10k cash in hand - How to get started?

Hi everyone.

I’ve been an affiliate for some time who is now looking to make the switch to mobile. I set the goal to spend no more than 10k euros on my first app, development and marketing, to get the app profitable, if that’s the case I can of course increase the spending, but for now I want to remain disciplined and see what I can get done with that budget.

From what I’ve seen so far, there are basically two routes:

  1. Develop the apps by yourself, invest months of time, then start marketing the app

=> Problem: Tons of time to become proficient in programming, might aswell make more money to outsource

  1. Outsource the development, then start marketing.

=> Problem: Harder to influence the development and the outcome

I’m not really interested in becoming a developer, as I feel it’s easier to spend my time elsewhere and make more money to use for outsourcing than to pickup Java and learn it on my own.

Of course, the number 1 goal is to make something of value to the users which they want to keep on using, but with proper monetization.

I feel like the ideal app would be something that is valueable to the user without too much initial development costs, so I’d have more money to spend on marketing the app.

Is there something like this or is this delusional? Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Looking forward to your replies. Also happy to answer any questions you might have. :slight_smile:

Cheers

Try app360.co. I m not associated with them in any way. You can send them an email about your concern.

What if you use those 10k to advert our upcoming game and we share the income generated?

If you really want to ride the mobile app wave you need to become a developer yourself.

Outsourcing might work for you, but without something significant you can bring to the table yourself (coding, artist, audio engineer, SEO expert, significant mobile marketing background) you’re likely to have a hard time.

Yeah, I’m starting to feel the same. The problem is that I don’t know any Java, let alone Android development. That in itself is not much of a problem, as I could always learn that, but it takes time to learn and I’m wondering if my efforts are spent better elsewhere.
I can bring in at least 1000 daily non-incentivized installs with paid traffic with the potential to double that relatively quick and that’s just from the beginning.

I’m just wondering if that’s enough to get some kind of revenue going? I know it’s hard to predict things like that, considering all the different factors, but it’s still something I’m asking myself daily.

@javaexp: Thank you, will definitely check them out!

@BaksaiApps: Appreciate the offer, but I prefer to grow something on my own. Nevertheless, good luck with your game!

I started learning Java from scratch with no prior coding experience just 3 months before I released my first Android app. Fast forward 3 years and I run a highly successful app business.

Its definitely not too late to get on board with the Android platform, especially with more emerging markets like Nokia and Vodafone app stores. Apps are here to stay and the mobile technology industry is growing ever larger.

1k non-incentivized installs per day is a good number for a new app and stands a very good chance of getting it up the rankings, especially if you can increase it further. Of course this depends on where these installs are coming from.
If they are all in one geo then you stand a much higher chance of rising in that geo’s market (Google Play market is unique per geo). If they are spread over several geos then you will have a harder time.
Of course nothing is ever guaranteed and there are a lot of factors at play as you said, but that’s my two cents.

Congrats, you have more money than majority of members on this forum. If your $10k is your “all in” money, stop right here. I would suggest you start with $1k, because you are almost 100% guaranteed to fail your first app.

Affiliate marketing is not mobile marketing, $10k can be spent on a quick arcade and still not be enough. $10k can be spent in ONE day on marketing and still not be enough. And that is for seasoned developers, not beginners.

You need to get a feel of what its like to have an app published, what stats to look at, what approval process looks like, what indicators to look at and more importantly, figure out value of users. All of that takes experience and time.

There is a third option no one mentioned. You can buy an app on apptopia.com and put marketing money behind it, for a beginner, I say that would be your best option, jump right in it, see stats, and see how changes to your app affect your bottom line. That way you can figure out what makes a good app, mess around get a gist of what marketing looks like, etc.

I wrote an article about how I reach top 50 in India store. Read this fully and it will answer a lot of your questions and bring up points you havent thought of.

http://forums.makingmoneywithandroid.com/marketing-methods/14059-how-i-reached-top-50-adventure-category-india-google-play-appstore-long-read.html

Luckily, this is not my all in money, but a limit I set for myself to see what I can get done with 10k. And as you said it’s always possible to spend more, but I plan to start small, test and then scale.

I think the beauty of affiliate and mobile marketing is the ability to scale quickly once you have your numbers down. I’ve gone from 500/day ad spend to 2000/day in a matter of days, so this will be exciting to see if I can replicate that with mobile.

I feel like this is the best course of action. I bought a source code on Chupamobile.com and will have a dev team customize it and then just launch it and test everything. Because at the end of the day one can only read so much, but getting real experience and the feeling for the process, putting something out there for users to interact with is much more valuable.

@A1ka1inE: Thanks for your input! I can geotarget them. I think US has one of the highest CPMs, but the competition is higher than anywhere else. I’m not sure if I should focus on the US or go for a smaller market like the UK or France with a little lower CPMs. What’s your take on that?

@Pixelpower: WIll check that post out, thanks for sharing.

If you’re looking for good paying countries (with less competition) you can try Australia, New Zealand, Ireland (tier 1, English speaking countries). From my experience, prices there are higher than in the US, though, but you should find it easier to rank well due to the sizes of these countries.

@God The U.S certainly is the most competitive, but naturally the rewards are often the best. With that said it can often be better to target areas like the U.K and EU. India is largely English speaking and is much less competitive than these countries again. Simply put, the lower bidding geos are lower risk due to lower competition and therefore can often be safer investments. Of course the potential gains are then lower than that of higher bidding geos. For your first app I wouldn’t bite off too much.

You can become an app broker, buy established apps and have them transferred to your account, hire a dev to put in your own advertising. I was told that airpush’s top earner is not even a developer but someone who buys established apps, puts in airpush advertising and makes huge bank like $25,000 a day.

Yeah there’s a hell of a lot of app selling going on these days! I’ve considered it for a few of my apps, but I prefer the passive income over single bulk income.

If anyone’s interested in this then check out Apptopia