Launching my SaaS growth tool - A story of building solo on the side for 8 months
Today I've launched my third SaaS product which started back in February. The product itself surfaced from a problem I faced with a previous product, where I got so burnt out building, that it was difficult to find the motivation to grow it.
There were various tools that I knew most SaaS type businesses needed. It starts with documentation, gathering feedback on your product, listing roadmaps, sharing changes, and blogging about it. As a solo dev, I only had limited hours in the day to set all these up and was challenging to work out new tools - not to mention quite costly for us bootstrapped devs.
From this, I started work on Astrola as a way to let SaaS products plug all of these features into a single subdomain. No more setting up a separate WordPress blog, documentation system, feedback tool, or changelogs. I could now fire up Astrola in a few mins and focus on marketing with blog posts and learn what customers want next.
When lockdown hit, we all ended up stuck in our homes. It's been somewhat of a blessing for me, as my main job at an agency has only grown in clients, but it's also got tougher to disconnect after coding all day and leaving the house less. I've learned that some crunch time is great, but don't overdo it. You will end up taking much longer to finish on an overworked mind.
Initially, I was concerned about how I can even market a multi-use tool, but think it'll work well as it's mainly catered for the SaaS niche. It's also an area I live in daily and know the pain points other founders are experiencing. I'm interested if anyone else has a "multi-use" type niche that can share any tips?
My goal now is to start pushing hard on marketing and reach out to other SaaS companies. I've been writing blogs more with my own product and I have to say it's felt great not having to worry about dealing with a WordPress site or cluttered knowledge base apps - yep, sure I'm biased, but it's true!
Normally, I reach a bittersweet moment on product launch day after spending months dedicated to getting it over the line. Thankfully though, with Astrola, I'm feeling excited to drive my venture forward. Sure, it's tough doing everything yourself, but feels very rewarding to get over this line. Now the real work commences 😁
Shameless plug: For any small teams, I am offering a 50% discount on the founder plan to $20/pm. Drop me an email (link on pricing page) for more info :).
Congrats Scott! Nice to see you launch finally!
I love the idea of reaching out to other SaaS companies. It feels like cold outreach would work well since you are solving a problem of having too many tools -- now housed under one roof. Who wouldn't want that!
I'm eager to follow your journey and see how your startup progresses. I have a feeling it's going to go great as you keep building momentum (as these things take time).
Also happy that we could connect on Twitter! Let's stay in touch ;) Congrats again!!
Hey @genemachine!
Thanks! Yeah, I think there will be some cold outreach involved to start. I've actually started a list on my Notion project to find potential leads. Not a fan of cold calling, but think it needs to be done!
Yes of course! Been silently following your recent success too, no doubt speak to you soon :) Cheers!
Oooh, this looks nice.
I've cobbled together all of these things -- helpdesk inside of live chat, feature voting & roadmap via MakerKit, blog via Ghost -- but this just looks much nicer.
Congrats on the launch!
Hey @futhey! Thanks for the kind words. That's exactly what I was doing before, takes quite a while to setup/manage doesn't it! I see you've started a trial - give me a shout if you have any questions. Cheers!
My $ 0.02
A/B with paid ads Twitter, Youtube, Quora, Facebook, and Google. See if any of it works.
Hey @JillC - indeed! I will probably start with Google ads, but I'm having fun networking with people on Twitter as you can probably see below :) Definitely a more casual way to find leads.
do document your learning right from keyword research, to picking geographies, and optimising the creatives. it will be helpful and a great learning for everybody!
Will do @JillC! I've a few years of experience with ad refinement at my agency so will make sure it's targeted down to a fine niche :) Cheers.
that will a great learning experience for everyone. look forward to it.
Congrats Scott. I hear you. Totally get where you are at. Big win shipping the product. And you are not alone. You are the reason I launched http://FixMyGrowth.com - solo-makers who know dev but not marketing or simple don't have the time.
Creating quality content through your blog is definitely one way. I've included a few additional thoughts.
Participate in Facebook groups and other niche communities that service your market.
Reverse engineer your competitor's plan with these tools:
-- Traffic sources: @SimilarWeb
-- Email templates &flows: @mailcharts
-- Ad designs w/ FB Transparency Tools
--Ad spend: @spyfu
--Keywords: ahrefs
Search the Competition: Look at up your competitors in G2 (the other similar services). See what customers are saying about your competitors - the good and bad. Use that to make a better mousetrap. Create content that addresses common issues they bring up and post it in a blog for example.
Be Personal: When you onboard your first customers, handwrite a note, share a personalization video message or email. Use a service like SendSpark to create personalized videos so you stand out.
Use Quora: Figure out what the most questions on quora are related to 'your product category' and address them on your blog (email me and I can give you the steps)
Give Thanks: Take advantage of the thank you (confirmation page) after someone signs up, upsells, invite to a webinar, link to most popular blog posts, ask for a social follow, ask for a social share.
Create an ebook/lead magnets by repurposing your best (insert your business category) tips - if you have enough content do it by each custom niche. ie. "25 Productivity Hacks when building your SaaS." Better if the content is evergreen.
Partner up. Find complimentary blogs/newsletters where you can cross-promote
ImPRESS: Subscribe to HARO and respond to reporter's requests. https://www.helpareporter.com/. They are always looking for experts in the financial category
Blog and guest post on other blogs, find a relevant podcast to get interviewed by.
Add a sign-up URL to your email signature, LI profile, Facebook - anywhere you have a social profile
Hope that was helpful.
-Bill
Het @bflitter! Thanks for some nice tips there. Will take a look at your site too. Cheers!
Nice story Scott. I often run into additional projects that can potentially be a product on its own. Later I learn to avoid building them
Congrats on the launch!
Hiya @hieunc!
Indeed, speak to you on Twitter haha! Thanks.