How to create your own iPhone app

I wanted to share a new service called AppMakr that allows anyone — even me  — to easily create an iPhone app for less than $200. With just a few clicks, I created an iPhone version of my blog.

The service offers a user-friendly interface to create a native iPhone application that you customize with images and content feeds. You can also monetize it by charging a fee or including ads. The service can publish your iPhone app to the iTunes app store or for a higher fee you can publish with your own branding.

What you get is a very simple, informational iPhone app — it doesn’t give you any interactive features that might be critical to achieving your goals. However, you’d probably be paying far more than $200, perhaps even as much as $10,000 for a customized app.

If you’re contemplating setting up a low-cost experiment, AppMakr is offering a big discount to readers of this blog. You can create an iPhone app for $50. Just type in KANTER in the coupon area. The discount is good through Jan. 18.

An inexpensive mobile solution

Let’s say you knew your supporters/followers were iPhone users and were asking for ways to access your content on their iPhones. And let’s say you had an extremely limited budget, no design skills, and lacked iPhone programming expertise. This service is an inexpensive way to get your organization’s content into a native iPhone.

If you want to be successful, I suggest that you spend more time designing and planning your app than I did. For example, you could create multiple tabs. You’ll also need to think about ways to promote it to your audience so they can find it and download it. And, of course, you’ll need to figure out some metrics to measure your success.

Cross-posted from Beth’s Blog.Beth Kanter is CEO of Zoetica, a consultancy for nonprofits. See her profile, visit her blog, contact Beth or leave a comment.