Diabetic & Me
Read about the lives of diabetics.
Very happy to announce that my diabetes community and affiliate blog reached 600 dollars MRR.
I posted 50+ articles
I wrote 40+ diabetes stories
I got 100+ subscribers
I receive an average of 10k visits per month
I have an average of 500 orders per month
Statistics:
Stories online: 48
Blog posts online: 51
Subscribers: 164
Monthly Visits: 10,148
Twitter followers: 340
Instagram followers: 1,040
The best thing is that blog is growing each month and reaching the correct audience.
The goal for the end of the year is to reach those 4 digits in revenue.
It has been a while since I wrote something on Indie Hackers. Especially about this project.
It has been new step for me to start blogging, creating content online and building out a community but so far it worked out pretty wel.
I asked Indie Hackers for help on how to grow my user base. I received great advice but one piece of advice really worked: START an Instagram and contact people.
I started and Instagram profile and my stats improved a lot.
Also writing specific content on hot topics worked.
Instagram:
I created the profile at the end of November 2019 but didn't do much with it. Starting from March 2020 I started working on more content and looking for followers. At the moment my followers grew to 635 people.
Hot content:
I looked online on what works well. Many blogs use the famous 'top 10 this and that' subjects. I wrote about the 'Top 6 Netflix documentaries for diabetics'. This blog post is scoring high on Google and is getting more traffic to my website than any other. It's the main topic or purpose of the site but it's getting traffic.
I added more stories, I added recipes and I added diabetic friendly places. I also added apparel that you can buy.
Still looking to get broader and adding more nice features to the site. But I am happy how it's growing so far and keep on pushing.
Statistics:
- Stories online: 24 (+13)
- Blog posts online: 5 (+1)
- Diabetic Friendly Places online: 10 (+10)
- Recipes online: 4 (+4)
- Subscribers: 103 (+78)
- Visits: 1336 (+470)
- Twitter followers: 220 (+11)
- Instagram followers: 635 (+560)
Since my launch on the 11th of November 2019 I am happy with the results so far. I hope I can monetize some of the site soon but really hoping to grow the content and user/follower base.
- Stories online: 11 (+6)
- Blog posts online: 4 (+4)
- Subscribers: 25 (+23)
- Visits: 866 (+553)
- Twitter followers: 209 (+170)
If you are diabetic or know anyone that has diabetes. Don't hesitate to share your own story!
Since the launch on November 11th I am proud to posted my 10th story online.
I have five more in the pipeline and submission keep coming in.
You can share your own story online or read about the lives of diabetics.
For the future I want to focus on publishing more stories, adding guest blogs and creating a community around eating out in restaurant as a diabetic.
After being active for 4 days on Twitter I reached a 100 followers.
I reached out to each one personally to tell them about Diabetic & Me and if they had interest to share their story online. I received 3 new stories and gained 5 new subscribers.
I reached out to a few diabetes leagues and advocates. Received some positive feedback.
I'm dedicated to write more content and make this community grow.
Since I wrote the milestone about my 2 first subscribers things are moving forward.
- Subscribers: 8 (+6)
- Visits: 313 (+260)
- Stories online: 5 (+1)
- Stories views coming: 11 (+3)
- Twitter followers: 39
- Facebook followers: 41
Created a new logo and automated MailChimp mailings.
At the moment I am trying to build out my user/follower base to get a steady flow of visitors to the website.
Creating more stories to publish online is my current focus.
If you are diabetic or know anyone that has diabetes. Don't hesitate to share your own story!
Hitting 2 first subscribers after 30 minutes of launch made me a happy man.
I've been living with diabetes type 1 since 1996 and everyday is an awareness day that you are living with this chronic disease.
Many people around the world live with the same condition but it's sometimes hard to grasp how others feel or handle their lives.
Diabetic & Me is trying to share these stories online.
If you are diabetic or know anyone that has diabetes. Don't hesitate to share your own story!
