Freelancing: Mobile Dev

IMM, Sheridan College

Christina Moulton, Teak Mobile Inc.

@ChristinaMltn

christina@teakmobile.com

cmoulton.github.io/MobileFreelancing

What'll We Talk About?

About me

Mobile app dev freelancing

What I get to do & What I have to do

Working with clients & others

Making a viable mobile app

Paid apps

Free & "Free" apps

So Who Are You?

Solo

Freelance

iOS

Developer

Sailor, foodie, speaker, dog lover, ...

How Did I Get Here?

C64, Amiga

UW Systems Design Engineering

Maps & Math

Emissions Modelling GIS

Websites & Spinal Ligaments

Moonlighting, agency work

Solo freelance iPhone & iPad app developer

What I Get To Do

Programming (of course)

User Experience Design

User Interface Design (just a lil)

Live in tiny mobile app bubble

Help people figure out what they actually need

Run a business

R2D2 robot controller

Picture This

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Facebook / Twitter integration

Daily challenges

Likes & comments

Custom UI / UX

Consulting

NDAs :(

Healthcare, Fantasy hockey pools, music generation, car racing, sales intelligence, chat client, roadkill tracker, hearing test, weather, daily deals, ...

Indie Projects

Freelancing means:

Finding work: Networking, speaking, online, feast & famine

Contracts, pricing, negotiations

Bookkeeping, invoicing, taxes, cash flow

Business structure

No boss, lots of bosses

(Usually) being an equal with clients

Working With Clients

It's not about the code

Communication: Lots and at least weekly

Empathy: Why are they building the app?

Context: Rescue projects, staff augmentation, "pure" projects

Ideal Process

Clear concept & target customers

Wireframes, refine UX

Prototype technical risks & UX options

Graphic design & UI

Weekly builds

Alpha - Beta - App Store

Measure - Evaluate - Refine

Reality

Agile to "here's the spec, go build it" (but they'll change it anyway)

Better with more communication

Will get hung up on UI

Will randomly ask for features

Learn to say No (or it'll cost $X more) or build it in to your billing (weekly?)

Personal Psychology

Everyone is different

I can't do open-ended hourly billing

I like fixed bid

Easy to let work become your whole life

Learn to say No

Hobby goals help

Working With Others

Client's employees

Other freelancers / agencies / service providers

Assembling a team

Designers

Be flexible but professional

What if you don't want to work for someone else?

Can An Indie Make a Living?

Maybe, but many don't

Great stuff gets ignored

Toss stuff at the wall and see what sticks

Build one great game and go out of business

Marketing + database + social + in app purchasing + UI + UX ...

Cost to Develop

Same as a car, it depends...

$10,000 - $100,000+

2-6 months

Expect $100+/hour in North America

DIY: $99 Apple, servers, marketing, analytics, graphics?, music?

So Why All The Free Apps?

Honestly, we don't know what we're doing

First Apple wanted to sell more hardware

Following trends in the hope it'll pay off or we won't get left behind

Lots of psych research applied and taken to extremes

Paid or "Free"

Paid: Niche markets, obvious value

"Free": Mass market, entertainment, non-obvious value, gotta monetize

Free dominates app charts but some paid apps do very well

IAP & privacy backlashes

Kinds of "Free" Apps

Ad supported: Content or supplement

App is an ad

Upsell to service / sales leads

In App Purchase / Freemium

Add on for physical good, desktop/web software

Really free

Ad supported

Flappy Bird

App is an Ad

Chipotle Scarecrow

Sales Lead / Upsell

In App Purchase

Plants vs. Zombies 2

Freemium

DropBox

Add On

Really Free

Hobby

Portfolio

Acquisition dreams

Testing for later monetization

Social good

Kinds of "Free" Apps

Ad supported: Content or supplement

App is an ad

Upsell to service / sales leads

In App Purchase / Freemium

Add on for physical good, desktop/web software

Really free: Hobby, portfolio, acquisition dreams, social good, testing for later monetization

Numbers: Breeze Real Estate Flyer Maker (iPad)

Free with IAPs

1 free template

$5.99/template or $12.99 for all 3

1400 downloads

$140 since Oct 28, 2013 (after Apple's 30% cut)

Numbers: MAFOR Marine Forecast Decoder (iPhone)

Paid: $3.99

26 downloads

$67.50 since Aug 5, 2013 (after Apple's 30% cut)

Numbers: Scurvy Math (BB10)

Free with IAPs

Addition free

$1.99 for subtraction or multiplication

3500 downloads

$53 since Mar 3, 2013 (after BB's 30% cut)

Numbers: Platform Averages

Forbes, 2013

Questions?

Christina Moulton, Teak Mobile Inc.

@ChristinaMltn

christina@teakmobile.com

cmoulton.github.io/MobileFreelancing

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