#TheCommittals Weekly Check In
- How did you fare last week?
- What's on deck for this week?
- [Optional] Still on target for end of year goal?
Don't forget. Anyone can post the accountability thread for the day. Just be certain to copy everyone!
@louisswiss, @daveroma, @helengriffinjr, @vimalin, @jpusateri, @Guidione_Machava, @natejcho, @DF_V, @davey, @VisionIsScary
@breedaddy, @janice
Trending on Indie Hackers
LAST WEEK
THIS WEEK
I'll be out this weekend for another round of hiking/camping this weekend, so I'll keep my weekly goals light.
THIS YEAR
This is amazing! Any resources you recommend for Flutter?
Thus far, I've been working though the official docs. Thereafter, I'll check out the recommendations fellow hackers made here.
That’s an awesome list. Thanks for sharing!
Curious to know as well! Very cool @Janice
So you used Flutter for this one? How did you like it? I tried using a no-code thing earlier this year and was psyched at how fast the process was and how nice the UI looked, but my projects tend to get complicated and I always seem to hit a functionality wall I can't get through with no-code :(
(Grinning) "Used" is a bit ambitious. I'm using this project to learn the framework and the language (Dart). Thus far, I have a very outstanding screen with a very outstanding button. 😉But ask me again at the end of August.
Yeah. I'm just too persnickety for the no-code movement. I need the freedom of yes-code.
First of all, you guys are all super impressive! I'm feeling inspired just by reading your answers.
How did you fare last week?
-[completed] identified 4 potential devs for a pricing model change for Fiuti.com --going to remove the 7 day free trial and instead let users pay a fixed price (something like $10) for one report or sign up for unlimited monthly / quarterly (which exists now)
-[completed] seo keyword research + assign 2 new articles to get written around them (I love SEO dearly and have finally started to see traction after a few months of effort)
-[completed] identify 2 potential acquisition deals
What's on deck for this week?
-get pricing and lists of tasks from 4 developers and select one to start working on project
-update a blog post for SEO on Fiuti & publish 1 new article
-discuss pricing with deal found last week
-find 2-3 additional prospective deals (SaaS with mrr of ~$10k)
Awesome that you're finally seeing some traction on the SEO!
Thanks! It's such a slug but worth it long term
Curious what the impetus is for changing the pricing model?
I'm a huge fan of SEO, too. But I suspect I'll have much to learn from you! Reads as though you're hiring out the writing?
Good luck on the deal you found last week!
Re pricing: the first thing I did when I took the business over in February was to launch a 7 day free trial thinking it would get more people in -- what I discovered was that Fiuti has 2 types of users: (1) small agencies who setup many campaigns and therefore use the platform a number of times a months; and (2) individual users who setup 1 or so campaign and would only need the platform on a 1 off basis. I saw many users who fall into the 2nd group sign up, create a campaign, and cancel right away. My goal of changing the pricing model is to get incremental revenue from those who would otherwise cancel.
And yes! I'm a terrible writer so I always outsource it. I'm a forever learner of SEO and happy to pass along whatever knowledge I have :)
🙌🏾
So... I fared not so well.
I promised last week (sorry!) and had planned to announce a polished UI for blarebot. I ran into issues. Ended up taking a break to write a guide that grew too large and remains unpublished. Any tips?
Never apologize for clearing headspace and/or rotating focus to keep the indie thing fresh. Being able to dive into a diverse set of skill sets is what keeps this party going for me!
@louisswiss Might have a good handle on your question. My own inclination would be to either ( a ) break that sucker into a series; or ( b ) offer a summary as a blog post, and offer The Full Monty after newsletter sign up. Too much content is a great thing!
I can only agree!
Just from the OP's comment alone, it sounds to me like they should prioritise getting something valuable out into the hands of real people ASAP. No matter how small.
You're absolutely right Louis. And I could think of a million ways to make the product better, but I finally did it! And announced this milestone today - https://www.indiehackers.com/product/blarebot/improved-the-landing-page-builder--MDVLi4eGDmXWvmxu0Hl
awesome!
@Janice thank you again for running these standups. I did a shout out to you on my latest milestone because your post gave me the motivation to switch my product from private to public.
Scope creep is very real and I'm still learning. I hope to share some more learnings shortly.
The summary idea is great. I’ll have to try that route.
And you guys are amazingly helpful. So thank you for that.
Don't focus at what you did not do.
When working on the project, it is normal to make a plan and then try to stick to it, but then there's life and a whole lot of things you might bump into.
The trick is to look at what you did do. Any progress you have, even if it is very insignificant from your POV is just that: Progress.
It does not have to be measurable at all.
Last week
This week
Hey @helengriffinjr what kind of automated workflows do you work on? And how do you come up with potential lead sources?
@helengriffinjr curious about your prospecting process as well + workflows
👆🏾Yep. This. Curious minds want to know about those workflows. And what tools you're suing to automate!
