NOT SELLING?!?!

ccpccp Member Posts: 139
edited November -1 in iPhone and Android Publishing
Hey...I put my apps in the app store about a week ago,
I have two of them...
so anyways...
I want to know why the first day, I got 22 downloads...the second, I got 19, but than the 3rd, I only got 2! and now all I get is 1-2 downloads?
I have awesome updates coming...as soon as they get approved...do you think that will affect the download rate?

Comments

  • MammothMammoth Member Posts: 640
    What did you do to let people know about your app. The process is 50% building the app and 50% letting the world know about your wonderful app ;)
  • DrGlickertDrGlickert Member Posts: 1,135
    Are these your first two apps?

    Let's be honest with ourselves here. No one is ever good the first time they do anything. That goes for EVERYTHING in life.

    Actors suck in their first acting gig. Musicians suck the first time they pick up an instrument. Professional athletes suck the first time they try to tackle, swing, jump, etc. And, I'm fairly positive that Sid Meyer's and Will Wright's first games sucked too.

    It takes time and effort to make great games. Polish and everything. Learn from your mistakes and keep updating the game to make it better.

    My first game (in review) is pretty bad. I already have a lot of ideas on how to improve it, but I wanted to get something up on the app store, just so I can say that I've got an app up there!

    And, to answer your question about the updates; as long as the updates make the game better, then yes, they will help with sales.
  • PhanielPhaniel Member Posts: 34
    I have a friend who is making an app for the fist time. The same thing happened to him. His sales dropped. He first thought he wanted to make it paid. Then he thought about it, and thought it was worth to be free. You need to think if you would buy the app if it was paid. Also, when my friend put an update the sales raised up again.

    Good luck with your app!
  • PortgasPortgas Member Posts: 71
    DrGlickert said:
    No one is ever good the first time they do anything.

    not true. People who can do something good the first time they tried to do it are called talents or geniuses :)
  • ccpccp Member Posts: 139
    Thanks Guys!
    honestly I WOULD pay $.99 for my apps....I guess I need to work on letting people know about them...
    so, What would you guys recommend as the BEST way to advertise your app for free?
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    post the links to your apps. Let's check them out.
  • xyloFUNxyloFUN Member Posts: 1,593
    coffeechuggers said:
    I want to know why the first day, I got 22 downloads...the second, I got 19, but than the 3rd, I only got 2! and now all I get is 1-2 downloads?
    I have awesome updates coming...as soon as they get approved...do you think that will affect the download rate?

    hey pal,
    Don't feel bad, you didn't do anything wrong.
    Rarely an app goes the other way so what you are seeing is what happens to most of us.

    One thing that I find interesting is that when a debate arises regarding the pricing of game salad, we are quickly told how easy it is to make $500+ a year but the truth is different.

    The good news is that if you can afford to invest some more time (it takes a lot of time to make an app or a game) then things can get a little better.

    I often look at my tracking program which shows me rankings in various countries for my ten apps in iTunes and while there are days where certain apps rise up, it doesn't translate into that many sales.

    The trick is to look at the big picture.
    Because I have apps in the p store, I am picking up some more web design business and while I am working on my next app, I also port the existing ones over to flash so that I can have them on my website http/::littlecomposers.com which helps with pointing visitors with iPads or iPhones to the app store.

    I hope you have friends who are into game making too and that in time, things become a little more manageable.
    Make a YouTube channel to host a vide of your game.
    List your site and YouTube channel in the app descriptions

    Have a binder with you so that you can show friends screenshots and give out promo codes.
    Host a quiz on your page and let participants win your app.
    Talk about the next update on your site.

    Be positive and hopeful and use what you learn while marketing this game, for your next one :-)
  • MammothMammoth Member Posts: 640
    Make videos for sure. If you goto Tube mogul you can upload your video to multiple different services.
  • ccpccp Member Posts: 139
    Sure!

    itunes.com/apps/coffeechuggers

    here are the individual links...

    iphone:

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr-fishy/id438945907?mt=8

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodle-dude/id438940987?mt=8

    ipad:

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr-fishy/id438949118?mt=8

    Thanks guys!
  • ccpccp Member Posts: 139
    Just as a heads up,
    the update for Mr. Fishy changes the blurry iphone image....and the update for doodle dude changes the icon image...
    there is a lot more to the updates, but this is just the display differences.
  • ccpccp Member Posts: 139
    xyloFUN said:
    hey pal,
    Don't feel bad, you didn't do anything wrong.
    Rarely an app goes the other way so what you are seeing is what happens to most of us.

    One thing that I find interesting is that when a debate arises regarding the pricing of game salad, we are quickly told how easy it is to make $500+ a year but the truth is different.

    The good news is that if you can afford to invest some more time (it takes a lot of time to make an app or a game) then things can get a little better.

    I often look at my tracking program which shows me rankings in various countries for my ten apps in iTunes and while there are days where certain apps rise up, it doesn't translate into that many sales.

