(If you’re looking how to develop and outsource and app, check out my course App Academy)
(Be sure to read part 2: Life as App of the Week and Earnings Report)
This weekend has been on the craziest weekends of my life.
Since Thursday night, every morning has felt like Christmas. I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t wait to get up.
Seven months ago, I knew I had a great idea and I wanted to make money from it but didn’t realize how much money I would make.
It seems my idea and hard work paid off in ways I could not imagine. I’ll explain soon.
Back in the Old Days
For years I have tried to make money online. I have tried PPC, making niche sites and starting blogs. I dreamt of making money online, however, after a few months each of those ventures ended with me quitting.
I got frustrated I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted to see. I had doubts if I could really do it. I lost interest.
I hated my job and constantly thought of what else I could do. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I kept coming back to the idea of doing something online.
Last October 2010, I had my breaking point after a horrible night at my miserable job. For the past five years, I’ve wanted to do something I loved instead of working in the family restaurant business. I hated it so much. I hated what I had done with my life. Instead of doing something about it, I just thought about it and watched lots of television to forget about it.
In the car ride home that night, I felt upset at myself. For too long I hoped for a better life but that’s where I made my mistake. I was hoping and not doing.
That night I came home and wrote a note to myself to stop living like this. I needed to start finding what I wanted to do with my life. I needed to do that every day until I did. No more complaining. No more excuses.
I taped that note to my bathroom mirror and above my desk where I could be reminded it of it every day.
Found My Inspiration
Then one day I came across Smartpassiveincome.com. I was immediately hooked by the content and the story of Pat Flynn. Here was a guy who was laid off from his job and built a business selling an ebook. From there he began to teach others how to make money online.
He mentioned making iPhone apps as one part of his business. He didn’t know how to code, so he outsourced the work. Now he was making thousands a month. Truly passive income! That gave me inspiration that I could at least get an app created.
It took a few months till I got an idea. By this time, I’m still motivated and taking action. In January 2011, I bought an ebook he recommended called “How to Create an iPhone App with No Experience”. (affiliate link). Without that book, I would have been lost and confused.
Grand Opening Day
Fast forward to seven months later. August 11, 2011. My app Photo 365 was ready to be sold. I priced it at 99 cents. I didn’t know what to expect.
I wrote a goal of being in the top 5 of all photography apps and in the top 25 of the whole app store. Crazy goals and I had no idea how I’d get there.
Also, I just wanted to make my money back. I spent $1892 on the app, plus $99 to sell my app through Apple, and then $10 on the theme. I wanted at least to break even.
This might have been an expensive experience, but I would have been okay to not make all my money back. It’s like gambling. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. I knew selling app is a gamble because there are 425,000 apps in the store.
I did no marketing for my app besides telling friends on Twitter and Facebook (thank you to those who did!)
The only marketing I was counting on was being seeing in the App store because that’s where it matters the most.
Thursday arrived and my app was ready to be sold. Being a new app, I was featured in the new releases in the photo category. I would have a high position only for that day till the next day when new apps were released.
You can’t tell how many people find your app through keywords. So I just assume the majority of the people found my app through browsing.
The first four days my app was for sale I made:
- Thursday – $80.88
- Friday – $182.06
- Saturday – $366.86
- Sunday – $287.25
- Total – $917.05
Great!! Exciting! More than I had imagined!! I was just hoping for $50 a day. Making my money back seemed reachable! Plus I could get more to cover the cost of future updates.
But then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday proved to be slower days. My app was falling because it was getting lost with all the other new releases in my category. Unless people found me through keywords, they wouldn’t find me as easily. My thoughts of making my money back slowly faded away.
- Monday – $151.26
- Tuesday – $78.12
- Wednesday – $64.63
- Total – $294.01
Still great numbers but after sales figures went so high last week, I was dejected by the decrease. I felt like I was losing my momentum just after less than a week.
Then Thursday changed my life
I had a busy day at work and hadn’t checked the rank of my app all day because I figured it was only going down. (Rankings of your apps are based on downloads. It updates every couple hours).
Then at 10:00 pm, I decided to check the App store just to see what the new featured apps were for the week. I was bored.
I’ve never won the lottery before but I imagine if I did, I would react the same way when I saw my app on that page.
I was amazed, in disbelief and shocked. I reloaded the page so many times.
From what I had read from other developers, being featured in the “New and Noteworthy” category meant lots of eyes seeing your app and potential downloads. It’s like getting a guest post on Zen Habits or Smart Passive Income.
Not only was I in the group of 32 apps featured, I was “above the fold”!!
I quickly called my sister to make sure this wasn’t just on my iPhone. She checked and said she saw it too!
When I checked my rankings that morning I was at a lowly #92 in the photography category. Now I was #12!! Higher ranking means more downloads.
That night I couldn’t sleep. I could not wait to see sales figures for the next day. It felt like Christmas Eve.
When I checked I saw I made….$685.10!!!!
Unbelievable. Speechless. F***ing awesome!
I knew that my app would be featured from Thursday till Wednesday. I also knew the weekends are the most profitable times.
I braced myself to see what would happen over the weekend. Again I couldn’t sleep each night.
- Friday – $1226.44
- Saturday – $1186.89
- Total – $2413.33!
Wow!!!! I couldn’t believe it!! $1000+ in a day is still mind boggling to me!
Then on Sunday, Pat Flynn pointed out my App was featured on the App store Facebook fan page that has 2.5 million fans. As of this post, it has 881 “likes” for my app.
That pushed my app up to #44 overall and to #3 in the photo category behind two of my favorite photo apps, Camera+ and Hipstamatic. Those are app companies.
I’m just a Chinese American from Florida who outsourced work to the Ukraine.
I knew sales would be bigger than Friday and Saturday based on the rankings all day Sunday. I just didn’t know how big till I checked.
3,343 downloads of my app! Nearly doubled from Saturday. It comes to $2328.91!
So my total for Friday, Saturday, Sunday was
- $4,739.24
The total since I’ve been selling the app is $6636.52!
I still can’t believe it. My little app turned into something bigger than I imagined. I know I worked hard. I know I’m lucky. I’m very thankful. I appreciate every single download!
This all happened while I worked all weekend. I could have been on a beach somewhere! However, I put in the seven months of work to get to this point.
There’s no telling if these figures can sustain. I understand that. I just have to find ways to keep the momentum.
It’s going to take work to keep up the expectations of current users and attract new users. This is what I signed up for so I’m ready for the next part of this journey.
Thinking back why this time was different that other times I’ve tried to make money online, there were some factors that you can learn from it.
Believe in yourself
A huge difference this time compared to other times I have tried, was believing creating an app was possible. Pat had already done it. The two guys who wrote the guide had done it. Other regular people like you and I have done it with no experience.
They started from the beginning and learned every step of the way.
Failure was not an option. Not this time. I invested my time and importantly my money. I had to believe I could get this done.
In fact, I didn’t have to force myself to believe it. I knew I would get this done.
Be the tortoise and not the hare
In my attempts to make money online before, I got frustrated if I didn’t see immediate results. I was the rabbit in the race. When I didn’t see money coming in, or lots of traffic, I thought to myself, “See I knew I couldn’t do it. This was a waste of my time.”
That’s one reason I failed so many times before. I never gave it time to develop. I quit when it got tough.
This time, once I started working with the developers, there was work to be done every week. I had keep looking at the work they had done and send back my notes.
I didn’t work on my app every single day but there wasn’t a week that went by where I didn’t do something related to it.
Be consistent in whatever you’re working on. Don’t try to do too much at once. Don’t think you’ll go to the gym six times a week for 2 hours at a time. You’ll burn out so quickly.
Don’t be the person running a marathon, who runs as hard as you can when you start. You will wear out in minutes. You want to go at a nice pace the whole race.
The same goes for any goals you want to achieve.
An overnight success takes time
My app took a total of seven months from the day I hired them, to the day they sent me the final copy.
