Every software developer has worked on projects that are just plain dumb, have a terrible manager or are lacking in a hundred different ways. They know that they could do it better if they just could do X, Y or Z. Some programmers get so fed up that they just have to make the great leap and do their own thing. They become Indy App Publishers.

Successful indy app publishers know that they can make software better than the big guys. They believe that their code is better, they can respond to customers sooner and deliver an overall superior experience. They are very passionate about software.

If this sounds like you then read on to find out how to become an indy app publisher.

What Do You Need?

A great place to start is with iOS app development. iOS is used to make iPhone and iPad apps. It is simple to make stunning apps with the tools that Apple provides to it’s registered developers.

Here is some things that you will need to start developing apps:

• Mac ($600-$2000)
• Apple Developer Registration ($99 per year)
• XCode (free)
• Website and support email ($10 per month)
• Objective-C, Cocoa-Touch and UIKit proficiency

I’m assuming that you yourself will be the developer which is generally how indy app publishers work. You may instead be working with someone who has the equipment and skills above.

As you can probably guess though when you are on your own as a indy app publisher you are not going to be just dealing with code. You will need to start thinking of what you do as a business (meaning you gotta pay the bills with this).

A Few More Things:

• Design (apps need to look pretty to sell)
• Marketing (code doesn’t sell itself)

Design is very important for iOS apps, I would recommend hiring someone to make your app’s icon graphic at least since this stands out on the App Store. I’ve used 99Designs to get some compelling iOS app icons (see my Tasting Notes app icon as an example). That design cost me about $600.

Marketing your app will prove to be a big challenge as well and this is something that is pretty hard to hire people for (except for any specific tasks you may dream up). Here you will need a mobile specific strategy. This stuff takes time and I would recommend learning a bit about marketing for apps.

The Great Cash Flow Question

Everyone hears the success stories like Angry Birds (1 million + $$$ in sales) and most of the apps that you see in the top charts are like this. Everyone wants to be there but hoping to get one of those top 25 spots in the app marketplace of 300,000+ apps is sort of like planning on winning the lottery.

So even though you want to shoot for the top you should know how much apps make on average to get an idea of how to plan for your business. Most of the estimates that I’ve seen indicate that apps will make about $5000 in the first year. Estimates are as low as $700 and as high as $10,000 for the first year of revenue for iOS apps.

My own figures substantiate these averages: my apps averaged $6,600 each for the first year. The second year would bring lower revenue which averaged around $2,000 or so.

Tasting Notes Revenue Case Study

Tasting Notes is my flagship app and it’s a good example of what I think of as a moderate success. Tasting Notes took two months to develop and it spent some time at the top of the Lifestyle category. Here is Tasting Notes’ revenue:

Most of Tasting Notes income was generated in the first three months and by 2010 this app leveled off with an average monthly revenue of $300 which it maintains today.

The Good

iOS apps are easy to make and you don’t need to worry about the details of selling apps since the App Store provides all the infrastructure. iOS is a great place to start because the barrier to entry is so low.

The Bad

If you look closely at my revenue figures you’ll realize that you will need to either make lots of apps to stay afloat or you will need to have a backend product to be profitable. Unless of course you become a breakout success!

The Ugly

Indy app publishing is not a get rich quick scheme – this is real business. However, for developers who find themselves yearning to reach a passionate, international audience iOS is the quickest and most fun way to become an indy app publisher.

—–

Matt Campbell has been an iOS app developer since the Apple App Store launched in 2008. These days he travels teaching iOS development to people all over the real world and the virtual world. Matt’s passionate about sharing the excitement of creating online businesses with beautiful software. You can find out more about Matt and how to make iPhone apps at http://howtomakeiphoneapps.com.

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Well, today Jeff released another video and this time he really outdid himself.

Right off the bat he shares a story that not only delivers one of the most powerful marketing tips…

…it also gave me chills listening to it.

The insights and inspiration in this one are invaluable.

You can watch it here.

If you haven’t already done so, you’ll be asked to enter your e-mail address to get access, but it’s totally worth it.

