Hunger in the eyes of a 24-year-old: the diary of my entrepreneurial journey

[lifemaker]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• I tested the ability of the platform to detect the location of the users and adapt the language (Spanish or English).
• I fixed all the bugs in the layout that occurred because of the different lengths of words in different languages.
• I drafted a "user acquisition" plan. My goal is to get 10 paying customers in 3 months. The plan for now is to not pay for ads, do things manually, understand the customer base, iterate, and then scale the ads if it makes sense.
• I've started sending cold emails (I'm tracking the openings and clicks) to the customers on my waiting list, offering to manually onboard them and provide consultancy on how to get a tech job in Europe. The goal at this stage is to study customer reactions, get feedback, and understand if the product is really solving a pain point. I'm using a sort of "The Mom Test" framework.
• I identified the top online communities where my target audience is (subreddits and specialized forums). I'll start providing value there and market my SaaS in a good way (not pushing or anything, only if it really helps).

Goals for This Week

• Send cold emails and keep scheduling interviews with my customers. Gather feedback and then find common patterns. Here, it is crucial not to focus on my idea or product but on what the user is already trying to do to solve the problem (find a tech job in Europe) and what they need.
• Start monitoring subreddits and answer questions from my target audience.
• I want to celebrate this small victory with you: the first customers signed up just 6 minutes after sending my cold email batch.

I want to celebrate this small victory with you: the first customers signed up just 6 minutes after sending my cold email batch! Below is a screenshot capturing this exciting moment.

View attachment 63416

and this is where the fun stuff begins =)
well done @BlackLands!
rooting for you!!!

 

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[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• I interviewed few customers and understood how they found my SaaS, what they were looking for and why.
• I'm sending emails to university teachers to convince them showing my SaaS to their students (hoping that most of them want to find a tech job in Europe) and to Latino Tech Professionals.
  • Spent most of time here trying to understand where to find the emails for possible leads and what to write (I'm creating a directory where I'm storing ChatGPT prompts and emails/posts template to reuse in the future).

Goals for This Week

• Keep sending emails and start looking on how can I easily and quickly integrate a blog in my SaaS in order to write articles that answer to common questions of my potential customers and link them on Reddit and other communities.

 

[lifemaker]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• I interviewed few customers and understood how they found my SaaS, what they were looking for and why.
• I'm sending emails to university teachers to convince them showing my SaaS to their students (hoping that most of them want to find a tech job in Europe) and to Latino Tech Professionals.
  • Spent most of time here trying to understand where to find the emails for possible leads and what to write (I'm creating a directory where I'm storing ChatGPT prompts and emails/posts template to reuse in the future).

Goals for This Week

• Keep sending emails and start looking on how can I easily and quickly integrate a blog in my SaaS in order to write articles that answer to common questions of my potential customers and link them on Reddit and other communities.

great stuff!
keep grinding man! =)

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

I reached out to over 300 professors and teachers from top tech universities in Latin America. While I didn’t receive any responses, I know they are opening the emails, which indicates that the subject line is engaging and the content is reaching them. I believe the lack of replies is primarily due to my proposal for a call to discuss how my platform could benefit their students. The fact that my platform is not free might also be a deterrent, as they may want to avoid being perceived by their students as having a business partnership with me. While this outcome wasn’t ideal, I’ve learned valuable lessons about cold emailing and how to refine my approach.

I also spent time reflecting on where to focus my marketing efforts. I concluded that the best strategy is to test multiple channels, analyze the results, and then double down on the most effective ones. My immediate goal is not just to sell but to conduct customer interviews to better understand their pain points and improve the product. I plan to test one channel at a time for 1-2 weeks, evaluate the outcomes, and focus on the most promising one. I’ll start with free channels like TikTok and outreach. Below is a list of potential channels to test:

• TikTok
  1. Create 10+ reels myself to gauge performance.
     • Share tips on job hunting and free tools.
  2. Partner with micro-influencers by offering promo codes.
• LinkedIn
  1. Send personalized DMs to job seekers, filtered by country.
  2. Explore LinkedIn groups for potential outreach.
  3. Test LinkedIn Ads.
• Google Ads
  • Run a campaign similar to the one that performed well for the waiting list.
• Twitter Ads
  • Experiment with targeted ad campaigns.
• Landing Page Updates
  • Increase the base price and create promo codes for influencers.
  • Offer student discounts upon verification.
• Reddit Ads
  • Test targeted ads on relevant subreddits.
• SEO (I don't have a precision opinion on this. It requires a lot of time and I think for now it's better to manually reach people)
  • Publish blog posts to drive organic traffic.
• Free Tools for Lead Generation
  • Understand what can be done here by listening to people on Reddit and in the multiple communities.
• Launch Platforms
  • Submit the platform to Product Hunt, Hacker News, and similar platforms.

Goals for This Week

1. Publish at least 3 TikTok videos and analyze their performance. (I have to invest 40 minutes studying common mistakes to avoid, as this is my first time creating content on the platform.)
2. Reach out to 2 people per day on LinkedIn to discuss their job-seeking experiences in Europe and offer them free access to test my platform.

