First Paying User After 4 Years of Building This Side Project
Hello everyone,
I want to share my experience of building a side project for four years and finally getting my first paying user. It wasn't easy as I thought it would be. The real work began after the development phase was over, and I had to focus on marketing.
I realized that there's no such thing as passive income. Even after building the product, I still had to spend time and effort on maintenance and marketing. As a developer, I didn't do much in terms of marketing to reach out to people as I was more focused on finding solutions to problems.
And being a non-native English speaker also didn't help, as I struggled, like many of us here, to get my message across effectively. However, I didn't let this discourage me.
Finally, after two weeks of ending the beta period and launching subscription plans, I became the first paying user of my own product. Haha! Cause why not?
It's not cheating ;-) I wanted to encourage myself and be sure everything was working correctly.
I hope this story encourages other indie hackers to keep going and not give up on their projects. It takes time, effort, and patience, but it's all worth it in the end.
By the way, the project in question is https://bluright.com. It's an online image editing tool for content creators, marketers, and social media managers. It allows to add various effects, with various tools to the images, such as blur, spotlight, and text highlighting without uploading anything to the server.
Thanks for reading. Have a nice weekend!
Cheers!
Omg, 4 years for development is huge. I am rooting for this to pickup and get more paying users. It definitely has potential, just needs more marketing.
Looks like they went for a really mature product market. The MVP for those are huge. And they appear to have delivered. I have a feeling they'll do well if they do some marketing and continue product development.
Yeah, totally agree. I really want to see this hard work getting the due success.
Thank you both for your replies @upenv and @that_guy_iain!
You're right, marketing is crucial and, this time, I will try to to put more hard work on it. I wish I knew that from the start.
I appreciate your kind words and hope to continue delivering value to users.
Love that!!
I would try experimenting with the copy. For me the most important part is the work being done in the browser rather than the server. I would try something like
Blur, Highlight & Spotlight any area of your image easily
No need to download or install anything, you already have all what you need to edit your images
--->
Edit images in your browser like a pro!
Free trial. No downloads.
Oh, great feedback! 👍
I'll definitely change the copy when I have time to update/review the landing page. You've given me some good hints here :)
Thank you very much!
I just tried using the free option and all the preview stuff works but when I try to save the image I get a JS error which causes it to get stuck.
TypeError: this.ctxs[1].canvas.toBlob is not a function
at Proxy.download (0a9c6e98.js:12:100658)
at 0a9c6e98.js:12:62467
at 0a9c6e98.js:1:84620
at zt (0a9c6e98.js:1:14668)
at ut (0a9c6e98.js:1:14747)
at HTMLButtonElement.s (0a9c6e98.js:1:72020)
That might be affecting people converting to paid.
It's now fixed!
And I updated the landing page's copy a little bit too :)
Thank you very very much for your support!!
Cleared my cache and it works great!
Cool!
Thank you :)
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Congrats on the launch! I like your landing page
Thank you :)
Congrats on the release! Mind asking what's the tech stack you using?
Yeah, the backend is PHP and the frontend is Tailwindcss & Vuejs for the UI and pure/vanilla JS for the functionalities.
Thank you!
yooooo i just made this account so I can comment. Love what you're building. I'm a newsletter writer and have needed such product in the past so I know the need.
Dropped you a DM on twitter (@mitkopitko77) to offer some marketing help if needed
Ok, great!
Thank you :)
What would you do differently if you are able to go back in time for this project? Do you have any mistake in your mind that extends the building process?
For me this was a side project, literally. So, the time that it has taken for me is understandable as I wasn't working on it regularly.
But, if I had to start over, I would definitely put more work on the marketing thing. I would maybe try the #BuildInPublic strategy and write some blog posts to drive more traffic.
first post on IH for me and congrats on your project and future success!
Welcome & Thank you :)
Congrats! Not every project has to take off within the first months 😋 hope you get the second one soon
Yeah you're right!
The most important thing is to love what you do. The journey is long but the light is at the end.
And, yes of course, there will be a second and a third... ;)
that's the attitude! keep it up
👍
Congratulations! It takes a lot of dedication and persistence to stick with a side project for four years, but your hard work has paid off. Your first paying user is just the beginning, and I'm sure there are more to come. Keep up the great work and continue to improve your product or service to attract even more customers.
Thank you!
I will try to focus on marketing now :)
Oh, perfect opportunity to offer my special marketing software for busy solopreneurs here!
2quiet2market.com helps you create your own specific marketing playbook and turn it into a sustainable habit.
Signup for the free plan and have much success with your product!
Thank you. Will definitely check it!
If course!
Congratulations on being the first paying user of your own side project! Loved this idea :)
It's inspiring to see your perseverance and dedication to your project.
It's true that marketing and maintenance are crucial aspects of any project, and it's great to see you taking on the challenge. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
Congratulations on the launch and becoming the first paying user!
It's great to hear about your journey. As a fellow developer, I can definitely relate to the struggle of marketing and promoting a side project.
Best of luck to get real customers!
I appreciate! Thanks :)
This comment was deleted 3 years ago.
Thank you very much!
I hope the best for you too :)