Asked this community where my first 10 customers would come from. Here's what I got wrong that I didn't expect.
A couple days ago I posted here about having two finance spreadsheet products (a SaaS financial model and an Etsy seller profit/tax tracker) with zero sales and asked where people's first real customers actually came from. Got way more useful pushback than I expected, so here's the honest follow-up on what I got wrong.
The positioning problem: both products are "for everyone," which several people pointed out is actually "for no one" in terms of knowing where to go find buyers. I'd written the Etsy tracker's listing like a feature list instead of matching how someone frustrated at tax time would actually search. I hadn't compared my listing title or first photo to real search terms at all - I'd written them the way I'd describe the product, not the way a buyer types a query.
The messaging problem: for the SaaS model, I'd buried the one feature people actually reacted to (it auto-writes your investor update paragraph from live numbers) as bullet point three in a list, instead of leading with it.
The product problem, which was the uncomfortable one: multiple people asked whether the tax tracker is actually used past month one or just during tax panic, since it's a manual ledger, not synced to Etsy's API. I don't have an answer yet because I don't have real users, but the honest read is that's a real retention risk, not a hypothetical one. Someone else flagged that the tool has no sanity-check on materials cost input either, which is the one number in the whole P&L that isn't handed to you by the platform.
None of this is "the product is bad." It's "I hadn't pressure-tested the parts that actually matter yet." Rewriting both listings this week around the actual search behavior instead of the feature list, and going to go look at Etsy seller communities specifically instead of generic SEO.
Anyone else find that the most useful feedback you got was the thing that stung a little, not the thing that was easy to agree with?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Nice work shipping it. What has been the biggest challenge since launch?
Nice progress. What is the next thing you are focusing on?
Makes sense. Are you planning to charge for it, or keep it free for now?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
The search terms observation is the one that'll actually move revenue. Most Etsy sellers typing frustration into Google aren't searching "profit tracker spreadsheet" — they're searching "how to track Etsy fees and taxes" or "am I actually making money on Etsy." If your listing title doesn't match the question, the product doesn't exist to that person.
We learned the same thing building UtilitySEO. Our free scan checks 100+ ranking factors, but nobody searches "multi-factor SEO analysis." They search "why is my site not ranking" or "check my website SEO." The tool is identical either way — the words on the door determine who walks in.
The retention question about manual ledger vs API sync is worth answering before rewriting listings, not after. If the answer is "tax panic only," that shapes which search terms to target and what the listing should promise.
Nice work shipping it. What has been the biggest challenge since launch?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Nice progress. What is the next thing you are focusing on?
Makes sense. Are you planning to charge for it, or keep it free for now?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Clear and practical, thanks. Did anything surprise you along the way?
Yes to the feedback that stings. The most useful thing I heard this week was that the team picker on my site was annoying on mobile (the keyboard popped up and hid half the list). Not fun to hear after launch, but it was a 20-minute fix that probably mattered more than any marketing I did.
Your "for everyone = for no one" point hits too. Going after specific fan communities one at a time is working better for me than posting to general audiences.
Really solid approach — I'm juggling something similar myself (building Xstream4K on the side), what's been the hardest part for you so far?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Interesting. How are you measuring whether it is working?
Nice progress. What is the next thing you are focusing on?
Nice work shipping it. What has been the biggest challenge since launch?
Makes sense. Are you planning to charge for it, or keep it free for now?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?
Makes sense. Are you planning to charge for it, or keep it free for now?
Great breakdown. What feedback have you had from early users?