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week
Unfortunately, I’ve been sick for most of the last week, so I couldn’t complete everything I had planned. Here’s what I’ve managed to do so far:

1. Presented my SaaS in front of 10 indie hackers (some of whom have had successful exits) and gathered their feedback and comments.
2. Tried to connect and message Latin American tech professionals daily to ask for feedback on my SaaS. However, I haven’t received much response yet.

Goals for This Week

1. Publish at least 3 TikTok videos and analyze their performance. (I have to invest 40 minutes studying common mistakes to avoid, as this is my first time creating content on the platform.)
2. Reach out to 2 people per day on LinkedIn to discuss their job-seeking experiences in Europe and offer them free access to test my platform.

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• I have published three TikTok videos, but I haven't received any feedback from the market yet. I believe it is too early to draw conclusions about whether this is a valid acquisition channel.
• I have been reaching out to an average of six potential customers on LinkedIn every day. I send more than 20 curated connection requests daily, being cautious to avoid getting shadow banned, as my account is a valuable asset. The response rate has been very high. I ask them if they are interested in solving the problem my SaaS addresses, and if not, why; if yes, I inquire about their motivations. The point here is start talking about my SaaS only after they told me their problems. I'm not selling my ideas, I want to sell a solution to their problems.This approach has yielded useful feedback, helping me understand how to improve the product, identify missing features, and gauge what potential customers want and are willing to pay.
  1. Some patterns I found in their answers:
     1. Many tech professionals from South America express a strong interest in pursuing opportunities in Europe, driven by aspirations for better economic conditions and career advancement. However, some are reassessing this interest due to evolving local economic factors.
     2. The process of obtaining necessary work permits remains a significant challenge for many individuals. There is a notable need for clearer guidance on navigating these requirements.
     3. A popular platform for job searching in the tech industry is frequently mentioned, yet users indicate a desire for enhancements in how job listings communicate essential information.
     4. The importance of clear and transparent job details is emphasized, with users seeking better ways to filter opportunities that align with their specific circumstances.
     5. Etc.

Goals for This Week

1. Identify micro-influencers within my niche and inquire about their rates for creating promotional videos. Analyze their proposals carefully and, if deemed valuable, engage them to produce a video for my brand. To track the effectiveness of this marketing initiative, I will provide them with a custom promo code or explore alternative methods to monitor engagement and performance metrics.
2. Additionally, I will continue to focus on LinkedIn by actively connecting with potential customers. I will listen to their challenges and offer promo codes in exchange for their feedback, ensuring that I gather insights to refine my product and marketing strategies.

 

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[monnffffiiiiiii]

I have never read this thread but every time I see the title it makes me want to eat.

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• Keep getting feedback from customers and close an appointment with a potential customers next week. LinkedIn seems to work fine in my case.
• Identified 10 micro-influencers and contacted them, no answer yet.

Goals for This Week

1. Record 3 other videos for TikTok
2. Keep reaching out micro-influencers and try to close a partnership

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• Got another customers (he is one friend but he found the product valuable)
• Found a freelancer that would help me reach out 100 influencers and convince them to create content for me on TikTok
• Interviewed 5/7 people on LinkedIn and one person on Zoom and got some important feedback on how to improve the product

Goals for This Week

1. Find a freelancer that will do the video of the product demo that I'll use for my ads
2. Setup Google ADS campaigns.

This month I'll be out from the 4th until the 20th of April. I'll try to keep you updated as much as possible.

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• Contracted two freelancers, one that will help me with Tik Tok and other that will make the product demo video for ads and landing page.
• Customer discovery: got other feedback on what to improve

Goals for This Week
I'm in Japan for travel right now and I cannot do too much but:

• Follow up with my freelancers to be sure the things are moving

I have the prios for when I'll be back:

• I'll fix an important bugs a customer discovered otherwise I cannot start with marketing (it's one of the main feature)

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• Kept monitoring the job of the freelancers that are helping me with TikTok campaigns and with the demo of the product.
• We already have a list of micro-influencers to contact and we are reaching them out.
• One person booked the onboarding appointment with me. I have to discover how he found me, maybe it could give me some hints on the best medium for my product.

Goals for This Week
This would be my last week in Japan.

I have the prios for when I'll be back:
I'll fix an important bugs a customer discovered otherwise I cannot start with marketing (it's one of the main feature)

 

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[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week
- I got more answers from other TikTok influencers that I have to contact for content creation
- I got the first draft of the video product demo

Goals for This Week
- Work on fixing a bug

Today I'll be back from Japan

 

[BlackLands]

What I Accomplished Last Week

• I fixed an important bugs that was blocking me from starting the TikTok campaigns
• I got the video product demo of my SaaS. I'll put it in my landing page and I'll use it in the following weeks for Facebook ADS (I'm testing this channel)

Goals for This Week

• Contact the influencers and define with them the content to produce and the price
• Be sure everything is ready for the marketing campaign
  • Change the monetization plan from a biweekly to a monthly subscription and increase the current price that is too low to be profitable (after considering the marketing costs)
  • The tracks must be okay otherwise I'll not know the results of the campaign and conversion rate for each influencers (and consequentially the type of content that is working better)