Technology has a habit of creating new opportunities for people to earn money. It can be an additional income or the main revenue stream for you. The mobile apps are one of the newest, hottest ones of these ways to make money. But starting a tech-based business endeavor can be hard at first. If you are curious about app entrepreneurship, you’ve come to the right place though. In this article, we will guide you in the ways of making money with apps. So without further ado, let’s see how to create an app for free and/or make money with it!
Getting the Right Idea is Always the First Step…
As with every enterprise, the journey starts with the right idea. To make money with an app, you need the right app ideas! You need to fill a niche that people need, you need to solve a problem for your users.
Copying successful apps can be tempting, but it can be a double-edged sword. Yes, on one hand, an app being popular means that it is doing something right, and had already found a good niche to fill. This means they have done the coming up with an idea part for you! Yet, it may also mean that they have already pretty well filled said niche. A popular and successful app has already established itself pretty well with the users. To steal some of that sheen, your app will need to be at least as good, probably better than that app. Moreover, you will need to market it pretty aggressively.
If instead, you decide to come up with an original idea, you need to be your first and harshest critic. Ask yourself and be honest, would you download and use that app if it was on app stores today? Would you keep it on your device, how often would you open it? Then look around you, ask your friends, relatives, coworkers, what are they using most, or alternatively, what do they wish they could use but can’t find.
The most successful apps tend to come from social or entertainment categories. These are, however, very competitive categories. So you better come up with something truly great if you want users to notice your apps.
Whether you choose to follow the steps of giants or to carve your own path, there will be challenges to conquer, but knowing the challenges beforehand is half the battle. We hope we could shed light on some of the most prominent of those challenges above. Also, it can be a good idea for you to take note of the common features of successful apps to guide your design process.
Getting the idea though, is just the first step. You actually need to get the app made too! Let’s have a look at the ways to do that.
How to Actually Make an App?
As with many things, there is more than one way to go about it. You can code native apps for each target platform (Google’s Android, and Apple’s iOS). Chances are though, you are not a coder. So you will probably need to work with a software company, or a freelancer app developer. Even then, there are many ways of getting your app created: native apps, hybrid libraries, etc. A more user-friendly, do-it-yourself kind of way is to use app builder platforms. Today, there is an app builder platform for just about any type of app. Choose one that fits your app’s category, offers the price level you seek, support requirements, etc. As MobiRoller, for example, we offer one that is especially good for content creators, communities, and e-commerce (ps. do perhaps check out the rest of features here).
If however, your app requires tons of custom functionality and designs you may end up having to get a custom development. As mentioned, the prices vary between methods. To read more about the costs of developing a mobile app, you may take a look at our article about just that!
Some app builders, however, allow you to create your apps for absolutely no charge. That’s right, with the right tools, you can build your app for free, and then publish it on the app stores. Though, if you want to also make money with it, usually you need to choose one of the paid options. However, if you only need an app for publicity or for your community, you may be just fine with a free package.
Now, we can hear you ask “ok, but how to create an app for FREE?” Well, to do this, you will need to either code it yourself or use one of the app builder platforms that provide a free option. Even if you code it yourself though, the time and effort cost will mean that it really is not for free. A good app builder platform though, can let you create your app in minutes.
The next step, of course, is to publish the app on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store as we have said above. We do have some guidelines for that in our support pages you may find helpful. Read here for Apple App Store, and here for Google Play Store.
Say, if I Want to Monetize it, How do I Go About That?
There are many different ways of app monetization. You may be going for a paid app, but usually, that will limit your audience. Thus, this model is usually not very well-fitting for most app types. Other, more common models that people make money with apps are mobile ads, in-app purchases, sponsorships, and subscriptions, or using the app as an e-commerce storefront.
If you already have a large community that you want to bring over to the mobile world, you should look at the models that are free to use for your users but can still make money for you. If, on the other hand, you create something of value to a specific audience, something that they are willing to buy, other monetization routes like paid apps, in-app sales, and subscriptions may be good options.
The best thing about the mobile app monetization is that you can use multiple monetization methods in combination. If more than one method fits with your app content, make use of them all! You can see, for example, our suggestions about app monetization for content creators.
Choosing the model, of course, is only a step in achieving success with it. You need to make sure that people are actively using your app and using it as often as possible. At least that is so with the main monetization models where the app is free to download.
Whether You Want to Just Create an App for Free, or You Want to Make Money with an App, You Can Start Right Away!
MobiRoller is here to let you achieve your mobile app ideas. You can make your mobile dreams come true all by yourself without writing a single line of code. Or, you can ask for design help if you need it. Trying out the system and creating Android apps is free too!
MobiRoller provides you all the toolbox you need:
- Do it yourself, what you see is what you get approach to app creation, no coding needed.
- The most affordable way to make apps that make money for you!
- Create once, build and publish for both Android and iOS.
- Professional looks, practical designs tailored to give your apps great user experiences and attractive user interfaces.
- Full support for in-app purchases in both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
- Real-time publishing and updating of content inside your apps.
- Great app functionality modules for content publishing, forms, communities, and e-commerce.
- A free option for nonprofit apps on the Android platform. Create an app for free and publish it on your Google Play Store account.
You can already start if you like! Create your free account and start making your app now! Have any questions, wondering something? Well, contact us!
