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As a solo developer (https://simplepush.io https://simplepush.io) that hates marketing as well, I often find myself trying to make use of paid ads. Probably bec

by tymm 5y ago

As a solo developer (https://simplepush.io https://simplepush.io) that hates marketing as well, I often find myself trying to make use of paid ads. Probably because it is easier to spend some money than writing a good article. However it hasn't really worked for me so far. Wondering if other solo developers had some success with paid ads?

ushakov 5y ago
ads don’t work unless you have Coca Cola budgets why not share your project here more often and other sites like ProductHunt, IndieHackers?
- tymm 5y ago
  Because I just want to finish that one feature before sharing it ;) Jokes aside, I just don't like the idea of spamming communities. I probably should do it more often though.
- dt3ft 5y ago
  Because it gets downvoted to hell :)
pul 5y ago
I've done some search ads for https://www.nslookup.io https://www.nslookup.io in the early days, but I don't think it has done much. I don't track users, so I don't know if it got me any returning users. In any case, facebook's recent downtime [1] and a well-received blog post [2] brought in much more traffic. [1] https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-01&to=2021-12-13&entry_page=%2Fdns-records%2Ffacebook.com https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-... [2] https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-01&to=2021-12-13&entry_page=%2Flearning%2Fdns-record-types%2Fhttps://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-01&to=2021-12-13&entry_page=%2Flearning%2Fdns-record-types%2F https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-...
HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
Some suggestions for your site. Explain what a push notification is. I'm a developer and I only have a vague idea of what you're talking about. Why would I want to do a push? What benefit does it have? Am I possibly already doing notifications a different way that's less efficient/less effective/slower than your method? Right there are a bunch of blog articles you could write and share that provide free marketing for your product. Also nothing should be priced at $4.99/year, I don't care what it is, if it's worth $4.99 a year then it's probably worth at least 20x that.
- tymm 5y ago
  Really appreciate your suggestions! Some things are just hard to see from the inside. > Also nothing should be priced at $4.99/year, I don't care what it is, if it's worth $4.99 a year then it's probably worth at least 20x that. Would you still increase the price if the main competitor with the biggest market share is already cheaper (one-time payment of $5)?
  - inpharmer 5y ago
    I'm not knowledgeable about your market or how your product works, just interested in technology and discussions here, so take this at face value. To me your product looks like a service. I'm skeptical of any service that is a one-time payment versus some type of subscription. With a subscription I'm inclined to believe there's maintenance. With a one-time payment, I'm inclined to believe that either the product isn't sustainable without growth, will become ad-supported, or will fold.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    Yes, I refuse to compete on price. One of my favorite phrases (just read it in a email an hour ago, in fact) is "your price is right on the edge of my budget." How do I know that the main competitor isn't slowly going out of business at that price? Maybe their product is total crap, maybe I can offer stellar support that's worth a higher price, maybe I can guarantee GDPR compliance, maybe I can offer uptime guarantees, maybe my product is designed to a small niche that will pay a much higher price for a product targeted exactly at them, maybe I can focus on large customers who would be suspicious that a $4.99 price is way too low, maybe, maybe, maybe. In the end, ask yourself if you really think that $4.99/year * n_Customers computes to a number that makes it worthwhile for you.

by tymm 5y ago

ushakov 5y ago

ads don’t work unless you have Coca Cola budgets why not share your project here more often and other sites like ProductHunt, IndieHackers?

tymm 5y ago
Because I just want to finish that one feature before sharing it ;) Jokes aside, I just don't like the idea of spamming communities. I probably should do it more often though.
dt3ft 5y ago
Because it gets downvoted to hell :)

pul 5y ago

I've done some search ads for https://www.nslookup.io https://www.nslookup.io in the early days, but I don't think it has done much. I don't track users, so I don't know if it got me any returning users. In any case, facebook's recent downtime [1] and a well-received blog post [2] brought in much more traffic. [1] https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-01&to=2021-12-13&entry_page=%2Fdns-records%2Ffacebook.com https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-... [2] https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-01&to=2021-12-13&entry_page=%2Flearning%2Fdns-record-types%2Fhttps://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-01&to=2021-12-13&entry_page=%2Flearning%2Fdns-record-types%2F https://plausible.io/nslookup.io?period=custom&from=2020-12-...

HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago

Some suggestions for your site. Explain what a push notification is. I'm a developer and I only have a vague idea of what you're talking about. Why would I want to do a push? What benefit does it have? Am I possibly already doing notifications a different way that's less efficient/less effective/slower than your method? Right there are a bunch of blog articles you could write and share that provide free marketing for your product. Also nothing should be priced at $4.99/year, I don't care what it is, if it's worth $4.99 a year then it's probably worth at least 20x that.

tymm 5y ago
Really appreciate your suggestions! Some things are just hard to see from the inside. > Also nothing should be priced at $4.99/year, I don't care what it is, if it's worth $4.99 a year then it's probably worth at least 20x that. Would you still increase the price if the main competitor with the biggest market share is already cheaper (one-time payment of $5)?
- inpharmer 5y ago
  I'm not knowledgeable about your market or how your product works, just interested in technology and discussions here, so take this at face value. To me your product looks like a service. I'm skeptical of any service that is a one-time payment versus some type of subscription. With a subscription I'm inclined to believe there's maintenance. With a one-time payment, I'm inclined to believe that either the product isn't sustainable without growth, will become ad-supported, or will fold.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  Yes, I refuse to compete on price. One of my favorite phrases (just read it in a email an hour ago, in fact) is "your price is right on the edge of my budget." How do I know that the main competitor isn't slowly going out of business at that price? Maybe their product is total crap, maybe I can offer stellar support that's worth a higher price, maybe I can guarantee GDPR compliance, maybe I can offer uptime guarantees, maybe my product is designed to a small niche that will pay a much higher price for a product targeted exactly at them, maybe I can focus on large customers who would be suspicious that a $4.99 price is way too low, maybe, maybe, maybe. In the end, ask yourself if you really think that $4.99/year * n_Customers computes to a number that makes it worthwhile for you.