What's New: Using Telegram as an acquisition channel
(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)
Telegram can be an effective acquisition channel:
- Build your subscriber list by sharing posts on various platforms, including a link to your Telegram channel. Then, monetize with high-quality ads.
- Which trends will be huge in 2024? Experts say niche sports, the menopause market, and anything with a human touch.
- Louis Lafont bought QuickAPI a year ago for $5K, cut his safety net, and went full-time on it. This helped him gain traction fast.
This issue is sponsored by PropelAuth. Choose an auth provider that scales from "weekend project" to "I can quit my job." Get everything you need to start acquiring users. Then, use the built-in reports to understand and retain them. The path to profitability begins now. #ad
Using Telegram to Hit Your Revenue Goals 💵
by Marie
From June 2022 through December 2023, I went from zero to 11.6K+ subscribers, and $14K+ in total revenue. This was without financial investments, working one hour a day.
From zero...
I wrote useful posts on topics that I like, and shared those posts on various platforms with a link to my Telegram channel.
What I learned:
- Don't be afraid to share your experiences.
- Share interesting cases.
- Try to help other people; don't talk about yourself too much.
- Talk about your Telegram channel on other platforms.
To hero
Advertisers started contacting me when I reached 1K subscribers. Also, I listed my channel on Telegram advertising exchanges.
I value my audience, so I set a very high price for advertisers. It's better to publish less ads at a higher quality and higher price. Don't look at the price set by other channels. I publish ads 1-3 times a week.
I am now at $1.2K MRR. This is a great additional source of income, but it's possible to earn more. There are channels on Telegram earning $10K-$20K MRR, and even more (example: Varlamov News).
Bonus: You can advertise your own product.
Why Telegram?
Telegram ranks as the fourth most popular messaging app globally. As of 2023, it boasts an estimated 1B+ total users, with 700M active monthly users.
A Telegram channel is good for self-promotion, startup promotion, and as an additional source of income.
I'm a solo founder who launched an online exotic fruit store (sold, $23K), and I'm currently building an AI marketplace and focusbuddy.
Discuss this story.
In the News 📰
from the Growth Trends newsletter
💻 Top TikTok themes in 2023.
🏛 PornHub owner pays US government $1.8M to resolve sex trafficking probe.
💲 Link to your product here. Our most affordable ad.
📝 Seven content writing trends, and what's next.
🔎 YouTube shares ad tips based on its best performing promotions of 2023.
🙅♀️ Bad marketing advice, and how to avoid it.
Check out Growth Trends for more curated news items focused on user acquisition and new product ideas.
Data-Backed Trend Predictions for 2024 🔮
from The Hustle newsletter
We asked a few colleagues and expert Trendsters what they think will be huge in 2024. Here's what they said!
Niche sports
Pickleball has grown into a national craze, with courts and other related businesses popping up everywhere. In 2024, more niche sports will follow.
*Source: Google Trends, six-month rolling average
Games like badminton, racquetball, croquet, and spikeball will see increased popularity through activity bars, facilities, and clubs. These sports will be used to fill vacant shopping malls and offices that are too difficult to flip into residential space.
Badminton, where players use racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net, might be the next big hit among Gen Z and Millennials, per Pinterest.
The menopause market
The market is finally recognizing women ages 50 and older as a huge demographic with a lot of disposable income.
One way this trend will manifest is through the continued growth of the ~$17B menopause market. Globally, menopause causes $150B in lost productivity. It's a big pain point for half the population, and a huge opportunity for businesses.
There's already been an influx of products created for perimenopause and menopause care, with celebrities and influencers in the mix. But the market is still ripe for disruption.
Leaner tech startups
This year, many tech companies course-corrected their overhiring with massive layoffs. In 2024, the size of tech startups will continue to shrink, and we'll see even leaner operations make bigger profits.
*Source: Layoffs.fyi
With the help of better tools, newer codebases and AI, companies will need fewer engineers to build and ship meaningful products efficiently. This trend will show most clearly in the consumer app space; think fitness, health, nutrition, and productivity.
Cryptocurrency
As the bad boys in crypto get cleared out of the way, there's now space for cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin, to receive mainstream adoption in 2024.
Major asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity already proposed to launch spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), which will make Bitcoin more accessible to the average investor.
A spot ETF allows people to directly invest in Bitcoin, rather than Bitcoin futures contracts. It's simpler, more affordable, and could potentially boost the legitimacy of Bitcoin in regulators' eyes.
Expertise-driven SEO
In 2024, founders will need to lean heavily into their own expertise when they create content for search engines.
