Due to some personal stuff needing focus, I've kind of left this mobile development scene over the past year. A couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd come back into this and rock the world. But boy, was I in for a shock.

We all want our mobile apps and games to succeed. I know I always want mine to be a success. There has been one very obvious reason for almost all of my failed mobile games. And that reason is...

The distribution platform for mobile apps and games is so "free", that there are almost no barriers to entry. Neither is there much stopping one from publishing. So, Ketchapp has decided this year they would be publishing one game a week. Are we in for a digital dumping ground? I would say what Ketchapp has planned is one way to look at the business of mobile apps and games. (The other view is about complexity and higher quality and life of apps and games, a story of another post). Apps Portfolio & Growth I always advice anyone starting off in this to build your portfolio of apps. Use the apps to cross promote newer apps. I've always recommended this strategy to get the ball rolling and growing. After understanding what Ketchapp has planned, I realised that the app publishing should not just stop at entry level. Even when you have grown your portfolio, as a small duck, its still an awesome idea to keep growing your might and keep flexing the muscles.

The year before, it was Dong Nguyen's Flappy Bird. Last year it was Hipster Whale's Crossy Road. What would the hit of 2016 be? Be sure to look out for 2-word game titles, with the first one ending with letter "y" (Angry Birds, Candy Crush, Clashy Clan, I can go on and on...). These games should be major inspiration for us indie developers. They show that it's still possible to make it in the app stores. They also remind us that often times, simple ideas go higher than the more complex ones. So keep working on it, maybe you'll hit the next big one? Here's to the indie of 2016! Cheers! Bill

Let's take a look at Heyzap review by me with a focus on their cross promotion tool. If you've read my blog long enough, you'll know that I love Heyzap. They're pretty cool, have great developer relation, well performing ads, and their dashboard provides quite some useful tools. Also, if you're a long enough reader, you'll know that I've placed a very high importance on cross promotion to drive an apps growth. After all, getting more downloads for your apps is what will drive your revenues up, and keep you in this business for a long time.

Coming from a technical background myself, I at one point really hated anything out of coding. I mean, it  excites me more making a new app than it is trying to change the color of the CTA button in the latest cross promo image of my last game. But its changed recently. I really love the challenge. And Marketing is one helluva challenge! The Marketing Hat As a one man show, I'm constantly changing hats. I'm the developer, designer, coffee maker, product tester , publisher, and the marketer too! And at this stage I love marketing as much as I do coding. And it would do you good to embrace it too, even if you're outsourcing the hat. What App Marketing Is Marketing is like leading a bunch of horses to the water. Whether they drink or not, well, that's where sales come in, but I'll leave sales for another day. How do you get the horses to the water? How do you tell the horses there is water in the first place? How are you going to attract more horses

With the new year, comes new beginnings. And let's start this one off with what's in store in the world of apps and mobile games business. Every year, changes take place. And in order to reap the most benefit from these changes, you should keep up with the happening trends. This 2016 will be no different. And here I share some possible focus areas for your apps business. Virtual Reality If you hang around the gaming space, you'll realize 2015 introduced a "new" toy into the market. The VR goggles thingy! VR is getting hot, and seems to be easily accessed by more people. Sure, pricing wise its beyond what most people will wanna spend money on. But history has shown that over time, prices of goods come down (especially when China gets "creative") . It would be great to look at how you can make your games especially, VR ready. New market with very little competition right now. Remember, a fart app made over a million dollars back when it a