Decarb
App to fight climate change
Here is a short update on the project after two years developing the product with no-code:
- Developed and updated the blog; aiming at one post per month - Blog
- Only few money spent on Ads, for assessing the interest, not continuous efforts.
- Currently working on automation, and optimizing conversions.
What I have learned:
- I am limiting the development of the product. As it is has been a side project it is hard to allocate the time. I see results when I dedicate time, not much happens when the product sits untouched for a while.
- Not having significant technical skills, and being limited to no-code solutions also limits the options. Therefore, I do not find easy solutions to implement all the features that I would like.
- I have seen how other similar companies providing a similar service have popped-up since I created Decarb. Some of them are doing a really good job.
Hope this helps!
I upgraded my landing page at https://decarb.co
What do you think about it?
I am still using Carrd for the landing page. I started with one of the templates just to start fast. And then I discovered through the IH dracc.co and made the switch.
A few things that I am still working on:
- Better copy.
- Figuring out how to improve conversions.
- Optimizing SEO in a Carrd website.
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2
I think this looks great!
After a few months without many signups, Decarb finally passed 100 signups! This has been the result of several efforts, including improving the website, social media, and marketing.
We were stuck after the initial hype and help from friends and family and it was difficult to see any progress. But what really turned the tide for us were social media partnerships. I contacted 20 different Instagram accounts this past month (with relevant public and without bot followers) and ended up collaborating with one of them, this drove traffic and signups.
Today one of my first customers of Decarb decided to offset their carbon footprint.
I still need to improve my funnel, only one out of 60 customers who started the sequence ended up purchasing a product, but it is a good first step.
Lot's of ideas that I want to test!
It took 4 months, but I'm finally done building the minimum viable product for Decarb.
I worked mostly nights and weekends, tried to avoid code to a maximum. I had a beta using WordPress/custom java code but it was too hard for me to crack it and improve it.
I ended up using a no-code alternative and I launch the product (Carrd+Typeform+GoogleDocs+Zapier+Stripe). The main reason is that it is easier to modify, improve, iterate and fix the issues.
Good feedback on the product so far!
I did not want to start building a product if people were not interested in what I had to offer. Since day one I've been trying to validate before moving forward.
I created a landing page to capture emails along with Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/decarbinc/) and Twitter profiles. I captured 50 emails and 60 followers, just by sharing it on my personal accounts.
Most of them were family & friends but a few were not. This was enough for me to go to the next step: building the MVP.
I've heard so many times people complaining about climate change but not doing anything. They keep using their cars, taking the plane, most won't give up the comfort.
I sat down to think about how I could help my friends to tackle the issue.
It was a hard task but an interesting one to solve, that is why I started Decarb.co !
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1
It's really hard to not take the car or plane, especially based on your situation. Thanks for making this though!
4 Comments
Sorry but I didn't get your value proposition. I've looked though some pages of the blog and the only motivation for an action I could find is fear to die. Is it what you count on?
You are right, it is not clearly stated. It is on my to-do list, which is very long. I am probably not prioritizing the right things now. Recently an experienced marketing expert joined the team, and it was the first comment.
I am working on redrafting the site, focusing on the solutions, and clearly stating the value proposition. We need to get better at prioritizing.
What is the goal with decarb? who is your target icp? 'ideal customer profile' ?
You don't need to know how to code if this is a blog, lots of tools out there and looks like you have done a pretty good job. From what i saw, i would increase the font size, seems a bit small, the large image also doesn't say too much as to what the blog is about?
Have your articles been features elsewhere? perhaps write for somebody bigger and link back to your site, it all depends on your goals and who your target customer is.
You seem to have discovered and announced your limitations, i.e limited technical skill etc, but i do like hope you are just ploughing through, You will succeed.
Best
Thank you for the comment and the recommendations.
I wanted to curate the blog, content, and brand image before engaging with other sites for features/articles. Might not be the right approach.