Ask IH: Feedback on my course (landing page + concept)
Hello friends!
This is my first post on IH, I love the stories on this website and I'm working on 2 projects at the moment that are (hopefully) going to help me be an independent maker :)
I'd love to get your feedback on one of these projects: it's a course called NO CODE MVP that will teach you how build an MVP without code. I just put up the landing page at https://nocodemvp.com.
Questions:
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What do you think of the landing page and messaging?
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Is it clear what I'm offering?
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My goal is to sell 1000 courses in 1 year after launch, what do you think of that goal? I think it's highly ambitious, but hey ;)
What I'm still figuring out:
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Pricing: thinking $249/$299/$349 - working on the content as we speak so I think I'll decide on price when it's done.
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Adding a video to the landing page with an intro to myself and the course, not sure how it will help conversion
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Adding a link to one of the mvp example sites I'm going to show in the course
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How to "deliver" the course. The landing page is built with Carrd and I want to set an example (of course) by delivering my course without teachable or udemy, but with tools (zapier, mailchimp) that you can use for a codeless mvp. Problem is that when I don't put it behind a login, the content is free to share when just one person buys it.
Thanks for taking the time to check it out, much appreciated!
Bram / @bramk
Hi Bramk, nice to meet you. Well, we'll be short and direct, We hope our feedback will help you.
Answering the questions:
We don't like the blue background color, I think it loses a bit of seriousness to the central topic (it is our opinion, maybe this background is great for the rest of the world).
We think that the landing page has too much text, and could become an initial barrier.
We would make more emphasis on Startup Stash (show your numbers transparently, the process, the tools you used, etc.). [@rosa7082](https://twitter.com/rosa7082) and I added a section called "Now" in one of our small projects and it helps a lot to people to know more about us, about the process and the results: stylepill.carrd.co/#now.
Returning to the main subject, your best "cover letter" is Startup Stash, so take advantage of that, we would give more relevance and help more to convince people to buy your courses.
It is clear, but we repeat: we see too much text. We believe your course is great because we know your story, but someone who does not know your story will not feel attracted to pay immediately.
I think you can achieve it, 1000 courses in a year is not a crazy goal.
We hope it'll help you at least a 5% our opinion. We hope you have successes, and we'll be following your progress on Twitter ;)
Rosita & Sergio
thanks Rosita & Sergio, your feedback is much appreciated! I'm working on the text on the website + hoping to finish the first lesson soon so I can offer it for free to news email list subscribers :)
Hey Bram,
I really like the concept. I can see this project really solving problems for creative types and problem solvers.
On the landing page design...
Good job using a call to action for signups. I signed up! I think it would serve you better to use a flat UI color for the background. The color you are using gives it a dated vibe. A tool that can help you with this can be https://flatuicolors.com.
On the message it is clear what you are offering but it is wordy and the text feels really busy. A tip is to adjust the letter spacing attribute a tad. I would choose a different font header color for text like "What you will learn from this course".
This paragraph is a bit redundant. I would blow it away. Your title should get people to start scrolling. With dozens of tips, tricks, tools and a step-by-step building guide to 5 real life examples, you'll be ready to build your own MVP without code in no time.
One question I still had left after leaving your page. Would my MVP be distributed on mobile or web?
I hope this helps you reach your goal!
thanks Mike! Changed the bg to flat color, I like it! What color do you suggest for the headings?
Not sure which paragraph you feel is redundant, did you mean "With dozens of tips, tricks, tools and a step-by-step building guide to 5 real life examples, you'll be ready to build your own MVP without code in no time."?
The MVP's I'll be demonstrating with the tools I've chosen will be mobile ready websites with a backend for you to provide the service/value of your business idea.
So it's more than "just a landing page" - what I am going to teach people is how to define (very important) and then build a functional mvp that you can validate in the real world (ie: let people pay, you provide, and they receive the value of your product)”
The background looks good. Nice pick! For the headings, I would go in the area of a slight grey tone difference. Something in the ballpark of Clouds #ecf0f1 or silver #bdc3c7 can give it depth while being simple.
On the redundancy. A suggestion is to lose the 2nd paragraph and put "5 real life examples" in the 1st paragraph.
Remove the following for more simplicity and focus to the signup.
"With dozens of tips, tricks, tools and a step-by-step building guide to 5 real life examples, you'll be ready to build your own MVP without code in no time."
thanks I changed some stuff!
Looks really good! I like the layout and message. What is the biggest obstacle you face in trying to get 1000 sales and/or launching? Have an ideal launch date yet?
