I Made a Rookie Mistake That’s Now Costing $3,000 to Fix!

Hey Indie Hackers,

So here’s the gist: I made a rookie mistake when we launched Trameter, and I’m here to own up to it (and hopefully redeem myself). Also, let me know what you really think about the fix?

We built Trameter for people who hate travel planning—I wrote all about it here. Our launch went well on Product Hunt and other platforms. Things were looking great until we realized a small (okay, huge) issue: we forgot to prompt users to turn on notifications in the app. 🤦🏽‍♂️

It would’ve been fine if we required sign-ups before people explored the app. But nope, we’ve always been big on a no-friction experience, so we let users explore without signing up. We wanted them to experience the magic of Trameter first. Cool for them, not so cool for us, because now we have no way of reaching all the users who checked out the app during our Product Hunt, Indie Hackers, Reddit, and Hacker News launches but never signed up or turned on notifications.

Yup, classic rookie mistake. 🙃

Now, I’m fixing that—admittedly, in a somewhat expensive way—but I was able to convince my team that it’s worth it.

To re-engage those users and get them to turn on notifications, we’re running a World Smile Day promotion on October 4th, giving 3 lucky users $1,000 each towards their next trip. Yaaay them!

But Why $1,000?
Because that’s probably what it’ll take to get those sweet, sweet notification permissions turned on. And hey, it’s World Smile Day, so we decided to put our very non-existent marketing budget on spreading some smiles!

The Honest Truth
This promotion is my way of fixing the mistake and getting users back into the app to do just one thing: turn on notifications. Not asking for too much, right? Well, hopefully not.

But in all seriousness, notifications are key for any app’s re-engagement strategy, and we dropped the ball on that. Now I’m trying to make it right. If you’re a fellow builder, you’ve probably been there—making a well-intentioned decision that backfires down the road.

So, What’s our Plan for Redemption?
On October 4th, anyone who opens Trameter, signs up, and turns on notifications gets entered for a chance to win $1,000 towards their next trip. Yup, it’s that simple.

It’s an expensive lesson, but one I think is worth the cost. I’m hoping it’ll bring some fun (and a few smiles) to our users while helping us reconnect with the people we missed during the initial launch.

Why am I Sharing all This?
Because I believe in being transparent with my community. I love the feedback I get from Indie Hackers, and I wanted to share my journey—mistakes and all—because that’s part of the process.

So, if you’re building something similar, here’s a little lesson: Don’t forget to ask users to turn on notifications! 😂

If you’re curious about the app or just want a shot at that $1,000, here’s the link to Trameter. Take it for a spin, and if you feel like it, drop your feedback—I’m all ears (and clearly in need of it).

I’ll be in the comments, ready for feedback, and maybe some stories about your own rookie mistakes!

TL;DR: I launched a travel app, forgot to ask users to turn on notifications, and now I’m giving away $1,000 to bring them back. Lesson learned!