How to balance improving product and getting users?
I've recently launched my SaaS MVP, and within a day, I got one user registration! What an achievement!!! I also know that people used the demo on the landing page but didn't sign up.
Ok, realistically though, now I'm a bit stuck. I've launched on reddit and product hunt, and some temporary traffic aside, people don't seem that interested as I've only gotten a few generic comments like "good luck on your launch". I've emailed that one user for feedback, and I hope that user responds.
I think part of the reason is that the problem I'm solving is super niche. My product ( https://www.blogtodoc.com/ ) simply downloads an online blog into an offline word document.
Prior to making this, google searches did show some demand I think, but those demand might be hard to find or outdated. The thing is, a simple product can succeed as well. From boringcashcow, some guy made a screenshotapi that literally just returns a screenshot of a website and is earning decent money.
I know startups need to iterate fast, but what's the point of that if I can't find users? Or am I losing users because I need to improve/bug fix my product first? Even without user feedback, I have lots of ideas in mind, but I don't want to bindly spend time doing that.
I appreciate any suggestions! Also, if you'd like, feel free to upvote BlogToDoc on PH :)
I think your problem's value proposition is not really obvious. Why would anyone want to download a blog to a pdf or word? Except doing manual backups, can't think of another reason (I have a personal blog and just started a publication about indie hacking on substack, shameless plug: https://jointhetechbubble.substack.com/ ) and I can't think of a reason to use it.
If it would say something like "backup websites and blogs from various platforms such as Substack, Ghost, etc" then I would be interested. If it would say that you ca back up from one platform and restore it on another platform, then I think I would even seriously consider paying for it, as platform risk is pretty high, and I already spent like 2 hours moving my posts from Ghost to Substack.
So I think that's the harsh reason: it doesn't solve a concrete problem as it doesn't have a use case.
Would you mind if I would write a post on my substack about your product and my recommendations for it? :D
Thanks for the feedback! I am planning to add more words and use cases to the landing page, as currently it lacks marketing copy. I'll definitely think about having the backup value proposition.
What about restoring it on another platform? That's an interesting direction to go to. I'm not sure what process I can automate.
Yes, please feel free to write and share about BlogToDoc! I appreciate your thoughts.
If you're interesting in telling me more about the pain points, we can talk more at
[email protected]
Products are meant to solve problems. I can't think of any reason to ever download a blog. Blogs are meant to be written or read. In either case there's little incentive to download to a word document. If I deem it important I'll just mark it in my RSS reader or save the site. I believe you aren't solving a problem that many people have. I'd suggest you to move on and build something else.
This is all personal opinion. If you feel otherwise do let your thoughts out. Good Luck.
While simple products are successful they need to solve a problem that a lot of people have.
If I'm honest, I think the same way...
@pliwriters Great that you launched a product and you even got one user,
When it comes to getting users, one thing matters the most and that is what I call — Interest rate. So this is what I do to determine Interest rate, on the scale of 1-100 (how would someone react to my product for the first time when they see it?) It's not always about the demand, it mostly about the "interest" - to demand is different from - to be interested
So for your beautiful and great idea you may ask yourself - what is the Interest rate for your product?
You will get the answers you need, and the answers you get will pilot you to knowing what to do and what next steps to take.
You can do this!
If your initial motivation for the product was based on Google search demand, I would suggest trying paid Ads or SEO.
Launching on Reddit/HN/PH etc can give you quick traffic but they won't bring you sustained users. For that, you will have to do constant marketing either paid or organic.
Respect for launching quickly and getting your product out there.
I think this is the kind of thing that people would google "blog to word document" or something along those lines and if your site is in the top results they'd click on it so maybe try to do SEO and rank for those kinds of keywords. But then it has to solve their problem FAST, otherwise they will leave.
I would expect to be able to go to the site, put in the URL and then be able to download the .doc file directly (maybe once it's ready, popup a sign up screen that says "Enter your email to receive your word doc" and then email it to them, or create an account and the doc is there waiting for them). Definitely don't make them enter a URL, see a screenshot, then sign up, then enter the URL again, then finally get the file.
Maybe even just make your dashboard the home page?
Yep, I updated the site so that any links you submitted for preview will be there for word file download once you login. Feel free to try it! I'll be updating the site quite frequently.
This comment was deleted 5 days ago.