Their initial proposal said it would be done in 1.5 months, but actually it was better it took longer. I never wanted to rush it. More time to make the app better. I wanted the quality to be up to my standards and they were willing to work with me to do that. They seemed fine that it took that long.
This wasn’t an overnight success. It may seem like it with the sales I had the last four days. It took hours of testing the app, writing notes, and emailing it to them. This step went on for months.
I had so much behind the scenes work to do to be ready when my app began to sell.
Seven months might seem like a long time, but anything you want to do well will take time. Are you willing to put in the time? Ask yourself.
Take it one step at a time
I had no idea how to create an app when I started! I didn’t even know how to outsource my project. I really had to take it one step at a time.
I didn’t worry about things I didn’t need to do yet. If I did, I would have gotten overwhelmed and probably quit before I even began!
For example, at the beginning stages, I didn’t worry about learning how to use Xcode so I could test my app on the iPhone. That happened months later. No need to worry about that at the beginning. I would learn that when it was time.
I didn’t think about how to submit my app to the App store until I had to. When it was time, I read the directions, used Google and Youtube. It took me four hours but I got it done.
Instead of thinking of everything else I had to do to get my app ready to be sold, I focused on the week to week goals. The developers were great because they broke up the project into different milestones that corresponded with the payment schedule. That helped to know what had to be accomplished before moving on to the next phase.
Whatever you do, do it well
I went into this with the goal of creating the best app I could. Simplicity was important but making it look good was just as important. I knew I wanted my app to look like it was done by a big time company. I didn’t want it to look basic. I wanted to give it a serious effort and see what would happen.
If you’re serious about doing anything, do it well. Don’t do it half way. Don’t give it half the effort. If you do, you’ll get half of the results.
You get lucky from working hard
I can’t explain how I got featured on the front page of the App store. My app had just been out for a week.
But like Thomas Jefferson said,
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”.
No doubt I worked hard for to get this app ready. I was prepared for this moment. I worked for seven months to be ready. Though others did the coding, I made sure my vision and standards were met. I made sure the app looked great. I wanted the users to enjoy the app. The only reasons I could think of why my app was chosen was for the function and design.
Don’t do it just for the money. You will fail.
Before when I tried different ways to make money online, it failed because I didn’t enjoy it. I started blog on topics I thought I would enjoy writing about but I really didn’t.
The same went for the niche sites I started. I started ones for eye creams and identity theft. Yikes! It’s like looking at old photos and thinking “Why did I think that haircut looked good??”
I know the reason I thought about eye creams and identity theft was because of the money. I focused so much on making money and that’s why I lost enjoyment for it when I didn’t see any money.
This time I enjoyed the process. I’ve been a huge iPhone fan since day one. It was a dream of mine to have an app but I made it into a goal when I started to take action.
Yes I wanted to make money from it, but I also wanted to just be able to say I created an app. I enjoyed the experience as much as the finish product. If I didn’t make money, I would have still enjoyed the journey.
You have to take action
No matter how much I read about creating an app, nothing was going to happen if I didn’t take action.
You might have an idea for something you want to do but may have excuses to not start. You need to realize excuses will always hold you back in life if you constantly believe them.
No amount of hoping and praying will get you what you want. No one will knock on your door and say, “Congrats on your new life!” There’s never a right time. Don’t say “I’ll start when…”. It’ll just keep going.
You have to take that first step to even have any chance to be in the game.
You have to know your target market
When you’re creating a product or starting a blog, you have to know who your target market is. If you’re looking to market every one, then you’ll fail. It has to be specific.
I knew for my app it would be a specific niche. I wasn’t targeting all photo fans. I wanted people who wanted to save a photo a day. I wanted new families with babies. I wanted someone who loves to remember their year through photos.
When you blog, who is your audience? If you’re writing an ebook, who are you talking to?
Have a target and let it grow from there.
You can choose your destiny
I’m just a regular guy with a college degree. I’m a guy who had been frustrated with his life and wondered if things would ever get better. I’m no smarter than you. In fact, probably many of you are smarter than me. The difference is that I did something about my goals.
Before I looked up to people who had great blogs and were making money online and thought that was great but it couldn’t be me.
Things changed when I thought, “Why can’t it be me? There’s no reason I can’t do what they’re doing.”
That attitude changed in many ways. I have a growing blog. I have an iPhone app. I’ve run two half marathons. I’ve met some amazing new friends. I’ve written a small ebook. I have other projects in the works.
You don’t need do know everything. You just need to know that you will start.
You can do it
I want to inspire you to think that any goal you have is achievable. I accomplished one of my mine! You can choose to live an epic life. Seven months ago I made no money online. I didn’t even have a blog.
I did have a vision, passion, goals, an unwillingness to give up, and belief in my abilities.
Because of this, I now have more confidence to achieve more of my goals. I want to inspire you to do the same.
In closing, I do want to say just cause you create an app, doesn’t mean it’ll be like me. It takes much more than that. Do I encourage you to create an app? If you’re interested, great! But like I said, it’s a gamble. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose.
If you have any questions about it, or anything else, please ask in the comments!
Finally thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support along the way! It helped keep me going!
To see the website for my app, go to Photo 365. To view my app in iTunes go here. Also don’t forget to read my interview at Smart Passive Income, where I talk more about my process of creating the app.
If you want to develop your own app, but don’t know how, I share everything from how to get an idea that can make money to how to hire someone and not get ripped off. Join my course App Academy and develop your first iPhone app.
Benny
Absolutely FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
I’m so proud of you, dude. Well done.
This is the perfect example of ACTING on an idea. It aint rocket science! Just ACT, people.
Well done again, brother. You’re on your way…
C
Thank you thank you my friend!! I’m still pinching myself to make sure this is real. I’ve dreamt about making money online but didn’t know it would first come from making an iPhone app!
You’re right about just acting on it!! That’s what I never did before and if I did, I just gave it half of the effort.
Thanks Chris for coming by!!
Came here from SPI, as I’m sure many more will!
Great read, and I have to agree with everything that you posted in this long but rewarding read, and with the above comment.
It takes guts to have a blog about taking action, but take action you did, and this seems to have turned out awesome for you.
Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your story, you should feel (almost) as good knowing you inspired so many people, think about that while your counting your profits from this app’s sales ;).
Wow Benny, that’s freaking AWESOME! So exciting!
My favorite part is your point about being the tortoise, not the hare. I’ve had similar experiences in the past where things don’t work out like I had hoped and I think, “well, maybe this just isn’t for me.” Disappointing.
I like to think that I’m just 6 months behind you though, heh. Thanks for sharing your inspiring story!
Thanks Deacon! I’m still stoked about what’s been going on these last 11 days. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions!
Too many times I’ve quit too early but I think one reason too was because I was doing it for the wrong reasons. That’s why I quit. So maybe it was better that I quit. But now on this path I’m taking, I can’t quit. I don’t know else to fall back on. So I’ve definitely been staying consistent over a longer period time. Before I would start and stop and lose all momentum!
6 months behind isn’t that far back. It seemed just like yesterday when I first posted my job on Elance!
Hi Benny – came here from SPI – CONGRATULATIONS!!! Your story is truly inspiring. You’ve given me the extra motivation to continue with an app I have in development – I always worry that the app store is saturated. I just downloaded your app and I love it. I love how you focused on the user experience, thought of your target market, and all the other things, and the app pretty much sold itself. GREAT WORK 🙂
Hi Kelly!
Thanks for reading my story at SPI and for downloading my app! There are a ton of apps in the app store but always room for a great app. There will be more and more iPhone users every single year. It’s going to get bigger so even though there are more apps, there will be more potential customers! But you have to have an app that will stand out in your niche you are targeting.
Thanks for reading and good lucky on your passive income journey!! I hope you do get that app out and it does well for you!
Congrats, Benny. I just saw your story on Pat Flynn’s blog. I’ve never heard of your blog, but I’ll definitely be checking it out from here on; you’re doing something right.
