What do you need help with right now?
At the beginning of every month indie hackers share their monthly goals with each other. Now let's discuss the challenges we're all facing to reach those goals!
What do you need help with?
What help/advice/service can you offer others?
Please reply to someone else and help them out — especially if you've requested help yourself!
#ask-ih
Would love some help from SaaS founders for https://versoly.com/, we're driving traffic to the site but struggling to get paying customers.
What do you need help with?
If you don't want to sign up you can use https://app.versoly.com/demo :)
What help/advice/service can you offer others?
A couple of quick thoughts:
There are a lot of drag and drop landing page builders out there (Landen, Tilda, Weblium...). Why should I use yours?
You position it as a tool for for SaaS founders but then you say that your ideal customers are also non-technical founders and marketers. Isn’t that confusing?
I assumed your target were solopreneurs because I struggle to imagine a SaaS company with multiple employees using a landing page builder...
End goal is to replace wordpress
If this is your mission, I recommend joining Webflow. They are years and millions of dollars ahead of you on that.
From my experience of Webflow it is hard and intimidating for even a frontend developer such as myself.
They're a great company and have built an amazing product for their niche (designers).
They even have a Webflow university with 100s of videos.
My goal is to create an easy to use platform for non-technical founders and marketers to create landing pages and marketing sites that convert. That is a completely different goal than Webflow.
We overlap because designers use it to create landing pages in it.
But it is overkill from my point of view and customers I have interviewed.
I can see why you'd say it's overkill and/or too hard to use since that is subjective. However, saying they have "a completely different goal" is just incorrect based on their vision [1]. Also, many of their success stories are around marketing teams taking over marketing sites themselves for the first time [2]. I only mention it because I was thinking about working on this exact problem when my wife's WordPress site got hacked and I decided Webflow has it covered well enough. I hope you prove me wrong and I wish you the best of luck competing with them and the rest of the market.
[1] https://webflow.com/about
"We envision a world where everyone can create powerful, flexible websites and apps as easily as they create documents today. Because the only thing better than the internet is an internet we can all create for."
[2] https://webflow.com/customers#marketing-and-design
"HelloSign runs all of their marketing pages through Webflow, letting their design and marketing team own web publishing without the help of developers."
Thanks for the detailed response.
They mention in their landing page that designers will need to create/design it and marketing teams can edit it.
In an ideal world I want designers working on products not on landing page design.
😅
Let me word it a little better :) A lot of sites are moving to static sites as they see the benefits, faster loading and more secure.
They currently use static site builder like gatsby but non-technical and marketing cant make easy changes.
I have seen SaaS solutions which allow you to change text on your website with JS. So there seems to be a problem.
If that’s the problem your product solve you should probably put this answer on your landing page 😀
It's been a work in progress in my mind.
I have spoke to a bunch of potential customers this week and that has helped me with the value prop.
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@satvikpendem couldn't comment anymore, went to long :)
We get 100/100 on speed test for desktop and close for mobile.
Ideally we could run a bunch of scripts that optimise everything images, CSS, JS and HTML and give you an extremely fast site with no extra work for the customer.
We planned on allowing users to host on Netlify but it proved a little difficult. We're open to that in the future and users can already by exporting it.
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In order for me to pay for Versoly, I'd need to be really, really convinced by the landing page. That's the main way I'd judge a landing page builder, right? But your landing page is just kind of generic looking.
Want to test out my web app, https://get21stnight.com ?
SaaS landing pages are meant to be generic, all the top companies look the same for a reason.
I believe they have A/B tested and came to the same conclusion, having confusing designs (may look good) lower conversion.
Might have to add that on the landing page somewhere.
You want to your product, copywriting and illustrations to be on point.
Like the app
Some tips for your app:
Great idea Channing!
How I can help:
I've built and sold a few businesses, currently teach founders how to do sales, and am pretty damn good at marketing (outside of paid and social stuff).
So if you need help with any of that - especially how to get your first customers or grow to $10k MRR - just shoot me an email and I'll give you some feedback.
How I need help:
Earlybird access to the new SalesForFounders.com course is launching soon, and I need to get it in front of more people so that I can a) help them, and b) lower the price asmuch as possible.
I'd really appreciate if you'd share the course (eg on Twitter with this handy link), or offer up any suggestions on how to increase reach :)
Best way to market post-launch? I'm developing https://trackmylift.app at the moment and I posted a product/project update not too long ago which outlined my plans for Marketing / Promotion, these are;
Just wondering what some peoples thoughts are or if im on the right lines.
Who is your target market? You mention Bodybuilding.com and reddit but you have females in the images. I think them sites are mostly males.
