004 : Conquering the niche app and reaping the rewards with Massimo Biolcati

NNL PodcastSome entrepreneurs spend their entire lives trying to build the Next Big Thing, but there’s another much more successful group of business owners: lifestyle entrepreneurs. The best part about being in the latter group is that there is practically no luck involved, just skills that can be practiced and learned. Follow a fairly simple formula and you’ll find success.

On this weeks episode of the podcast, I talked to Massimo, the creator of iReal Pro, an amazing music app that helps musicians practice and prepare for gigs. Massimo has been absolutely killing it with his niche app since 2008, and it doesn’t look like things are slowing down anytime soon.

I really respect Massimo because he had an idea for a useful app, taught himself how to code, and went on to build a product that absolutely dominates his niche. He shares his tactics for getting recurring revenue through in-app purchases, and why he has no fear of larger companies like Apple and Google.

If you want a reliable formula for creating income-generating apps, you’ll want to listen to this episode.

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003 : Building the ultimate roommate finder with Ajay Yadav

NNL PodcastWhat would you do if you came back to your apartment after a trip abroad to find out that your roommate had disappeared with the deposit, the locks had been changed, and your stuff was missing? I know my response would involve a large number of guttural screams and a healthy amount of crying.

Ajay, on the other hand, used it as inspiration to build Roomi, an app that helps people find ideal roommates. List or browse apartments, describe your lifestyle, and never get stuck with a nightmare roommate again.

After a ton of research, Ajay built Roomi from scratch — learning Objective-C in a few months using free online resources, hiring a designer, and creating a minimum viable product (MVP). He’s learned from past mistakes and really did it right this time.

If you’re still struggling to figure out your best next move, listen to this episode and follow in Ajay’s steps. You’ll come out with an awesome product.

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002 : Getting press in a crowded marketplace with Daniel Howley

NNL PodcastLAPTOP Magazine’s Daniel Howley joins me to talk about the do’s and don’ts about pitching your product to the press. Tech journalists’ email inboxes are particularly full this time of year because of CES, an annual trade show that’s the main event for many companies in the technology industry.

But with lots of emails comes lots of inefficient emails. Did you know that out of 50 PR emails, Daniel only actually uses about five? If you’re a small startup or sole developer, you need to be one of those five emails in order to survive.

Daniel shares what it takes to get read and noticed, and these strategies can be applied immediately.

(Hint: It’s not as hard as you might think.) Continue reading

(Short) 5 easy changes that will drastically improve your life

NNL PodcastThese are five little changes that will have the biggest impact on your life and productivity. This is a Novice No Longer Podcast short. Read the full article here: https://novicenolonger.com/easy-changes-that-will-drastically-improve-your-life/

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001 : It’s never too late to become a coder with Will Larche

NNL PodcastIn this inaugural episode of the Novice No Longer Podcast, I’m joined by Will Larche, the Lead iOS Developer at LearnVest. This episode is a little different than the stuff I usually teach — I almost always tell my students to hire a developer rather than learn to code themselves. But sometimes learning to program is the right path, and Will proves that anyone can become a developer, regardless of previous experience. Continue reading