AppMakr: it is a user-friendly application builder system for iOS. Users can create an application for their portal in a flash and publish it to iTunes in no time.

MyAppBuilder: lets you turn your blog into an iPhone application quickly. You can use it to promote your e-book, get your brand more exposure, and engage your audience.

App Inventor: this tool is a part of Google Labs. It can create fairly sophisticated applications as long as you take time to get yourself familiar with everything it has to offer.

Native Apps Builder: a WordPress plugin that creates a native version of your blog for iPhone, iPad, and Android. Just download the appropriate code and submit it to the appropriate store to go live.

If you need to create a native iOS or Android application for your online business in an affordable fashion, the above tools can more than help.

One of the best ways to make money online is by taking advantage of the hottest trends in the tech market and get a jump start over your competitors. iPhone development is one of the hottest avenues for entrepreneurs to make money online. And with the latest decision by Apple to allow in-app purchases for free apps, there are more ways to adopt a freemium business model and start making a living off of those so-called “free apps.” Starting an iPhone business is very similar to any other business. You will need to have a plan, an idea that works (though you could use simple apps to start a business as well), and execute your plan in a manner that would give you business the best chance to succeed.

There are many developers who start writing their apps without testing their market and conducting a comprehensive business analysis. You can be the best developer in the world, but if you don’t approach your development venture as a business, it’s going to stay your hobby. Every-time you want to develop a product, you need to do your research, identify your audience, their potential need, and ways to market your product. You also need to be prepared to offer after-sale support to keep your credibility with your customers.

If you are planning to start your iPhone business, here are a few things you need to pay attention to:

• Market Analysis: before starting your application business, make sure you know your market. Study the best cases, identify the best tools for your app development, and do research on your market to find out who your competitors may be in your niche. Even if you don’t have a clear idea what you want to develop, as long as you know your niche, you should have no trouble identify a list of your potential competitors.
• Idea: there are a lot of people who have developed simple apps that have gone viral. Your idea doesn’t need to be earth shattering. Applications such as iFart went viral, but they were not too complicated in concept. Keep it simple.
• Prospects: closely tied to the above steps. You want to make sure you know who your ideal audience is. Not everyone’s going to like your app. But as long as you can figure out who may be interested in your app, you can pin down her needs and offer more value.
• Business Model: there are many different business models you can adopt for your app business. Some people make money from free apps (with advertising). You can also offer a freemium app (asking people to upgrade for premium features). Either way, make sure you decide on your business model and avoid confusing your customers.
• Product Development: if you are planning to develop your app by yourself, you want to make sure you stay on the top of the latest technologies and best cases out there. The SDK is changing all the time, and you need to keep up if you want to develop an app that people want to download and share with others.
• Team Building: closely tied to the previous step, if you just want to run the business, you want to do your due diligence to hire people who can get the job done.
• Strategy: there are a lot of people who would pay for bundles if you can offer them more value. If you can bundle up your app with a complementary product, you can provide more value to your customers.
• Promotion: there are plenty of free ways to promote your app. Whether it’s creating mini-sites for your app and optimizing it for search engines, using Google Adwords and other advertising services to push your apps, or just creating YouTube videos to help others decide whether your app is worth it, there are plenty of ways to push your app. I have to admit, offering a freemium app is the best way to promote your app. At least offer a lite version of your app.
• Branding: business 101 really. If you plan to stay in this business for long, you need to brand your business, and you need to work on building credibility with your customers. That would also mean you won’t get away with sub-par apps.
• Business 101: recruiting, idea protection, business management, and planning are all the basics that everyone needs to master to run a real business more effectively. Running an iPhone app business is not that different from any other business.

The business of iPhone development is going to get even hotter in the upcoming months. Starting an iPhone application business is not too difficult, but it does take a bit of work. There are a lot of people who can write apps, but not too many who can go viral and make real money from their apps. Paying attention to the above items should give you a better chance of making it in this industry. Of course, you want to stay tuned for the second part of this series for more details.

If you are looking to take your business mobile, here are 6 business gadgets to get started:

Netbooks: netbooks are tiny computers that let you get your work done on the road without having to carry around a whole lot of weight. Netbooks are great for blogging, managing your e-mails, and tracking your tasks on the go. They are energy efficient too.

ooma VoIP phone system: a great way to save money on your small business phone bills and get the best phone features available on the market. You can also take your phone with you anywhere you have access to an Internet connection.

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 Camcorder: a super HD portable camcorder that is easy to carry around but lets you capture high quality videos on the go. If you are into content production, Xacti camcorder comes in handy. You can also go with budget options such as the Flip camcorder.

Livescribe Digital Pen: if you are taking a lot of notes (ideas, reminders, …), Livescribe comes in very handy. It keeps track of everything you write, and you can search through your notes as well. One of the most innovative gadgets around.

iPhone: doesn’t need any introduction. One of the best smart-phones around, and you an extend its capabilities by using the proper apps. It’s not cheap, but if you are a small business owner who wants to be in contact with others at all times, the iPhone comes in handy.

Kindle: you may own a mobile business, but that doesn’t mean you should stop reading and learning new things. With Amazon Kindle, you get to do just that on the road. It comes with free wireless service, so you always have access to Internet as long as you are in the U.S.

What’s your favorite small business gadget?

As someone who has been involved in the online marketing business for years, I hear from people who have started their iPhone development business from time to time and try to help them out get more traffic and sales. Developing a killer iPhone application may sound difficult, but promoting it could be even more troublesome for iPhone developers. A lot of these folks are not online marketing experts, so they find it difficult to figure out where to spend their effort on. After all, you only have 24 hours a day and limited resources when you start your venture, so you want to make sure you get the most out of each and every minute everyday. But there are a certain things every application developer can do to promote their apps more effectively and get free leads.

