I really like the 'I tried this, I tried that, here's why and what I was thinking and what I concluded and also this went wrong' approach. Just wish it also discussed the marketing side of things, but maybe that's another post.
I probably should have included more on the marketing side. It probably deserves another post, but the short version is I didn't include it because nothing I've tried really contributed to much of the success.
I mentioned it a bit in the article, but from my experience and that of many devs I've talked with the best money spent is on design. Put the money you planned on spending on marketing into the best designer you can afford.
Cool, interesting to see some numbers from a simple app like a battery app. I've been curious about that especially after seeing some like flashlight apps for $0.99 but with tens of thousands of reviews. I tell myself that I don't want to bother releasing an app like that since I perceive them of little value. But if it is getting good reviews and also manages to make one indie developer a lot of money then they must be doing something right.
Great job so far. I'm doing something similar - building a full-time income from the app store(s) - but I'm only two months into it.
Are you considering raising the price on Debt Snowball+? It seems like it gives enough value to support a $1.99 or $2.99 price without cutting sales so much that you'd earn less.
Have you thought about packing some more keywords into the app name, like "Debt Snowball+ - Pay off your debt faster"? Maybe that would help climb above the other apps in that niche.
I don't know if you considered "envelope" and "envelopes" as keywords. Not sure how much traffic they get, but it looks like your competitors use them.
I like the screenshot graphics. Hadn't thought of tilting the phone like that.
I like the targeting of micro niches separately by having essentially the same core GPS app built and marketed for different purposes.
I have considered raising the price and probably will at some point. As for the keywords I've actually had apps rejected for that. It just depends on who ends up reviewing the app. Sometimes they get through and sometimes they reject it for "not being similar enough to the name on the phone."
I know but the app store is full of apps with a short description after the actual short name. They've allowed all of mine. Just keep it short and reasonable and it's a way to get more keywords in.
Just out of curiosity, how does your battery app make $50 a month?
EDIT: Just finished reading the whole thing and I have some additional questions:
You don't talk much about customer development, at least not directly. Does this mean that in your experience you've found that reviews in the App Store are a good enough proxy for soliciting customer feedback? Or did you just leave that part out for one reason or another?
Feedback isn't something I've really had to work for. I have contact forms on my websites which people get to from the support link in the app store, and I've put my email in some of the apps. In addition to the reviews I also get emails whenever somebody has a suggestion or a problem.
If you have something really broken it will show up in the reviews pretty quickly, otherwise plenty of people email me letting me know what they'd like to see in future updates.
If you are asking in general, I have no idea. lol. If you are asking specific monetization there is a paid app for .99 and a free app with ads in it. Most of that is from the ads in the free app.
If I wanted to I could probably redo the graphics now and actually make significantly more. There are a few apps that do the same thing that make some real money. I just did this a test when I was first learning about the app store and I don't find it to be interesting so haven't put any time or money into it. I just find it interesting that it still gets downloaded every day and makes enough money in a month for a decent meal :-)
