Comments on: The App Store Long Tail Myth http://blog.cascadesoft.net/2012/08/01/the-app-store-long-tail-myth/ Simple solutions for complex problems Wed, 01 May 2013 14:56:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Ram http://blog.cascadesoft.net/2012/08/01/the-app-store-long-tail-myth/#comment-5153 Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:05:56 +0000 http://blog.cascadesoft.net/?p=311#comment-5153 Hi Puneet, you’re correct about the absence of an app-store long tail.
However, on the main theme of your comment, I don’t think that developers are going to see a big difference by buying a $99 service
To be clear, this is not a specific comment on the free service or the $99 service which you’re selling (and for which you provided links above). I’m just making a general statement

In a gold rush, you’ll often see a lot of people trying to make money by selling shovels. In this case, a lot of people are trying to sell services to the app-store-developer community. However, imo most of these services aren’t going to help developers.

]]> By: Puneet Choudary Yamparala http://blog.cascadesoft.net/2012/08/01/the-app-store-long-tail-myth/#comment-5152 Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:27:57 +0000 http://blog.cascadesoft.net/?p=311#comment-5152 The long tail lack of downloads is very true and I can say this from personal experience. Also it is not very tough to get out of the long tail to the front to make some decent money. May be not millions but enough to justify the work which goes into developing an app.

Also, the lack of success for long tail apps is not surprising considering that a lot app developers seem to think when you build an app people will automatically find the app and get downloads.

Believe it or not this is the biggest reason for the lack of downloads for most apps. The app developer community needs to completely change the way they think about marketing their apps. You cannot just create an app and expect magic to happen.

I am surprised that a huge number of developers do not take advantage of free and paid resources which can help them market their app and start making some serious money.

Here is a free resource which app developers should definitely join: facebook.com/groups/appentrepreneurs/

And here is a paid resource which can help: udemy.com/become-an-app-marketing-expert/

Disclaimer: I work actively with developers to educate them about the importance of app marketing.

]]> By: Ram http://blog.cascadesoft.net/2012/08/01/the-app-store-long-tail-myth/#comment-5016 Sat, 04 Aug 2012 19:53:03 +0000 http://blog.cascadesoft.net/?p=311#comment-5016 Good point, Wayne. I agree that there are other ways to generate revenue. In fact, we have built a “Yellow Pages” product with a business model similar to the B2B model that you describe. We have made one sale of this product and the app is slated to be released this month. B2B is generally a good model (as long as the tough sales cycle can be managed).

That said, B2B is seen as somewhat unglamorous and the media generally looks at B2C apps that make money directly in the app store (through app store purchases or advertisements) Of course, B2C apps that make no money (e.g. Instagram) are also in the news because of venture funding and/or successful user acquisitions and/or company acquisition.

The TechCrunch article as well as http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-app-revenue-has-a-long-tail-2012-8 focus solely on app store purchases (not on B2B). Both look at a sliver of data and erroneously assert that the app store has a long-tail distribution.
However, as discussed above, the reality is that app store revenue distribution is the opposite of a long tail (and in reality, there is very little revenue in the tail)

]]> By: Wayne http://blog.cascadesoft.net/2012/08/01/the-app-store-long-tail-myth/#comment-5015 Sat, 04 Aug 2012 18:43:46 +0000 http://blog.cascadesoft.net/?p=311#comment-5015 Hi Ram;

Nice post! It’s very interesting to see an overview of these analytics.

Groups should note there are other ways to generate app revenues. For example, building apps as as service to others is a model that many successful groups employ including Evernote, Flipboard, Instagram and Pandora. For a more positive experience, developers should view app stores as a “marketing / distribution” platform instead of a source for direct revenue.

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