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Please help me improve treetide.com/book/programming-without-anxiety!

Please help me improve https://treetide.com/book/programming-without-anxiety! I'm following Julian Shapiro's landing page guide, but this is my first LP to build.

Please check it now, then return to read my specific points, to avoid bias.

=== snip ===

One specific question I have is the Download Free Sample button. Positioning it like now, at the top of the page, I fear it might draw a quick download but then make people lazy about subscribing. Do you think it is founded assumption?

About topics covered:

  • I like the cardy layout, but maybe a Table of Contents would be better?
  • Do you even read the contents, or just the headlines.
  • Do you have a clear picture about the content to expect?

+Any other remarks you have! Thank you!

#landing-page-feedback

on April 8, 2019
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    Programming anxiety?
    What the heck is that? ;-)

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      Not sure if joking or not, so sorry if were.

      Procrastrination. Blockage. Sitting in front of your keyboard, with nothing apparently stopping you from advancing with your task, yet you don't. Blaming third parties instead of holding your breath, diving in and fixing broken stuff. In a nutshell :)

      If you didn't experince such things, good!

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        Sorry I really don't want to ruin your business but people need to know the truth :)

        If you didn't experince such things, good!
        Of course, I do, and pretty often!
        But I experience it not only when I code. Procrastrination and blockage are pretty common things when you try something not prepared. For example, it can be called "gardening anxiety" or "documenting anxiety"...
        Sitting in front of your seedbed...
        Sitting in front of your form to be filled...
        Sitting in front of your sewing machine...
        So my recipe is very simple.

        1. If I don't know something what prevents me from doing the task I go and get known (books, videos, articles, even higher education - all work).
        2. If I don't know what to do, I just separate the goal into subgoals, and them - into tasks, and them - into steps.
        3. If I don't have enough motivation and procrastinate, I stop doing this at all and find something that will motivate me from inside.
          I hope your book has much more, but I believe the core is that.
        1. 1

          Good point. As a good friend pointed out to me, no "method" or "hack" works consistently without strong internal determination, a drive stemming from responsibility.

          There are a few catches. Researching or making elaborate plans could as well be procastrination themselves. Also we might confuse motivation with enthusiasm, but on the long term it's worth to seek motivation in responsibility. Enthusiasm might come and go, but responsibility stays.

          If the book becomes a success, I'll replace all the coding with shoveling, sell it as Gardening without Anxiety and you'll get a free copy ;)

          Addition: I agree I might replace the book with the sentence Be responsible and a good steward of what you were tasked with, but sometimes, especially in times in despair, people might need slightly more specific guidance, or a little prodding.

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            Researching or making elaborate plans could as well be procastrination themselves.
            Right, it's when only the inner motivation can help.
            Also we might confuse motivation with enthusiasm, but on the long term it's worth to seek motivation in responsibility.
            Well, agree. To avoid confusion it's always a good idea to wait some time until your enthusiasm's gone (or not).

            If the book becomes a success, I'll replace all the coding with shoveling, sell it as Gardening without Anxiety and you'll get a free copy ;)
            Ho, you bet!

  2. 1

    This seems like a fantastic idea, I've already signed up. :)

    Feedback:

    • I think the card layout is just fine, I didn't read it as a table of contents, which is ok IMO.
    • read both content and headlines
    • card layout gives a clear idea

    I would make the "June 2019" release date more prominent up top, sparks more interest to me. Nice work so far!!!

    1. 1

      Hey, thank you!

      Good point to emphasize imminent release. On a related note, @louisswiss suggested in a separate thread to switch to Pain-Dream-Fix layout. I'll toy around with that as well.

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        Oh the Pain-Dream-Fix is Amy Hoy's model. I like the cardy layout but I would also agree that the "dream" or solution of "Programming without Anxiety" would be a nice thing to highlight on the landing page

        https://stackingthebricks.com/how-i-increased-conversion-2-4x-with-better-copywriting/

        PS: If I were you I would promote the shit out of this book to junior developers- have you started lurking in https://www.codenewbie.org/?

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          She has good points - my only objection to the style is that you know you are being sold, but it still contains just enough information to keep going.

          Thanks for the codenewbie pointer, didn't know about the site! "Promote the shit out" sounds a bit opportunistic, but maybe it's just enthusiasm in your voice ;) I'll see if the presentation fits junior devs well.

          The knowledge is sure useful, but being a junior it might be a bit early to appreciate the use. Never hurts to be prepared for the ups and downs of the trade though.

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            I think newbies have these issues, and the problems are too readily dismissed as "imposter syndrome". I think it would be a breath of fresh air for someone to give them actionable advice to help them deal with insecurities that are rooted in debugging and coping with unclear expectations.

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              Thanks for the perspective. Too much stress debugging.