Just back from the keynote and first session at 360iDev and thought I would share some of my thoughts.

I already have tons of stuff written down from these two talks that I will be trying out in my own business and you can stay tuned to get the lowdown on that in the upcoming weeks.

But, I did want to share the one override theme on the topic of being successful on the app store that I keep hearing: your relationship with Apple.

Both David Whatley(making tons of cash with two successful games) and Matt Drance (a real Apple insider) have been talking about how important it is to start a relationship with Apple. That means getting to know someone at Apple who can help you.

They suggest going to the conferences (WWDC, etc) and just meeting people *in person*!  Court contacts at Apple before you need them and things blowup in your business.  Email them when you have significant news to share about your app, but do not abuse it!  Include promo codes.

Some other things: contribute to the community, make a good faith effort to help the community and contribute to open source projects that really help.  Use the new technologies that Apple is evangelizing and make sure your contacts know about it.  Have a solid offering and generally be a good, but assertive citizen.

Finally, hiring a good PR firm does appear to have worked for David.  He showed some convincing proof that hiring a PR was a very good move.  However, be prepared to have a product that the PR firm will stand by (they can be very selective and try to pick winners).

Just wanted to jump in here with the Apple relationship thing because this is something that I personally resist and I suspect you do too…