Transitioning to iPhone Development
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NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
transitioning to iphone developmentmobile portland
january 26, 2009
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
night & day studiosmedia production house
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
peekaboo barn• #9 Kidʼs Game on iTunes App Store [how did we do it?]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
our backgroundmuseum work
the life & times of woody guthrie for the smithsonian institution
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
our backgroundmuseum work
• different types of clients [large institutions vs. mass markets]
• different timescales, budgets, expenses [four-year, million-dollar projects vs. six-week, $50k app development]
• different marketing [networking with clients vs. advertising & earned media]
• different skill set of staff [long-term intensive media production, research, and writing vs. simple graphics, outsourced arts, and programming]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
the transitioniphone apps
• the business problem [sustaining a lifestyle company of highly-skilled professionals with health insurance and stability]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
the transitioniphone apps
• strategy [aggressive growth: rapid development of many mid-level apps in the $1.99 - $3.99 price range; building franchises and cumulative marketing through repeat contacts and name recognition]
• cash flow challenge [long lead-times before revenue is realized, let alone profit]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
the transitioniphone apps
• rule of thumb: one $0.99 app at 1 sale/day average = $20 / month
• example: selling 50/day of a $1.99 app = $2,000 / month
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
NDS appsproduction process
• design docs [vital: practice, practice, practice]
• finding illustrators [develop contracting process]
• doing sound in house [easily underestimated]
• educational / use theory [advantageous]
• user-testing [required but expensive]
• submitting to the App Store [variable results]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
NDS appsRimshot Pro
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
NDS appsAudience Pro
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
NDS appsBig Fat Lies[link to iTunes app store]
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NDS appsPeekaboo Barn [link to iTunes app store]
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NDS appsPeekaboo Barn• User-testing• Spanish localization
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
NDS appsPeekaboo Barn Lite
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marketingearned media
• review sites [hidden work: 20 hours research & emailing]
• family vs. tech sites[we tried both; family sites possibly more effective]
• VIPs[cheap & relatively easy to contact; use free codes]
• articles & blogs[longer cycle, more marketing effort to contact & build]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
marketingpaid media
• paid review sites[unfortunately, very worthwhile]
• advertising[learn about CPMs (cost per thousand impressions);hard to evaluate]
[hidden work: 10 hours research, 10 hours emailing, 10-15 hours production]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
marketingiTunes app store
• sales chart positions; top 20 lists; featured app
• pricing[$0.99 pricing not worth it; we should all stop!]
• customer reviews, star ratings; responses to customers; Appleʼs “incompatible” warnings
• updates[valuable way to communicate with customers, improve rankings & visibility, but high associated staff costs]
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
salesraw weeklies
0
250
500
750
1,000
12/01/08 12/08/08 12/15/08 12/22/08 12/29/08 1/05/09 1/12/09 1/19/09
Big Fat Lies Peekaboo Barn
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
salesweekly events
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salestools [appsales.app]
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salesconclusions—challenges
• problems with exposure
• problems with overhead
• problems with partnering
• problems with payment
• opportunities with partnering
• opportunities in this economy
• opportunities in Portland
NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS
thank youto our fellow Portland developers
Night & Day Studios
http://www.nightanddaystudios.com/
Nat Sims, principal: [email protected] Higgins, developer: [email protected] Erin Rackelman, marketing: [email protected]
1917 SE 7th AvePortland, OR 97214
503-235-2700