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So naturally, when he puts out a quality video chock full of content, I check it out.

This case study shows how a “regular guy” in a weird little niche is killing it with “evergreen” product launches…

And the really cool thing is that this strategy will fit into almost ANY type of business… check it out here.

(That Case Study is 100% full content… you need to opt-in to get it, but make sure you do – it’s totally worth it.)

Watch it here

What I love about this Case Study is how you can put EVERGREEN LAUNCHES into your business … you get all the benefit of a big product launch, but it keeps paying you all year long.

Watch it here

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We were so impressed with how they ran it that we asked him to do an interview on the podcast. That interview will be posted later this month with a premium extended version available in the Academy.

Tom’s e-mail about the group offers a number of great tips that you can model for your own mastermind group. Here is what he had to say.

—

There are currently 9 members in our mastermind group. If members miss 4 meetings we remove them from the group. We removed three people last year. We only want serious people that participate.

All the members are from Internet Business Mastery Academy. We are pretty much all at the same stage in development of our products and websites. Three members are beginning to making money now.

We hold monthly meetings in a conference room with Internet and a projector at a public library. We stay in touch and support each other using Google Groups. Our Google group has a Rolodex for websites, books, marketing swipe file, an area for storing ebooks/articles, members contact section and my favorite a monthly worksheet.

The monthly worksheet must be filled out before coming to each meeting. Are meetings are two hours long. We critique two member’s websites the first hour. The second hour we go over everything on the worksheet for each member. I also attached a blank worksheet from January’s meeting for you.

Thank you Sterling  and Jay for turning me on to mastermind groups. Without this group I would be stuck in the planning stage for a long time.

-Tom Sasnauskas

—

Thank you Tom for sharing your experience with us.

What other internet business mastermind tips do you have? Share them in the comments below.

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Despite the $6000 price tag, we were able to sell out the program before the official launch day. We never even had to use the sales page our copywriter had been toiling away on.

In this video we reveal the tools and methodology use in the launch so you can apply them to your own marketing.

Download the Video

Click Here to Watch the Video Online

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But when he was stuck on just $25 per month only a year ago, he knew it wasn’t enough for him. He was crossing his fingers for a way to quadruple it up to $100 per month.

He had no idea how quickly his monthly income was about to grow by following our Internet Business Mastery strategies.

Patrick jumped in and began to see some good success. Good thing, since he was laid off shortly after. But instead of panicking, he knew everything would be okay. That’s because he generated a whopping $7,000 his very FIRST month following our systems.

How did he do it?

Click here now to watch Patrick’s full story.

Then be sure to register on the video page to receive even more Ultimate Success Stories and other valuable information to skyrocket your own success.

NOTE: intheleed.com has been changed to greenexamacademy.com for legal reasons!

You can also download the video here.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

Well, we have a winner! In fact we have two. But before I reveal the answer and who won, let’s review the hints about the investment.

• It was something  I had been working on putting together for a few months
• It came together with a phone call and a wire transfer
• I agreed to it on the spot
• I had to prepare for something in mid-July
• It would benefit my customers/community

And the Winner Is…

I decided to declare two winners. The first two to hit the answer dead on were @danielwatrous and @NCoastGardening. Congrats! Now, drum roll please. The answer is…

You got it! A few others also guessed right including @masonworld, @larajf, @ToddSkaggs and @KickTheWebGeek. Well done!

A Priceless Opportunity

Today I’m off to Los Angeles to meet with Jeff Walker and his team. In addition, fifty of his top hand-selected students will be there to mastermind with me. For three days we’ll plan the launch of my upcoming New Media Mastermind membership site.

Jeff’s time doesn’t come cheap. I had to pay five figures to solidify the opportunity. But even my most conservative calculations show that the ROI will be significant and the impact long-lasting. I didn’t hesitate at the cost for a moment.

Success Slingshot

Something that has consistently shot me forward as an entrepreneur (and before that as a musician) is working with mentors. Whenever I’ve wanted to jump to the next level, I’ve called ahead to someone that’s already there and asked them for directions.

