Reading Rooster

4 months ago I signed up here with an idea. Now I have learned react, though far, very far from mastering it. Have picked up on javascript in general and figured out how to run serverless code on the Google cloud platform. Firebase is amazing. Really!

Besides that I have been working as technical marketing consultant to earn my income. And started a mentoring group for young professionals with some working experience that want to get a grip on their career (free, shout out if your are interested in joining)

Anyway, back to my tool.

All in all I had hoped to go live this month with an early beta release. But I 'only' got as far as a very ugly alpha version that nearly takes more time to manage than when doing it my old way in excel.

However. I got a paying customer.

I'm doing everything manually on the backend, mostly in python, which is still running locally on my pc. But it's running. Im still using bigquery instead of my own dB as my client facing database. Not a good practice for a BI DB. But it's running and doesn't cost me anything =p. And the client is technically paying the full solution while using one feature of the eventual market research tool. So I'm giving some additional consulting time. The best part is though, to see my Frankenstein tool work based on client data. Having literally thousands and thousands of data point running over my screen a la the matrix feels like serious magic that I could only dream of previously.

So I'm crazy excited for what is coming next and am very curious what I'll be writing here by the time it's four months in the future. October 2020.

There's just so much to do. First I do hope to get a new consulting gig. That'll give me some cash to invest in a freelance developer help on the side. That should speed up building my solution. In that case I'll move more towards being the product manager and write good user stories. Which I'm doing half half for myself too in jira btw. Trying to be a good boy there. Also to be able to look back. And I notice it does help thinking various functionalities through. Though it also feels like postponing the more daunting actual programming tasks. Dreaming is easier than debugging.

However, when I don't get my consulting gig I'll be spending the next two or three weeks nerding down on my solution. I will also be starting my own marketing in the form of technical marketing education content.

First I'll finish my website. Because it also acts as my consulting business card and a place to host all my marketing content and build my email newsletter. Plus, I'm really hating my WordPress site now. I want it to be silky smooth in REACT. (Sidenote, I got really really in love with high speed SPA websites. "like omg, love it so much" 😅 )

As its a simple normal website It's also a great way of getting out of tutorial loop mode and actually build something and figuring stuff out. Though I still don't like the whole design part. First thing I'll give away if I can to somebody that's good at it.

Hopefully during June still I can have that done and start porting my Pre alpha code to alpha cloud code and bring some structure to it.

In the mean time...
I'm continuously thinking about awesome additions to the tool. Anyone has that problem too? Where you have to build even basic functionality but your tool is already as large as Adobe in your head? Focus. Focus.

But yeah, talking and thinking leads to slightly shifting. Adapting I'd like to say. No pivot. Just adapting to new insights. Cus I am out there talking to my potential clients... (Small) marketing agencies and freelancers, like myself, who spend tons of time on market research for their clients. Which can be done more effective.

So instead of developing an SEO solution, I'm actually aiming broader and develop a marketing research solution. SEO is going to be the start, but it'll be helping marketeers doing in depth market research.

Basically I will be making the doing of digital market research easier and A LOT less time consuming.

So my clients can be more efficient with their consulting hours. Or, say you want to do desk research for your startup. It'll be easy! Or even if your a digital marketer and don't have in depth knowledge...

But mainly focusing on digital marketing consultants and agencies.

More info and hopefully a landing page with the next update. ✌️I'm going to do one monthly now.

Michel

Ps. Did I say I got a paying customer? 😁

It feels awesome!

I've always got a million ideas. But now I've finally got one that makes sense to follow up on. My first customer? Me, myself. Even if nobody buys in, at least I'll benefit from it.

It's a development of a product I've been able to sell as a hourly rate based service. Now I'm going to transpose it to a product. Slightly different product due to audience change, but similar in the core.

My biggest benefit? It's a product for a market that I have a great network within.

Biggest challenge? I'm going to develop the backend myself. I'm not a programmer. Though I know some python. =)

Fingers crossed.