Build a Free App Build a Following

There are many reasons to build a free app, most notably so that you can build a following for your apps. Perhaps your goal is not to make money right away from your app but to get your name out there in the development world. Building a free app has a number of benefits, including the following, which you should consider as you build your company:

• Build an app to showcase your development skills. If your goal is to develop apps for other people, you can use a free app to demonstrate your skills to potential clients. You can create a free app that you can post to the App Store and gain experience building the app. When a potential client wants to see a sample of your work, you direct them to the App Store to download a copy of your app. An app that has many downloads will help convince a buyer to use you to develop their app.

• Build a free app for future sales. Many developers build a free app first with the intention of charging for the app after they have built up a following. However, in certain studies of app sales, a free app that gets changed to a paid app often sees a significant decline in sales after they switch to a paid app. In a fairly well-known example, Tapulous COO and cofounder Andrew Lacy told the press that install rates for one of its free gaming apps dropped 95 percent overnight when the company started charging $0.99 for it.

Other studies have indicated that even if the app developer moves the app back to free after trying to charge for it, the damage has been done, and the number of free downloads is still impacted, even though the price was set back to free. It appears that the momentum is broken at the point when a free app is altered in any way.

It is probably best to develop a free app and leave it as free and then create another app that is a paid app after you monitor the downloads and level of interest around the free app. This allows people to download your free app without risk and then purchase your paid app if they like what they see or want to obtain additional functionality.

• Build a free app to support other products. Perhaps you are selling another product that can benefit from building an iPhone/iPad app. You can develop a free app that can either be used to compliment your other product or help you to strengthen your brand. One of the best examples of this is the Bic Concert Lighter. The app shows a picture of a Bic Lighter and looks almost like the real thing. This app has had millions of downloads and has helped Bic to strengthen its brand. The Bic Lighter is shown in Figure 14.1.

Figure 14.1 The Bic Concert Lighter is a free app that is used to strengthen its brand and generate awareness about its product.

• New to iPhone/iPad app development. If you are new to developing apps, creating a free app might be the best route to take as you get your feet wet. Building a free app takes the pressure off you to make money right away on the app. But, unless you have very deep pockets of cash, build your free app as inexpensively as you can without sacrificing quality. Use this as an opportunity to learn the App Store submittal process and make your mistakes with a free app.

Continue reading here: Cross Selling and UpSelling

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