Become an iPhone Developer

The iPhone is hot. You should be able to bang out an app and make some bucks right? Not so fast. This is no easy feat. There is a lot of info to learn before you write your first app. And it does not always help if you already know how to program for the Mac.

The iPhone has its own operating system. It is a type of Mac OS. The APIs to code to are based on Cocoa, which is an OO framework for apps. You actually use a scaled down version of Cocoa called Cocoa Touch.

You code your apps in Objective C. This language is C with some extra stuff. It is not C++. What are you waiting for? Time to learn iPhone app development skills.

Success Criteria

I read something on the net recently about what makes a person good to be successful at running a Micro ISV. There were many insightful comments to that post that I want to cover today. There were some common themes in the comments. You just need to stick to it. This requires passion, persistence, and dedication.

Here is something that is disappointing. Your success rate does not have much to do with your technical abilities. Development is only about 10% of the work involved. The other 90% of the work involves things such as advertising, marketing, and selling. You also need to work on processing payments and finding suppliers.

You got to be willing to put on a suit to sell your software. To be successful you need to have a positive outlook. You need to be in a good mood to be able to run your own software business. A common catch phrase is that you need to be smart and be able to just get things done.

Stay focused. You might be able to be successful and get rich.

Gimmicks That Work

I got a big envelope from a mail order company I use a lot. The envelope contained a poster sized certificate. It was given to me because I was a good customer. The certificate allowed me to get some free stuff if I placed an order. Normally I would laugh at such crazy tactics. But in this case, it actually worked.

No. I did not run out and place an order with this company. But I did keep the certificate. And I plan to paste the thing up on my wall. I have already received some compliments from the certificate. It looks very authentic. There is a seal on it. And it is printed on paper that looks official.

Here is the thing. The certificate by itself did not create any company loyalty for me. It is the reasonably priced goods they offer. During these hard economic times, I love to get a good deal. The quality of the merchandise is not all that high. I have returned a bunch of stuff because it has fallen apart. However they have a 100% money back or replacement guarantee.

This is funny. The company is not that prompt with their shipment of my orders. However I always keep coming back for more with this company. Sometimes they offer free shipping. Other times they offer free gifts. They are always sending me offers in the mail. I am finding that I buy most of my clothes from this company. That’s some successful marketing, even if they resort to gimmicks every once in a while.

Too Good To Be True

I saw a video on a web page that was pitching a service. You never saw the narrator. However you saw a picture of his family. They looked quite normal. The guy said it costs $97 to join his club. He claims to make thousands of dollars a day. He showed a picture of an account which made him $2.6M this year. The last month he claimed to have made $117k.

It was clear that this guy was a good talker. He sounded young. This guy’s business is promoting other people’s products. He is trying to sell people his coaching services in the form of a club. He guarantees results or you get your money back. He pokes fun at infomercials. Why is he charging money to join? That is to limit the number of people involved. You get email access to him if you pay to join.

Why would somebody give away the keys to the kingdom of $117k per month? The guy says it is charity work for him. He likes to help other people. He considers the $97 price too low, and admits the price may rise a bit.

This is the gist of his technique. He promotes products using Google AdWords. He will show you what he does. Then you can copy it. The products he promotes give you a lot of money for each lead you generate. He claims you can get 100 times your initial investment. He advises against using ads targeted to Google search. Instead you should use AdWords on specific sites. His focus is the USA and UK markets.

There are some tricks he shares for free. Capitalize words in ads. Have a copyright sign in there too. He recommends that you have your own domain. He says that the money you make with his system can buy you happiness. His club let’s you get into his site, where he has 60 instructional videos.

I am usually very leery of such pitches. Why would anybody want to share the secrets of success? If somebody was really into charity work, they would just give away their money. I would be willing to take $97 or $970 or $9700 cash from this guy. I will thank him profusely.

Randall Kennedy is a Devil

Randall C. Kennedy used to be a columnist for InfoWorld. The key word is used to. IDG fired him recently due to controversy over his claims about Windows 7 memory issues. He is a devil. More specifically Randall Kennedy is actually Craig Barth, CTO of Devil Mountain Software.
Craig, or Randall as he was known to InfoWorld readers, claimed that 86% of Windows 7 computers have memory problem. He based this on data collected from Devil Mountain’s XPNet. This is a collection of computers using Devil Mountain software and reporting the results back to the company. The memory problem claim has been hotly contested in the blogosphere.

The real story seems to have been Barth”s column under the pseudonym. The guy was hyping products from his own company. He was able to keep this a secret from the public for a while. When the Windows 7 memory issues became front lines, Kennedy’s identity cover was blown.

Hey. I am all about writing under a pseudonym. But you got to make sure you don’t have conflicting interests when you write. Otherwise it is going to look bad. I am talking real bad here. Everyone seems to be distancing themselves from Barth. His company is probably going to suffer. And I doubt anybody will be letting him write columns for their magazine. Ownage.

The Cost of One Mistake

My mom does not like the gifts I get her. She says I get stuff that just clutters her house. Not wanting to be a poor gift giver, I asked my mom what she actually wanted. She said she loves flowers. Great.

I have a local florist who delivers. For a while I have been calling them up, and having them send my mom flowers for her birthday and mother's day and Christmas.

This works out for all involved. My mom gets what she wants. I don't have to do much. And the florist makes some decent cash. Everything was going well until their last delivery.

My mom called me up last Christmas and said the florist delivered some dead flowers to her house. She called the florist up to complain. They sent a replacement set the next day.

However the damage had already been done. I was pissed off that I was paying $50 or $60 for some dead flowers. At that moment I decided to stop using this florist. They had to deliver top quality flowers for the high price they were charging. One screw up cost them me as a customer. That's a lot of lost revenue. I was paying upwards of $150 a year for a few flower deliveries. It is a tough business.

Research and Development Tax Credit

The US government has a tax credit on the books that companies can take if they invest in research and development. If you use a development process to create new functionality, then you qualify for this credit. Good stuff.

There are some legal stipulations you must meet to claim the credit. But most software development activities qualify. The work must be technical in nature. There must be a probability of failure. And you need to be doing some experimental research.

Your business should file Form 6765 with your taxes to claim the credit. This is something your CPA should know about. The R&D credit is an old one dating back to the early eighties. Cash in now.