Right now I'm focussing on building the course structure and I want to finish the first lesson asap to show my early subscribers. I have 300 now and my plan is to launch when I have (at least) 1000 pre-launch subs. Let's say 5% converts and 50 people buy the course at $199 (finale price will be $249/299 I think), I'll have $10k. Then create look-a-like audiences of my subscribers and put some money in to ads to see if that works. But this can all change of course ;)
I look forward to see the 1st lesson. 300 signups is really good. What got traction for 300 signups? Was it IndieHackers, Twitter, reddit, etc? Any ideas on what can move the needle for the 700 more signups? Maybe a Kickstarter campaign and a nice offer can do that. Also, you might want to check out Pat Flynn on www.smartpassiveincome.com he talks about e-courses often.
I think from Twitter, my newsletter StartupWatching.com and my website StartupStash.com :) 330 today! will focus on the content first now and then figure out how to grow the list (even) more
Hey hope all is well. How have you been making out on the app?
Good to hear signups are still coming in. I know the feeling of not having enough time as you want to work a project. If you need assistance just mention it and I can help out if you are interested. Definitely would like to see this project launch. I like your other products also. Here is my site www.mriddick.com /Twitter: jus_mike
At 650 subscribers now - haven't been able to spend as much time as I wanted on this project last couple of weeks. Created outline for course yesterday + launch plan -> now content
Hi Bram,
I'm glad you picked the idea up, i let the domain expire the 14th this month (http://funnybretzel.com/blog/dont-learn-how-to-write-code/)
I wish you luck with the venture! If you need advice or have questions let me know.
Karim
wow, what a coincidence ! I'll read your post :)
Hi @bramk, just one thing. It seems you are targeting not-technical people (no code) but your name includes the acronym MVP - which is really quite a niche term in the startup industry.
Maybe consider changing the name to something like MyFirstApp or NoCodeApp.
Just my 2 cents :)
thanks - I've written "Minimum Viable Product" on the website on purpose. My target group is people who know what that is :)
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Who are you targeting to?
I build more than 10 landing pages before, not very interesting to me. But my main duties are marketing & sales.
An MVP is not a landing page - what I am going to teach people is how to define (very important) and then build a functional mvp that you can validate in the real world (ie: let people pay, you provide, and they receive the value of your product)
Landing page is good. I love Carrd. Been building a lot with it lately. I would say it feels more like a 'page 2' than an actual landing page. Something where I've clicked through to find out more details.
When I read '7-day email course' I assumed the whole was free. I think you'll need to offer a lot more than 7 days of emails to hit your target $249+
Do tiered pricing. Offer an upper tier (double price) that includes a bunch of extras like video interviews with other No Code MVP folks, case studies of how you would build well-known apps with the No Code philosophy, discounts for third-party services, etc.
I also think another commenter, @dmensen, hit on a real nice tagline - "Learn How To Not Code"
thanks for your feedback! Discounts on the services is something that's on my list :)
Thanks for sharing!
What's the strategy for a no-code MVP? I can imagine two strategies:
Using a clickthrough prototype like Invision
Teaching folks to pick out the core value proposition (e.g. sell your extra furniture) and find a way to sell that without a website (e.g. email us some info and we'll post it on craigslist for you).
Hopefully that's not giving away business secrets - it's just what I wondered as I looked at the site. I've built a lot of prototypes from paper to Invision to working code so I'm biased to what's familiar.
So the idea is to build 5 MVP examples: Marketplace (connect sellers and buyers), Online course (sell a course like NO CODE MVP), Consulting business (describe service, onboard new clients + automated workflow), On-demand service (request A, get confirmation, recieve B), Pre-order website (Payment + email list + welcome email + delivery of a file).
does that make sense? Obviously I can't show a no code iOS app, Mac tool or something similar.
Hi Bram,
These are just my opinions.
I feel you can improve on the Font for the landing page, its not the amount of text but not having the right font making it look cluttered. The title "No Code MVP" is also not very clear and separate.
Goodluck,
Hey! Thanks for your feedback - what annoys you about the font? It's Open Sans, my designer friends say it's the best Google Font to choose :p The title is made different on purpose since I don't want to develop a logo at the moment. Will think about making it better, thanks!
About the title, at a glance the space between the letters look as much as the space between words so it looked like all letters. That is just my opinion, it maybe wrong.
good point, will adjust a bit :)
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Landing page content is good. Imo it explains the value you provide. It looks better on desktop vs mobile; not sure why. The only issue is there's no example code less app that demos what people can build.
thanks! What's your main feedback with regards to mobile view? Not much I can change I think, will check it out.
