Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 59 posts

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#41

Post by doubleyooexwhy »

bemmu wrote: post #28
doubleyooexwhy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to write an iPhone app, but I don't have a Mac. I really wish Apple would open up development for *nix/Windows users.

If you're going to undergo the effort of writing an app, it seems that the cost of getting a Mac Mini is peanuts compared to that.

The Mac Mini starts at $599. Couple that with the $99 it costs to have Apple publish your app, and that's an awfully large investment for an unknown (i.e, will my app pay off the investment I made?)

If I had the money, honestly, I'd do it, but unfortunately I don't.

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#42

Post by pz »

ssprang wrote: post #22

I'm making a living with Brushes, a painting app for the iPhone ( http://brushesapp.com ). I started developing it about a year ago, and it's been on sale since August 2008. Sales didn't really take off until January, when the work of one of my artists got picked up by a lot of blogs (and eventually Gizmodo). It was subsequently featured on the front page of the iTunes App Store and that was certainly helpful. At thi…

Hi, i posted a response to the same link about my experience developing iphone apps.

I've published two of my own apps. One of them fulfilled a specific niche and was picked up right away. Its not a blockbuster but sales have been significant (i.e. living wage) and steady.

My other app disappeared very quickly and i was pretty discouraged. I made a light version and it wasn't much help. Then it miraculously appeared on the "what's hot" list and sales are ok now.

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#43

Post by doubleyooexwhy »

russell wrote: post #8
doubleyooexwhy wrote: post #4

I'm trying. I wrote AutoScreen ( http://www.16software.com/autoscreen ) about a year ago, and I'm getting 2-3 sales a month -- the majority of those sales seem to come from small businesses -- with $0 in advertising (can't afford it, to be honest). I've been kept fairly busy adding new features for my users, but it's time to focus on another app, because 2-3 sales/month is definitely not enough to survive on. For me,…

$.02 worth. If you can target your software or marketing towards a vertical, the relevant magazines and industry associations are starving for articles. You can get free marketing from how to articles targeting a vertical. Then rewrite it for another vertical. A possible idea is how an existing customer is using your product. Better than brochureware.

Brilliant, thanks a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#44

Post by pbz »

pbz wrote: post #38
doubleyooexwhy wrote: post #4

I'm trying. I wrote AutoScreen ( http://www.16software.com/autoscreen ) about a year ago, and I'm getting 2-3 sales a month -- the majority of those sales seem to come from small businesses -- with $0 in advertising (can't afford it, to be honest). I've been kept fairly busy adding new features for my users, but it's time to focus on another app, because 2-3 sales/month is definitely not enough to survive on. For me,…

You really need to invest some time in spicing up that page / site. I understand wanting to be minimalist, but come on... It needs a nicer structure / layout, a little bit more color, more pictures / screenshots. Lots of text may be what "hackers" like, but people in general want less; still informative, but less. There are other points, some which have been addressed, but I would start from making it look nice. Don'…

A few more thing, take this as an example: http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/ (not an Apple fan, but they usually get this stuff right; this page is not perfect, but not bad).

A few things:

* Notice the background color is darker than the content; this is to emphasize the actual content of the page. I would make the background color a bit darker.

* You probably don't have as many "categories" so I would put everything in one page.

* Notice the attraction points. Close your eyes for 5 second then open then. What do you notice the first second? This is where people will look first. You need to have the important stuff there or near it. The attraction points are usually images.

* Make a video or what your application does. People expect to be entertained, not to read. Once you capture their attention you can present more text / information. If you entertain somebody, either with a good video or nice eye candy, they will feel indebted to look more into your product. So the stages / levels should be 1: wow them, 2: convince them, 3: educate them

* Pay attention to details in your website and also your product. If your presentation page is good, people will at least give your application a fair shot. Their first impression is your site not the first time they use your application; that's way later.

