Learning how to make apps for beginners can be intimidating but the good news is it isn’t that hard.  It can’t be – just look at how many developers are making apps already!  For this initial guide to making apps, we’ll first keep things simple and develop a basic skeleton on what you will need to do to build apps.  Every day, we’ll flesh out this skeleton with more and more details on how to make an app until you’re ready to build your own app.  Let’s get started.

How to Make Apps Guide

1.  The first step to making an app is to have a great idea.  You don’t want a good idea.  You don’t want an ok app idea.  You want a great idea for an app that can really help out people in some unique way or maybe your app isn’t unique but it takes an existing app function and does it better.  Your idea doesn’t have to be some solid gold nugget idea – just something that draws interest in some form or another.  Sound apps are a good example of very simple ideas that transformed into hot sellers.

2. The second step in how to make apps is gathering the tools you need to become an app developer and then developing your app.  I don’t want to bog you down with these yet, but for starters – if you’re building a Mac app – you’re going to need either an iPhone or an iPad and a computer with Mac OS X 10.5.5.  Odds are you probably at least have an iPhone or iPad already so there’s one check mark.  You’ll also need to join the Apple App developer program.  Making apps does require some start up capital to the tune of a few thousand dollars.  The cost of making an app depends on what tools and skills you come to the table with.

3. Next, you’ll need to literally sketch out your app.  In this step, you’re actually drawing what the screen of the iPad or iPhone will look like as you sketch out your app screen shots.  There are stencil kits and preformed paper for this to make it easier on you.

How to Make Apps for Beginners

4. Now, if you’re making an iPhone app as a beginner, you’ll need to hire an app designer.  App designers design your idea for the iPhone or iPad (think of them as cartoonists for cartoons).  Make sure you higher an app designer with experience and a portfolio to review.  (Reference: how to make apps for designers.)

5. In our next step in how to make apps for beginners, you’ll again need to hire someone unless you want to learn how to make apps as a developer.  This time, you’re hiring an app developer.  An app developer builds all the programming behind your app so that it works the way it’s supposed to.  There are programs that will help you generate an iPhone app without a programmer or doing any programming yourself.

6. Next, you will submit your app for review.  If you’re developing for the iPhone or iPad, you will submit your app to the Apple Store.

Once your app application is accepted, you have successfully made an app and it will now be in the app marketplace.  Now you can begin promoting your app via traditional advertising, asking app blogs to take a look at it, using social media to get the word out virally, etc.

How to Make Apps for Money

This checklist on how to make apps for beginners may seem daunting and there is some leg work involved, but once you finally make your app, the rewards can be extremely lucrative.  Although apps do not typically cost but $0.99 to $1.99 to buy, thousands can easily sell a day if they become popular.  To this end, there have been a handful of app developers who have literally become rich overnight from selling apps.

If you’re trying to find out how to make apps as an entrepreneur, let me tell you’re on the right track.  Apps are a rapidly growing industry that will generate tens of billions of dollars over the next few years.  If you take the time to learn how to build an app, pick out a great app niche, develop an app of high quality, and have a halfway decent app marketing campaign, you will make money from apps, lots and lots of money.

Even in their infancy, iPhone apps have generated insightful app developers tens of thousands of dollars within a few days.  For example, Joel Comm, a well known Internet Marketer, came out with the iFart app and literally made tens of thousands of dollars in just a few days.  The iFart app has become one of the best selling iPhone apps to date and all it is is a simple little app that makes sounds – nothing complicated at all.

Even if you’re completely new to making apps, you can figure out how to make apps and become successful as an app entrepreneur.  If you’re especially busy with your regular job, I recommend you take up app making as a fun side hobby and just see what comes of it.

Thanks for reading my guide on how to make apps.

Read my blog for more tips on how to make apps.