Target audience is basically anyone who lifts weights and wants to track their lifts. From the typical average day gym goer who lifts weights to the competitive bodybuilder. Male and female
I know what you mean but I needed some sort of brand type stock image. I thought that looked clean and professional-
I completely get what you're saying though. Do you think it would be worth revisiting that image? As that's the dashboard header image of the app aswell. Maybe one showcasing a male and female? I don't want it too much geared towards bodybuilding as it might intimidate general "lifters" or casual gym goers who lift weights. But at the same time I know what you mean, a devoted bodybuilder might look at that image and also be scared off.
Have you any suggestions?
This is a nice to have so I think aspirational images are best. Ideally of a man and a woman in good shape with a mobile phone. Might be hard to find.
The images of the app need work as well.
Also for pricing might make it first 100 workout free. That will build the habit :) and conversions should be higher. I would make the pricing yearly. I track my lifts in a book, so paying yearly wouldn't be a problem.
Add an FAQ as well.
I've actually found the perfect one ! 👏🏻
Thank you for your suggestion, I would have overlooked this.
I've got the new brand stock image in there now and updated some of the screenshots on the homepage. These are subject to change but looking good. If you want to take a look now! 🤓
FAQ is also a very good idea, missed that on your last comment.
Looks better!
Some other tips :)
Yeah i agree - I'm looking for some now - It's crazy how hard it is to find the right balance. If not i'll do them myself !
The images aren't finalised yet as I'm re-doing just before I release it. I started adding new ones in the Features page, but the last 3 or so aren't done.
Thanks for that information that's really helpful, I appreciate it a lot!
What about trying to get the app written about? See where other similar apps are being written about and submit something useful to them? or suggest they add your app onto existing articles that have reviewed similar apps?
I love that idea! That's amazing! Sometimes you tend to forget about the simple things! I really appreciate that advice! Awesome stuff! Did you get a chance to look at https://trackmylift.app ? 😁😁
I started strength training just a few months ago and I'm enjoying it.
Honestly, I'm a bit of a noob at it, we have stuff set up in our garage that my teen son uses religiously, so I thought I'd join in.
I've been using the 5x5 app, it works fine for now, but I can see myself wanting to move on from it at some point. The app has helped me because I just do what it says without question. I'd love the next app I use to be similar - just tell me what to do that would be good for me, allow me to follow certain paths and help me track (as a 40 yr old female/mother.) I just can't be bothered with researching what to do.
I do think strength training is such an untapped market for women. Especially my age too where women should really be building strength to help them as our bodies start to change and creak.
That's Brilliant! I've used the 5x5 app as well as research for https://trackmylift.app
Yeah it definitely is an untapped market and to be honest the industry's huge. Target audience for online marketing is straight forward. So I'm very excited
I have plans after release to include "set workouts" - non complicated, non gimmicky and non intrusive to your usability!
Maybe TrackMyLift could be your next app! Do you think you'll give it a try?
In addition to thinking about reaching one user at a time, think about partnerships that you can leverage or have in place that can get you 1000's of users onboarded (not marketed to, actually onboarded).
Fitness programs.
Insta's fitness influencers who are launching their own fitness programs (not super established and unapproachable ones, but ones that are approachable).
idk about spending on a stall at a conference just yet. I'd rather walk around and connect with everyone myself + pre-network and get in front of a lot of people, make connections with them and come up with partnerships to form there.
@TheTechTeacher
Brilliant advice, a comment like this is exactly what I was looking for so thank you 🙏
I agree about the stall. I'm planning on networking myself with flyers and literally reaching out to people in local areas. I've actually secured 3 locals gyms to show a popup banner at their reception.
Which I guess is a win win either way. I like the Instagram influencers idea, smaller following ones who haven't totally been gobbled up by fame 😂.
Thank you so much I appreciate it!
Did you get a chance to have a look at https://trackmylift.app ? What's your thoughts?
I'm not a marketer, but the ones I've spoken with generally say it's about starting several small fires and adding fuel to the ones that don't go out. From that standpoint, it seems like maybe you need more like the FB ads that will work on an ongoing basis rather than one-off. I wish I could point you in the right direction for that, but I'm out of my element there.
That was my exact thinking with the likes of FB ads. And offline; word of mouth, promotion through local gyms and fitness events.
Thank you so much for the input
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That's awesome, thanks for that advice. I've done a lot of research into the Facebook Ads system and my partner has a business and she utilises Facebook Ads so I've done my homework, I'm just so excited to get it out there and see what happens!
Marketing Zigpoll (https://www.zigpoll.com) and, ironically enough, getting some feedback on what's preventing the app from being a no-brainer add on (especially since it's free).
