Being able to make money online is one of the most attractive things about smartphone apps. The possibilities are endless, and since iPhone apps are so popular, it’s easy for developers to make a quick buck. However, just because it’s easy to make an app doesn’t mean that it’s easy to make money from it. In fact, it can be quite challenging. But if you follow these steps, you will be able to make money from your iPhone app in no time.
Study The Market
Before you even start thinking about coding, you need to do some market research. This means that you will need to study the demographics and psychographics of people who would most likely use your app. Simply put, you want to find out who your target audience is and what they want. This will help you determine the kind of app you should make and the price point you should aim for.
For example, if you are developing an app for children, you might not want to price it at all. Or, if you are catering to a specific group of people and you know that they will love your app, pricing it at a discount might be the way to go. You can also use tools such as google analytics to study the behavior of your website’s visitors. The information you will discover through these tools will guide you in the right direction.
Pick A Niche
A niche is a broad topic with a limited number of solutions. For example, “digital nomads” are people who work remotely for multiple companies. Since there are a limited number of solutions for this niche (iPad Apps, Android Apps, or web portals where you can log in from anywhere) you will have an edge over competitors.
But choosing a niche doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself to that topic. You can always choose a more general topic (like “learning new things” or “parenting skills”) and then choose from among the many solutions available for that topic.
Monetize Your App
Once you have your app ready to go, it’s time to monetize it. There are a variety of ways to make money from an app, but you need to pick a method that feels right for your app. However, there are some general rules that you should follow.
Advertising
Advertising is everywhere on the internet, and for that reason, it feels like the most natural way to monetize an app. After all, you are providing a service to people by making your app available for download, so why shouldn’t they pay to use it? Just remember that advertising on the web is different from advertising in apps. For one, the two don’t always go together. Also, with online advertising, your competitors can copy your idea and throw ads at the same consumers who already use your app.
In-App Purchases
In-app purchases are exactly what they sound like—purchases made within the application. For example, if you are running a farm game and you want to upgrade your avatar, you will have to pay for the upgrade. Or, if you are playing a quest game and want to speed up the pace of the gameplay, you will have to spend money on this option (which will come with an important decision: do you want to continue playing for free or do you want to pay for faster speed?).
Sale Of Goods
The marketplace model is similar to advertising but also incorporates purchasing goods and services directly within the application. For example, if you are running a virtual clothing store and you sell a dress to a consumer who then clicks on an affiliate link to buy the same dress from a different vendor, you will earn a commission.
Subscription Fees
Subscription fees aren’t just for YouTube Premium users anymore. They can be a legitimate source of income for Android and iOS developers who want to earn a steady passive income stream from their work.
Donations
Last but not least, we have donations. Just because you are not selling anything within the app itself does not mean that you can’t ask the users for money. After all, they already spent money on your app by downloading it, so why not ask them for a little something more? Just make sure that you set a fair price for your donations so that you do not seem too “greedy”.
At this point, you might be wondering how much free money you can make with an iPhone app. The good news is that you will need to develop only one app to be able to generate a passive income stream. Once this is done, you can begin to explore the many ways in which you can make additional money from this app. For example, if you are using the marketplace model, you can opt to sell other people’s games or use a tool like Google Adsense to get more money from advertisers. To learn more, check out these blogs: