💪 My last post got 4,001 views on IndieHackers

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My last post on IndieHackers got 4001+ views until now. And it was my first post that was viewed by so many lovely indie hackers.

• Saltcorn is an open-source no-code platform. (Read this post to know more)
• Use Browserframe.com to create screenshots in browser frames like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and even in Internet Explorer. You can toggle between dark and light mode.
• Add social sharing buttons to your site by using ShareThis or AddThis. Child Mind Institute added social share buttons to their mobile site they increased total shares by 400% and saw a 2.5% boost in new users.

Twitter Hypergrowth? How a 0 foundation beginner grew from 0-67 followers in 5 days by @kanglelin

• Follow industry-relevant people. You can do so by following people of an established profile in your niche. And try to follow persons who have more followers. You don't have to visit each person's profile to see follower numbers. Twitter followers counter extension shows the following number on the following page of any profile.
• Retweet with good comments: make it count, don't retweet like a dumb fool like me on 1st day.
• Reply a lot: you have to use volume to let people see you, the algorithm gots in the way.
• Good following and follower ratio: don't have 1000 following and 50 followers, that made you look bad.
• Tweet time: it will take time. Prepare maybe 1-2 hours a day. At least the beginning, just to get familiar with.
• Like it!: Like doesn't cost you much, like all the tweets, so people can see you.
• DO NOT comment under anything that is related to politic, YOU WILL REGRET IT!

(Sidenote: Check HypeFury, an excellent Twitter growth and scheduling tool with automation)

When to start small by @ericdeer07
"I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over." -- Warren Buffett
Start your business with a litty bitty product that is easy to start, finish, easy to ship, and easy to keep selling. Something that doesn't require server maintenance and security updates. A product that won't ruin anyone's life if you take a few days (or weeks) (or months) off.

Starting up, against huge competitors by @selab

Large competitors are just validation. It means there's no fear that there's no demand for your product. With that uncertainty removed, it's all about tactical differentiators, which are enjoyable to dream up and execute.
Lakebed offers a product similar to AWS/Azure/GCP/Salesforce. I was worried about this too but a friend made a really valuable comment:
You (Simon) have worked for multiple large, multinational, multimillion-dollar insurance companies that are perfect customers for Lakebed. While you were at those companies AWS or Salesforce salespeople never came knocking on the door. There is a huge, viable market that flies well below the radar of those competitors.
My plan is to continue flying below the radar and build customer relationships locally. Then when I have a viable business and good income explode onto the scene and catch all the big players off guard.
Similarly, when Netflix started Blockbuster was a huge competitor. When Flickr started Kodak was a huge competitor. When Tesla started GM was a huge competitor. Here is the advice, pick a project where the competing solution has a learning curve, and talk to people. If you're going to go up against Shopify, post here and in other places "what do you wish was different about Shopify?"

Lifetime deal: Zapier alternative just for $79

PabblyConnect is a Zapier alternative, but have limited integrations right now ( the list is growing quickly). It is already in use by 100K+ businesses like Uber etc. Some features are

• Unlimited workflows
• Instant webhooks
• Multi-step calls
• Unlimited premium apps
• Formatters
• Filters
• Path Routers

100+ Coursera courses being certified FREE due to the pandemic by @richardindie

Check this spreadsheet for the courses list including android app development, ML, data science courses.

Service vs Product Based Business Model? by @tejas3732

The product-based model is scalable and service-based is heavily restricted by labor.
A product-based model is like building something for masses and improving it on the daily basis whereas service-based feels a lot more like being an employee and just executing what the client wants. So start as a service-based and slowly transition to product-based model.

Standing or sitting all day? by @lukasf
One of the best purchases I've ever made was a treadmill desk for my workspace in the garage. I know those things get lampooned everywhere in pop culture, but it's done wonders for my health, energy, and my approach to problems. I did pair the purchase with a 2-piece split keyboard (the Kinesis 2) so that I could keep my shoulders open and not "T-Rex" when I walked. On an average day, I'll do 3-4 miles just at work. Heavy days I'll go six or more!

If you're so smart how come you're not rich? by @smaaart

"Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation"
Being smart is only one face of the cube. I know plenty of smart people that haven't had the opportunity and plenty of opportunistic people that don't have the smartness. The correlation between intelligence and "success" is actually pretty low in general. And money is not proportional to your intelligence.

1. Trends #0017 --- XaaS: Anything as a Service by @dru_riley

2. Everyone is a Media Company by @gordon

3. How I Try To Read a Business Book by @witsuma

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