What do we want people to think when we #BuildInPublic? That we are being brave? That we are selflessly inspiring others to action? Is there anything remarkable about our own journeys, that other people should stop what they’re doing and look at us and say “WOW”? Nobody cares about your story. Nobody cares how hard you’re working. Nobody cares how brave you are. They care about what you can do for them.
The more times somebody says your name, the faster you’ll build rapport. And since we buy from people—and brands—that we know, like, and trust, building rapport quickly is very important. Our brains release serotonin and dopamine when we hear names. Those are the chemicals that make you feel happy and motivated.
Let’s get something straight—homepage SEO exists. A homepage can rank for relevant non-branded keywords and help other pages on your site to rank too. You can find proof of that all over the web. But SEO is not the only or primary aspect of a homepage.
As your business grows and scales, it’s easy to lose touch with the problems your customers are experiencing, even the reasons you started up in the first place. One of the places it will become really apparent is in the content you produce to help users of your product. To be successful you’ll need to build both cognitive and emotional empathy with your customers.
Don’t get me wrong, customers dislike A LOT of things. But there are three things that elicit such a deep, visceral response that the only applicable word is hate. Strong word, but strong emotions. But, it’s these three things that can have incredibly negative results for both you and your customers.
There’s a big myth in the industry… “Net Promoter Scores”. Companies use NPS questions for almost everything. But that’s a huge mistake. Check out this case study to see why.
What do you do before you make a purchase online? I look for reviews to see what past and present users are saying about the product. Those reviews help me decide whether or not the product is worth my time and money. Most people do the same. That’s why software review platforms like Capterra make a fortune.
Devon from Trustpage put an amazing summary of how to do PLG and how you can look at it as a spectrum. If you’re moving or want to move to product-led growth, you can do it gradually by moving across the spectrum. A few examples of companies across the different spectrums: 80/20: Pendo.io, HubSpot, Trustpage; Pure PLG: Slack, Notion, Figma, Webflow.
In product management, there’s an art and a science. The “art” gets dismissed as soft skills. When PMs fail, it’s usually because of “The Art.” The most important thing you can do early in your career is grow these skills. Don’t let them be dismissed as “soft skills,” don’t get lured by the promise of tactics and techniques: they’re essential, but the craft depends more on the art over the long term.
Everyone’s familiar with the concept of a go-to-market (GTM) plan, but in the world of bottom-up adoption and product-led growth, a go-to-community (GTC) plan is equally as important. GTC ensures that community-driven programs are a strategic priority and that they, like GTM programs, map back to business goals. So, does GTC work?
What drives more growth? When we started growth hacking, it was all about AARRR funnels, but as technology evolves and competition rises, funnels are no longer enough to drive growth. While they remain necessary, loops emerged as a significant growth driver. Loops result in self-reinforcing growth. Yet, too many businesses are still caught up in funnel thinking.
Scratching your own itch can be a great way to generate business ideas. But only if you can find a critical mass of people who face the same problems as you face. And they are willing to pay money for the problem to be solved. When you’re starting out, the best thing you can do is build something that solves your own problems. Instead of waiting for new ideas to strike.
Many viral products (Calendly, Loom, etc.) are only valuable when they’re used in multi-player mode, giving users a powerful incentive to share the products with others. Even if your product isn’t inherently viral, it pays to give product virality a second look. Consider that it’s far easier to generate growth from your existing product users than it is to acquire totally new ones.
Most SaaS brands are constantly thinking about how to make their products more usable and accessible. Because that’s what today’s buyers want. They want to be able to explore, use, and understand the value of a product — before they’re asked to pay. But what if you could go further? Remove more friction. Make your product more accessible. And get it in front of an even larger audience?
Like many of us in the Indie Hackers community, marketing is not an activity that I inherently enjoy. I much prefer building something cool rather than talking about it. Over the last several years I’ve been forced to put energy into driving growth. So when I heard about engineering-as-marketing, I instantly knew it was something I wanted to try.