There’s no getting around it, mobile apps are hot. Anyone with even a little entrepreneurial spirit has considered building an iPhone app at least once. Apps are flexible, fun, very popular, and they have a bright future – all the makings of a successful business opportunity.

This article will share some high-level thoughts on how to develop, market, and launch a successful iPhone application.

Getting Your iPhone App Built

Anyone wanting to enter the iPhone App business will quickly face a major hurdle: “how the heck to I get these things built?” For someone with a great idea but no programming experience, it can be a daunting challenge to design, develop, debug, market and launch an iPhone application that does something useful. There are ultimately two options: 1) spend months (years) learning how to build apps on your own or 2) hire someone that can help.

I won’t discount the idea of learning to code on your own, as many people enjoy this. However, I find it much easier to focus on what I do best (coming up with the ideas and managing the process) and hiring others that focus on what they do best (coding the apps).

The best way to find someone is on Elance, a directory of freelancers. There are hundreds of iPhone and iPad developers who can turn your concept into a successful product. You simply create an Elance account (click here to do that) and post your project with some specifics on what you’d like your app to do. Then, developers will bid on your project and you can select the one that best matches your needs.

If you’re unsure of the quality of the developer, be sure to check their past work and make sure they have built many iPhone apps for satisfied clients.

Going this route, you can have your app online in weeks and often for under $1,000. This is the best option in my book.

Patterns of App Store Success

Following patterns is the secret to success. Patterns can show you what has been proven to work and, just as importantly, what has proven to fail. Taking advantage of these trends will save you time and increase your chances of success.

I did a bit of digging into the current trends of the App Store and here’s what I found:

• Of the top 25 paid apps, 20 of them are in the games or entertainment categories.
• Interestingly, 5 of the top 10 highest-grossing apps are free downloads. What? This means they’re taking advantage of in-app purchases.
• 8 of the top 10 paid apps are priced at $.99, the other two are $1.99
• Simplicity sells. Customers love apps that do one thing and do it well. Complex apps that do too many things rarely sell.
• Style counts. You won’t find an app in the top 25 that’s ugly or poorly designed. The best-selling apps always have a flair for beautiful interfaces. This is especially true with the icons – the first thing a prospective customer sees.

The thing that jumps out at me most is the in-app purchases. This is a fairly new trend and definitely something worth exploring further. This is similar to a “freemium” web model where 90% of the features are free and the 10% are optional but pricey. This is most effective for games where you can buy extra add-ons that add value to the game. Personally, I think this trend is only going to continue. Ask yourself how your app idea can utilize in-app purchases.

Also, if you’re really into productivity apps or some other category, don’t let these patterns dissuade you. The odds of reaching the #1 most downloaded app might not be in your favor, but you don’t need #1 in order to be successful. If you look at the success stories I posted towards the end of this article, none of them are in the games/entertainment category.

NOTE: The App Store itself is limited in terms of the data you can find. If you want to see deeper into the trends, Yappler and MobClix have lots of free research, stats, and charts.

Free or Paid?

Short answer: both.

One thing that can be frightening about mobile applications is the App Store’s version of the one-hit wonder syndrome. You might get super lucky and reach the #1 most downloaded app for a day or two, only to drop off into oblivion forever after. This is not an ideal business model for anyone serious about earning a long-term income with app development!

One great strategy to combat this is to combine the instant profits of paid applications (most between $.99 and $2.99) along with free ad-supported apps to provide long-term income.

There are a number of factors that go into the decision to make an app free or paid, but perhaps the most important is frequency of use. With an ad supported app, you make money each time an ad is viewed or clicked. Therefore, the more the app is used, the more ad revenue it will produce. So it makes sense to place ads in apps that will get used daily (such as news readers or music players like Pandora). Whereas a novelty app or game might be best suited as a paid download.

Another important consideration is whether to create lite version of your paid application. I think this has proven to be a good strategy for many developers. Not only can you place ads in your free app, it can also help sell more copies of your paid version to customers who might not have made the purchase without trying it out for free. Additionally, you will double the exposure of your app, since there are two copies floating around in the App Store.

Can You Really Succeed with App Development?

With over 300,000 apps, it’s understandable to feel a little pesemistic about your chances of App Store success. However, I think that’s a mistake. Most of the failures are from developers who built sub-par apps, paying more attention to the $$ than the quality. Here’s a few reasons why I think mobile apps are still a great opportunity:

• Plenty of EvidenceThere are dozens of examples of developers making incredible income from iPhone applications. In fact, here’s a few of them:
  • Free The Apps – $800,000/year with mostly free apps
  • TapTapTap – $500,000 of Camera+ sales in 2 months
  • WhereTo – $227,000/year from one app
• Huge Market. Who doesn’t have an iPhone or an iPod touch these days? Apple sold 14 million iPhones in just the 3rd quarter of 2010, and you can bet this growth will continue for years to come.
• Expansion. with others developing your apps, you’re only limited by the funds you have to get started. Achieve a little success and it’s easy to build 10 more apps, each creating a great stream of income on their own.

No matter what your financial goals, the most important thing is that you progress towards it each day, laying one brick at a time.

Final Thoughts

I truly believe that building a successful iPhone app business is about one thing: delivering massive value. The reason many people fail to produce success on the app store is not because there’s too much competition, or not enough money to market their apps, or any other excuses. It’s simply because the customer can find more value in another app. This, of course, is the same success principle for every business. The reality is, iPhone apps don’t live in a magical world where you throw something together and make a million bucks; just like everything else, it takes hard work and skill.

This could only be a quick intro to app development. If you want to maximize your success, I highly recommend picking up the eBook How to Make iPhone Apps with No Programming Experience by Free The Apps – two developers who are currently making $800,000/year from a process very similar to the one I described above. This eBook will teach you everything you need to get your business started on the right foot, with a system that has proven to make $800,000/year. Click Here to download that eBook.