Call for action

Call for action

In the last weeks I occasionally hinted at the revenue I get from this Android adventure - I finally decided to share some thoughts about the matter.




First, a disclaimer-of-sorts: do not take this as the trademark "oh I'm a poor independent developer struggling to make it while dev studios focusing their amazing skills on yet another iPhone fart app rack in cash by the millions" kind of post.

As a matter of fact, at this point of my life I'm moderately happy, and I consider myself quite lucky:

• I don't spend my time coding flatulence simulators (or financial analysis software); hence my sense of purpose is certainly a dip higher than that of the abovementioned studios
• I live in Venice (well, as anywhere else, it has its pros and cons, but my scarce sympathy for cars has a considerable weight)
• I pay very little for my half of the room I share with my girlfriend in a very central (if dark) apartment - around 300€/month with energy bills; ok it's half a room, but it's still a steal.

So, what's the problem? Let's just say it straight:

The money I make out of app sales still doesn't even cover rent.

...and this explains the weird, almost unsettling (to me, at least) presence of that yellow button on the right.


On this upbeat note, the good news:

• the problem is not that my apps suck - the feedback I get is overwhelmingly positive (well, Paperdroid does need some care - it was my first app after all; I'll get there, I promise!) 
• revenue is veeeery sloooowly, but consistently, going up

So the apps are good, and JuiceDefender in particular is potentially useful to a sizeable fraction of Android phone owners. Simple conclusion:

The problem is plain old lack of eyeballs. 

Very few people know about my apps. Those who do, like them. So all I need is love a marketing effort.
Try as I might, I hate marketing - just the idea of it - so doing it myself gives me all kinds of spiritual pains. But a man gotta do what he's gotta do, right?

So here's the bottom line

I love to develop useful apps, and I would love to make it financially viable. Unfortunately, money won't last forever, so there's not much time.

If you would like to support me, you can help!

Spread the word!

Talk about the app(s) you love, tell everybody why you appreciate it or find it useful!
Tweet about it, post on Facebook, comment on blogs or forums you read.

And of course, if you can, consider a donation - let's be honest here, donations are not going to make a difference on my finances (unless Mr Brin serendipitously happens to be reading this with an urgent need of getting rid of some cash*) but they would surely help a lot in keeping me motivated.
Speaking of which: thanks Stefano - you're the first supporter of the Latedroid cause!



P.S.: SeePU! Update! And grab SeePU++ from the Market asap! It's free for a very limited time, hurry up! - and get ready for something cool coming up ;)



( *  in case Mr Brin serendipitously happens to be reading this: hey Sergey, did you know that Google really needs to open a new, very tiny, very cozy, very affordable office in Venice? I could even work there! Isn't this an extraordinarily remarkable coincidence?)

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