This year, Google introduced new EEAT guidelines to evaluate the quality of search results. One of the "E's," Experience, will drive a lot of content decisions in 2024, particularly as more users turn to AI to get their questions answered (rather than Google).
Content creators will now focus their SEO and creation strategies on expert, human-first content. They will need to ask themselves: What firsthand experience can we draw from to make this content unique and unable to be replicated by AI?
AI video tools
OpenAI now lets you prompt ChatGPT with voice and pictures, and other developers are following suit. So, AI will likely become more ubiquitous in multimedia production, with video AI leading the pack.
Every day, a new video AI startup pops up, and you can easily find five such tools within a minute-long search. With consumers' growing preference for shortform videos, we'll see even more advanced AI capabilities for video editing in 2024.
These new tools will not only make your video look beautiful and master your audio professionally, but will also be able to chop a full video into snackable bits that fit different platforms, like Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Anything with a human touch
As AI continually heats up, so too will "AI can't do everything" backlash. Amidst all the change, people will find comfort in anything that feels innately human.
This holiday season, and in 2024, we're going to see a rise in:
- Paper goods, as people send each other handwritten cards and letters.
- Art and dance classes, book clubs, and watch parties.
- Handcrafted, Etsy-style gifts that scream "this was created by a human," rather than some bot.
This backlash will also play out in arenas like travel, as people will crave intimate connection and conversation with family, old friends, and truly anything non-GPT. They'll hit "Book" on affordable, shared experiences.
Download the Free State of Marketing Report for more!
Subscribe to The Hustle newsletter for more.
🔥 Landing Page Hot Tips
by Rob Hope
Strengthen your landing page with these design, development, and conversion tips!
Parallax scrolling, scroll transitions, custom cursors, color switchers...
While they all have their time and place, avoid dwelling on them if you are new to landing pages, or if you're not making sales.
Instead, spend your time on an in-page demo or a remarkable product. When your sales start rolling in, then you can indulge in a little bit of flair.
Subscribe to Rob's One Page Love newsletter for his favorite UI, design, and development finds.
Moving Faster by Cutting the Safety Net ✂️
Louis Lafont bought QuickAPI a year ago for $5K, and worked on it full-time. He cut his safety net and started freelancing to pay the bills.
Cutting the safety net
Louis was a developer at a food tech company for four years before he decided to give indie hacking a shot. He moved to Thailand, COVID-19 hit, and he moved back to France six months later.
He built a website builder and worked on it full-time for four months. Then, he did something that changed his trajectory: He cut off his unemployment insurance and started freelancing.
The idea was that, while he'd spend less time on the product in absolute terms, he'd be much more selective about the time that he did spend. And it worked out! He got his next eight customers in less time than it took him to get the first three.
The result of cutting off his lifeline was that he made decisions much faster, and focused only on what was essential.
The numbers
- Revenue: $194 MRR.
- Revenue from ReTool agency, MissingPiece: ~$6K MRR.
- Founder pay (from freelancing): $2.5K per month.
- Personal account: $3K.
- Business account: $3K.
- Business expenses: $690 per month.
- Personal expenses: $2.2K+ per month.
He only works a few days a week with his agency, and it's enough to pay the bills while he focuses on his side hustle.
Louis says that it's hard to share these stats when you see people online making $10K in a weekend. But, he wants other founders to know that not everyone is successful overnight. If you stay in the game long enough, you'll slowly build up value, and it doesn't need to come at the cost of lifestyle.
Investing in a mentor
Spending $350 per month on a mentor might seem high when a product is at $200 MRR, but it's an investment that Louis is happy to make.
The process gives him new ideas, motivates him, and holds him accountable. He also learns from his mentor's hindsight, as he's done all this before. And, perhaps most importantly of all, it allows him to get out of the weeds and take a broader view.
He says that one hour with a mentor adds more value than the 10 hours he might have spent on the wrong tasks.
Investing in your wellbeing
Louis also invests in a balanced lifestyle. To him, that means lifting weights, playing the piano, and spending time with friends and family.
That's part of why he returned to France: He was interested in establishing a rooted lifestyle with long-term relationships, which is hard to build when traveling.
Three financial pillars to live by
Let's wrap up with the three financial pillars that Louis lives by:
- Don't bet what you can't afford to lose.
- Diversify your revenue.
- Don't look for passive income. Louis says there's no such thing as "passive" income, but recommends starting with low-hanging fruit.
Discuss this story.
The Tweetmaster's Pick 🐦
I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:
Enjoy This Newsletter? 🏁
Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.
Also, you can submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter.
Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Marie, Darko, Cyan Zhong, Rob Hope, and James Fleischmann for contributing posts. —Channing
