Don’t be an App Store armchair entrepreneur
For all the developer griping about Apple’s App Store—some of which is justified—the App Store is a dream-come-true for developers because Apple does a lot of the heavy lifting, including server storage, payment and billing, and currency conversion.
But Apple doesn’t do your promotion for you.
Yes, Apple promotes some apps, but that’s really Apple promoting the App Store, not you. Apple decides this app and that app highlight desirable aspects of the App Store, so those apps get a free ride on Apple’s promotion.
All your app gets is a page on the App Store and, if you’re lucky, a mention in the New Apps section, but that’s it as far as promotion goes. Yes, there are many thousands of apps already and more arrive every day, but though your page is becoming increasingly hard to find in the App Store, it’s not getting any harder to find on the App Store—because that link to your app’s page still works fine.
Promoting that link is your job, not Apple’s.
What you say is certainly true. However, the simple fact is that no amount of promotion can compare to product placement on the App Store itself. For better or worse, every app’s sales are almost a direct function of whether Apple decides to feature it.
Bob Hearn
Author of Subway Shuffle — the #2-rated game in the app store (average star ratings)
Bob,
I agree with you insofar as Apple’s promotion on the App Store effectively divides all apps into two categories: Promoted and Unpromoted. Can’t know for sure, but I can believe that the poorest-selling Promoted apps might outsell the best-selling Unpromoted apps. But that doesn’t mean the best of the Unpromoted apps are selling poorly. For those in the Unpromoted category, rather than complaining about being unpromoted, they should promote their apps themselves!
Any promotion is good promotion.