If you don’t mind, and if the developer doesn’t mind, could you share which company developed the app?
I’ve used Zennex Group in the past; I’m just wondering if there is a developer out there with similar quality with similar pricing!
Keep up the good work, and I’ll be checking out your site.
Thanks Thab for coming by!
I thought about using Zennex because Pat had mentioned them. I’m not sure if there is another developer with similar quality and pricing. Everyone is different. I’m sure there are many more developers now than when I started seven months ago.
As for revealing my company, I’m going to wait. I’ll have to talk to them first and see how they feel. I don’t know how many apps they’re working on now and how much more work they can take.
Thanks for checking out my site and glad you’ll be back.
Congratulations Mr. Hsu, I totally agree with Chris. Absolutely FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
I’m so darn proud of you. You took your passion and took action after reading Pat’s blog post. See, this can be done if you have a vision and you just go for it. I’m just so excited for you and you now have this experience under your belt. I also checked your stats and you’re still there on the first page. I have a feeling this isn’t over yet! I can say I knew him when.
I’m really so happy for you Benny! Congratulations!!!
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne!!!
Exciting stuff right? I don’t know if I found an oil field in my backyard but I’m going to enjoy the week of being featured while it lasts. The real test will be when it’s not featured. How many will share w/ their friends? However, I’m so happy the work I put into it is paying off!
Thanks for reading it and commenting!!
I read about this on Smart Passive Income…
You’re a stud Benny, congrats.
A lot of people will read this and think, “but it took 7 months?”…
There are way too many people looking to get rich quick online. It’s taken me a long time to build up a decent online income, and my first two years were a complete failure.
I’ll definitely be visiting your blog from now on.
Hey Nate!
Yeah I know people will say “but it took 7 months” because I used to be like that. I wanted quick results. I wanted literally to be an overnight success. That’s why I hadn’t been successful in anything before because I never gave it time to develop. I never worked on it long enough to give it a real effort. I’m glad to read you’ve built up a decent online income! Apps is one income stream and I’m working on others. Again, those won’t be things I put out in a month. They’ll take time to make sure it’s done right.
Thanks for reading and visiting! Look forward to having you join the community here.
“Then on Sunday, my Pat Flynn”
I just love how you 2 have grown so close;)
You could have pointed out my error to me and then let me correct it. Hahahahaha. It was suppose to be a secret. You have Brad and I get Pat. 🙂
Benny well done man. Seriously this is amazing news and what an achievement. Stories of success born off the back of hard work, vision and determination, Inspire others. Well done.
Thanks so much Stacey! It definitely was born from all those things. That what I had to do to just get the app done! Thanks so much for your kind words!
Hi Benny,
Came here from SPI as well. Love the story and especially the explanation of how long the process took, all while being uncertain of the final outcome.
Congratulations on the success of your app, and your willingness to share the process and hard work that went into it!
-Matthew
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for reading my interview at SPI then coming over here. I’m glad you enjoyed the story. I wanted to try and show that anyone could do what I did. Not necessarily guarantee thousands of dollars a day, but start from no experience to having a finished product. It seems like it’s inspiring some people and I’m glad to hear that!
Thanks for leaving a comment!
Great job, Benny! That’s an inspiring story and I’m really happy for you.
Thanks so much Wes! Really appreciate that!!
You’re an inspiration! Great story, great message. I’m trying to approach my blog and freelance writing business with the same systematic enthusiasm. One step at a time, consistently. Downloading the app now!
Hey Ruth!
Thanks so much for downloading my app. I believe the lessons I shared can be used towards anything. It’s definitely about one step at a time. I was on a forum asking questions about my app and one guy said to just see how it goes first before I make any decisions. I started rushing ahead too far! That reminded me to slow down and enjoy the moment now first.
Thanks for reading and commenting Ruth!!
HOLY S%$T!
Great job dude! That’s unbelievably inspiring? Planning on going into full-time app production any time soon? 🙂
Hi Eugene!
Those were my words when I saw my sales reports each morning!!
No plans on going full time right now! Apps were always one thing i wanted to do. I’m still pursing other income streams. Don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. 🙂
Thanks!
You’re such an inspiration!!! Thanks for sharing your story. My husband said he’s going to me an iphone when the iphone 5 comes out. The first thing I’m going to do is buy your app. It’s pretty cool.
Hi Cathy!
That’s nice of you to say! If you’ve never had an iPhone, you’ll love it. Of course I’m very biased when I say that. 🙂
However I can’t wait to get my hands on the iPhone 5 too. The camera is suppose to be a big improvement. That’ll mean great looking photos!
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment. I always enjoy hearing from new people!
I play with my husband’s iPhone all the time. I love it. I also downloaded your ebook, and I really enjoyed it, especially about taking responsibility for your own life. Great stuff. I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog posts.
Hi Cathy!
I love the iPhone too. I can’t imagine having another phone as long as they keep making iPhones. I’m glad you enjoyed your ebook. I’m really proud of it and just want to help change lives because it did for me.
Look forward to see your face around here often in the future!
I’m also here via SPI…..nice job Benny!!
You showed us it can happen as long as you have the focus and stay committed.
Hi Remco!
Thanks for coming from SPI! Yes I wanted to show anyone can achieve their goal. You don’t need to be special. Just need focus and commitment.
Hey man this is great. Love to see stories like this one. And you came up with a awesome idea which makes it even better :). I sent it out over to my facebook friends and I know plenty of Photographers so you should at least get a few bucks from it. Keep up the good work and I will def keep checking back in to see how your doing.
The Best!
Jason
Thanks for sharing Jason with them! Yes please do come back. I plan on delivering much more great content around here.
Awesome story on SPI Benny! Nice job, shows that a great idea and some hard work can pay off. I’ll go buy your app 😉
I’m off to go look through apps and see which ones I can make improvements too…
Congratulations Benny! This is such a great success story. Your determination is truly inspiring. I’ll be sure to tell friends and family about your app!
Hi Benny,
I’m happy for you. Thanks for sharing your story, especially for explaining it in an accessible way for us bloggers fighting the battle.
Thanks for the uplifting post.
Whoo Hoo!
Benny – this was great man! I had not clue you had that cooking and happy to hear that you’ve been getting your hustle-on, on that level. That’s big. And from the sounds of it, you have some great momentum and I can’t wait on a update in the next couple weeks or so.
Absolutely awesome my friend. I wish you continued momentum. Now you can fly me and my family out to take some of those nice pics! RIIIIGHT? LOL
PEACE
Hi Benny! I came here from SPI. This is great news. How ninja of you to take action. Just awesome, awesome, awesome! I just signed on to your email list and will be doing a search for your app soon.
I’m proud of you. Keep it up. Very inspiring.
– Seleema
Wow. Wow. WOW!
I consider myself well and truly told off for not taking action for my app ideas. The only person that is suffering is me and my bank balance.
It may be easy to say that you got lucky and hit the front page, but it was totally deserved! It’s a great app. Also, even without that you made your money back and what a fantastic learning experience.
Thank you for sharing your story with such transparency. I can’t wait for your next app and other creatings from the brain of Benny.
Dude,I’m so happy for you. And this couldn’t have happened to a better person. You’ve seriously been turning the interwebs on its ear with your blog, your interaction with the who’s who of the blogosphere and now your iPhone.
All the success you’re getting, you definitely deserve it. Hopefully, this won’t be the last app we see from you.
I’m so proud of you, man.
To your ongoing success, Benny!
Huge Benny! Huge! Congrats and don’t look back.
Thanks Aaron! I definitely will keep looking ahead and looking for ways to grow and improve!
So I’m sitting here getting distracted by twitter and one of the people I follow posts a link to your post here.
If nothing else, I got to say your words are inspiring. Twitter was distracting me from working on the fifth editing pass of a novel I wrote last November during NaNoWriMo.
Even if the book makes no money once it gets to the point I publish it, I’m still plugging away at it. “Be the tortoise, not the hare.” “don’t do it just for the money, you will fail”. “an overnight success takes time” are all very good words of advice.
