Autonix
Trackable Dynamic QR Code Platform
We have been hard at work evolving the Autonix software platform into something move valuable to a broader audience.
What's new? Introducing Autonix Passpoints!
https://autonix.io/features/passpoints
All existing features remain, with "visitor management" features being called "Autonix Locations" to distinguish new feature rollouts.
What did we add...?
Unlimited Dynamic QR Codes and URLs
Track impressions by device, country, browser
Capture visitor data before sending to the desired location including name/email/phone/company, visitor purpose, notices and more.
Report on conversions and click throughs in aggregate and detail
Pipe submissions to Zapier or via API to any other application
Custom domain support
Enhanced Autonix UI/UX
Optimization to existing check-in flows
And more to come!...
Why did we add Passpoints and pivot from "visitor management"?
In early 2020, we set out to build a lightweight visitor management system leveraging the average visitor's newfound exposure to using QR Codes on nearly an everyday basis due to the pandemic, with the mindset that we can intercept intent to help businesses build valuable visitor lists for the purposes of safety (ie. covid compliance), security, convenience, and marketing opportunities.
We built great scalable software, that was very good at what it does, but when it came to looking down the roadmap of what a full-featured "visitor management" company would look like, we decided to veer in a slightly different direction that still utilizes our initial mission. Instead of knocking out every bell and whistle that a traditional visitor management company may offer for workplaces (like Envoy or Teem or SwipedOn), we decided to bring our revolutionary data collection technologies to all businesses by allowing anyone track any link. Instead of just tracking on-site visitors in and out, Autonix is now a solution for Workplaces, Digital and Offline Marketers, Influencers, Restaurants, Real Estate agents and more!
We are still going to continue the path of lightweight "visitor management" in a solution we call Autonix Locations (https://autonix.io/features/locations), but the distinction will help us propel the software further and faster.
What that means for existing customers...
Because all plans moving forward will offer "unlimited" trackers, our free plan is going away. The good news is existing customers will be grandfathered into their current plans. If you happen to be a free customer and want to take advantage of the new accounts, please contact us, we are happy to offer existing customers a 3 month trial
What's next for us?
An ever expanding roadmap but time to get back to marketing and validate the updated feature set! (Check out our go-to-market LP: https://autonix.io/lp/trackable-qr-codes)
If it's been a while, visit https://autonix.io to checkout the expanded offering, or drop us a line in chat or here..
Since April I've taken a new look at marketing the product. Originally I thought I can just put it out there, people would sign up, at least to try the product, and then if they didnt like it, worst case is I'd get some feedback.
Its hard to get someone to pull their credit card out of their pocket.
It's more important for me to get people using the product than it is to widdle down from a $1K+ CPA, so I decided to launch the essential visitor management features as a completely free product. I have generous allowances for the free product. I want customers using it, and their visitors checking in. Plus the way we architected the platform, this isnt a relatively huge cost. Customers can look at upgrading to paid plans for features which require more tech, more support, or deeper access.
This strategy worked. Among more free signups, I was able to onboard 2 companies with 10k+ employees on the free product, both have been extremely communicative and help validate the functionality. Plus help massage the roadmap moving forward.
Originally I thought of Autonix as a tool for restaurants and real-estate brokerages but those ideas flopped. Tons of $ spent on marketing to those audiences (mostly via LinkedIn). I narrowed down our focus to businesses with employees, as that has the highest demand for my type of software and are 80% of the customers I see trying the platform.
I also realized why free-trial (CC required) would never work. Customers, for the most part, are people who need approval to buy things on behalf of their business. IT support. Developers. Etc. C-Suite is not my customer. Its the people tasked with solving the problem of contactless check-ins, contact tracing, people analytics.
More focus on carefully describing the product, adding more features it seemed like we were missing (discovered through on-site chat, linkedin conversations, etc.). Working with SEO Consultant. Figuring out buyer intent. Etc.
Also paid for a SourceForge premium listing which included some evergreen content:
Uhhhh.... OK I'm feeling foolish. Apparently I've been living in a D2C world too long. Apparently I'm not used to the CAC's associated with B2B SaaS products. Apparently I havent thought through buyer intent. PPC campaigns burning cash. Original thought to market to customer facing businesses washed out.
Spent close to $1k to get my first real free-trial customer. Not good!
I have created and launched software in the past (and exited 3 times), but this was the first solo project I have taken on in a very long time.
Super proud of the product, the team, and very excited about the prospect of where this can go. Autonix MVP is a complete visitor management solution! From public facing website, dashboards, admins, billing, Zapier integrations - everything is QA'd and ready for customers.
Ok now time to find customers....
Took the product pretty far by myself but got inundated with the feature creep. I am a stronger marketer than engineer and between thinking through sysops, throughput, scalability, etc. I decided to hire a team. Originally I was looking to hire one engineer to assist but got lucky by asking around my network and finding a team in Brazil that brings a lot of what I was looking for to the table. They are behind the scenes with a lot of initiatives for the long term.
Shared spec, talked timelines - handed off the project pushing for a Feb-1 2021 launch!
OK... the story still stands but how will Autonix survive into mid-2021 when people are less concerned about safety. At this time, I decided to pull out the tight coupling of COVID and Autonix, and let it be a robust visitor management solution. We'll let the marketing focus on COVID but from the standpoint of the software, the features will speak to themselves.... onward with development!
There's a clear split in people's views of COVID-19, but generally people want to get back to life. Safely. And businesses want customers, but most want to show they're being safe. Current method, at least for restaurants is "we identified someone with COVID, so we're going to shut down for 3 days while we clean up" on IG... What if we can empower people to decide if they care AND give businesses a tool to notify only those people.
Enter Autonix (well i'm writing this in the future... was originally called HelpBot but changed name later on)
Autonix will give businesses contactless check-in solutions to let people who care check-in and out of businesses, and let businesses notify those who cared if there's a possible exposure.
The collateral benefit is, businesses are building targeted email lists of their most loyal customers. Tons of value there, but lets get the core product live first...
Comment