Start-Over Success Business
Baby Boomers Start Your Encore Business for
Under $3,000:
Software & App Developer
- Are you a skillful, happy coder?
- Do you see opportunities for apps and software that solve problems?
- Do you like the idea of freelancing and bringing your clients’ visions to life in an app or software?
If yes, then being a Software & App Developer might just be for you.
Coding takes long hours sitting at your computer, but you love that. Of course, like with any business, by becoming a freelancer or developing your own app to sell, you’ll have admin work to do, as well as marketing, marketing, marketing.
Developing software and apps is an equal opportunity, well, opportunity. Your age, race, orientation, none of those matter, as long as you can deliver.
Can You Become
an App Millionaire?
How to Get People to Buy Your App or Software Service?
BUILD AN APP. Create a valuable app and software; post it on an app store. ($100 Apple Store) How to Submit Your App
PRESS RELEASE. Write a Press Release and post it with PRWeb. ($500 per)
GET REVIEWS. Contact 35+ bloggers and/or micro-influencers (with around 10,000 subs) in your market. Tell them about your app and send them a free copy – before you launch it to the public. Get their reviews. ($0)
WEBSITE. Build a website with articles and content that showcase your expertise, understanding, and values. ($3/mo BlueHost, $70 theme, images ($0 Paxels, Pixabay, UnSplash)
EMAIL MARKETING. If they sign up for your email, they’re interested in your apps or software work; follow up. ($0 – $30/mo) Create a freebie to entice them to sign up.
SOCIAL MEDIA – EVERYWHERE. Repurpose your content on Social Media (after spinning with AI). Don’t “sell”, share valuable information and link to your website.
COLLABORATE. Build relationships with compatible businesses; you refer to them, they refer to you. Develop cross-marketing plans.
Content, Content, Content Sells
Gary Vuynerchuck, VaynerMedia
Networking Works
- Develop your business and personal networks:
1) in person (business conferences and chamber of commerce, also social, school, and church events), conferences
2) virtually with LinkedIn. - Post your business wins on your personal Facebook page. People you know may have referrals for you.
- Build your email list. As an incentive offer a freebie, for example:
– App Development checklist
– Infographic
– Free 15-min Consult with you
– Other, depending on your niche, product or service - Start an online community. I like SuccessCenter.com
- Join online communities. Don’t sell. Share value, be helpful, and build relationships.
- Follow up, follow up, and close (If they joined your list, they are interested).
How to Find Big Company Clients
You want to find bigger clients to sell and serve. How can you find them?
Neil Patel started his digital marketing business this way and says,
– Use Crunchbase.com to look for startups that received funding up to $20 million. (Over that amount are much tougher to close.)
– Email the Founder and the Investor. They are both interested in their business become profitable ASAP.
– If their emails are not listed, use Hunter.io to find their email addresses.
- Offer to give them a free copy of your app as a sample of your work.
- Tell them you will specifically outline for them how the app or software you develop will help them reach their goals.
- Deliver great service with great client support and interaction and you’ll get positive reviews and referrals.
What Does it Cost to Become a Software & App Developer
You need:
- Expertise in coding and developing the four sections of an app: front end, back end, design, and test quality (See coding classes below – $99)
- A computer that will run the software and allow updates.
– apple developer software ($99 – $299)
– annualalpha cross-platform software $30/mo (Community version $0) - How to estimate pricing and make proposals
- Press Release ($500)
- Live networking & conferences ($1,000)
– 500 – 700 hours to develop a simple app
– 600 – 1,000 hours to develop an app of medium complexity
– 1,200 hours or more to build a very complex app.
- Google Drive ($2/mo)
- Website & email ($18+/mo)
- Calendly, schedule appointments ($0-$15)
- Post app to App Store $100
- High-speed internet ($70/mo)
- Computer upgrade if necessary
- Approximately $2,600 Starting Costs (more if you need a computer)
Where to Learn, App-Development Programs
Learn Java: http://www.easycoder.io/ ($0)
Learn Kotlin: https://kotlinlang.org/docs/home.html ($0)
Learn c#: https://www.java67.com/2019/03/5-free… ($29/mo)
Learn c++: https://levelup.gitconnected.com/cros…
Learn Python: https://www.learnpython.org/ ($20-$99)
Learn Swift: https://www.udemy.com/course/learnswift/ ($0-$160)
How Much Can You Make as a Freelancer?
There is a lot of competition from offshore app developers. However, many U.S. companies prefer to have work done domestically.
Never charge less than $50 an hour. It’s best to charge for the project, not hourly.
BusinessMentor.com
More You Can Do To Get Buyers
Once you honed your skills, developed a high-value, problem-solving app, and you’re ready to sell, it’s all about getting in front of the right people. Organic reach is good, but paid ads can be great.
PAID ADVERTISING.
- FACEBOOK ADS. We already said you need to spend on a press release. If at all humanly possible, pay for Facebook ads; they work. ($50/day to start x 30 days = $1,500/mo
- APP ADS. Ever played a game on an app and been interrupted by an ad? Well, you can contact App developers that are a fit with your topic/niche and ask them to insert your ad on their app, for a fee. ($ depends…)
What's Next for You as a Freelancer?
If you’ve been solo, getting clients, and making money, but you’re maxed out with your time or are just ready for the next level, you’re a natural for starting an agency. By starting an agency, you’ve got a business you can sell.
When you make big money and save what you’ve earned, you can take time off and work on your own app. Before you give up your income, do your research and determine the potential of the app.
- AGENCY. If you’ve been solo, what’s next is for you to start an agency. By bringing others is and becoming a team, you can do more work, get bigger projects, and make more money.
As an agency owner, you’ve got more business tasks to do and more marketing and advertising.
- SELL. You can sell your agency, but you’ve got to move from solo to an agency, with good business practices and income. How much can you sell your agency for? Take your average monthly income and multiply by 20 to 40. Let’s say you’re doing $50,000 a month, you can sell for $ 1 million to $ 2 million.
- YOUR APP. If you’ve got income from your agency, your time is freed up – time you can invest in developing your own app. That is, if you’ve got an awesome, problem-solving app idea.
If you’ve got a great app with impressive income potential, you can get investors to fund the price of advertising.