You’re inspiring words hit justthe right way at justthe right time. thank you.
Hi William!
That’s really nice of you to say. That’s amazing you wrote a novel last November. I’ve heard of NaNoWriMo for sure. Congrats on doing that! I’m glad my words help you at the right time. Those were things I learned during this process and really true for anything amazing we want to achieve in our lives.
You’re welcome and thanks for reading and commenting!
Congratulations are in order – and you just summarized a truly successful, epic work ethic. You deserve it, thanks for the inspiration.
Now I just wish I knew how to make an app…hm….I might just need to get that book you mentioned.
I’ve heard (read) Pat on that, too – creating apps I mean…but for me it’s been writing: my strength. Now I’m reading your post and thinking what an epic idea.
Anyhow, awesome news, and I hope it’s just one of many! (Apps, I mean.)
Hi James!
Thanks for the congrats! I really appreciate that.
If you’re looking to make an app, that book will give you a plan of what to expect. It didn’t give me all the answers I needed. I had to turn to forums and Google but it helped me start when I had no idea what to do.
If you’re strength is writing, definitely use that. But who knows, you might get an idea for an app one day while doing something totally random!
I want to create another app but focus on making this one better first!
Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment!
I loved reading your post!!!!! I am so excited for you! Congrats, congrats, congrats!!!!
Thanks so much Anne!!! I feel your excitement and appreciate that!!
Very cool app, Benny. Love the concept and your execution. As someone who likes to journal and use a diary, this cool photo app is right up my alley.
Cheers!
Hey Missy!
Saw your post. Thanks so much for that great write up! I made an app that I would want to use first and foremost. Then I thought this might be something others would enjoy too. I love taking photos and using it to remember my memories.
Thanks Missy!!
Benny!!
What a very cool and awesome success story!! And it really shows – how persistence pays off! You put your heart behind this, and created something very amazing – and today you are reaping the rewards! So, so cool!!
Hello Lance!
Thanks! Yes persistence definitely paid off. Though this is a small success, I’ve had so many other attempts at making money fail miserably. This time I made sure I did things differently in order to finish!
Thank you for your kind words Lance!!
That is so cool! Congrats, you are an inspiration to many people!
Thank you Patrick! My goal is to inspire others so I’m glad this post is helping.
Great work Benny! Great to see that with the proper planning and taking action you really can achieve anything, and you don’t even need to be a programmer or a designer to make it!
Hey Josh!
Yeah I learned from Pat at SPI, that I didn’t need to know how to program or design. All that could be outsourced. I just needed an idea. When I learned that, it changed my idea of having my own app.
Thanks so much Josh for reading and leaving a comment. It’s exciting to hear from new faces.
Congratulations Benny. That is so awesome. I really agree with you more about “Be the tortoise and not the hare”. as I am finding this out myself.
All too many times in the past I would stop any work on any projects because I wasn’t getting anything back in return for all my work.
I’ve since changed my philosophy and look at everything as a long term project. Not something that is to be done and finished over night.
Great story, love it.
Hi Cal!
Thinking of things as a long term project is the way to go. If you expect results right away and don’t get it, you’ll quit as you know. I’ve done that many times before. I’ve started blogs that didn’t get much traffic, so I quit after a few months.
I know you’re trying to create your own life to spend more time doing the things you want. Keep working at it! I’m not done by all means. This success could go away next week. So I’m not going to sit on this and think it’s my golden ticket. I’ve got to keep working and I know other successes won’t happen over night.
Thanks for reading and sharing in the comments! I love meeting new people.
Awesome Awesome Awesome! Congratulations! So great to hear that you’re doing so well!
Great tips, too. Keep it up, Benny!
Thank you thank you Amy!! It’s been pretty exciting to say the least!!
Benny,
Way to kill it. I mean really freakin’ murder it to the point where you’ll soon be on America’s Most Wanted.
I’m proud of you dude. You really practice what you preach and I sincerely respect that.
Lastly, it looks like you got a head start on the Millionaire Club…Ohhh, can I borrow,$6636.52?????? I need it for studio time…
Keep on Rockin!
Hahahahahaha! I hope I’m not on America’s Most Wanted. Can I be on the cover of Forbes magazine? Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen….
Yes I’m working on the millionaire club. That would be an epic group on Triberr! We would need to see assets and bank statements before joining. Hahahaha.
Don’t know you Rebecca Black went viral for a horrible song and an ever worse video? I know you can do better than that! Therefore, the check is in the mail….
This is such an inspiring story, Benny. It’s so awesome you found a way to turn your life around – and congrats on your app!
Hi Krista! Thanks so much! The early success was totally unexpected. I’m not ready to retire to a beach yet…hahaha. I know the App store is fickle so I’m working on a couple other blog related stuff now. But I am excited by what’s been going on!!
Thanks for your post on rejections. It came at a good time for me!
Awesome Benny!!! What a great way to turn life about. Actions = Results! It just goes to show that if you stick with something long enough, work hard enough and are just in what you’re doing, all will work out in the end. I’m proud of you and can’t wait to see what your future holds… even if it is 365 days at a time. 🙂
Hey Richard!
Thanks! I saw your comment on SPI there. Thanks so much for what you said. This is the first time I’ve really stuck with something that long, worked hard, believed in myself, and enjoyed it. I’m proud of the journey as much as what’s been happening the last couple of weeks! I know the success in the app store could end in a month but I’ve got experience to use on something else.
Thanks so much Richard!
Awesome Benny, just awesome!! I went the opposite route and taught myself how to make apps. I still wouldn’t call myself a programmer but I learned enough to get an app in the store, then learned a little more to get another. Financially, none of my apps did as well as Photo 365 did, but they bring a nice amount of passive income every month. Now I am at the point where I can outsource development if necessary, though I haven’t yet.
Thanks for the info on your blog and on the SPI Blog!
Eric that’s wonderful! Before I wanted to learn how to make my own apps. I looked online. Checked out some books. However, when I opened it and saw the computer language, it could not understand any of it! So I gave up on that because it would have taken me so much longer to learn how to write a basic app than to just outsource it.
However that’s great you’re making some passive income from the apps you created yourself. I just took a look and your apps look great! Did you do the graphics yourself as well?
Thanks so much for reading my story at SPI and here!
Benny,
What an awesome, inspiring story. And, what an awesome experience for you!
I think that your story will inspire a ton of people to start creating a product and starting a business. Very cool.
Thanks Fred for sharing my story! I wanted to inspire other people and start creating. I started with nothing but an idea and it’s turned out pretty well so far.
Thanks again Fred!
Hey Benny … this was freakin awesome dude ! It all boils down to taking action.. im really inspired by what you were able to accomplish just by taking action and not quitting in the middle. Best wishes for the future 🙂
Hi Adnan!
Thank you so much dude! I’m so excited by it! Best wishes to you in your journey!
Hey Benny,
I finally got around (well a day late anyways) to reading this post. Great work! From the moment I launched your app I was sure it would do well. The idea is great but it’s the design that sells the app. When it comes to apps, I think most people quickly dismiss a poorly designed app but if it looks great (like yours), it’s a boost.
Now I need to head over and see what Pat is saying about you. 😉
Congrats on your achievement! Good hustle!
— Matt
Hey Matt! The design was really important for me. I know I have some apps that I use that are gorgeous. Just makes the experience so much better. I basically made an app that I would want to use all the time. It just now seems others would as well.
Thanks Matt!
Benny, this is amazing – I’m so happy for you!
You’re a great guy who’s out there day in and day out, while working a J-O-B, and you’ve stuck through it all – you completely deserve this success!
I’d love to speak with you about this experience – maybe even do an interview for Firepole Marketing?
So… how are you celebrating? 😉
Hey Danny! Yes been doing the job, blogging, networking, and working on the app this whole year! Things have turned out nicely in all three areas!
