I've blown $13,847 dollars, in 9 months and haven't made a dime. Any advice?

A Little Backstory

I launched Emailemu.com in November 2023 as a hub where you can discover, save, track, and analyze emails from top-tier companies.

The launch was pretty solid for my first time out of the gate.

First 30 Days:

13k page views

1.1k unique visitors

120 new accounts

First 90 Days:

16k page views

2.8k unique visitors

220 accounts

Since Then:

Averaging 7,100 page views per month

1.2k monthly visitors

Total of 400 accounts created

Current Situation

We haven’t managed to convert any free users into paying customers yet.

I’ve invested $13,847 in development, backend services, and an SEO agency since January, but I haven't spent a dime on marketing.

User Conversations

Every couple of weeks, I chat with marketers and founders—our target audience—to understand their challenges better. These discussions revealed a huge opportunity to evolve our platform into a more comprehensive competitive research tool, a point that often comes up naturally.

Vision

These insights clarified our long-term goal: to become the
"Glassdoor for marketing content and competitor tracking."
So that's what I am trying to turn emailemu.com into.

The Bet

By building an extensive database of marketing content, we hope to attract founders and businesses looking to enhance their strategies or monitor their competitors. Eventually, this should open up revenue streams from those who value access to our data and insights.

The Dilemma

So far, I've funded everything myself, and although I’m not in a financial pinch thanks to my day job, I’m pondering over whether I’m too close to the project to see it objectively. Should I continue to invest, or is it time to adjust my spending?

The Question

Should I focus on monetizing soon, or stick to the long-term vision since I currently have the luxury to do so? I’d love to hear your thoughts or advice.

My Plan

I’m leaning towards sticking with the long-term vision. My aim is to enrich the site with more content and brands over the next six months to boost traffic. Then, I’ll explore serious monetization opportunities.

In the meantime, I’m looking into ad sponsorships to generate some revenue ad trying to cut costs. Fortunately, I've found a developer eager to maintain their skills, which should help keep development costs down.