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Hey just wanted to say good work on this. I think it will prove valuable for people looking for solidarity and resources. Cheers
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Thank you. All in the hope I find this people to participate in the community.
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This is a great idea Ely :)
How did you launch the site and get people to know about it?
Also, on the mobile site the image on the landing page is zoomed in and the "Share your own story" text is enlarged. It ends up showing white text ("Sh" from "Share") against a white background (the window), so it's hard to read because there's no contrast.
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Thank you.
The website now is only launched and Indie Hackers and Reddit. I made a post on Hacker News but I will try that again shortly. I am planning on trying to reach out to Diabetes groups and forums and reaching out to press.
Can you share a screenshot of the issues or what phone you are using? I will try to replicate and solve the issue.
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Very cool. Good luck!
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Thanks! :)
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2 in 30 mins is a great start. Am sure this is going to be really helpful for supporting people with diabetes.
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Thank you. Yes I am hoping that I can support and build out the community.
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well that's lovely. Congratulations.
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Thanks =)
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Happy to announce that the first MVP is launched.
Diabetic & Me shares the stories behind the lives of people with diabetes. I launched 5 stories behind different people and hoping to launch a new story each week.
Hopefully I can get this project to the next level. I want to connect diabetics all over the world by telling the stories from their point of view.
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Great design!!
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I really love this MVP of the website. Sharing about the stories of diabetic patients. Last 2 months have been the most life changing for me, i was very very upset yet i don't know who i should speak to the moment i got the symptom diabetes. I want to share my journey as well!
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That's great to hear. Glad you can share your story.
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After a few days of writing I finished my 2 first interviews that are ready to publish. The website is getting close to a first MVP and ready to launch.
Still in need of more people with diabetes that want to fill in the questionnaire online to create a story on the website.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLyb-psxQZ85KAOveXXwsR3eL98OuHFldJ3dd9azqYGYZbhQ/viewform
I started working on Diabetic & Me a few weeks ago. I had no clear idea what I was going to create but I wanted to give something back to the diabetes community.
I'm a type 1 for 24 years myself and I sometimes wonder how other people live with their diabetes. How do they get affected by certain foods? What type of treatment are they on? Do they suffer from anxiety? Are they happy?
The idea became more clear and I started working on a blog where I can publish interviews with people having diabetes. I worked out a first version of the interview and posted it on Reddit. I received about 25 positive answers and in the meanwhile I received 13 filled in interviews back.
Currently I am working on the website in the hope to launch a first MVP in November.
If you have diabetes or know someone that has diabetes, you can always share the current interview: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLyb-psxQZ85KAOveXXwsR3eL98OuHFldJ3dd9azqYGYZbhQ/viewform
Any feedback on the interview is always appreciated.
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This is super interesting. I definitely be staying tuned to see what you come up with, as I'm sure there are lots of ways to make the lives of diabetics better through tech.
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Very cool approach to the problem Ely!
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Thank you!
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Great idea! I've been a t1d for 25 years, I'll try to fill in the survey this week.
What I notice is that it can be difficult to handle from person to person. Personality of an entrepreneur helps a lot but in the end it's playing life on hard mode.
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Thanks. 25 years; I can relate. Thanks for the survey :)
It's indeed playing life on hard mode and daily attention to it.
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Very cool idea to focus in on this niche market. Physician myself and it is nice to see other indiehackers in the medical space! Insulin prices have gone insane here in the US.
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Yes I read about the prices going up.
Thanks for the feedback :)
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4 Comments
You can easily increase the revenue with the same amount of traffic if you promote products outside Amazon where the commission is between 20%-50%
My two cents 👍
Totally agree and working on that. I have 3 extra channels that I'm integrating at the moment. Thank you.
Hi Ely,
Great stuff. What's your revenue model? Just affiliate commissions?
Hi, currently it's just affiliate commission via Amazon, deals with product brands, and writing product reviews.