I’d be happy to do an interview for Firepole Marketing! Just email me!
I don’t know how I’m celebrating yet. I REALLY need a vacation and haven’t had one since beginning of April. My fiance will be here next month so I hope to take some time to celebrate with her then!
Holy shit Benny! This is awesome dude! I actually didn’t even know you were working on an app.
I love that you got a taste of success and fame (Pat Flynn style) and hopefully this will propel you to even bigger and better things!
Good work my friend.
Hey Steve! Crazy isn’t it? Actually I mentioned it way back in my guest post on your blog. That time I was right in the middle of the process.
Yeah I got a taste of Pat Flynn money. That’s how he feels every single day..haha! It’s nice! I’m not ready to retire yet to a beach. I know how fickle the app market could be so I’m still working on bigger and better things for sure!
Thanks Steve!
Congratulations! And thanks for the inspiration. Wishing you continued success! You’ve earned it!
Thank you so much Karen!! I really appreciate that!
Great epic of your struggle. Iam a new blogger, still learning how to make money online n how to speak english well. Nice to know you.
Thanks for visiting! Good luck on your blogging journey. If you stay consistent, you will definitely enjoy it. Thanks!
Really ! Very Inspirational Story……..i will definitely follow your instructions to launch my own iApp.
Good luck on your own App! Just remember that it’s a gamble but if you make a great product, it could pay off well!
This, my friend, is the type of stuff we need to hear and see more often on blogs. Success!
I am so happy and PROUD of you Benny. What a marvelous, fantastic, wonderful piece of news to read on a regular Tuesday morning. Your hard work has paid off. Your ideas are brilliant. Your blog is even better – and you take the time to help others. You, are making a difference. And not only in people’s lives, but your own too! You’re establishing business models that could take you well into the future – and that’s exciting.
Now – maybe you’ll take a few days off from working at the restaurant? 😉
Hey Christian! First wanna say I’m so glad I met you this year. Reading you work, your comments, your updates in social media, and your smile face has been such a joy this year!!
This year my main two focuses have been on my blog and my app. Both are growing really nicely! I can’t complain! Now I have this to show that I was able to put what I learned into action and hope to show others how to do the same. I’m not happy just stopping here. I’m looking to do other projects. Next will be something through the blog!
And I did have all of Tuesday off but that was too short! Haven’t been able to take few days off because my mom is out of town so I’m in charge of the restaurant. I’ll get time to relax soon though. Thanks Christian!!
I’ve been out of the blogosphere for a while…and here you are!
Such a freakin’ awesome, inspiration-laden story!
Like you, I have had ideas. And after a while they’re still just that – ideas 🙁
This is truly an inspiration, bro!
Hey Marlon! Yeah it’s been awhile. Hope you’ve been doing well! I’ve had so many ideas too but didn’t do anything before. I wondered if they would have been successful. We will never know.
Glad to see you around here! Hope you’ll get back into blogging.
CONGRATULATIONS!! You are like one of those people who will wake up one day a millionaire and we will all envy you because you made it seem so easy haha! But seriously, you point out some really good lessons here, one being that you should believe in your ideas. Great job!!!
Hey my friend!!
Hahahaha..let’s hope the first million comes that easy! Thanks so much for everything you’ve done for me! It means so much!
This is just amazing.
This story gave me now the needed kick to start with my own project finaly. I had it planned already for some time but never started due to my fear of not succeeding.
But now I see clearly that I must risk it, otherwise it will bother me forever.
Thank you so much for sharing your expierence.
br
Hi Timo!
I’m glad my story inspired you. There’s a great book by Steven Pressfield called “The War of Art”. Read it if you’re interested. In it he says, “The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” Think about that. Usually what we come up with excuses for doing things when it’s things we want to do.
Hope that gives you a push to start your own project.
Congratulations bro, you killed it!
Sorry I’ve been off the scenes for a minute, been away and just working on a new blog.
Bro I’m proud of you man, you completely deserve it, and as usual you took the most valuable lessons from your experience.
I hope your App continues to “Crush It!”
Speak soon!
Thanks Robert! Glad to hear from you. I took the title of your blog to heart. Belief and action. I definitely did both to achieve what I did. Thanks! Look forward to your new blog!
I wonder how much this will make in the long run. A $1,500+ investment and this many months of work… doesn’t sound very appealing.
Tom
This is fantastic news Benny. My mouth was open wide reading this. you have no idea how happy i am that you have had this push of positive momentum.
I’ve had an idea for an app for 6 months now but do nothing about it, because havn’t moved forward because ive never known anyone who’s had a success. i’ve read about them, but i never know if it’s true. I am sold.
I didn’t know you were looking to make an app before! Well since you read this and if your app shoots up in the rankings like mine, maybe you can buy me some ice cream? I’m pretty easy to please. 🙂
Thanks Annie. I really wanted to share w/ you what’s been going on but I know you’ve been busy!
This is such an inspiring success story Benny! congratulations for finally getting the tortoise trick! I’ve had many fleeting ideas for apps, but never realized that it could actually be doable for someone like me who doesn’t know the first thing about how they are created. This really lights a fire in my mind!
Of course I know it’s always a gamble, but your story helps me to realize that more is possible that I might have believed! thanks for sharing.
Hi Sarah,
Thanks so much for reading! One person I read about that inspired me to do it was also http://www.happytapper.com/about/. She had an idea for a gratitude journal and outsourced it. No experience. Nothing. Now she’s created a business out of her apps. You should read more about her story. Could inspire you even more!
Ben,
This is really motivating man..I really don’t know what to say except CONGRATS!! I know that exact feeling your describing man! Last March, I had a successful PPC campaign where I netted $15,000 in just one month. Honestly, I know that feeling you’re talking about, that it felt like Christmas every morning. I would just sit there sometimes for 20 minutes at a time and watch the money pile up. Man, whoever said money didn’t buy happiness, probably had none!
I’m really glad to see this worked out for you. With the sort of mind frame you have, I assure you that you could also succeed in niche sites and such (I mention this cause you said that you lost hope and quit a couple of times). Niche sites are no different then what you’ve done here; outsource the tedious stuff, stick with the project, and you are bound to succeed.
Once again, great job! I’ll be back here regularly.
Cheers,
Ben
Hi Ben!
What a great comment. Thanks so much!
You’re right that now I know so much more about outsourcing, I could do that for the boring part. Just a couple years ago i tried to do everything by myself. May have to try one again one day!
That’s amazing you made $15K in a month! That is wild. Congrats! You definitely know what you’re doing. Great looking website by the way! Looks like you have a nice business going.
Thanks for reading and look forward to seeing you here often!
Hi Benny
This is exciting – congratulations on your success! I’m especially excited because my son is about to submit an app he’s been working on for months now. I hope he enjoys the same kind of success!
That’s wonderful – I’m very happy for you!
Lori
That’s great Lori about your son! I hope he does well with it. If not, don’t give up because with every one he releases, he’ll get better. Did he program it himself?
Thanks Lori!
Well done, Benny – I am so excited for you!
Hi Ana!! Great to see your wonderful face here! I’m super excited too! I found your blog earlier this year and learned so much. Thank you for writing great stuff!
Hey Benny, checked out your blog from SPI.
Great job replying to EVERY freaking comment, haha. Honorable dedication.
I’ll be following your blog. Thanks for putting in the effort to showing your process both here and on SPI.
Looking forward to your future posts and adventures.
Hey Brian!!
That’s what I’ve been doing since I”ve started blogging this year. I reply to every comment on my blog and if I have a guest post somewhere. Half of the fun of blogging is interacting with other people. It took me a LONG time to reply to each one at SPI and I’ll be going over there after I finished up comments here because I’m sure there are new ones. But I enjoy it.
Thanks for being a new reader Brian!
Congrats, Benny!
I’ve been reading your posts for awhile but this is my first time commenting.
I love the ‘tortoise and hare’ analogy and you pointing out the fact that behind every ‘overnight success story’ there are months (if not years) of hard work. Nothing comes easy.