My first business mentor helped me escape the 9-to-5. The next mentor introduced me to the world of information marketing allowing me to ditch a business that was quickly turning into another job.

The following mentor taught me how to use my marketing skills on the Internet allowing my wife and I to move our business and life to New York City and other cities such as Buenos Aires.

It was a trusted mentor that taught Sterling and I the power of membership sites directly leading to the six-figure revenue now generated by Internet Business Mastery.

Each mentor has impacted my life and business significantly. So when set my goals for this year, I knew right away it was time to work with another mentor. Jeff Walker was the guy I needed.

Million Dollar Launches

Jeff Walker is a highly sought after marketing consultant and creator of the Product Launch Formula.

He was involved in the first ever one million dollar launch for an online information product when John Reese pulled a million dollars in sales in a day. Since then, he ‘s worked with numerous high profile clients including Dan Kennedy, Frank Kern and StomperNet (whose launch produced 3+ million dollars).

I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to work with Jeff since he only works directly with one or two clients a year. He’s very selective about what he spends his time on.

So how did I make it happen? How did I get Jeff Walker to call and offer to work with me? Well, that’s a question that I’ll answer in a special case study video. To get this video you have to be on the Ultimate Success Case Study Alert List. I’ll post it at the end of the week.

Trickle Down Effect

The great news for you is that this experience will lead to great content for this blog and the Academy. Insights gathered from my consultation with Jeff and his team will trickle down to benefit you as well.

Creative Guesses

Thanks to those that participated in the guessing game. It was a lot of fun to see all the ideas come in. Some people got really creative. Other guesses included:

• Buying a Pinkberry franchise
• Purchasing ad space on the moon
• Being offered a cable TV show
• Buying podcast startup, Mevio
• Investing in a brand new podcasting studio
• Signing up for golf lessons
• Having a baby

What do you want to know?

To help deliver maximum value to you, tell me what you’d like to hear about in my case study.

• What questions do you have about finding and working with mentors?
• What would you like to know about how getting Jeff Walker to work with me?

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

But when he was stuck on just $25 per month only a year ago, he knew it wasn’t enough for him. He was crossing his fingers for a way to quadruple it up to $100 per month.

He had no idea how quickly his monthly income was about to grow by following our Internet Business Mastery strategies.

Patrick jumped in and began to see some good success. Good thing, since he was laid off shortly after. But instead of panicking, he knew everything would be okay. That’s because he generated a whopping $7,000 his very FIRST month following our systems.

How did he do it?

Click here now to watch Patrick’s full story.

Then be sure to register on the video page to receive even more Ultimate Success Stories and other valuable information to skyrocket your own success.

You can also download the video here.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

One of our long-time listeners is a guy named Aneal Roney. One of the things we like best about Aneal is how he takes the proven marketing lessons we teach and implements them in his own unique way.

His web site is BowCast — the home of his archery-focused podcast.

So how does he make money from his site? Listen to this message he sent us and he’ll reveal the very innovative way he makes it work for him.

Download audio file (Aneal_Roney_from_BowCast.mp3)

A week after he sent us that message Aneal emailed us again with an update.

You can update the testimonial I left on your voice mail! -  I went to another trade show and closed another $20K of business by selling to companies who want to market through my site!  Thanks for all of your help!

Then recently I checked in with him again to inquire about his most recent progress. His reply?

Over the last year we have grown our podcast listeners and unique site visitors by over 600%!  We have also more than doubled the “sponsorship” revenue we have collected for marketing and advertising – we will bring in roughly $60,000 in 2009!

Visit Aneal’s site here.

Aneal was a coaching student back in February of ’08.

CLICK HERE to get immediate access to our latest training which can now be found in the Internet Business Mastery Academy, where you will get full access to ALL of our courses, tools, and resources for creating your own internet business and escaping the 9-to-5.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

In this episode of Internet Business Mastery,we discuss Real Life Cubicle Escape Stories (How They Did It and How You Can, Too). Plus, we talk about a new kind of metric that gives valuable insight on how user-friendly your site is.

