> I was just curious to know if there was anyone on this board who made their > living solely through income as an independent PalmOS developer. I'm not > talking about working for a development firm or anything corporate. I'm > referring to completely independent developers writing and distributing > their own software. > > I only ask because I'm curious if it is possible to do this, and because it > seems like most independent developers out there are people like me who are > only doing it in their spare time. > > Any thoughts, opinions, statements?
i setup shop in 1999 - and, we have shareware applications selling; of course, since we dont put a lot of effort into marketing and sales it does bring in money; but, not enough to live comfortably on a typical US$ salary - but, how much are you willing to make? it is enough to live comfortably in some countries of course *g* if you expect to earn a $100k US salary, forget it. thats a lot of sales required for that to happen. instead of focusing on shareware; i spend more of my time (80%+) consulting; doing stuff for companies on an as-needed basis. this gives a LOT more money than doing shareware applications; but, it is a get paid as you work thing. shareware is a work butt off, get paid over time thing :) both have advantages and disadvantages. being independent right now? hard. you easily get lost in the crowd; and, you end up not getting enough public attention that you get no sales. of course, if you are willing to sink in $$$ every month into advertising/marketing - you will get return. but, the larger your portfolio of applications; the better. sinking $10,000 US into a mail shot at palm will be very good if you have 4-5 applications to sell. a client of mine did this when they had 1 application, the mail shot generated about the same amount of revenues as it cost. so, no real plus there. and, yes. advertising is EXPENSIVE. with that said, if anyone needs help - we do consulting :) (and, have a very large portfolio) --- Aaron Ardiri [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mobilewizardry.com/members/aaron_ardiri.php [profile] -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
