I love Christmas. Give me the cheesy Christmas songs, the big tree full of decorations and 100 presents to wrap beside a crackling fire and I am as happy as I’ll ever be.

I’ve also been taking it easy on the work front while simultaneously having my biggest revenue days ever this Christmas day & Stephens Day.

And I’ve loved spending time at home with my family in Ireland. But it hasn’t always been like this.

I have to confess something. I am a workaholic. And this time three years ago I started an app business in 7 days.

I had been working for a company in the city and a colleague of mine had introduced me to something called apps. I didn’t know anything about this, but he got me curious. I drove home that Christmas eve and within about an hour I had my laptop plugged in, wifi on and google open. And so my quest began.

I wanted to know how someone like me, who could not program (and to be honest I didn’t really want to learn!) could make an app. What I was looking for was the ‘WordPress’ for apps. Minimum effort, maximum results.

I found lots of rubbish to be honest, and about 7/8 websites that claimed to be online app builders which with a few clicks would have my shiny new app published on the store. Of course 99% of them when talking out of where the sun don’t shine. The first two days (Christmas Eve & Stephens Day) I spent going through these sites and dismissing them.

Day 3 I stumbled over buzztouch.com. This website seemed different. Firstly it had a really active community and everyone was helping everyone. Secondly I looked at what they offered and it was really customisable and could be used for lots of different apps. It wasn’t just a set of restricted templates like the others. And thirdly, I realised that while I couldn’t make an iPhone app (I didn’t own a Mac yet) I could use Buzztouch to make an Android app, and then install something called ‘Eclipse’ on my PC and then publish it to the Google Play Store. Bingo.

So I got to work. For the next few days, I didn’t go partying, I didn’t sleep in until noon and I didn’t have time for any hangovers. Instead I was up early, and spent all day with steam rising from my keyboard as I willed Eclipse and various Android plugins things to play nice together and let me compile my soon to be first app.

I won’t lie – this was painful. Setting up Eclipse when I had no idea what I was doing was like pulling out my fingernails very slowly. But I was stubborn. If other people could do this then I was going to get it done as well.

So on New Years Eve, exactly 7 days later at approx. 11.55pm, my first app, which taught horsemanship was published on the Google Play store.

Best. New. Years. Eve. Ever.

I cannot describe to you the buzz I got from making that app. That app was what started my whole app business, which was resulted in me being able to quit my job, travel the world, ride my horse, and spend time with my friends and family. Not only that, but it’s opened my eyes to how much is possible in the world when you realise that you have the power to do anything – if you get off your arse and start to make things happen. Even if they seem impossible.

So I want to give something back. I love growing my business, but seeing other people change their lives based in some part to the advice I have shared with them blows my mind. So this holiday season I want to help each of you to start or grow your app business.

Since I started my business, I learned that getting your app in the store is only one part of having a successful app business. What really makes the difference is having a great team, keeping your business profitable and getting your apps published.

Once you have some momentum going then you need to outsource as much as makes sense, understand more deeply how to launch and market your apps, and really focus on the different methods you can use to earn money your apps. Whats blowing my mind (and revenue) right now in my business? IAPS and banner ads. Seriously 

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