The secrets to making money with mobile apps [Video]

There are hundreds of thousands of iOS and Android apps for buyers, but most don’t make a dime

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A couple years ago, it was clear a Gold Rush mentality was brewing as the iPhone proved that people really, really wanted mobile apps. Lots of developers jumped in to claim their fortune, as did many students and regular folks lured by the promise of easy money through cookie-cutter apps created for them by forms-based websites. The Gold Rush fever has cooled, but not the desire for mobile apps, nor have the opportunities for real developers to make real money from mobile.

Forrester Research estimates that $17.5 billion worth of mobile apps will be sold this year across all platforms. Subtracting the cut that Apple, Google, and others get for placement in their app stores, that’s at least $13 billion for developers to pocket. But how to ensure you get the biggest slice of the pie? Ilya Laurs, founder of the app …