CLICK HERE to get immediate access to Internet Business Mastery Academy, where you will get full access to ALL of our courses, tools, and resources for creating your own internet business and escaping the 9-to-5.

Each month we add at least one new internet business course, a Grill the Guru interview, and new video tutorials in the Million Dollar Rolodex.

Items mentioned in the episode:

• Interview #1: Patrick Flynn: GreenExamAcademy.com
  
• Interview #2: Matt Drake: app-shop.com
• Quick Tip: clicktale.com – Thanks to Pat Flynn for this resource!
  

Join us on Twitter?

• Twitter

Video

• IBM 55 | Real Life Cubicle Escape Stories (How They Did It and How You Can, Too)

Transcripts

• Transcripts of IBM 55 | Real Life Cubicle Escape Stories (How They Did It and How You Can, Too)

What do you think?

• Did you quit your job in order to work your Internet Business in 2008?
• What Massive Action did you take in 2008?

Download the MP3

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

In this episode of Internet Business Mastery, we discuss How to Start a Membership Site that Generates Six Figures.  Plus, we talk about The Latest Trend in WordPress themes.

CLICK HERE to get immediate access to Internet Business Mastery Academy,  where you will get full access to ALL of our courses, tools, and resources for creating your own internet business and escaping the 9-to-5.

Each month we add at least one new internet business course, a Grill the Guru interview, and new video tutorials in the Million Dollar Rolodex.

Items mentioned in the episode:

• Membership Sites: GetMyMembershipsite.com
• WordPress Themes that we suggest: GetMyThemes.com
• Congrats to Patrick Flynn: GreenExamAcademy.com
• Congrats to Matt Drake: app-shop.com

Join us on Twitter?

• Twitter

Video

• IBM 54 | How to Start a Membership Site that Generates Six Figures

Transcripts

• Transcripts of IBM 54 | How to Start a Membership Site that Generates Six Figures

What do you think?

• What other membership site ideas have you seen either as a publisher or member of a site?

Download the MP3

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

Go check out the video now, there’s nothing for sale: http://www.productlaunchformula.com?18096

This is an amazing “Case Study”… and it’s even
more important with the current hard times in our
economy – it shows what can be done to put
yourself back in control.

This video is COMPLETELY free and you don’t even
need to give your email… but you sure be sure to
subscribe to get all the full length case studies
from everyday people like.

Because the really cool thing about those case
studies is that you can learn first hand how to
apply it to YOUR business.

We’ve applied this same formula our own businesses
several times with our own incredible results, but
we’ll have more about that next week.

For now go watch the video and then subscribe to
get the other videos in the series.

http://www.productlaunchformula.com?18096

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

We were excited this week when we saw on of our Academy members, Mark Mason, openly sharing his thoughts in the Mastermind Forums as he applies our niche brainstorming process. It’s a great example of letting the process just flow with the confidence that the right niche idea will manifest itself. We were even more excited when we saw the enthusiastic feedback and support he’s receiving from the other Mastermind Community members. Here’s what he wrote.

Bottom Line: I thought it might be neat to “think out loud” right here inside the Academy as I identify my next niche web business.
Goal: Define a new niche for Mark and launch a small site by 10/31/08
Status: Niche Brainstorming

Back Story: I have been having some success in the Internet Marketing and Make Money Online niches, but I really want to identify a new non-IM niche to work in. I am really jealous of the cool niches that rondavis, snoonan and others have identified. I want to align my interests, skills and Definite Major Purpose with a new niche. I don’t plan to get out of IM. Just looking to expand into something that interests me.

Edit — I am also really jealous of johnwtuggle since I really want to be a better guitar player.

Problem is, I have no idea right now what it would be.

So, I was thinking I could just have an open discussion right here in this thread for a couple of weeks and get some feedback as I move through the “niche identification” material from Sterling and Jay.

The first step in our ten-step process is to look at your own expertise, interests, hobbies, etc. Mark dove into this step and just started freely listing the ideas that came to him without editing himself or worrying about each one. The idea here is quantity. Just get the ideas out. Here’s his list.

