Johannes is the co-founder of
After I finished the last big customer project of my company, I spent a big part of my time on the development of Tumble Panda. It has now been nine months since the game was released to Google Play. Time for a recap.
Tagfail
Many developers produce tons of apps but still don’t earn much money. Others publish one or two apps and earn thousands of dollars every month. Why is that? Why are so many apps unsuccessful? Here are four reasons:
1. Your idea sucks
That’s obvious. If there is no need for your app, why should it be downloaded.
2. Your implementation sucks
That’s a common error and its characteristics vary widely. I did that many times so I know what I’m talking about. Implementation means everything the user notizes (user experience, UX). This includes visual design and technical realization. Or in other words: If your app looks like the Android Market in it’s first iteration, it’s going to be hard.
The good news is: When your idea doesn’t suck but your implementation does, you can still change that.
The first release of the Android Market looked terrible. If your app does too, you should change that.
3. You are not promoting
Many developers develop and after that, they develop again. That’s not enough. Someone has to do the marketing and promotion stuff and if there is no one else, you are that someone. Twitter, blog, facebook and talk in forums. There are 1035 blogs found on Technorati when searching for ‘Android’. E-mail all of them. Seriously? Seriously.
4. You don’t keep trying
You like your idea, your friends do and maybe even your girlfriend (or boyfriend) does. You are excited and can’t wait to get the first update on the developer console. There it comes: 200 downloads on the first day… not to bad, but it wont bring you the expected millions. The next day will sure be better. 20 downloads. Hm.. Next day: 18. One week later: Total of 300 downloads has been reached, $o,45 has been made. Well, you’ll better focus on an other promising project.
While some apps are successful from the very beginning, most apps are not. Also Angry Birds was not. Once again: I’m totally serious on writing each of the 1035 blogs. Write 30-40 of them every day and you’ll be done in one month. You invested weeks on building your app, why stop when it’s finally done. I know, programming is fun, but getting great feedback of and contact to your users and future users is too.
Conclusion
In order to have a really successful app you must
- Have a good idea
- Make a beautiful app that runs smooth and free of error
- Promote and communicate a lot
- Keep trying and have some discipline
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