Promoting your iPhone app in print

I don't see $150 breaking the bank, not if the app being advertised has sold marginally well in the past. And its a fun, different way for people to remember about your app after you've spoken to them about it (say, after a conference). If they seem interested, give them a card. And if the person in question isn't interested, just don't give them a card.

Not that the situation I outlined above is how the cards are being used. Instead, an application about running is being advertised at a running event. Presumably, you have some sort of interest in running, if you're watching a leg of a marathon take place. So, its not too hard to presume that this would be useful for more than 1 in 25 people watching the marathon.

This kind of reminds me of a sticker. Only, instead of just a picture of the app (or the app icon, in Colloquy's case when we handed out stickers), it also says a few words about what the app does for you.

percentage who download, percentage who purchase.

These two "funnels" are the same. The App Store doesn't currently have any sort of trial, and this app doesn't seem to have a free version of any sort.

or search on App Store by name -- can you even do that?

Yes, you can search for applications by name (or keyword, or developer) in the App Store.

Don't charge $2 if you're going to have marginal advertising expenditures, folks. It is not sustainable.

As a random datapoint, I've seen a few companies pay for a weekly spot on daringfireball, which is $2,500/week where the app only costs $2/app and the company didn't have any other applications available.