550 installs a day and passive income — indie app dev diary
The last serious self-published app I built I spent over a year on. It currently generates around $50-12 a month. After that, I started working on The Code Club, a social online coding Bootcamp. This is what I learned from my latest 6-month app project.
The importance of market research
What I learned from my vocabulary app is that I should not waste time in a saturated market. While hunting for my next project I wanted to find something that did not have to compete with over 400 apps.
App idea evaluation
I thought I would mix up my normal formula and try working with someone. I wanted to work with a mobile marketer. I found someone who was smart and friendly. Together we created an app idea evaluation system. We created a giant list of app ideas. We looked at the top 5 app results of each niche and analyzed the results. We looked at downloads, income, reviews, how often the apps were updated, and how many competitors were in the specific niche. We spent several months refining our process and choosing an app we were both happy to work on. You can have a look at the template I have been using here. Out of context, I am not sure how helpful it will be.
App idea evaluation in hindsight
For my next batch of app idea evaluation, I will add an analysis of the business model. I think b2c monthly subscriptions are a hard sell for the average app. The majority of the money this app made was from ads. Even though monthly subscriptions are bringing in some money. I would like to do a b2b app or an app with a clear transactional business model. Pay us for Z for Y, instead of paying us for some cool extra features.
Co-founder dispute
I and my co-founder had a disagreement that led to our disbanding. I recently saw something on creating systems of trust and I think that I may have jumped the gun on my wanting to disband after a disagreement. My lesson is to not be hasty in choosing a co-founder and to not be hasty in disbanding or outlashing.
ASO lessons
I improved my downloads significantly by a/b testing icons and store listing screenshots. I have tested over 30 variations over the last 4 months. Some tests showed significant increases in downloads. It made me realize that one can always benefit from running an A/B test. I practiced patience and gave 30 days for keywords to settle after a change in ASO. I also created a more formal routine for doing ASO. I systemized how I approached it and I created a monthly ASO day.
Downloads and daily ad revenue proceeded to go up
I found that my happiness became related to the number of downloads a day I was getting. I spoke to an app mentor who told me this is not something I should focus on. I also remember reading in the Lean Startup about vanity metrics, and I know downloads is a vanity metric. I am trying to steer away from getting excited about downloads and instead focus on the app’s key metrics. I do not want my happiness to be based on an arbitrary number.
Hit with some changes
I few things happened which has caused the daily downloads to go down including a copyright infringement from Snapchat. I am still trying to figure out why the downloads have started to be on a downward trend. I am working on getting the daily downloads to new heights.
When to leave a project
Something I am weary of is working on a project in vain, as with my vocabulary app. I also hate the idea of leaving a project too soon. After this app started making money and getting a decent number of downloads, I started to look at what I needed to do to make it reach my financial expectations. I found that I needed to increase the conversion rate by something like 20x. I then reached out to some CRO specialists. I was told that can be done but to expect it to take about a year. My financial targets for this app, which are small, mean it is not worth a year to reach those 20x targets.
I would prefer to work on a project with higher prospects where there is a high ceiling if I need to work on it for a year. I am now about to start my next project. I am doing market research and looking for something that meets a few new requirements that I did not have when I made this app. I am seeking members for a mastermind group so please reach out if you are interested in that. If you have any app questions please reach out I am happy to help.
