Does this mean my idea is valid? What should I do next?
Hi,
I've been soloing on my website https://app.backirs.com for a few month, although it's not feature rich, the main concept is there. I have been looking for users to test it and received some constructive feedbacks, and they all seem to like the idea itself, some even offered to help me with copy writing and web design !
It's built for content creators and I have got 20 of them on my email list. However I do this by dropping DM on reddit, it's quite slow and hard to manage.
What should I do next?
Thanks!
How are you different from https://www.patreon.com? I mean other than the ad revenue.
Good question, yes I think mine is more tailored for writers and artists, so I'm planning to add author - fan collaboration features to help creators get feedback easily.
In a way it's also very similar to Medium, but there is no pay wall ( although in the future I might add purchasable content or something )
But wouldn't the store front have to make it clear how you are different from Patreon?
Hmm, are you saying I should add the above to my landing page? But those features are not there yet and I do think that the revenue share thing is the main selling point.
I don't think you will win over Patreon donors with revenue share - it just doesn't make sense as we were committed to giving money to less commercially viable products. This is why I am so opposed to a lot of Lean Startup implementations - judging PMF is a very tricky thing. Have you used Patreon yourself?
Uclusion found that building a product we could and do use ourselves and find to beat the competition is an easier thing than some statistical analysis of feedback. Plus you can read how telling people your idea to get feedback is coercive.
Thanks, I don't use patreon myself, though I'm aware of most of its feature. I'm definitely not trying to win over patreon, rather I'm trying to bridge a gap that they didn't.
How am I supposed to get feedbacks and try to validate the idea then? Most forums does not allow self promoting post, Is running ad my only option?
Well IH allows self promoting posts. But if you are trying to bridge a gap start first by assessing whether the gap exists. Actually use all of your potential competitors products - like Patreon, https://www.podia.com, etc. Think like one their users and judge if the gap is really there or not.
Thanks for the advice, I did think of that before I start, this whole idea came up is because this is something I personally would want to use (as a supporter) and there is no product offers the same feature. Though I don't know how appealing it is to others, that's why I'm unsure of my next steps...
As a supporter you wanted to share in ad revenue? I doubt that's the feature you were initially thinking of when you built this.
Up level a bit - maybe what you were thinking is that you would love a way to financially invest in your favorite creator and turn a profit? Ad revenue is an implementation detail its not the gap that you originally saw.
Ah yes, that is what I meant :P . Ad is the easiest to do. I originally was going to make a virtual currency type of thing and quickly realised that's not feasible and unnecessary...
I understand why content creators signing up (because they make money) and it shows that supporters make money, will it be more than the money I invested?
I also think you should add a FAQ as well.
Good point, thanks!
I think it's definitely possible but they should not bet on that. There is also the concern of their share become diluted, which I think either just let the 'market' balance it self, or add something like invest limit or deadline to fix it at some point.