π MakerList #2: Entrees make the most money
π Here are the top five articles for this week:
1. The main thing
In this article, Justin Jackson compares software products to courses in a three-course meal (appetizer, entree, dessert). The entree is the main course that people typically spend the most money on. For a bootstrapped product, it pays to either make a small entree or an appetizer/dessert that pairs well with an existing big entree.
2. How Morning Brewβs referral program built an audience of 1.5 million subscribers
By offering tantalizing and achievable rewards and relentlessly optimizing their funnel, Morning Brew propelled themselves from 100K to 1.5M subscribers in just 18 months. This article offers actionable advice that can be applied to any kind of referral program to spur organic growth.
3. The easiest (and most effective) way to write copy for your landing page
The best way to write landing page copy is for your customers to write the copy for you. Use surveys, interviews, emails, and reviews to gain insights on the language that your customers use to describe their problems and your product.
If you like this article, Iβd also recommend checking out Part 2, which provides tactical advice on how to format your landing page.
4. Audience-First Products
Building a product for an audience that doesnβt exist is one of the most common mistakes that indie makers and founders make. David Perell describes the three-step process he uses to start businesses: build an audience by writing about ideas that interest you, build a product that solves problems that your audience has, and then scale with software and contractors.
5. The biggest mistakes Iβve made with Lunch Money (so far)
In this article, Jen Yip shares the mistakes she made while building the budgeting app Lunch Money. I especially empathize with the βmistakeβ of her being too afraid to share her story. As an indie maker, I sometimes think that having just one person behind a product would put people off. On the contrary, it can actually be an impressive narrative that makes your product more personal, helping your users become even bigger fans.
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