It’s no secret that a great mobile app can be an excellent source of revenue, but it’s easier said than done. This may come as a bit of a shock to you, but only 33 percent of mobile app developers are making enough money to stay afloat, according to a recent study. These numbers prove that simply putting an app out there is absolutely no guarantee of success, especially financial success.
It’s not that so many of these apps are unpopular or completely unknown; in fact, in many cases it’s quite the opposite. As surprising as it may seem, even famous apps struggle to generate revenue. One problem is that the developers count too much on monetizing the app after the fact. They think that they can put the app out, wait and see if it becomes popular, and then monetize it after a bunch of people are using it. The problem is, sometimes it’s too late — the ship has sailed, as they say.
So, one lesson that can be learned from this is: Plan on monetizing your app from the very beginning. Don’t just plan on it in the sense that you know you what to make money from it somehow, but actually come up with a strategy and know how it is going to make money. There are several different business models you can employ to generate revenue from your mobile apps, and you should spend some time figuring out which one of those models is going to work the best for you. In some cases, multiple methods might be the best solution.
Just to give you an idea of the various ways you can ear money from your mobile apps, here are a few: ads placed within the app, affiliate promotions, in-app purchases, and subscriptions.
In part 2 of this series, I’ll give you a breakdown of each of those revenue models, along with some advice for getting the most out of them.
