions of copies and the sad reality would be that you would not be getting anything but your base pay from it. If you do choose this path, always try to include some form of royalties from the app so that you make money as well from the number of units sold and not just the base pay for making the app as an employee.

Okay so that’s enough on the App Business and getting you introduced into it. I didn’t want to bore you with a whole bunch of statistics on the industry which you can easily find via a simple Google search. Suffice it to say that the mobile app industry is booming and expanding exponentially. Get on board now and start making money before time passes by and you are left sitting far behind the rest! You very well could become the next App Trillionaire!

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.”

— Jesus