Cheers to a big breakthrough!
Hi Sandy!
Thanks for being a reader. I’m glad you finally left a comment! I enjoy meeting new people on my blog.
There’s not really an overnight success. It may seem like it but behind the scenes there was a lot of hard work. Nothing does come easy. People might see this and say “Wow that looks so easy!” But this wasn’t my first try at making money online. Yes it was for making an app but it’s cause I finally found something I really enjoyed.
Thanks Sandy and please comment more often. I loved your comment!
I came over from SPI. I just checked and Photo 365 is still featured! Congrats again Benny.
Thanks for coming over from SPI. I’m so happy Pat gave me a chance to tell my story over there. Thanks for leaving a comment Paul! I enjoy seeing new faces around here.
Wow!! Thank you so much for sharing your success story… After looking over the app itself, it’s well deserved! Great idea.. I just might pick it up for myself, so expect another dollar coming your way soon. 😉
Laurie
Thank you so much for reading! I wanted to share my story but show people that I’m not that special but i was able to create an app, which was a goal of mine.
I’m happy with how it looks because that makes it stand out more than the other ones available. Thanks for downloading it!
Came over here from your interview on SmartPassiveIncome.com. Congrats on your success! We all know that it was a long time in the making! Hopefully this will just be the tip of the iceberg and you will continue creating greap apps that will provide you with passive income many months/years in the future! Cheers
Thank you very much for you generous words! This is my first big breakthrough after so many years of trying to make a good amount of income online. Many years of failures and frustrations. Because of that I’m enjoy this small win much more.
This is just the tip of the iceberg and I’m brainstorming for more! Thanks so much for reading my interview and thank you for coming over here and leaving a comment. I really appreciate that!
Benny, this is so awesome and inspiring. Congratulations on the milestone you just achieve. See you around.
Armand Polanski
Man it shows you what happens when you buckle down on your own massive launch, like I have, and don’t have as much time to visit your fave bloggers. When you do you see they are just simply MOVING MOUNTAINS and making epic shit happen.
Love it Benny. I love your complete enthusiasm and excitement for every step of the journey – because it is a journey and it will continue on. And in the word of Dr Seuss `Today is your day. You’re off to great places’
I’ll totally go buy your app now.
Nat
Hi Natalie!
I’m sure a massive launch takes up so much time! I have an idea for a product and want to start working on it soon. I know launch time will be busy!
It took a long time to go from idea to finish product, but I enjoyed it along the way! That’s completely different than before when I worked on projects but got so bored with them after a short time.
Thank you for your kind words. You’re definitely an inspiration for me so it means a lot coming from you!
Hey Benny,
I had the biggest grin after I read that.
Good things happen when you roll the dice and gamble (within reason). You worked hard and got busy making it to the front page of the new apps.
I remember resetting my iphone and looking for new apps. Then I saw your name there and was totally rooting for you.
Glad you made it to the top (doesn’t hurt to be below fantasy football!)
Thanks so much Matt! It’s been a crazy three weeks since my app has been for sale. I definitely took a calculated gamble. I spent the money but if I didn’t make a penny back (unlikely), I would have still been able to pay all my bills.
Thanks Matt and look forward to reading your results of your next experiment!
Hello Benny,
Just read about this on Pat Flynn’s blog and wanted to congratulate you. We all need more people who ignore the haters and just go out and DO!! So glad your app is doing as well as it is and I hope it continues to be a top seller!
Keep doing what you’re doing!
Mike
Hey Mike!
Sometimes we do have to not listen to the haters. Luckily I didn’t have anyone tell me this was a stupid idea. The only voice I had to deal with was my inner voice! I think that’s the same for many of us.
I plan to keep doing what I’m doing for sure. Thanks Mike for coming over!
Very well done, Benny! Very happy for you, bro!
Thank you Barry! Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.
Well done! I’m so glad this happened to you. I can just imagine how excited you are about the whole thing. You’ve worked hard to get to where you want to be and you deserve the good results you got. It just goes to show that you got to play the long game if you want to do something great.
Hey Steve! Look forward to hearing about your trip if you’re going to write about it on your blog!
Yes I’ve been so excited by it but it’s brought a whole new level of responsibility. It turned from a little project to a real chance to make a living just from apps. It’s all new territory for me so I have to take it one day at a time.
Thanks Steve for your kind words!!
I came over from SPI. Your story is so encouraging. It’s a true example of what you can achieve if you take action! Good luck in the future.
Thanks for coming over from SPI. I’m thankful to Pat for the chance. Thanks for leaving a comment here. I appreciate it!
Hi, Benny
Reading about your journey from point A to point B was very inspirational. I love that you didn’t quit, but persevered through the tough times.
I just checked your links for the interview and app. Very nice. Congratulations on a job well done.
Thanks for going over the steps to succeed in whatever we’re planning to do.
Take care and have a great evening!
Allyson
Hi Allyson! Great to hear from you.
I’m glad you read my journey. I wanted to inpsire others to take action and that getting your lucky break won’t happen overnight. Not only did it take seven months, but I’ve been waiting years for something like this.
I saw you comment on Pat’s blog. Thanks so much!!
I have not gone through my RSS in a while… I AM SOOOO GLAD I DID!!!
SO PROUD AND STOKED FOR YOU MAN!!!!!
This post hits me real hard right now as I have been working on a niche project since Feburary and am about to launch the product in a few weeks….
I feel like I went though ALL those stages you went though… I just hope I put enough effort into quality that it reciprocates into a GREAT sales experience like you have found there man
Every week man, piece by piece… Still a few pieces to pick up on this launch but everyday I go to work on it is another step closer another milestone toward a more successful sustainable company…
Stoked to tell you about it soon, (p.s. I’ll be hitting you up soon about an interesting side project going on… SHHHH)
Damn… I just feel super amped right now, I am so glad I found this post.
Congratulations Benny, you DID this. You took ACTION, and made it happen.
To making shit happen!
Surfs up,
Hey Sal! Thanks so much buddy!! It’s been an exciting time!
That’s awesome you’ve been working hard on a niche project. I know taking baby steps isn’t as fast as we want to go sometimes but it’s the best way. Take your time. Do it right! I know will for sure. Look forward to hearing more about it!
Thanks for the awesome comment Sal!
Congrats on your success Benny. You just confirmed the old saying that action and perseverance begets success.
I hope this success leads to much better things in the future!
Thanks Flo! Action and perseverance begets success for sure. I know this is just a springboard for more great things1
Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment!
This is an inspiring story.Wish you many more success with your apps.I checked your iphone app and its really cool and sleek.The developers really did a nice job.
Thanks so much! Appreciate that! They did a great job.
My son (12) wants to create an app. (he is still working on ideas) can you give a rough break down of your costs of nearly 2,000?
Thank you for a great inspirational story. I think you can keep the momentum going by telling your story.
Hi Lisa,
I know the costs will be different for everyone but it was $700 for the graphics and $1200 went to the programming. They based it on their hourly rate and how long each part would take. However the cost was for the project. If I wanted revisions, they were fine with it.
Thanks for reading my story. I’m glad it has inspired others.
Wow wow wow Benny!
I was just over at Pat’s site and came across his post about you. What an amazing job you did! I was thinking to myself … hey I know Benny! I did an interview with him and now he is making it big with his new iPhone app!!!
That is something I’ve always wanted to do as well. I guess I should really get on that. Making an iPhone app seems like a lot of work but it looks like if done right can make you a lot of money in the long run.
Great job! I’ll have to learn from your success!
Hi Michael!
Glad you found that interivew and came over here! If you make an app, I’d say go for the best looking app you can have. That’s where your money should be. With apps, looks do matter.
Pat has proven with his free and paid apps that you can make thousands of month just from that. So the possibility is there but it’s not an overnight thing.
Thanks for the interview at your blog. I really had fun answering those questions!
Thanks for the advice Benny!