Marketing Zigpoll (https://www.zigpoll.com) and, ironically enough, getting some feedback on what's preventing the app from being a no-brainer add on (especially since it's free).
Marketing Zigpoll (https://www.zigpoll.com) and, ironically enough, getting some feedback on what's preventing the app from being a no-brainer add on (especially since it's free).
Marketing Zigpoll (https://www.zigpoll.com) and, ironically enough, getting some feedback on what's preventing the app from being a no-brainer add on (especially since it's free).
I need help reaching visibility so users can at least compare my product to competitors before making a choice... Really hard to reach them :(
Hello, I can help with website and app development. My company We Love Code designs and develop software for iOS, Android and build websites. Check out our work www.welovecode.co hello@welovecode.co
Do you guys have any advice on how to make a document easier to understand, smoother to read ?
I realized the technical documentation I write is not really comfortable to read, and may drive users away.
I've been using www.hemingwayapp.com to simplify the language, is there anything else you would recommend ?
(unfortunately, I don't have anything online yet)
Looking for a simple no-code template to set up my business website and blog. It's a WhatsApp-based SaaS product for Shopify stores. Blog posts would typically be long-form (>1000 words) with high use of of images (3+/article).
This is my business - https://apps.shopify.com/whatsapp-chat-button
Ideally a Webflow template so I can continue editing it. Haven't found anything that suits us so far and haven't invested too much time since other priorities. Therefore I would love help from someone who has a great answer/faced a similar problem statement and overcame it recently.
I need help with:
I'm making a small NDA generator that will be free. I'm stuck with getting the text passed to the full NDA document (maybe because it's part of a javascript toggle function?)
If anyone can help with this please let me know! The code is here: https://glitch.com/edit/#!/frienda
I can help with:
Talking through your prototype idea, give UX feedback!
I need help getting early users for my product FindShop (https://www.findshop.co/biz), a review collection and sharing platform for e-commerce & online businesses.
I am using digital ads, Reddit, social media to reach out to potential users but it is not very effective so far. I get visitors but almost no conversion. Maybe my landing page is not convincing enough?
Do you have a dedicated landing page for your digital ads or are you using your home page for that? What have you tried as far as landing page / value prop tweaks?
To eliminate some guesswork, I would try to get feedback directly from visitors if you can. Maybe via chat auto-message or add a quick form to your landing page?
I am using home page as landing page for ads. Haven't tried any tweaks on-site but I am offering extended trial in ads promotions so users can try and see the benefits.
There is a chat but its not pro-active like chat bot. May be I will try that along with a pop-up form. Thanks a ton for the suggestions.
The previous poster's point is that you need to target your ads very specifically, which means your need to know your a) target market and b) their pain points very well.
The home page is usually not the best page to point ads at.
You wouldn't want 1 generic ad pointing to one generic landing page. You want several landing pages, each speaking to a specific segment of your target market.
For each of these segmented landing pages, you will want to have several ad variations (sometimes very different, sometimes just tweaks on reach other). This allows you measure performance of your ads, add new tweaked ads, cull the nonperforming ads.
The relationship between ad and landing page has to be intimate; the landing page should continue the precise message or story you started in the ad - with a natural conclusion, action, lesson, or aha moment... and hopefully a conversion for you.
Thanks for the clarification. I got the point now. I am currently running 3 ads with different segments but haven't created landing dedicated pages.
I will create landing pages based on target market and segment and re-design the ads to match the flow and see how it goes.
Thanks once again.
What I need help with: I don't know where to start, more precisely - where do I find my own niche?
Also, as an experienced frontend engineer, I can develop almost anything quickly and iteratively. With tools such as netlify or firebase I also get it mostly for free. I always want to develop everything by myself and I want to understand exactly how I can solve a problem. I like to get lost in technical details instead of moving the product and the idea forward faster.
Any advice for me?
Have you considered partnering up with someone who likes doing the things that you'd prefer not to work on? It's either that or find a way to motivate yourself to do them, which I know is challenging from personal experience.
I think you just hit it. It's kind of hard for me to find a thrustful person who has the same drive as I do but complementary skills.
Well, if you'd like a "virtual" partner, can I ask you to consider https://midtype.com? You're literally our perfect customer. Someone who has plenty of frontend experience combined with a desire to build stuff all the time. (And I can offer coupons to get you started for free!) Hopefully we can automate away many of the backend details you sometimes get consumed with. And if not, how can we? Either way, if you're feeling charitable, shoot me an email nilkanth@midtype.com. I'd love to chat more about what drives you and how we can help enable that passion further?
