Who else hates writing blogs for their product?
I know I can't be alone on this island, but writing is just not my strong suit. Took me plenty of blood, sweat and tears to churn out three blog posts to finally launch a blog page on cartamaps.com.
Luckily using MDX, I was able to easily copy and paste stuff into dev.to where I hope to also get some traction.
Anyways, let me know what you think and let's commiserate in our hate for writing.
I like the idea of: coding week followed by marketing week. This way, if your like me, you get to still do all the fun enjoyable stuff (i.e. creating product features), but you also reserve enough time to get your marketing done (i.e. writing blog posts, creating youtube videos, posting to forums, etc.)
I'm doing that for about 5 weeks now and it's really good. It's easier to write a blogpost if you've built some new features and the other way round. Thinking about which content resonates with you target audience, inevitably puts you into your audience's shoes. That helps to see more clearly which features/improvements you need to build next.
I want to experiment with this schedule.
1 week building -> 1 week sharing.
This is a great plan. I follow something similar. I try to split the week and do 2 days coding and 2 days marketing. I leave one day open because something always pops up and I end up coding on marketing days.
It's also very discouraging too, because you can spend along time writing an article for your blog, only to wait and wait a few months to realize you get one lousy feeble, minuscule page view a day from the post.
Interesting you said this. Do you think that writing a blog is usually beneficial (from a time/cost perspective) for those just starting out with marketing their products? I feel like a lot of blog posts on landing pages /small sites just dont really get read often but idk
I would say, anyone can learn anything. You just have to be interested enough.
I recently started watching "how to write an article" videos on YouTube, this helped me structure my thought. Most of my frustration about writing comes from not know ing where to start. But learning how to write, will help alleviate that feeling.
Anyways cheers, i hope you find a solution soon.
Youtube is such a great resource for stuff like this. I need to try that as well.
I feel the same frustration sometimes. The first few sentences are the hardest to write.
I was just introduced to copy.ai so I will report back once I give it a try.
Not a writer, but building in public is definitely an easy way to "blog" about progress.
That being said, if you can find other avenues to drive SEO outcomes I'm all ears! Podcasts? Ads?
SEO and blog posts can be really cheap ways to drive traffic.
What's the best way to learn SEO for marketing a SaaS product in your opinion?
I'm not an expert and would have to defer elsewhere. I'm not currently relying on SEO as a marketing avenue for the moment.
I've been playing around with the free trial on semrush the last couple of days doing keyword research - I've found it to be really helpful in finding new blogs to write
I wouldn't call myself a writer (but I launched a business offering unlimited copywriting called CopyCheck) and even I struggle with writing for myself and the business.
What I've found that works for me are to create mini rewards if I get X amount of writing done. Write an 800-word blog post? I then treat myself to a coffee and croissant from my local coffee shop.
it depends on the product. It might be relatively easy (and helpful) to blog about some products, but for others it might quickly turn into diluted blabbering. Also, depends on the writer's writing skills and passions. Some people enjoy writing and can get to the point quickly; others might suffer in vain over every sentence, and hate doing that. So, it depends, as usual...
I am pretty ok with writing, However one idea I could write for it once or at least once till next feature or update. For making a company and experience this , I did not do that yet. I usually write about abstract (big picture) topics.
What really helps me out is figuring out how you like to communicate. For my blogs, I find that I really enjoy talking more than I do writing, so I basically hooked up a Voice to Text service to write to and wrote an app that converts it into Markdown, and it's been a life changer. Bang - can outline my entire post in minutes, then edit it with a copy tool. Try working around your process!
Someone else mentioned the voice to text thing and I might give it a try. Even if it is a bit raw and unorganized thoughts, better than nothing.
if you want, I am happy to show you my workflow sometime. Go, Team verbal processors!
Reading helped me a lot. The more you read, the easier it is for you to formulate your thoughts into a blog posts.
This! I always set lofty reading goals and fall short. For me it's hard to set time aside to read when I have so many other things pulling from the same bucket of hours. I also have a 2 year and 2 month old twins, so life is a bit hectic 😬.
Oh man, especially if you're not a native speaker it's a huge pain in the ass. I even send my articles for proofreading :)
grammarly chrome plugin is a lifesaver for writing
Do you use paid verison?
Nah only free... Still helpful though
This comment was deleted 4 years ago
Cool site and idea. I have a specific use case in mind that needs some custom mapping, so I’ll be sure to try out Cartta.
Quick note, when I went to type in my email capture at the bottom, the text color was the same as the background so I couldn’t see what I was typing. Still signed up though!
Oh wow not sure how I missed that. I will update that ASAP. If you want to try the tool, let me know and I can set you up with an extended free trial. DM me on twitter [@]francoxavier33
Haha well done!
For what it's worth, I think "Create completely custom Google Maps with zero code" is a strong value proposition but could be stronger if you were to tailor it to a specific user.
For example, I have an online eyewear store with about 25 offline stockists, but your statement doesn't resonate. I don't want to create a Google Map.
But if you'd said something like "Add a beautiful, completely customisable Google Map to your online store/website with zero code," I would immediately think, "I want that!"
That is amazing insight and totally makes sense. I was trying to keep it generic but as I am gathering feedback, similar to yours, I think a more tailored message will yield better results.
Thanks!
I've never really been a big fan, but then I found Frase.io - This software has really helped make it easier for me to write content.
It always makes it into a game, I really like it.
Though when it comes to it, it is still just pure writing to get to the finish line. 😅
nice tool is it leaflet.js based or you are using something else? if you don't like writing you can always outsource it to someone who likes it.
For now, I am using Google Maps as the base mapping library. I have plan to include the option to change that. Looking at MapBox first, then Leaflet.
As an indie dev, trying to keep cost down so outsourcing stuff will have to wait until there is some revenue being generated. But writing will be the first thing I outsource for sure.
Thanks for the reply!
ok, what part do you hate? coming up with the idea or writing itself? are you ok with narrating? or do you find narrating frustrating as well?
It's a tie between ideation and writing itself. If I had to pick one, I would say writing itself. Doesn't help that I don't think I am a great writer either. I haven't tried just narrating stuff, I can try that and see what comes out and then editing it?