Here is my brainstorming list of everything I can think of about myself. Ready….go!

• I am a student of internet marketing.
• I am an electrical engineer by training.
• I am pretty good at math
• I am a pretty good teacher
• I am an accomplished public speaker (for an engineer)
• I work in the semiconductor industry in the area of semiconductor lithography
• I am married with kids (boys and girls) and I have been divorced
• I have been trying to loose 25 pounds for 15 years (LOL)
• I like music
• I am a crummy guitar player and wish I was better.
• I can sing (opinions vary)
• I am a total and complete gadget junkie.
• I love cell phones and computers.
• I have rebuilt classic cars
• I know several programming languages.
• I have been to many different countries on business
• I love Texas A&M University in general, especially the football program
• I love my RIM BlackBerry
• I am a student of personal finance (but not very disciplined)
• I like books like $ Hour Work Week, Seven Habits, GTD, etc.
• I am always struggling with time management and focus
• I work hard
• I know a ton of stuff about personal computers and computer software.
• I love to help people.
• I love the Dallas Cowboys
• I love to read spy novels when I have time (seldom)
• I have a long driving commute in Dallas
• I live in and around Dallas
• I have an internet marketing website
• I have an internet marketing product
• I like to cook when I have time (seldom)
• I know how to repair most household things (plumbing, electrical, sprinklers, etc)
• I like wine.

This is a fine list. Lots of good gems in there. I replied in the forum and told him the ones that stood out to me.

• I am a total and complete gadget junkie.
• I have rebuilt classic cars
• I love my RIM BlackBerry
• I know a ton of stuff about personal computers and computer software.
• I live in and around Dallas
• I know how to repair most household things (plumbing, electrical, sprinklers, etc)

Here are the main points I hope you glean from this.

1. Just put pen to paper and start writing all the ideas that come to mind
2. Don’t edit your ideas as you go. Get them all out. Quantity is key here.
3. It doesn’t have to be as tough as it may feel. We know it can seem daunting, but it is so easy to launch and prove ideas on the Internet that it is is always best to start NOW.
4. The Academy Mastermind Forums are an excellent place to find the support and ideas you need when you hit important steps like choosing your niche.

   If you are a member and haven’t posted yet, we strongly recommend that you do so. The tone in the community is super helpful. Everyone is helping each other to reach the same goals.

   If you’re not a member yet, then now would be a great time to join.

We look forward to seeing where Mark goes with his brainstorming process. He plans to document and share the whole thing with the Academy Mastermind Forums. Thanks, Mark, for being willing to put yourself out there and share your exdperience with the community!

Take Action

1. If you’re looking for a new niche, sit down with a pen and paper and spend 15 minutes listing as many ideas as you can. Think over your interests, epxertise and hobbies. Don’t edit anything out. If it comes to mind, write it down.

What Do You Think?

• How do you brainstorm new niche ideas?
• How do you capture these ideas (e.g. mind map, notebook, Google Doc, etc.)?
• What is your biggest concern about brainstorming new niches?

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Take the QUICK Traffic Survey

Thanks,

Sterling

P.S. What is your top traffic generation concern?

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Where have we been the last couple months?!…off making money of course. And in this episode we outline the process that we developed for running our coaching programs after months of planning and surveying our communities. These coaching programs resulted in almost $100,000 in sales.

We reveal the tools that we used to create the course materials, including a revolutionary presentation tool that gives PowerPoint a run for it’s money! Some of the teaching techniques we used in this coaching course have never been used like this by anyone else.

We also introduce new open music, close and production elements to put a shiny spit shine on the show.

Items mentioned in this show:

Jay’s Twitter Page
Sterling’s Twitter Page
GetMyWebinarTool.com – the webinar/screen-sharing tool we used
Camtasia – the screen recording software we used
iShowU – a screen recording software for Mac
Special voice over deal for Internet Business Mastery listeners
Sterling’s recommended affiliate tool

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.