@Davey, @DF_V, @Janice
workflows
It depends on your individual preferences, quarks, personal habits, & processes. Everything you do for a project, you do again for a task. I've been jotting down all the areas (aka mini-tasks) that even compose it. For example, definition, strategy, execution, review, edit, help, ship. I also take note of its impact, the result, & any emotions attached to a task, project, or goal. I note any customer/computer responses, interactions, delays, or constraints that impact me. You start to see patterns, gaps, and specific strategies/tools that can support you. So the best workflow and automation tool is self-reflection. With Zapier (and their competitors), connect the apps you're currently using. When you can't automate, streamline, and schedule your process into bite-sized tasks.
lead sources
How well do you know your customers? Their habits, workflows, processes, enemies, infrastructure, or ecosystem, tells you the lead sources. Where do they currently go to get a fix? Whatever pops up for you, think of the first two steps before that stage, and those are more lead sources. What other options do they have, be it personal or work-related? That's a lead source. Let's say you only know about or use LinkedIn, Facebook, or the Yellow Pages. Understanding your customer's world inside out guides you on using any channels. Ask yourself, where have my customers told me they go for help?
prospecting process
Again, it's all about the customer. Center my process around customers' past behavior and actions. Before having a history of customer data, I guess based on the customer's perspective, not mine. They don't shop for me or because of me. I thought of all the stages they would have questions, hesitations, or need extra buy-ins. Then I optimize myself to support those stages and record our results. Edit, tweak, cry, and test again. I kept doing this until I had a reliable process that I could repeat myself.
Last Week
I killed it. Don't mind saying so haha. I am cranking HARD to get MVP finished to launch later this week. Timing is super important to try and capitalize on news I expect to come out within the first 2 weeks of August.
On Deck
Three major things to do, and then I'll be in a position to start handing out a link to interested parties. At that time or super soon after, I want to be able to have someone make a sale. I need some seed data to help fill up the ranking information
This Year
Still on target!
Slay it, baby, slay it! Love it!
What was your basis for the assessment questions?
Peek? UI?
Question tags?
I've a feeling I know what you're anticipating in two weeks. Go, go, go with that MVP!
To clarify, it was SO MUCH FUN doing the themed questions and tags that I'm going to invest heavily here once the basics are done per grade. I think it's a major advantage and strategic opportunity.
For the assessment questions, I mapped out all the Common Core State Standards into items which I felt could be well-assessed online (excluding some things like speaking, writing, etc), and then using the actual objectives I created questions. But here's the fun part. I created some super fun questions based on things kids do today. Not for ALL of them, but for a LOT. I also tried to write many with subtle positive reinforcement for things like bullying, ethics, and work ethic. Seed-planting :)
And then I went back and tagged them with the fun things, so I can see from the MENU what the fun things are in the quizzes. I'll put it in one of the screenshots. Assessments don't need to be boring, the whole point of common core is real-world examples and workforce readiness. This is going to give me, I believe, a strategic advantage and opportunity for high level partnerships/sponsorships (Fortnite-themed assessments? Sign me up!) As the content library grows, I'll be able to put together special themed assessments based on interests that the kids (or sponsors) actually choose. Kinda neat really, and I've got a good feeling about it.
Are the Common Core State Standards publically available? And given the name, I assume this smooths the rough edges of disparities across states?
Love the idea of themed assessments! (I'm old school, though. Sign me up for Star Wars.)
Screenshots are looking good! (Grinning) Let me know if you want any feedback. By now you should be most familiar with our persnickety I am.
I did an overhaul of the results page today because it's really the end result of the user's efforts and needed an overhaul:
https://go.lift.academy/results/tK1e6ItaH
Some explanations as to what I did:
https://youtu.be/Qyl_dTDkhaw
Yes, they're publicly available, states run their own varieties but 41 states have adopted them. Yes of course I'd like some feedback! UI is my nightmare, always always
Last week:
[Completed] Finished Songs (Mix & Mastering)
[Completed] Starting a new python dice game with random number generator (Scraped the ping pong game)
[Completed] Cleaning my house twice over
This week:
Started working on creating a nonprofit initiative for sexual assault and domestic violence victims to provide them with resources and counseling and a platform to speak up for themselves anonymously. Still, a lot to work out but I'm getting there I have some connections to therapists and counselors and I got one person helping me create a logo. I guess the hardest part would be finding a reliable team who is just as committed to this initiative as I am.
Other than that I hope all is well with everyone. I've gotten back into cooking every sunday I just made a vegan baked mac n cheese from butternut squash and brazil nuts with fried oyster mushrooms.
P.S. It was delish
#TheCommitals
How did you fare last week?
kernel driver it compiles, it runs and it crashes :)
The next thing I bumped into was that I had to learn more about kernel debugging.
The number one for that is called windbg and while it has a GUI it turns out that you have to use a command line interface in order to get everything out of it. Also need to learn more about Windows kernel specific things so studying that.
website customer A customer was presenting a children's book and needed a website (ASAP) so made that and a another happy customer.
Vimalin This weekend a prospect bumped into a problem. Some of the parsing logic for mounting volumes didn't correctly handle parenthesis in a volume name. Fixed that, then bumped into apple's "new" hardened runtime requirements for notarizing binaries. Discovered that my configured app entitlements did not get included in the binaries which caused it all to fail. (so much fun).
But Vimalin is with this back on track and I'm sure that more tweaks and improvements will follow.
Testing Vimalin on Big Sur is still open. I have BS installed on a VM, but my test mac mini was too painfully slow. Just upgraded the HDD in that one to an SSD so that this now becomes more bearable. Might have to install on the metal though, we'll see.
dfSplat on hold
ProcessDescriber also on hold for the moment, need to focus on one thing.
What's on deck for this week?
Get Vimalin to compile and run via the next version of Delphi. It compiles, but still crashes on run. Don't yet know why.
[Optional] Still on target for end of year goal?
Sure :)