š MakerList #19: Stop focusing on competitors
š Hey there! You might have noticed there was no issue last week. Iāve been busy working on Letterbase, my new startup.
MakerList will likely transition to a more bi-weekly-ish schedule from now on. Thisāll give me more time to work on each issue and ensure that I only include the most helpful articles.
As always, if you have any feedback or comments, or youād like to suggest articles to be featured, just reply to this email!
1. I Just Hit $100k/yr On GitHub Sponsors! šā¤ļø (How I Did It)
A fascinating look at how Caleb Porzio makes over $100K a year off of GitHub Sponsors. His secret? Good-hearted folks, sponsorware, and sponsored screencasts.

2. How to email a busy person & get a reply
Sometimes itās hard getting busy people to reply back to you. The #1 tip? Make your email concise and readable.

3. How one blog post changed the traction for my startup
An interesting look at how Plausible gained a lot of traffic after they relaunched their website. Their most influential activity seems to be content marketingāpublishing a blog post drove over 50K visitors to their website!

4. Alternatives, Not Competitors
Stop focusing so much on competitors. Instead, focus on making your product better than the alternativeāwhich may or may not be an actual competitor.

5. Your Competition is Smaller than you Think
You may think you have a lot of competitors, but once you narrow it down to your specific niche and goals, there are often fewer people there than you think.

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Now go make something ā