http://www.udemy.com/how-to-freelance-for-mobile-developers/ Learn about 12 things everyone needs to know when thinking about funding or building and iOS App.

1. Creating
iOS Apps
Top 12 Things
You Need to Know

2. 1. A Good Idea is Not Enough!
Everyone has a million dollar idea, or so they think!
So what research have you done?
Who's going to buy your App? Why do they need it?
How much will you charge? How will you market your App?
Do you have the skills needed to develop the App, if not, how
do you find someone who does?
How much will it cost. How long will it take?
Having a good idea is only a very small part of the process.

3. 2. Great Apps Need Great People!
If you are looking to produce a world class App, you'll need
to find and retain world class people. This may include
exceptional artists, developers, audio engineers, user Interface
experts, marketers and more.
Shopping around craigslist for bargain basement help is not
where you're going to find this kind of expertise. You're also not
going to find these people by contracting work offshore to the
lowest bidder.
These people are not easy to find and they are usually very
busy, so if you managed to connect with one of them, treat
them with the respect they deserve and fortune may smile
upon you.

4. 3. Real Expertise Costs Real Money
Real experts have spent years if not decades developing and
perfecting their skills.
They have gained hands on experience learning what works
and what doesn't by working on a variety of real world projects.
These people are not just programmers and artists anymore
then Leonardo da Vinci was just a painter.
Experts command a premium price, but will most likely end up
saving you a great deal of time and help you avoid making big
mistakes. Don't be shocked when these people are charging
$150, $200 or more an hour for their services, they're worth
every penny!

5. 4. World Class Apps Take Time
No, you're not going to get a truly exceptional App built in 2
months unless you have massive resources invested.
Realistically your App will take between 3 months for
something relatively straight forward to up to 6 months to a
year for something complex.
This is not web development, it requires a great deal of
thought, and a great deal of effort and specialized skills to get
it right. If you're thinking about your App like developing a
website you're definitely on the wrong track. Mobile
development is a different beast, so you'll need to learn to
adapt to a new way of thinking and cast off your old web
centric thought process.

6. 5. Apps are Never Really Done
Many people think that once their App has been submitted
and approved in the App store, that the work is all done.
Much like owning a car, your App will require constant
updates and improvement and this will really never stop.
Your App is a living, breathing entity and just like a child it
needs to learn and grow throughout it's life.
Don't forget to budget and factor in maintenance and updates
to your business plan and don't burn your bridges with your
developers and artists, you're going to need them again at
some point.

7. 6. You Need to Understand Mobile
If you don't understand the mobile space, then you'll need to
find someone who does and do it quickly.
I'd like to play in the NHL, but the fact of the matter is, I don't
skate very well, so my odds of success are pretty bleak.
The same priciple applies to the mobile space. You need to
know what's going on, understand how it's changing and be
able to predict where it's heading.
Time and time again, I see people with an idea and a bit of
funding decide to try and create and App with no real
understanding of the mobile marketplace. Don't let this be
you.

8. 7. Focus on One Platform at a Time
Trying to build for iOS, Android and whatever flavor of the
month comes along is a recipe for disaster unless you have
an already established and proven App.
More often then not, what ends up happening in situations
like these is that a lacklustre App ends up being created that
technically runs on several platforms by never really shines
on any one of them.
In addition, expert iOS developers don't do Android, they
don't have time for it and it distracts them from their area of
core expertise. If you find someone claiming to have really
deep expertise in multiple platforms, you should be be on
guard.

9. 8. You Need to Develop Iteratively
The old school way of developing software went something
like this. You fully specked out an entire project ahead of time
and they simply sat down and built it. This won't work now,
and didn't really work back then either.
You need to get a minimum shipping feature set up and
going as quickly as possible and the best way to do this is by
starting of with something simple and then rapidly evolving it
as you go. This is called interactive development.
Nobody in the history of the App store nailed their App
perfectly on the very first try and most likely neither will you.
Don't strive to be perfect, strive to constantly evolve your App
instead.

10. 9. Great Apps Cost Money
I'm continually amazed when clients glaze over when they
hear how much Apps really cost. I think part of the blame for
this arises from the Web. Because many people don't really
understand the mobile space at this point in time, they fall back
to the closest thing they do know, which is usually the web.
The problem is the web has been in a constant race to the
bottom as far as costs go for the past decade. Some of you
may remember the golden age of web sites when budgets
$100,000 to over a million for a website were not uncommon.
This is more inline with the current state of mobile.
Expect to pay at least $20,000 - $30,000 for a simple App,
between $50,000 - $75,000 for a mid level App and well over
$100,000 to a million for a complex App.

11. 10. You Need to Promote Your App
Marketing and promotion are not an afterthought, they are a
crucial part of all successful Apps.
You should be thinking about marketing and promotion right
from the very start.
The best way to guarantee your App will fail is to build and
submit your App to the App store and then sit back and do
nothing.
Not everyone understands the complexities involved in
successfully marketing and promoting an App, so if this is not
your area of expertise, you should try and connect with
someone with expertise and focus in this area.

12. 11. Use the Raw Native iOS SDK
Unless you are making a game, you really should be using the
native iOS SDK to build your Apps.
There are dozens of 3rd party frameworks that try to
supposedly simplify the complexity of iOS development, but in
my experience they all run into issues at one point or another.
These tools are not unlike the WYSIWYG editors that
prevented people from actually knowing anything about how to
properly code HTML in the good old days.
You need to have a deep understanding of the iOS platform
and the Apple frameworks. Tools like these cheat this process
and are often just wrappers for the native API anyway, so why
not just use it directly in the first place.

13. 12. Be Willing to Admit Ignorance
Ignorance does not mean you're dump. Ignorance means that
you simply don't know or understand something currently.
There are going to be many occasions throughout the design
and development of your App that you will encounter things that
you and your team simply don't know or understand quite yet.
The quickest way to overcome ignorance is to admit that it's
there and research, think and find ways to overcome it.
When you start any significant project, check your ego at the
door. Get used to the fact that you don't know everything and
that your are going to make mistakes. You're not always going
to be in control and you're going to need your experts to advise
you and help overcome the many obstacles that will present
themselves.

14. This Presentation was
Prepared By
Richard Hart
(iOS Architect/Project Consultant)
rhart[@]richardhart.ca
richardhart.ca
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dadgoesgreeen