I’ll definitely keep that in mind if I create a app in the future. For now I think I’ll try and buy some sites and then go from there!
Yeah – it was fun doing an interview with you. I can now say I interviewed a guy that’s doing really well making money with iPhone / iPad apps! Woot.
Hey Benny congrats on your app! You really put your money where your mouth is. Way to show people it wasn’t an overnight hit. Seven months of hard work. Most people can’t work hard on something for seven days! Inspiring stuff as always and keep doing what you do.
Hi Buck! Thanks so much. Yes it took a long seven months but it also took years of failing and trying until I finally got one idea right.
Thanks for coming by as always Buck!
Truly inspiring story. I am glad you finally got the luck you worked hard to earn!
Thanks Ramy!
I just saw you made “App of the Week” – Congrats. I bet sales just skyrocketed!
Thanks so much Ian! It’s been pretty incredible for sure! May do a post about the numbers at the end of it! Stay tuned….
Awesome. I have a couple apps in the store, and do okay $ – but haven’t got lucky enough to nab app of the week or new and noteworthy yet. Working on it!
Great! I’ve learned from others you don’t need to be featured by Apple to make a living off just apps. Another developer I know has never had app of the week or N&N and still did $4.5K on Sunday alone. So just target your market and make the best app you can for them.
So happy for you Benny! What an inspiring post.
All I can say is Congratulations and do keep the momentum going!
Simply awesome, hard work does pay off.
Thank you Vitaly!! Always great to hear from you. I’m not done with working hard. I still have many goals I want to accomplish. This is just the first step.
Congratufreakinlations man… that’s all I can say.. it;s simply awesome. I am soooo happy for you. I know how you felt about your job and I’m so glad you found something that will allow you to leave your job. Like I am incredibly happy for you. Also, thanks for sharing all this info. It’s wonderful motivation for me to continue on my path. So thank you man.. thank you
My man Aaron!
Thanks so much! It’s been a dream come true to say the least. However, now I have so much more work ahead of me if I want to maintain that level of success. I hope you have power back up there!
I like reading your posts. And I believe it well,too. Act, Act, Act. Like it says nothing can change if you do nothing. 100 people have a same idea and may only one execute it. So ACT.
Thanks Sunny! A perfect example is a friend of mine who I talked with last night. Said he’s had ideas for apps for so long but never took action. After reading my story, now he’s motivated to finally do something about those ideas.
Inspiring!
Thank you Rhonda!!
Damn Benny,
Great stuff! Congratulations! Very impressive results and it shows what working hard can get you. Very impressive bro!
Thanks Steve! Really appreciate that. Hard work and taking action. No cutting corners. Not only that but I’ve changed my life a lot this year as well. Surely that has impacted my results. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment Steve!
One word “Phenomenon” you did a great job. My model is “take as many swing as you can the more swing you take the higher the chances of you hitting a home run and you definitely did my friend” hat’s off to you. You follow your dream and you took the swing. Don’t be bother by the people from the sideline all they do is talk and never take any swing. They’re afraid that they’ll miss. Good job
Hi Benny,
I am new here.
Your story is a wonderfully inspiration to us all. Like you, I have bumped around for too long trying different things to succeed. With my latest endearvor now, I think I am confident that I will eventually succeed. What you spoke about success really resonated with me. I passed on all your criteria for success.
Cheers
Hi Jimmy,
Thanks you for reading. I’m happy to hear you’ve passed all the criteria for success. You’re on your way for sure. Being confident will take you a long way. Believe in yourself and the journey you’re taking. Best of luck to you!
Benny, congrats on your success!
I follow Pat Flynn’s blog and I’ve wanted to get into app development for so long. It’s great to read your success story. Reading your post on Pat’s site prompted me to finally get that ebook on app development. What site did you use to find developers and how many did you interview before finding the guys you went with?
Are you working on follow up apps now?
KP
Hi KP,
Thanks so much for following me from Pat’s blog. That ebook is a great guide to get you started. It helped me when I had no idea what to expect. I used Elance.com the first time. I maybe got 5-10 proposals. I know it was down to two companies. Both seemed great but the one I chose was because of their portfolio. Now I’m using Odesk.com w/ the same company to do the updates. As for follow up apps? Not at this present moment. I’m keeping my mind open for ideas but right now my main focus is making the updates for this app.
Good luck w/ your app! Send me an email if you have any questions along the way.
Hi Benny,
Thanks for doing the interview. It is a great name for a website that he has come up with. I like the fact that he is daring enough to face uncertainty. Hiking Europe alone, leaving his job and also going to Hawaii alone. Great stuff.
I guess he must feel great about the new product that is online. Must be his pride and joy developing something close to his heart. This is truly purpose living.
Cheers
Hi Benny,
Big congratulations and thanks for detailing the process too. I love your comment about how “luck” comes from hard work and networking with like-minded people. I used to think that “luck” was random and out of our immediate control. More recently I realized that luck is more related to opportunity, rather than chance and this shift in mindset is a game changer.
Thanks for this article Benny, just bought and rated your app too 😉
Keep us updated!
– Lily
Hey Lily,
I used to think luck was just random too. Just like winning the lottery takes just pure luck. I wanted my life to change in an instant w/o doing anything! Also the more “lucky” we think we are, the more we see those lucky opportunities. Unlucky people, I learned, don’t see those opportunities when they come.
Thanks for downloading my app and rating it! Working on some updates to make it better!
I’m also here via SPI…..nice job Benny!!
You showed us it can happen as long as you have the focus and stay committed.
Thanks for coming from SPI! Yes focus and commitment were key for me!
Hey Benny — I am in the phase of “trying a A LOT of things” and failing. Most of the time I fail hard because while it may have some potential to make money, it’s simply too boring / un-interesting etc.
Anyway, Stories like this FORCE me to try more things and keep going. Just wanted to say thanks. Just as you were inspired by Pat (who’s a great dude btw), I am inspired by you.
Dilanka
Hi Dilanka! Welcome to GBL. Thanks for your first comment.
I completely understand about trying a lot of things. At least you know when you try that it’s not for you. If you hadn’t tried you might still wonder about it. Keep going and you will find something that is a perfect fit for you! Thanks so much for reading. Pat is an awesome guy and always inspiring. I just want to do the same as him.
Thanks Dilanka!
Hi Benny,
Always admire people with courage to strike out on their own.
Way to go, Benny !
You wrote a note to yourself and pinned and strategically.How about visualization and affirmations?
I did indeed! Something inside me just snapped that night. I put a note to remind me. To push me. To not be lazy anymore. It helped so much.
Thank you for your comment and hearing from you via email!
Hi Benny! That as super cool. Congratulations. Thanks for sharing those lessons.
You’re welcome! Thanks for reading.
I’d really learn a lot with this post. Also like you I’d try many marketing scheme online and somehow most of them ending as a failure. But my very basic and most powerful secret to that is “to never quite. Thanks for sharing your lessons.
Thanks for sharing Andrew. Never quit is right. Keep trying and eventually we’ll find something that works for us.
Hey benny, Could we get an update on how your app is selling? Im curious to have an example to see about sales ramp up etc…
Thanks
-Mike
Hey Mike,
Yeah I’ve been wanting to do an update but thought I’d wait till the end of the year. But to let you know so far since App of the Week, it has gone down and settled to about $100 a day. That’s just passive income. I haven’t done anything with the app. At first I was bummed cause I was used to seeing big numbers, but I’m happy with steady income. I know many apps aren’t making any money, so I’m thankful. Been working with my developers on adding features, but it’s taking longer than I would have liked. But I will do an update before the end of this year. Hope the update will help boost sales. Hope that answers your question!
You are right, Benny, success is not achieved overnight. I salute your patience! Passive income though it is, in time it accumulates into something big. I like your work ethics. Keep up the good work.
Dennis
This is awesome and inspiring. I just moved my blog to a new level this January by moving it to DOT COM and have been a bit impatient. Then I realized, I gotta wait and plan things out to make it work. I haven’t even worked out something! Thanks!