I'm going to add a link to one of the 5 MVP examples on the website to preview.
I'm not exactly sure but looking at the desktop vs mobile side by side, it would have to be the graphics. They look just right for the desktop but it doesn't look right on mobile, especially the icons under 'What you will learn in this course'. The text and its layout are still fine for mobile
I think it depends on your phone OS how the emojis look on your phone, haven't thought of that ;) Not sure how/if people will buy a course like this on their phone.
I think it's primarily the size of those emojis when I think of it
ok thanks will check it out :)
Hi Bram,
I am fairly new to Indiehackers but as a fellow Amsterdammer and non-coder I felt inclined to respond.
Design
StartupStash look simple and elegant. Yet this seems to be text heavy and bulky. Of course this is all a matter of taste and it could be very well so that this kinda design works well for your target audience.
Message
The main message is direct and clear. I understand what to expect for this course, provided with the fact that I know what is meant by "Minimum Viable Product". Clearly I am your target audience :-)
The section "what you can learn" is confusing to me. The main message "assumes" I understand MVP, yet half of the course is about learning how to develop an MVP. I'd expect the course to skip this and go straight for the "build with no code" part.
The red bar "Marketplace | Online course | Consulting business | On-demand service | Pre-order website" is confusing, are they examples of what you can build with no code?
Put more emphasis on your credibility as a founder of Startup Stash. You have built a great product and should take advantage of that.
Pricing
These are just a few of quick thoughts. I hope it is of any help. Feel free to ask more feedback when necessary. Good luck becoming an independent maker, I root for you! :-)
Dennis
'Learn How To Not Code" is a great tagline!
Thanks Dennis! I understand the feedback with regards to the amount of text: I know it's perhaps too much but not sure how to use less and still get message across. It's definitely on my to-do list.
MVP knowledge: understand where you're coming from and it's something I want to highlight more since I think using a no code approach needs a different mindset with regards to defining your mvp.
the red bar are the examples yes, I added some text above it and removed red highlight
am thinking about how to improve the "about me" part
I'm thinking to do $349 and offer it for $249 to early subs
Thanks for taking the time, much appreciated!
If you need help reviewing the content, I'd be happy to help!
thanks!!
Hi Bram.
Nice to see someone from the Netherlands here, I'm from Belgium myself.
I like the message of the landing page, as well as the concept of an MVP without code (even though I'm a developer).
The bright blue makes the page somehow look less serious, but that's about the only negative thing I can find about it.
Dries
thanks Dries! Second time someone mentions the blue background color - will think about adding a softer blue :)
To be honest, I also found the background colour to be visually jarring (with the white text). It literally hurt my eyes to read. And this is from someone who prefers dark background and light text. I recommend reducing the contrast between foreground and background. All the best!
ok thanks, will adjust with a softer blue :)
Hey Bram,
Looking around the web, there really seems to be a bit of a no code movement, so it's great that you'll be riding that wave.
Just my thoughts on a few points:
Messaging
Simple, concise and clear. I know what is offered.
Design
Very basic and to the point, not too fancy/artsy, which again is a bit of a movement right now - I like it.
Video
Videos are always great, especially if they feature you. For me it makes it more personal, as I can see who is behind everything.
I'm excited about this. A lot of people have ideas for an MVP, but can't code (I'm one of them), so this will definitely speak to them - all the best on achieving your 1000 course goal!
thanks Leandro! The video is on my to-do list but will add other things first (demo of 1 mvp example + free first lesson).
Hi Bram,
Great start! My comments would be:
Maybe it's my personal feeling, but too much repeating text everywhere but no details about what EXACTLY will you show, what does it mean "codeless" - what tools? Excel? Google Sheets? Wix? Hosting?
Yes, at least one example of that project is a must
I would add a sample course video or something
Outline of the course (list of lessons) is a must if you offer such a high price
Also I would find a proofread person/people to check your content while you're creating it and tell their opinions before the launch.
In general, for now it's not a clear concept and not even clear who is the target audience - wannabe-startupers who don't have money to hire a coder but have money to buy your course?
I hope it didn't sound negative. The idea is great but need clearer messaging, imho. Good luck!
Thanks for your feedback!
I've added a new section with an overview of tools, will improve this.
Will also add one MVP example soon
I will send the first lesson for free
outline of the course is a good idea, I think I will add that to the welcome email for early subscribers who get the free first lesson.
I'm going to share my journey with my early subs and gather feedback
Target audience is anyone who wants to be able to develop an mvp quickly without needing (to hire someone) to code. $349 gets you a developer for 3 hours, nearly not enough to create an mvp :p