The answer to the title’s question is simple.  It never strikes the same place twice.  So why am I even bringing this up?  Because you’ve got untold opportunity on the horizon, and you’re likely squandering it.

I want to start with a history lesson.  Think back to the mindset of the California Gold Rush in the 1840’s.  There were a few brave souls that weathered the elements, terrain, and wildlife of North America to make it to the west coast in search of untold riches.  Let’s call one of them Bill.   I’m sure that as he was packing up his gear, he had friends (let’s call him Tony) scoffing at him, saying things like, “You’re crazy.  Send me a letter if you find anything, and maybe I’d consider coming out there too.”

So Bill headed west, and he found a fortune.  And to his word, he sent a letter back to his friend, Tony, back home: “Found gold.  Loads of it.  But there’s so many people here now, I wouldn’t bother coming.  Sorry about your luck.”

Bill is a risk-taker.  He carted himself (and probably his family) across the country.  He might have even lost someone to dysentery.  The opportunity I want to discuss with you involves NONE of these risks, I promise.

My opportunity relates to Windows Phone applications.  You’ve likely had thoughts similar to Tony.  “Why would I spend my time to write an application, when I don’t even know if I’ll make any money doing so?”  The Bills of the world are already WAY ahead of you.  They’ve already downloaded the free beta development tools.  They’ve already built a simple Twitter client, just to see how easy it is.  They’re the ones chasing the next gold rush.

Imagine being the next guy to make a million dollars on an app that makes crude noises.  All you have to do is take that chance.  And it’s a tiny chance at that.  All you have to do is take your existing development skills, apply them to something you need your phone to do today (that it currently doesn’t do), and voila, you’ve got a significant opportunity to profit from that idea.  There’s no chance of dysentery on this road (unless you’re doing it wrong.)

But you’ve got to do it now.  You don’t want to be the guy with the 15^th flashlight app.  He’s still waiting for his check to arrive.