Thanks for reading Pinoy. Yes you have to stay persistent. You have to give your blog a chance. If you don’t see results right away, it doesn’t mean your plan isn’t working. Keep it up!
Benny, I love your blog and your stories… this post is totally relevant to me ‘cos I have loads of app ideas but really don’t want to pay someone else to do it. I’m gonna get started on one very soon. Just a couple of things to get out of the way first. Cheers man. Well done 😉
Thanks Mickey! Good luck on your app journey. Hope it’s a success for you.
Hey Benny! What an inspiration this post was. I have a couple of questions on your process. You mentioned that you only had to pay $10 for the theme. I was wondering where I can buy app themes online?
Hey Tyler! I got the theme at Themeforest.com. Search for SlickApp. However, if you look at my website now, Photo365app.com, you’ll see I changed it. The new theme is called Appifywp. It’s really easy to use and I like how it looks. Here is a link for that. http://appifywp.com/. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Great! Thanks for the help, Benny.
congrats Benny..you did a great job! i wish i could…but am not a computer geek..i can only blog a bit..you just inspire me..thanks again!
Thanks Ruby! I’m not an iPhone developer, but was able to have someone do the work for me. If I can do it, anyone can do it!
Hey Benny,
Your posts have been very inspirational. I originally saw the blog post on Passive Panda. I’ve had an app idea for a while, but there are similar apps out there so I never thought to pursue it further. Your story has helped me to actually go after it. I have question for you. How did you integrate getsatisfaction.com into your app? Did you do this in the first version, or was it added in an update in response to all the feedback you had been getting?
Hi Christian! Thanks so much for coming over from Passive Panda. Don’t worry about your app already being done. Just find a way to do it better. For getsatisfaction.com, it’s just a link from the settings page to my getsatisfaction page. That’s it. It was in there from the beginning. Before it woud link to their full website, but now they have a mobile version. Again I didn’t change anything. It’s just a link.
Hope that helps!
Hey Benny,
I read your blog quite some time ago while my two apps were still in production and I must say I agree with not giving up and everything you wrote to a T. I figured I’d provide a few promo codes for our new app iPuzzledYa for you and others to check out. Again keep up the good work and thanks for taking the time to jot done your experience. Thanks for your time. Here are a few promo codes.
RHX9RR7TL794
AFTEXXKFA6XX
6TFNJNMJWT7N
TJJWYKEK3WWJ
Congrats on launching your app! I’m glad my story helped you out during the process. Thanks for sharing those promo codes. Much appreciated!
Wow, man! A world of difference since the middle of last year! I’m so excited to see things are going so well for you!
Thanks Graham! I just wondered what had happened to you since I hadn’t heard much. Glad to hear it’s just cause you’ve been busy. Yes lots have happened since last year. Working on make this year better!
Hi Benny,
Your story is inspiring, it applies to life in general and not just making an app, thanks for sharing!
How is your app doing now? Are you still making $100 a day? I haven’t created any app, I’m thinking of following your footsteps..
Hey Joey, glad you enjoyed it! The app is still making money every day. This app does really well in January when the next year starts. I had one day where I hit $1000, but after that it went slowly down. Now it’s around $30-$40 a day. Still not bad. I expect it to go back up when the new year starts again. You should give apps a shot if you have the money to spend on outsourcing it. If you can learn programming and you’re young, that might be good too.
If you didn’t fluke it into the ‘news and noteworthy’ section there is no way you would have made your money back.
Nothing inspiring about this story. More chance of winning lotto than being selected to appear in the ‘news and noteworthy’ section.
Well if you think the chances of winning the lotto are easier, then stop making apps and buy more lottery tickets. Yes of course there is luck involved in getting on N & N. No one knows exactly how to get there. No one knows why Apple picks an app over another. If I didn’t get featured, I could have still gotten my money back, but it’d take much longer.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy my story. Others don’t seem to feel that way.
My comment wasn’t a question. It didn’t require you to give me advice. Merely a comment. My realistic opinion.
Thanks for making the comment below. This proves my point:
“Yes of course there is luck involved in getting on N & N. No one knows exactly how to get there. No one knows why Apple picks an app over another”.
No your comment wasn’t a question, but your comment really made me wonder why even leave a comment at all.
And how do you know my app wouldn’t have made its money back without N&N? You sound very confident by saying no way I would have. Can you predict future success in the App store? If you’re so confident, then you should be able to create apps that all make a ton of money. Every single app is a hit.
You just come off as a bitter developer with the way you phrased your comment. That’s just my opinion. Sounds like to me you’re upset you haven’t been featured by Apple. You’ve been trying hard and you think you have a great app. You have been looking to see how others have gotten featured and that’s what brought you to this post.
When we create apps, we always think it’s the best and deserves to be recognized. If it happens it happens. If it doesn’t, then move on. I’ve been there too with my other apps.
Best of luck.
I believe happiness and success come from both 1) actions – whether you act on it, as well as 2)
attitude and mindset.
Your blog post is about acting on dreams, while my comment post here focuses on ‘attitude’
I came across your blog following some random internet search on app creation without technical
knowledge, wondering how much one can make with an ok app.
Your post/dialogue with Peter Watson is very interesting. I admire that you replied his comments with
positivity and didn’t ‘have to’ have the last word, lol. It is only normal for anyone to respond and
wonder why someone leave such a negative discouraging comment with on such an encouraging positive
blog post.
Just acting on your ideas and desire is not enough to succeed or be happy… since an average person’s
happiness is still dependent on the result. I believe it’s the attitude and mindset that make the
difference and differentiates the high achievers or happy people.
What I get most from your post is not the encouragement to act on app ideas. I am happy to see from
your reply to know that you are positive, someone who can encourage and not be affected, after
receiving such negativity from an unappreciative reader. Most people get discouraged/upset by failures
or negative feedback from others and steer away from their goals or just plainly feel bitter along the
way. But you have the exact attitude that it takes for success/happiness, coz even if you didn’t have
the amazing ‘luck’ that week to be featured, you know, and more importantly, is able to, just move on
and not be dragged down and enjoy the ride even if it gets bumpy.
Anyway, there is nothing wrong with Peter or his negativity, it’s just normal response of certain
types of people. No matter it’s learnt or innate, your attitude is admirable and your success is
probably law of attraction from your attitude.
Thank you for sharing your story and giving us the opportunity to see someone with a good positive
attitude with good positive result.
A side note, just seeing your response and attitude, I know a lot of people trying your paths would benefit from your book.
Good luck to all your endeavors.
I left my ‘comment’ because this is a forum/thread allows freedom of speech, or have I got it wrong?
Your comment “your comment really made me wonder why even leave a comment at all”, gives me the impression you were only willing to accept ‘praise’ for your post.
If this thread is only for people to leave positive comments in relation to your post, I apologise! But I am telling you the reason your app experienced such highs is because it was featured in the N&N section.
My app WAS actually featured in the ‘news and noteworthy’ section early this year. My app was in the app store about 3-4 months prior to being featured and was consistantly getting downloads everyday, but it wasn’t until it was featured in the N&N section that sales went through the roof!
Once it was removed from the N&N section sales tanked once again.
Case closed!
Hi Benny,
First I must say congratulations, hope your success continues for a long time. My question to you is, what kind of pre-marketing did you do and what kind of marketing do you continue to do? I released an app at the beginning of December for 99 cents, and my sales have been extremely slow and low in volume. I have been trying everything I can think of ( posting to PRMac, having people hand out flyers in different cities, getting people to tweet about it, tweeting on my app Twitter account, posting messages on my Facebook, telling friends, etc). I feel I have a unique idea, but I am not getting the downloads. Needless to say I have invested much more into this than I have made. If you can offer any advice on marketing, I would appreciate.
Hi Benny , Thanks for taking time and sharing your experience its inspiring as a developer. KeepCoding , Keep Rocking.
Thanks Ben. Best of luck to you.