Stuck in beta with no feedback
I've been bootstrapping my RSS aggregator for Telegram (https://octomat.io) for several months now, and reached sufficient functionality for at least a beta, but my active user base is very small and I don't get any feedback at all. Right now I'm stuck not knowing what to do next with it, whether I need to promote it somehow, or whether I will remain my own primary user forever.
A bit of background to understand the problem better. I'm a software engineer and have been in this profession for around 20 years. I have a day job, a family, and build projects like this one during weekends.
I've built Octomat.io for myself, and thought it might be a cool idea to share it with others. My initial plan was to first share it with friends, get their feedback, iterate on it, and see where I can take it from there. It didn't work though.
Most of my friends are from different parts of Tech. We are all in our 40s and late 30s, have kids and families, and quite established lifestyle and habits. So, when I shared my project with them, most of them just replied with something like "cool that you're still working on something on your own" and never came back to the subject. A couple of friends elaborated and said that it might be a good idea, but they don't see themselves using this bot, because their information consumption pattern is very different from the proposed one. Only one friend helped me with actually beta testing it, but she couldn't do much either, because most of her attention belongs to her job and a cheeky toddler. Priorities.
I don't have followers in social media and other "organic" marketing channels, so I can't just go on Twitter and get feedback there. I tried Reddit, but as well-described in a recent post on IH about Redit promotions, all I got so far is rejection and downvotes. I signed up for Betalist, and been marinating in a waitlist for a while already.
Are there other effective ways to get first users and hear their feedback, or is this silence a sign that the idea is born dead and there is simply no audience for it?
You built this for yourself, which is fine. But it's not the same as building to solve a problem that a sufficient number of people have.
Right now, you're a solution in search of a problem.
I agree with @ViceCaz You need to research your audience first. You always need to look at different ways to promote your product. But you can't do that until you really understand your audience.
Thanks @stephenjeske! Your post helped me to see it from a different angle. Indeed, I have a solution that solves my problem the way I see it, and so far I was going with an assumption that others see it in a similar way. I should put my biased optics aside and research what other people who care about what content they consume think and what problems they have.
I have some experience in UX research, but none in Marketing research. Any pointers on how to get started are highly appreciated.
I would simply start with Google, using the term "who uses telegram". I know nothing about the platform. But a cursory glance of the Google SERP reveals a lot of interesting information.
Hey man
It seems that you should find ways to identify who's using Telegram first, and go from there. Cold DMing them, offering free trials etc.
Do you plan on addinng more platforms ? Like receiving these feeds in Whatsapp?
Thanks for your reply, Victor!
I was reaching out to my friends via Telegram mostly. And there is no entry barrier to try the bot since it has a free plan with all the features out of the box. 🤷♂️
WhatsApp has a larger audience than Telegram indeed. I planned adding WhatsApp later when I have some confidence about the cash flow. Sending notifications via WhatsApp would cost me $5-10/month per user that I would need to pay to Meta or Twilio, so it comes with a not-so-attractive prime cost.