Online marketing may look complicated on the surface, but there are a lot of tactics that everyone can adopt to generate leads. Sure, there are more complicated strategies that are better left to professionals but creating a Twitter account, a YouTube video, or a Facebook fan page is not that difficult to do. If you are an application developer, here are 10 tactics you should adopt to push your app and generate more sales:

• Video Review: creating a video review for your app can help others find out whether your app is worth trying. It’s easy to tell people what your app is capable of. But it’d be all more effective if you show people what your app can do in a video. You can even give applications away in return for video reviews. You should at least try to create a YouTube account and post a couple of videos from your app to show what your app can do. There are many other video sites that you can be on, so make sure you take advantage of what’s out there.
• Lite Version: one of the best ways to show people what your app can do is by giving others the opportunity to test your app for themselves. That’s why it’s a great strategy to create a lite version of your app and give it away for free and encourage your lite users to make the move and buy the premium version.
• Facebook Fan Page: one of the best ways to get connected with your fans and build a real community around your application. Don’t forget to register a catchy name for your Facebook page when it’s eligible.
• Twitter: if you have an iPhone application that you are selling online, and you are not on Twitter, you are missing the boat. Twitter is a great community to find people who are interested in all kinds of products. Use Twitter search or these twitter tools to figure out who may be looking for your app.
• FriendFeed: may not be as popular as Facebook and Twitter nowadays, but it certainly has a lot of potential and a bright future. You should take time to sign up for an account, connect with folks, join rooms, and be involved.
• Ning: Ning is a cool web service that lets you create your own social community. If you have a niche app, why not create a social community around your niche and push your app that way. Ning doesn’t cost any money (unless you go with premium features) so it’s worth a try.
• LinkedIn: now this is a bit more tricky to pull off, but you can always try to reach out to folks in your niche or industry on LinkedIn and either push your app or ask them to spread the word around. You do want look useful on LinkedIn. So don’t hesitate to post polls, ask questions, answer questions, and work on your profile.
• Giveaways: once you have your social media accounts ready, you should try to make things interesting by giving away copies of your app to your followers and Facebook friends. Freebies are a great way to go viral, and people who win these competitions can help you spread the word around and gain more leads.
• Bloggers: reaching out to top bloggers is an amazing way to drive lots of traffic to your app and make a killing on iTunes. If you happen to get featured on Engadget or any other top blog, you are going to get more traffic that you can handle. Don’t be afraid to reach top bloggers and ask for their reviews.
• Press Releases: press releases can drive you lots of traffic if you play your cards right. Ask any search engine optimization professional, and he/she will tell you how important press releases are to their overall strategy in optimizing a site for search engines. Just choose keywords that can help you make sales and include them in your press release. It’s easier said than done, but there are plenty of sites that can show you how to go about writing a killer press release.

There you have it. You don’t have to be a genius to pull the above tactics off. These tactics, if implemented correctly, can get you a lot of traffic and sales. The first days of any venture can be difficult but once you tough them out and gain momentum, who knows where your business can take you.

You don’t have to be a genius to realize the money-making potential in the iPhone world. The iPhone is still one of the hottest gadgets on the market, and things are going to heat up even more with the release of iPhone 3.0. What does that mean for you as an entrepreneur? Simple! You’ve got to start looking for ideas to take advantage of the new changes in the platform. The time is now to recruit your team and work on your ideas. The new platform will allow programmers to sell more add-ons from within their applications, which means you can earn even more money. But you’ve got to move quick and try to learn what others have done to generate revenue from their iPhone applications.

If you want to make a living from your iPhone efforts, you need to have an application that not only provides others with some value but could also go viral. Take iFart for example. It’s a very simple application that provides lots of fun memories for those who use it wisely. There are a lot of other apps that you can look at to get ideas about how to be successful with your iPhone development venture. Ultimately, it takes a bit of an effort to write applications for iPhone, so you don’t want to waste time and create something that people don’t want to buy.

Here is how to go about creating your own successful iPhone application:

• Address a need: this point is tied closely to the last two. The need to have fun, to kill time, to manage tasks, or to find things fast can help you sell more apps. Some needs people die to get. Some others, people rather address for free or pass completely.
• Market Research: do your market research to make sure what other applications address the same need as your app. You don’t want to create a paid application to address a need that is being fully addressed by a free iPhone apps on iTunes.
• Market your app: have you wondered why some application developers manage to extract $$$ from their customers even though their applications are not that much different from free iPhone applications on iTunes?
• Go Viral: you want to create an app that is not only useful but also encourages people to share it with their friends, colleagues, and others. The more innovative your app, the better chance you have of going viral.
• Customer Service: No matter how perfect your iPhone app is, there will be folks who will have trouble using it. Make sure to address their questions and create goodwill in the process.
• Updates: your job is not done once you have written your app. You’ve got to keep improving and listen to your customers to provide features that they are looking for.
• Add-ons: the new platform provides an easy way to sell add-ons for your apps on iTunes. Make sure you plan this out to maximize your profits.
• Price: Don’t get greedy. If you plan to have a long, profitable venture,  you may want to price your first app fairly low to allow enough folks to try your product and get to know your work. Just remember a lot of folks give their first apps up for free. Being greedy can hurt you in the long run. You can also create both free and paid versions to give your potential customers a chance to test your app for free and see why they need to upgrade.

There you have it. The more creative you get with your app, the better chance you have of make it big in this industry. Keep in mind creative doesn’t mean “cute.” You’ve got to provide a unique value to your users if you want to make it big time. I am afraid cute, useless apps won’t cut it here.

Your turn: how much success have you had with your iPhone applications so far?