From Debt to Making $50K in Revenue...

After losing the company and ending up in debt, I had to do something.

That was the lowest point in my 10-year career. I tried to return back to Upwork, to do some freelance work for a while, got two part-time clients. For one worked for two weeks, and then it turned out to be a scam. I didn’t get paid, even though it was an hourly contract, Upwork protection didn’t work, as the client’s payment wasn’t verified ( it’s in their rules ) so I lost around $2K ( or didn’t earn?)

If you haven’t read my previous article about how I closed my software company you can read it below 👇

February 2024

After finding out about IndieHackers and Building in Public, I was inspired by Marc, with his ShipFast and created Larafast, a Laravel Starter Kit.

I joined the community on February 4th and made my first sale of Larafast on February 28th. In this article, I will describe all the steps I took for the initial and subsequent sales.

By that time, my only understanding of marketing was the following - you build a product, launch it on ProductHunt, share it once on social media, and do paid ads. Well, I have learned the hard way that it’s not how you should do it. All my previous startups either made $0 or very few with that approach, but my new apps starting to have sales from day #1.

Followers count is NOT the key

Although having a big audience can help to spread the word about your new products, having a product that people need is much more valuable. I had just 300 followers when I made my first $129 sales for Larafast. I made the first $10K when I didn’t even have 1000 followers, so, forget about follower count and think about your product.

DM’s are very important

As much as you hate to get rejected, DM-ing people about your new product will bring you sales. But don’t do copy-pasted messages, we all hate them, and we never reply to them. Instead, go to the person’s profile, check a couple of his tweets, understand what he is doing, etc., and then send a personal polished message.

How to find to whom to DM? 
Check your tweet comments and likes, when people like your tweet or leave a comment, most likely they are interested in the product, just go DM them. Don’t just sell your stuff in messages, greet people, say thank you for commenting, or for following, have some casual chats, and make friends. Give before asking, as Elias loves to say.

#1 Be creative

I have tried cold emails, found the company emails, and created sequences, and they didn’t work for me. I am not saying that cold emails do not work, you have to try it yourself, but they didn’t for me ( maybe lack of skills ), and here is what I have decided to do instead:

I have searched for companies that provide Laravel services, and a lot of them have a “Book a call” calendar link, where you can schedule a call when you are interested in their services, to discuss your projects to build with them, etc.

So, I hit the button and booked a call as if I were a client. After they joined the call, I said that I was not a client and that the reason why I booked a call was that I had a product that they could benefit from. And guess what? None of them got angry with me that I am not a client and I made sales from that.

How to find companies in your niche?

There are tons of websites where you can find companies, Clutch.co, TechBehemoths, GoodFirms

#2 Be creative

Sponsoring niche newsletters or blogs for your product can be huge on gaining new audiences and spreading the word. And, more importantly, for sales. The people who read that newsletter are already warmed up for the topic.

Find newsletters where your product can be a good fit, and do sponsored posts. The prices vary from $50 up to $500 per post or newsletter mention, depending on how popular the newsletter is, or the size of an audience.

But what to do if you are just starting and do not have money to sponsor posts, even that $50-100 or if you just don’t want to spend it.

There is a workaround. Affiliate Program.

As by the time when I have created Larafast, I was literally broke and had depts, I could not afford sponsorred posts. The one that I wanted to do had $1000 price tag. Other $250. I talked to the blog/newsletter owners and suggested them cooperation through a generous affiliate program, 40%, it was $59 per sale.

It was a desperate try, I wasn’t expecting that they would agree. But they did! And guess what? They ended up making more money that they were asking for, and of course I made a lot of sales too.

Try it. It works.

In the next episode, I will talk about how to grow your website traffic with SEO, pSEO and how to increase your domain rating (DR).

Thanks for reading.

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All the best,
Serg