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Uh wow, thank you for your reply! I have a couple of side projects, but I have one particular small project where I hear regularly that other people like to have this as well. Who would I sell it to?
In addition to entry post - I mostly start side projects or do freelance work in my spare time to learn something new (frameworks & programming languages, people, markets, industries). To draw attention to me and to develop an audience, I'm thinking about writing a series of small blog-posts about how to create simple frontend things such as calendars, image sliders, SVG graphics.
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Looking for referrals to companies who need web scraping services. We built a self-servicing web scraper tool called Digit Scout, www.getdigitscout.com. We offer extremely affordable web scraping services with zero initial setup costs.
If anyone knows someone who has web scraping needs please put me in touch.
Can advise on launching on Product Hunt and social media.
Could do with advice on finding newsletter sponsors and getting sponsored content on my website: www.nocsdegree.com
Need help finding the right community for our product: https://midtype.com. Our target customer is a frontend engineer who has an idea for a SaaS app they want to work on. We can get a backend for their app up and running very quickly. We'll host it for them as well, kind of like Firebase/Parse, but we want to take integrations a step further an be the one-stop shop for things you need for SaaS, like payments (we integrate with Stripe so your backend comes with that built in).
We thought IndieHackers would work well, but maybe there aren't as many frontend folks here as I thought? Or maybe there's something we need to fix about our product positioning. If anyone here has thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
I can help with landing page design feedback and frontend stuff. I work extensively in React and am pretty familiar with most frontend technologies.
What I need help with: I've got a fair number of free trial users for my first week, but, looking at the data, people aren't actually engaging with the trial at all. Anyone want to sign up for a free trial and tell me how they think the trial could be more engaging?
Site is https://get21stnight.com
What I can help with: will test out your web app and give marketing feedback. I'm apparently pretty good at getting trial users lol.
You might be getting unqualified signups (people who will never convert), or you may be doing a not-great job at onboarding.
Have you tried reaching out to those users and talking to them?
Hi there, I'm not a student, but I think the landing page could benefit from some pruning. Try to distill 1) who is your customer, 2) what does the product do, and 3) how does the product work into as few words as possible. Then I'd recommend including nothing but that (in terms of words) and only a few images that you think reinforce those 3 messages. I think the questions you've answered here are valuable, but would be better suited for an FAQs page, which you can link to in your header. Otherwise it feels too crowded and the value prop for students gets lost. My two cents!
How can I help:
Software architecture, I've posted an article last year describing an approach for building a scalable web-app at no cost How to easily bootstrap a project on the cloud. We can discuss it in private, or if you need help in designing your architecture let's talk.
Else, dunno, I'll check other responses if I can be helpful in any other way
What I need:
We have just launched JPlanner, and we need help in marketing and/or ways to grow the community. At the moment we have an Instagram account, but we need some expertise/knowledge in the field :)
Very cool!
I've got a fair bit of marketing experience - SEO and content strategy as well as social media, and a bit of email marketing. Can follow up with ya to chat more!
Wouldn't mind a bit of direction on the software side so happy to trade advice for advice :)
Hi there I just looked at your site JPlanner and I think maybe I could be a tiny bit helpful. I am an international teacher based in Abu Dhabi so I have tons of international friends and friends who travel. I'm no marketing expert, but I'd be happy to help in any way I can. I have about 4500 followers on my personal account
That would be awesome!! I'd be extremely thankful if you could share JPlanner within your network :) Let me know if I can help you with something!
Need help with:
Can help with:
Great to hear!
What help do you need with motivation specifically?
I guess it's more that I know what to do, but because I've never done it before, it's scary.
Even talking about it helps! Just gotta do it now!
Hey guys, I'm deploying a content and "zip drive" downloadable product. I'm having trouble justifying putting a price tag on it. However feedback is that I should try. Should I just see if anyone wil lbuy it or wait til I feel the product is a bit more ready? Or give it away for free as a lead list for the services I'm actually trying to sell?
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I usually just use the Preview app for Mac, but I'm interested if others have a better solution. https://www.howtogeek.com/201638/use-your-macs-preview-app-to-crop-resize-rotate-and-edit-images/
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Here's a link to @ItsSteve's post: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/bd664a8934
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What's your product?
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Spend a little time looking for a good hunter, but we had a smallish hunter and it worked out great (got #1 weekly).
Focus on the video/images/text for the product page and make sure to post at 00:01 san fran time.
Also having an audience who can give you the early upvotes.
I'm curious to hear how others have found "hunters". Is there a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" barter-type system for this, are people paying cash in exchange for hunting, etc.?
Can someone explain why one would need a hunter instead of posting the product themselves? Perhaps I don't understand how PH is supposed to be used.