Docamatic
Generate PDF documents from HTML or templates
Hey Indie Hackers,
I launched Docamatic on product hunt this morning:
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/docamatic
Would be awesome if you stopped by! Looks like there is a lot of great apps launched today. Should have went for a Sunday haha!
Thanks
Daryl
To get to this stage was not an easy process but I am over the moon to have got my first paying customer! Thankfully my rookie mistake of having the test stripe key rolled out to production didn't scare them off. Doh!!! Quickly resolved and verification from stripe came through. Phew.
It is amazing what a boost to moral getting this first customer has been. I launched about 5 or 6 weeks ago after about 5 months of development - early mornings, weekends and evenings. So, this very small win makes it feel worthwhile.
If I can give you some advice for those working for their first customer, don’t loose heart. Stay focused and give it time. Things don't usually happen overnight.
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Great design on the landing page there! I must admit, I'm not entirely sure what the product does just by reading the headline and support copy at the top of the page.
My immediate questions, which aren't answered upfront are:
What is meant by business documents? Contracts? Invoices? Proposals?Why would I want to use my own HTML? How do I make my own HTML so this site can use it to make "business documents?"
I already have business documents. Why do I need all these scary-sounding things like REST APIs and Webhooks to send them.
I think your copy is written with someone like you, who is a developer, in mind and not your actual customer, who is a business person who may not be so tech-savvy.
You'll want to lead with some unique selling point that is a solution to a major problem that your customer has. I actually don't really know what problem you're trying to solve, but I think it has to do with Generating PDFs from things that live on the web in an HTML format.
Why does a business need that?
If you can answer that upfront and help alleviate your customer's pain, then I think you'll start getting even more paying customers :D
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First off, thanks for such a detailed reply! To be honest you are spot on with your comments. Initially developers were my target customer but I have been starting to rework the copy and I have found myself somewhere inbetween developers and businesses. I have a few ideas in mind on how to make things less developer centric / scary sounding but requires building out some features :) If I manage to get there, I will need you to revaluate ;) Thanks for the feedback, really appreciated.
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I’m happy to help you write something, even if it is for developers. I just need a bit more info on what the product does. I’ll take another read through the site, but a brief response might shape my understanding :)
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Hi Michael, I made some changes to my copy - keeping things developer centric for now. I was hoping you could give me a quick feedback!?
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Hey Daryl! Thanks for accepting my feedback. So here's my primary concern. Why do developers need to make documents? I understand the deliverables — invoices, reports, etc. But what is a developer's explicit connection to these documents and why is creating the documents a pain point for developers?
In my opinion, you've got to pinpoint the pain before you get into the features.
For example. My product makes exporting logo files easier and faster for logo designers. My headline is:
Spend your time creating logos, not exporting them.
That gets to a pain. exporting logos takes a lot of time. Wouldn't you like to spend more time doing the fun stuff like designing logos rather than exporting them?
Your headline:
Use HTML or templates to create PDF documents.
Is basically a feature, not a pain.
I personally don't really understand what your product does, so I can't write an example headline for you.
What is the normal process a developer has to go through to make documents and how is your product different (this question is for my own understanding)?
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Hey Michael! Thanks again :) The process of generating PDF documents from your application usually involves pulling in 3rd party PDF libraries for tedious implementation. For documents, such as shipping labels that require a bit more accuracy, you may need to position things using x/y coordinates which is takes a lot of trial and error. Its basically a time consuming and boring.
My product is an API that allows you to create and send documents using templates or existing HTML.
I've reworked things again. Probably about verson 10 by now! I had a look at your site, it's looking awesome and your copy works perfectly!
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You're the man! Congrats!
Keep it going and looking forward to your "First 10 paying customer" post real soon.
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The journey of a thousand miles starts with 1 step. Congrats.
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Congrats. Nice design too!
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clean and professional look!!! you will go really far my buddy
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Congratulations!!!
I feel so far away from making my first dollar. But, I’m still having fun building, learning and working towards it!
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Congratulations!!
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That's awesome! Congrats
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Congratulations!
Your product looks really good. Although, I didn't fully understand the purpose of it from the landing page. However, once I read this line on the "Templates" page it made a lot more sense.
Simply post JSON and get a document back.
If your target customer is programmers I would lead with that line. It makes a lot of sense. Of course, if your target customer doesn't know how to POST JSON then maybe lead with something else.
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Hi Dylan thanks for the feedback! I made a few tweaks to the copy. Does it read any better for you?
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It does.
I still think the highest value thing on your website is the templates. It seems very appealing that I could pick a template, post some JSON and have an invoice come out the other end in a few minutes.
I know you've designed it to be a super generic HTML to PDF generator and I think that's a great feature, but to be honest, creating the HTML sounds like a lot of work and I think a lot of the value comes from not having to create HTML yourself.
Of course, I could be completely wrong, take it with a grain of salt.
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Congrats! Really like your landing page, too! So clean and straight to the point!
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Great! Congrats!
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Congrats! I know rev is a huge motivator so I’m hoping this takes you to the next level
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I implemented PDF reports for my own project just last weekend and spent a long while figuring out all the details and setting it up properly (templating, rendering with a headless Chrome, ...). I've been thinking that having PDF generating as a service would be great, and your project seems to tick off all boxes of what I would expect from it!
Congrats on the first customer, I definitely see it growing further.
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thank you for the kind words! yes there is a bit of work involved :) Good luck with your project!
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Very exciting man. Congratulations! Keep it up and thanks for the advice.
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Thanks!
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That's awesome man! Congrats! The first 10 are the hardest to get. 1 down 9 to go. Funny enough I've had a need for a product similar to yours, I might be reaching out.
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Awesome! Thanks for the kind words. I hope I can help you out
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Absolutely beautiful and professional website!
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Woohoo!
Congratulations! 🙌 -
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Love your website design😍
Congratulations to your first customer!
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awsome!
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Congrats! That's the best feeling!
Now you just need to update monthly revenue on the Docamating IH page, since it still says $0/mo :)-
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Not anymore! :)
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Congrats !!!
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Congratulations! How did you market it and how much traffic do you have on your site currently?
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Traffic is low! But I got featured on betalist which definitely helped out
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Awesome 🥳 Congratulations.
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Thank you!
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Phew! After lots of early mornings, evenings and weekends fitted in around my family and full time dev job, I'm happy to be a week ahead of schedule in releasing https://docamatic.com. It's taken 4 and a half months of hard slogging so it feels pretty amazing to have got this far.
Onwards to phase 2...and arguablly the most challenging part. Getting some customers :)
Big thanks to IH podcasts for inspiring me to build something and fellow IH for all the great advice.
Cheers
Daryl
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Congrats! I'm on there too today.
Was actually talking to a designer friend this morning about him providing PDFs from HTML, looks like this is something you can do?
Upvoted you, good luck! :)
Hey Jamie! Thanks I reciprocated :) Yes that's something I can do! Please check it out and give me a shout if your stuck :)
Best of luck today - product looks awesome
Cheers!
Great, I'll show my friend Docamatic and let you know if we have any problems.
Good luck, looking neat! Small sidenote on your pricing: Making 2500 requests while having the starter plan costs $34, while the next plan (professional) costs $39 and limits your requests to 2500, before charging overage. Why would I ever switch plans except for a minor difference in support plan?
hmm! thanks for pointing that one out :)