For more tips: http://www.dnrtv.com/default.aspx?showNum=112 and http://www.dnrtv.com/default.aspx?showNum=123

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#45

Post by pbz »

harpastum wrote: post #31

I just released Tranquil Checkers ( http://www.tranquilapps.com ), last thursday. I've only got three sales so far, but the first wave of 7-day trial expirations is coming up this thursday. I'm only a college student, and I'm excited to join the fray.

I guess I'm a UI critiquing mood right now, so here it goes:

1) There's a little bit too much white space around your logo

2) There's not enough contrast on the menu bar between the lime and the white text. If you want to keep the same colors try to make the text in the menu larger (16/18px).

3) "Tranquil Checkers" rivals the logo in terms of importance, i.e. needs to be smaller or make the logo smaller. Basically, my eyes are not sure what's more important, the logo or that text. The icon on the left is also out of proportion with the text on the right. You could move the "Tranquil Checkers" text a bit higher and add a short explanation below (smaller text) so that the height of the changed block of text matches the height of the icon; or just make the icon smaller.

4) The text on the about section makes my eyes hurt. There's not enough contrast. Play around with those colors a bit.

5) "Download free 7-Day Trial" is too large. You could put some kind of icon on the left to draw attention.

6) The two columns of icons looks good.

7) See 5 for the text at the bottom.

Otherwise it's so close... :) I hope this helps, good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#46

Post by joshsharp »

jamroom wrote: post #26

I've been selling Jamroom online for almost 6 years - supports me full time + 2 part time developers, and a handful of designers as well.

Now that's a nice idea - you're basically just selling a CMS, but targeted at the music industry. Given the licenses don't seem to be recurring, you must have a fairly popular product to be able to live off it. Good work.

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#47

Post by joshsharp »

harpastum wrote: post #31

I just released Tranquil Checkers ( http://www.tranquilapps.com ), last thursday. I've only got three sales so far, but the first wave of 7-day trial expirations is coming up this thursday. I'm only a college student, and I'm excited to join the fray.

Congratulations, and good luck with selling it. How/where do you advertise or market it? Or are you just hoping people will stumble across it and buy it?

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#48

Post by doubleyooexwhy »

pbz wrote: post #38
doubleyooexwhy wrote: post #4

I'm trying. I wrote AutoScreen ( http://www.16software.com/autoscreen ) about a year ago, and I'm getting 2-3 sales a month -- the majority of those sales seem to come from small businesses -- with $0 in advertising (can't afford it, to be honest). I've been kept fairly busy adding new features for my users, but it's time to focus on another app, because 2-3 sales/month is definitely not enough to survive on. For me,…

You really need to invest some time in spicing up that page / site. I understand wanting to be minimalist, but come on... It needs a nicer structure / layout, a little bit more color, more pictures / screenshots. Lots of text may be what "hackers" like, but people in general want less; still informative, but less. There are other points, some which have been addressed, but I would start from making it look nice. Don'…

Wow, I didn't realize it looked so bad. I thought it was easy to see what the program was about, how to download it, etc, and looked clean, but I guess not.

I appreciate the feedback, and I'll definitely be working out a redesign of the site soon.

Re: Ask HN: Any programmers here that are able to make a living selling their own programs?

#49

Post by jamroom »

joshsharp wrote: post #46
jamroom wrote: post #26

I've been selling Jamroom online for almost 6 years - supports me full time + 2 part time developers, and a handful of designers as well.

Now that's a nice idea - you're basically just selling a CMS, but targeted at the music industry. Given the licenses don't seem to be recurring, you must have a fairly popular product to be able to live off it. Good work.

Thanks for the follow up - it's appreciated. Jamroom was one of the very first CMS's (at the time we called it a Media CMS) that supported audio/video - most CMS systems back in 2003 were focusing on blogging and text handling, so it helped to be one of the first systems handling media. The shutdown of mp3.com sent a lot of users in our direction looking to handle things on their own, and we've been organically growing ever since ;)
Post reply on HN