    The trick is to look at the big picture.
    Because I have apps in the p store, I am picking up some more web design business and while I am working on my next app, I also port the existing ones over to flash so that I can have them on my website http/::littlecomposers.com which helps with pointing visitors with iPads or iPhones to the app store.

    I hope you have friends who are into game making too and that in time, things become a little more manageable.
    Make a YouTube channel to host a vide of your game.
    List your site and YouTube channel in the app descriptions

    Have a binder with you so that you can show friends screenshots and give out promo codes.
    Host a quiz on your page and let participants win your app.
    Talk about the next update on your site.

    Be positive and hopeful and use what you learn while marketing this game, for your next one :-)

    Wow...Thanks so much for all of this....i'll see what I can do about adding stuff like quizzes to my site...
    I have a coffeechuggers youtube channel, with all my app video's in it...only I don't think that there very good...I use animoto to make my videos...do you know of any other good sites to use?
  • xyloFUNxyloFUN Member Posts: 1,593
    Not really sure about other sites ... YouTube is the ONE that counts plus, you get to embed the video into your page which is a huge plus!

    Making a good video is an art in itself ... and I lack there as well.
    Mostly, I just slap something together while my app is waiting for approval and then just leave it at that ... but I need to do WAY better with that!

    The main enemy is time.
    As you know, game companies employ a lot of people so there are teams for creating nothing but artwork, teams for coding, teams for submitting, teams for advertising and marketing ....

    We, or most of us, have to to this by ourselves which is almost impossible.

    Right now, I am working on my app until 2 am every day and I get up at 6:30 am which gives me up to 16 hours to get things done ...

    I remember that one of my first posts on this forum was about finding someone in Vancouver to partner with .... but no one replied and I still have not found the right person.

    I've looked at your games and like the artwork. While I don't have time to play or try it, I believe that you should step up the marketing a notch.

    Do you have friends to film (even with your iphone camera) who would play it for 3 seconds and then give a comment while the camera is rolling?

    You can edit that footage and make it look good in imovie ... that's what I am working on.

    There is really a lot you can do but often it's best to cut the loss and create something new.

    You will see that in a year from now (assuming you keep going) things will look very different :)
  • ChaserChaser Member Posts: 1,453
    It's getting harder for people to sell apps these days even those that have spent months working on them. Heck my newest game Multi Moto barely sells wasted several months yet my first app Ghost Words still sells plenty.
  • SparkyidrSparkyidr Member Posts: 2,033
    ahh. I saw doodle dude the other day.

    I thnk that one looks more appealing than the Mr Fishy one.

    Just from a brief glance at your screenshots, (as a punter) I make up my mind there and then, that your games lack that final bit of polish.

    As an example, the final Mr Fishy screen, with all the text, just doesn't look "good enough".

    ......all this before I even play the game. The app store is a harsh marketplace, where looks seem to count for more than 50% of your punters decision to give you even the 2 mins to look at your app, let alone buy it.

    You need to remember that you are competing for their time at their 59p/99c with established games, like Angry Birds, and games with more than £0 budget, and man hours spent on them.

    Tales of overnight millionaires, seem to put people in the "I can do that" mindset.

    In reality, it takes a LOT of effort and hard work....and that's just making a decent game in the first place.
    More than 50% is keeping the game in the public eye.

    If people don't know about it, not that many people are just going to stumble on it.

    Get a press releases done, get it mailed out to all the review sites and game blogs (If you don't know how to do that....pay someone to do it)

    If you put in the --EFFORT--. It is very easy to make back the $500 investment for GS pro.
    We get in around that every month (on an average month where we have not launched anything new)

    Also.....don't expect to "do it" with your first few apps.

    The first game I put out has made £37.50 in 18 months. ;)
  • ccpccp Member Posts: 139
    OK thanks....
    I guess I just need to put more time in my game...
    I can now that school is over!!!
    The only time I had to make apps, was when I got home from school, and even then I had loads of home work!
    I'm a freshman, and they like to load me with that stuff...lol
  • 11clock11clock Member Posts: 450
    I've been making games for over 2 years now.

    My games have never really gotten popular, but that doesn't really matter much to me. If I make a game and I'm proud of it, I don't care how many downloads it gets (unless it's getting me money, that's a little different), as long as I know myself that it is a masterpiece. Don't let lack of downloads bring you down! :)
  • GLGAMESGLGAMES SingaporeMember Posts: 988
    My first game has also been having 0 downloads for almost 1mth , just few days a go i put it to free until 7th Jun. currently i have a total of 2000 over downloads for 3days alone... i think the making free once in a while works to advertise ur app.
  • scribblstudiosscribblstudios Member Posts: 118
    Just a question, but what did you use to make the graphics?
  • ccpccp Member Posts: 139
    lol...I use Google Sketch Up
  • FranzKellerFranzKeller Member Posts: 517
    Mammoth said:
    What did you do to let people know about your app. The process is 50% building the app and 50% letting the world know about your wonderful app ;)

    yes, right. The app world is crowded, you must make yourself stand out somehow to get sales.

    publicize in every online (and offline) way that you can!
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2024