(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)
Many founders struggle to build a website that converts:
Want to share something with over 100,000 indie hackers? Submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter. —Channing
by Jim Zarkadas
Many founders struggle to build a website that converts. Here's why your website isn't converting, and what you can do about it!
As a founder, you should think and act like a sneaker store: Let your visitors get in there, look at your product, feel it, and play with it, all without signing up. Here's how Userflow uses an interactive public demo to achieve this:
Express your copy visually.
Check out this example below. The word "creative" is highlighted with color and character animations:
Here's a golden rule for your website: Make your product's value ridiculously clear and specific.
Ways to do this include using examples and interactive product visuals. Check out this amazing example from Wordtune:
Design is not the only reason your SaaS website visitors are dropping off. It could also be that:
Go back to the drawing board and hone in on defining your ideal customer.
If you'd like further inspiration, here are a few SaaS companies that handle design really well!
What are your top website design tips? Share in the comments below!
Discuss this story.
from the Volv newsletter by Priyanka Vazirani
❌ Brands are quitting Elon Musk's Twitter.
💫 Billions are being spent to acquire land in the metaverse.
🏦 The Bank of England expects the UK to fall into its longest recession ever.
👩⚖️ Current and former employees are suing Twitter over mass layoffs.
🛠 The future of the web is bespoke content.
Check out Volv for more 9-second news digests.
When transitioning from a day job to full-time indie hacking, freelancing can be a way to keep the lights on. Freelancing can extend your runway, ease your stress, and open up valuable networking opportunities. These tips will help you do freelancing right!
Before you start looking for clients, it's important to get your ducks in a row:
You can pick up a client just about anywhere, but here are some solid places to start:
As you look through different clients and projects, be discerning. Here are a few things to look for: Flexibility, long-term contracts (short-term projects mean that you'll have to spend a lot of time finding new clients), and quality descriptions that give you the information that you need to know about the product and company.
Watch out for companies that are: Unreliable, cheap, have unreasonable expectations, or have had issues with previous freelancers. Ask about the person who worked the gig before you to find out why that didn't work out. That can be valuable intel.
It's also worth mentioning here that you'll likely need to set aside 25-30% of your income for taxes (in the US). If you don't do that, you'll end up in a tough spot come tax season.
Juggling freelance clients with your own projects can be tough, but this article may help. In short, find the schedule that is most productive for you, prioritize your tasks effectively, use a tool to stay organized, and speed up your work with automation.
Try not to use up all your mental energy on freelance projects, leaving you with none for your own!
What's the most important lesson you've learned about freelancing? Let's chat!
Discuss this story.
📝 11 places to find a startup mentor. Posted by AllOutNerdClan.
☺️ I released an embarrassing MVP, but my users made me proud of it. Posted by Jamal Moir.
💭 When customers just don't get it. Posted by Lisa.
📉 Revenue is high, but profit is negative. Posted by Anthony Castrio.
🧐 Best maker communities? Posted by Graeme.
🆓 Using Reddit to find early users for free. Posted by Paco Sainz.
Want a shout-out in next week's Best of Indie Hackers? Submit an article or link post on Indie Hackers whenever you come across something you think other indie hackers will enjoy.
by Ivan
Alexander Isora sold Unicorn Platform, a landing page builder specifically for startups, for $800K. Read on for more about his founder's journey, and check out the full interview on the Lunadio blog!
I cofounded a web design agency that coded templates and WordPress websites. Throughout that experience, I learned a lot about our customers. I talked to many clients to understand how the industry works, what people like and dislike, etc.
These discussions made it clear to me that the world needed a new website builder!
Our unique project value proposition is that we give you less! With Unicorn Platform, you have fewer options to style your page. I know it sounds controversial, but we have about 100 fewer features than our competitors, like Webflow or WordPress.
Why do people use us over them? Because it’s super simple! When you start a new project in Webflow, you are overwhelmed with options and possibilities. You need to decide which buttons to use, which styles, color schemes, and so on. People find it stressful.
My goal is for users to feel joy in building their websites.
We bet on simplicity and user experience. We kindly decline any ideas that would complicate our website builder, because Unicorn Platform would then become a different product. We often recommend other tools (our competitors) to our customers.
The real game-changer was the release of the second version. My MVP was just a simple page builder generating static HTML code. You still had to change all images and text, and upload it to the server. The new version enabled users to customize everything on our platform.
After creating this simple MVP, I ran a lifetime deal to raise some money. I got $10K in revenue, which created a nice runway and motivated me to keep working on the product.
Product Hunt works very well for me because it's a great target audience for my product. It’s a great source of traffic and awareness, but you need to find out where your target audience is.
Building in public has helped a lot, too. My most popular tweets are those with numbers, tweets where I share insights and data.
I came to a point where I had to decide what was next. Running a project by myself was hard.
I used to get ~2-3 acquisition offers per month, but here's the thing: Most buyers only care about the numbers. They don't care about the vision, product, or customers. I didn’t want to sell because I cared about my users, and the future of the product.
One day, I met John. He's building Mars, a low-code tool for developers. It was different than speaking with other potential buyers. We talked about our shared vision, and how we can create something better together. We didn’t talk about money at all.
Later, I visited him in Istanbul, where we continued our discussion. Just before catching my taxi to the airport, I gave him the number that I had in mind, and he agreed. That was it. I got $400K in cash and $400K in Mars shares.
My advice is to take your time. Find the right person who shares your vision. It has to be a good match if you are going to work together. The acquisition helped me take a break and discover what I like to do. I realized that I didn’t like programming, and it was time to give this task to more experienced developers.
I still manage the product, answer support tickets, and do marketing activities. I’m still the CEO, but I've outsourced all programming. I enjoy being a part of a larger team now.
Discuss this story.
I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:
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Also, you can submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter.
Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Jim Zarkadas, Priyanka Vazirani, James Fleischmann, and Ivan for contributing posts. —Channing
Hubalz (https://hubalz.com) is a great tool to track and understand why your users aren't converting. With session recordings, heatmaps and automated highlights it makes the job really simple.