What is the most frustrating part as an indie hacker and founder?
For me personally it is getting feedback from users. Having people use the platform regularly, but never respond to surveys, questions, or emails becomes extremely annoying.
What other problems to you guys have?
For context, this is the project: emailemu.com
Here is a list:
Haha I would say that but put feedback in 2nd. It gets lonely
Facts! I like don't know the solution, but I'm also wondering if there is some way I could build a tool to help Indie Hackers get feedback easier.
Yup, agreed. I think we need more local communities of Indiehackers
I feel all of those.
How have you found success at all with ladder two?
I have been able to get paying customers. You have to build something people are already paying for
You're damn right, it's very hard to get people to even care about your product enough to use it, let alone write love letters to you on how to improve it.
This is why I never complain when users share their ideas with me, even though some users can be very long-winded, type long-ass emails, record 10-minute long screencasts, etc.
I know all that feedback is worth its weight in gold.
To get feedback consistently, you need a way to drive constant traffic to your site; there's no other way.
And you need consistent feedback if you even want to get close to Product-Market Fit.
This is why I encourage founders to launch on AppSumo.
It's one of the very few places that are still "build and they will come."
You get both revenue and feedback at the same time.
It's a total no-brainer.
I've done little to no marketing for Zylvie since launching in December last year, and I've grown my revenue month-over-month for 6 months now.
The downside is that there's a rigorous selection process for what products will be allowed to be on AppSumo.
They used to have thousands of products in their catalog, they accepted anyone and everyone, but their new strategy is to be picky about who gets to launch on AppSumo (I think their current catalog is <500 products), which is small for an $80M/yr company.
It's super frustrating. I love having calls with users when they do. It's so helpful.
I haven't done the app Sumo route but as starting to look at doing that.
The most challenging part for me is the constant juggling between product development and marketing. It feels like there's never enough time to focus deeply on either. Additionally, the unpredictability of income can be quite stressful. To manage, I've started prioritizing tasks more strictly and considering outsourcing some aspects. It's comforting to know that others share these struggles. Stay resilient, everyone!
So true
So far the most frustrating part is marketing. Since I can't spend a lot of money on user acquisition, I just use all kinds of free platforms available, including making videos on TikTok. It works OK, but not as good as I expected. :(
I agree with this. It's very hard for users or even repeated customers to get feedback on whatever platform. But I think recruiting the right marketing and SEO team will help with this.
Recruiting good people. Being in a position where I can hire I can see how people are defeating themselves very easily despite being capable. It’s worse when they antognize me rather than admit they’re insecure and I triggered it by offering a decent opportunity
Users who refuse to communicate before leaving a bad review. Esp if it’s a problem that can be fixed easily
Regarding user feedback, perhaps in the absense of direct feedback, it could be useful to use heatmaps? To study what users are doing and if they're confused by the interface in some way. Although, that won't provide data on everything about the app.
That's a fair point. I think it gives ideas around how they use, but not as much what problems they face or what features would be helpful.
Oh man, I feel you. For me, the most frustrating part as an indie hacker and founder is definitely getting feedback from users. It's like they're using the platform, but then they go radio silent when you ask for their thoughts. No responses to surveys, questions, or emails—so annoying!
Right! You would think it isn't impossible. I partly think at may because unless people PAY for the tool they have no incentive to.
Securing the first paying customer.
Do you have any tips of acquiring the first customer? I’m currently in this situation and cold emails doesn’t seem working
To get the first few sales, I prefer to sell product at a no-brainer price, like a 70-80% discount for the early adopters to get initial feedback and testimonials.
It has worked for me in the past.
This is hard as well!
I'd one up you and say the first 3 paying customers. The first might be your friend, and the second might be a fluff, but when you have the third customer, you probably have something good on your hands.
The most frustrating problem for me is always get your first paid subscribers 10/100/1000
Yeah something I am still working on. It's like how to you create enough value for people to be willing to pay, but also how do you know what is valuable if people are not vocale!
I'm always asking myself If a feature is really relevant to be coded.
Don't ask yourself.
Where did you get the idea for this feature from?
Did you think it up, or did a user suggest it?
If a user suggested it, how much conviction/urgency do you think he has for that feature?
Both must be true for you to even consider implementing a feature.
Yeah, I guess that's the hardest part. People will most likely not be interested until there's a reason to. Got no response? It's probably a subtle way to say they're not interested. But usually you want to keep a minimum 10% rate in most things, marketing involved
It's an interesting point, though if people are using the product they have some level of interest.
Regarding SEO AI, facing the continuously evolving landscape of digital marketing and staying ahead of competitors brings about ongoing challenges.
What makes keeping ahead of competitors so challenging? Like the research or what?