đ MakerList #6: Build, Grow, and Sell
Hey there! Hope youâre doing okay; itâs been crazy out there recently. If youâd like to take a break from all thatâs happening, here are five great articles for you to dig into:
1. How we grew our 8-figure ARR by +65% two years straight (with a team of 30 and no VC)
Tim Soulo, the CMO at Ahrefs, recommends identifying what makes you stand out in a comparison test with your competitors, and then investing heavily in it. If youâre the best-in-class in one thing, users who care about that thing the most will choose your product over others. Over time, you can slowly bridge the gap in other areas as well.
2. Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company
I really like this personal look into Sahil Lavingiaâs âfailureâ to turn Gumroad into a billion-dollar company. He instead decided to pivot it into what is now an incredibly successful lifestyle business. It just goes to show that there are multiple paths to success, and that not being able to grow at the level that a VC requires doesnât mean that your business canât be successful and profitable.
3. How do you build something people want?
Justin Jackson provides some practical advice on how to build something that people actually want to use. The market you choose, especially the momentum in that market, matters a lot; if youâre in a growing market, itâs possible to grow much more easily and organically without as much effort!
4. Pain-Point SEO: How to Produce SEO Content That Drives Conversions
When doing content marketing, most people tend to look for high volume and low competition keywords related to their product, and then write articles targeting those keywords. However, if you want to maximize the conversion rate from your articles, a better approach is to target articles based on customer pain-points.
5. Selling My Bootstrapped SaaS Business
If youâre thinking about potentially selling your business in the future, this article provides an in-depth look at how Tyler Tringas sold his SaaS app Storemapper. It shows what the actual process looks like from start to finish, as well as details valuable lessons and how to get the best deal possible.
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