[OT] Mobile App - Should it be Paid or Free?

[Thomas McGrath III]

I am not a tax consultant so be warned! I was thinking marketing expenses like mass mailings that drive business to your business sounds about the same as an app that was paid for/developed to do the same thing??? maybe not…

Tom
-- Tom McGrath III
http://lazyriver.on-rev.com
mcgrath3 at mac.com

On Apr 4, 2013, at 8:54 AM, Randy Hengst <iowahengst at mac.com> wrote:

> I'm just catching up on this strand… a related question.
> 
> Given that it's tax season in the US, for folks who sell and give away apps… do the free apps count somewhere as a business expense?
> 
> be well,
> randy
> ------
> On Apr 3, 2013, at 1:36 PM, Scott Rossi wrote:
> 
>> Hi Ender:
>> 
>> One popular approach at the moment is "freemium" -- make the app free but
>> include additional content that can be purchased/downloaded in-app.  Maybe
>> this is a possibility for you.
>> 
>> Depending on how much content you have, you might be able to produce
>> "light" and "full" versions of a book app, so potential customers can
>> preview before they buy.
>> 
>> I also think your "scenario 1" is reasonable.  It's useful to have
>> different paid and free apps -- you can use a free app to drive downloads
>> of a paid app.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Scott Rossi
>> Creative Director
>> Tactile Media, UX/UI Design
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 4/3/13 10:05 AM, "Ender Nafi Elekçioğlu" <endernafi at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hello all,
>>> 
>>> I marked the question as [OT] since it's not a technical one.
>>> Recently, we've finished an app, it's ready to be published
>>> but we're uncertain to sell or give it for free.
>>> Up to now, we were building business apps for corporates,
>>> so it wasn't an issue for us to sell or give free.
>>> 
>>> So, this ground is new to us.
>>> 
>>> A little detail:
>>> Two months ago we published an app for pre-school children much like an
>>> audiobook,
>>> pages with static pictures were flipping while a voice-over's speaking
>>> the story.
>>> And it was free.
>>> 
>>> It's downloaded ~2000 copies in 7 weeks.
>>> {I know that this is low but our market is very small for now, as our app
>>> is in Turkish.
>>> Soon, we'll publish it in English, too.}
>>> 
>>> Now, we finished the second one in this genre.
>>> This one has two significant enhancements compared to first one.
>>> * The eyes and mouths of the shapes {it's a birthday party for the
>>> geometrical shapes like circle, square, etc.}
>>> are blinking and opening / closing while they're talking.
>>> At the party, there are flying notes by the music and swinging stars on
>>> the branches of trees.
>>> So, it's more live, kinda like a cartoon.
>>> * It has a color book for the children to color the shapes which they've
>>> met in the story.
>>> You can find the base and not-fancy version of this drawing page here
>>> (http://cloud.keehuna.com/2J1a1n0B4035), if you want.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ~
>>> Scenario 1 as an answer:
>>> Don't sell it, give this one and succeeding 3 ~ 4 apps for free.
>>> Build a trust-relationship between you and your customers.
>>> Get experience with animations and stories and sounds etc.
>>> Maybe after a year or so and a couple of apps, you can start to sell the
>>> new ones.
>>> 
>>> ~
>>> 
>>> Scenario 2 as an answer:
>>> Time is money, sell this one; it's a cool app and worth a buck.
>>> Otherwise, people will get used to obtain them free;
>>> then they won't want to pay for new ones.
>>> Besides, there's a saying as *I'm not rich enough to buy cheap things*.
>>> People value expensive things.
>>> Giving it free will depreciate this app.
>>> Sell this one, then give another one or two free, then sell another one,
>>> keep going like that...
>>> ~
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Which way seems right to you, could you give any advice?
>>> Any insights much appreciated…
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> 
>>> ~ Ender Nafi
>>> 
>>> ~… together, we're smarter …~
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> use-livecode mailing list
>>> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
>>> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your
>>> subscription preferences:
>>> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> use-livecode mailing list
>> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
>> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences:
>> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> use-livecode mailing list
> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences:
> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode