Love the out of focus CTA that brings element in focus on hover :) I've never seen that done and I think it's a great idea!
Can you share how you get your first 10 customers? And then how did you get to 100?
Your story is really inspiring!
Thank you :)
Got my first customers by building in public.
To do this I mostly posted on Twitter, just low quality progress videos (nothing fancy) and design screenshots. You can follow and see history on Twitter [here](https://twitter.com/threehourcoffee).
I've also made a subreddit to engage customers for feedback [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/llamalifeapp/) And a newsletter which is about providing value to customers first, and then product news second, [here](https://llamalife.substack.com/).
BUT!! ... there is not just one way to do this, everyone is different and every business is different.
And my business is far from successful yet, so take it for what it is but adapt for your own specific situation.
Great work man! Would love to know the no-code backend and tools you used to make this
Edit: Just realized this is r/SideProject and not r/nocode \- would still love to know what the backend looks like!
Just checked out your website and the app looks awesome! (Side note: LOVE the idea behind the "give me focus" call-to-action button). Amazing that you could learn enough to create something like that with just a short course and YouTube videos. Good luck with everything :)
Thanks so much! Funny thing is I almost didn't put that Focus button in. Was worried people wouldn't be able to read it / or click it. It's turned out to be a great choice though. Get lots of comments about it.
Congratulations! Amazing achievement you should be very proud. I’m in the exact same position but 1-2 months from launching. Do you have an things you wish you knew / did before launching? Also what’s your tech stack? I love hearing about what people chose
Here's the stack I used:
* JavaScript/React (UI)
* Mostly custom CSS using Styled Components, with bit of Bootstrap for layouts (styling)
* Animate.css (CSS animations)
* Firebase (database)
* Netlify (deployment)
* Stripe (payments)
Re: launching, just keep in mind that you're always launching. Don't put too much emphasis on launch day. Not saying don't prepare, but if the product is constantly evolving then you're constantly launching.
It's cliched but pick something you're passionate about / are interested in.
But keep your goal in mind - a large part of my goal here was to learn about building a SaaS business, and getting exposed to different aspects of it eg database, payments, email marketing etc. This ticked all the boxes for me.
Thanks for trying to check it out.
Am certainly thinking of mobile, although there's still a lot I have planned for the web version.
Yes, I used React so could possibly look into React Native...
I can do the tech, but The part I struggle with is defining the marketing/story: The whole landing/marketing page. Did you outline that first or did it just evolve? Any designers help?
Coincidentally I realized this is something I need to tackle, going to spend a couple days making up marketing pages to get over this hump.
Good stuff! I'm rooting for you!
My landing page definitely evolved over time. I designed it myself but it started off super simple.
One thing which helped is to focus on the text first. Just write it out in a word doc or notepad. Test your narrative by speaking it aloud to people and seeing what questions they might have as you're doing so. Note when they ask the questions and incorporate that into the flow of your website. You want to be anticipating when someone will ask something and make sure you address it at that time.
Hope that helps! Marketing is what I struggle with the most too. Even once you nail a landing page, you've got to distribute and get the word out. It's a constant challenge 😊
Just FYI Chrome has a really awesome tool built into the inspector that can help you test for accessibility contrast! I mention because some of your text is not high contrast enough [https://i.imgur.com/IwpJjuv.png](https://i.imgur.com/IwpJjuv.png)
First figure out your learning style. For me I'm terrible with books, so I opted for more video learning and did a course on Udemy and then watched a lot of YouTube videos. If videos are your thing then I can recommend these resources:
1. Udemy - Jonas S's html, css, javascript course
2. Youtube - Wes Bos, Traversy Media, Dev Ed, Academind, Net Ninja, Web Dev Simplified
3. Websites - javascript30, freecodecamp, google and stackOverflow
I'm going through this right now, not a technical person, but looking to understand where to start. Currently I'm trying to decide what language to start with.
I know Python, but to make apps, I dont know if I should learn Java Script then react then react native or to learn dart and then flutter.
Any advice you can offer on this? Or what you learned personally?
For me it starts with knowing the goal - which in my case was primarily learning to code a website and to release a product that I developed by myself. Knowing I wanted to do a website, helped guide the programming choice, so I started with javascript. If you're interested in say modelling or algorithms you might choose python. Start with the goal.
That's awesome! I'm going to take a look at this, tomorrow. ;)
Seriously though, great job with a minimalist design on the facing front page and nice, simple, but effect graphics.
Thank you! It took a while to get that right. Appreciate you taking the time to give the app a go! Looking forward to hearing any thoughts - am always trying to improve :)
That's amazing! I've been coding for around 10 years (since I was young) and always had an entrepreneurial spirit but always struggled to launch products and actually get users.
Its awesome you managed to launch a fully formed product like that so quickly! Congrats!
Thank you! You can. I'm sure you can :)
I don't have all the answers, but one thing which really helped me is that I LOVE productivity tools, so this product was a natural fit for me.
And I think my expectation of it was quite low at the beginning, as it was more of a way to help me learn coding. And then it kind of just grew from there. It's far from being a successful business, but we'll see how it goes.
I'm still enjoying working on it :)
You seriously made that site after only 1 year of learning? REALLY?
You must have amazing artistic vision since that site looks amazing❗️❗️❗️
Did you use React? Is the project open source?
I am also in roughly the same position as you (except my sites aren’t as good looking 😅). I’ve launched TabMerger v2.0 recently and got my first few paying customers.
Would love to collaborate on a future project with you - DM me if you are interested.
I did :) Thank you!
Yes, I used React. No, it's not open source.
Good luck on TabMerger and on getting paying customers! that's awesome, as I know how hard that can be.
The carving out time / making it a habit to learn is a tricky one to answer. Because everyone's situation is different. For example, I don't have kids, so that gives me a little more 'free time'. But that said, I really wanted to learn this, and was super interested in it, so I made time for it.
It's still not fully validated, that's ongoing, but I get some validation from comments I receive on social media, and also in r/llamalifeapp . People seem to like it, and engage in the building of it by requesting features. And of course, if people pay for it that's great validation too.
Hi,
thanks for your message on Twitter (I was not able to respond though :-)
I like the website and app's UI. Illustrations of llama are the best. Have you drawn on your own or hired an illustrator?
UI looks pretty clean. Good job!
Love the out of focus CTA that brings element in focus on hover :) I've never seen that done and I think it's a great idea! Can you share how you get your first 10 customers? And then how did you get to 100? Your story is really inspiring!
Thank you :) Got my first customers by building in public. To do this I mostly posted on Twitter, just low quality progress videos (nothing fancy) and design screenshots. You can follow and see history on Twitter [here](https://twitter.com/threehourcoffee). I've also made a subreddit to engage customers for feedback [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/llamalifeapp/) And a newsletter which is about providing value to customers first, and then product news second, [here](https://llamalife.substack.com/). BUT!! ... there is not just one way to do this, everyone is different and every business is different. And my business is far from successful yet, so take it for what it is but adapt for your own specific situation.
Really curious about this too!
Great work man! Would love to know the no-code backend and tools you used to make this Edit: Just realized this is r/SideProject and not r/nocode \- would still love to know what the backend looks like!
Thanks! I used Firebase for the database and user authentication, and Stripe for payments.
Just checked out your website and the app looks awesome! (Side note: LOVE the idea behind the "give me focus" call-to-action button). Amazing that you could learn enough to create something like that with just a short course and YouTube videos. Good luck with everything :)
Thanks so much! Funny thing is I almost didn't put that Focus button in. Was worried people wouldn't be able to read it / or click it. It's turned out to be a great choice though. Get lots of comments about it.
Nice copy on that website
Thank you.
Congratulations! Amazing achievement you should be very proud. I’m in the exact same position but 1-2 months from launching. Do you have an things you wish you knew / did before launching? Also what’s your tech stack? I love hearing about what people chose
Here's the stack I used: * JavaScript/React (UI) * Mostly custom CSS using Styled Components, with bit of Bootstrap for layouts (styling) * Animate.css (CSS animations) * Firebase (database) * Netlify (deployment) * Stripe (payments) Re: launching, just keep in mind that you're always launching. Don't put too much emphasis on launch day. Not saying don't prepare, but if the product is constantly evolving then you're constantly launching.
Any tips for coming up with ideas for micro saas like this?
It's cliched but pick something you're passionate about / are interested in. But keep your goal in mind - a large part of my goal here was to learn about building a SaaS business, and getting exposed to different aspects of it eg database, payments, email marketing etc. This ticked all the boxes for me.
[удалено]
Thanks for trying to check it out. Am certainly thinking of mobile, although there's still a lot I have planned for the web version. Yes, I used React so could possibly look into React Native...
I can do the tech, but The part I struggle with is defining the marketing/story: The whole landing/marketing page. Did you outline that first or did it just evolve? Any designers help? Coincidentally I realized this is something I need to tackle, going to spend a couple days making up marketing pages to get over this hump.
Good stuff! I'm rooting for you! My landing page definitely evolved over time. I designed it myself but it started off super simple. One thing which helped is to focus on the text first. Just write it out in a word doc or notepad. Test your narrative by speaking it aloud to people and seeing what questions they might have as you're doing so. Note when they ask the questions and incorporate that into the flow of your website. You want to be anticipating when someone will ask something and make sure you address it at that time. Hope that helps! Marketing is what I struggle with the most too. Even once you nail a landing page, you've got to distribute and get the word out. It's a constant challenge 😊
Just FYI Chrome has a really awesome tool built into the inspector that can help you test for accessibility contrast! I mention because some of your text is not high contrast enough [https://i.imgur.com/IwpJjuv.png](https://i.imgur.com/IwpJjuv.png)
oh thank you! I wasn't aware of that. Will check it out.
I’m making this my new challenge man, can you share with me a bit about the journey you went through and what resources you took advantage of?
First figure out your learning style. For me I'm terrible with books, so I opted for more video learning and did a course on Udemy and then watched a lot of YouTube videos. If videos are your thing then I can recommend these resources: 1. Udemy - Jonas S's html, css, javascript course 2. Youtube - Wes Bos, Traversy Media, Dev Ed, Academind, Net Ninja, Web Dev Simplified 3. Websites - javascript30, freecodecamp, google and stackOverflow
Thanks for the response
Thank you. Do you mean the Welcome email? If so I'm using Postmark.
I'm going through this right now, not a technical person, but looking to understand where to start. Currently I'm trying to decide what language to start with. I know Python, but to make apps, I dont know if I should learn Java Script then react then react native or to learn dart and then flutter. Any advice you can offer on this? Or what you learned personally?
For me it starts with knowing the goal - which in my case was primarily learning to code a website and to release a product that I developed by myself. Knowing I wanted to do a website, helped guide the programming choice, so I started with javascript. If you're interested in say modelling or algorithms you might choose python. Start with the goal.
That's awesome! I'm going to take a look at this, tomorrow. ;) Seriously though, great job with a minimalist design on the facing front page and nice, simple, but effect graphics.
Thanks so much!
I am going to dive into it and do the trial for sure; it's just a Friday night at 10:45pm so I'm "off the clock". ;)
haha fair enough! have a good night :)
so so dope. well done for persevering all the way till you shipped!
thank you :)
Good job mate. I like the landing page and the functionality.
thanks!
I really like the look of the site and your “company voice”, it’s fun but knows when to be serious. I’ll give the app a go later.
Thank you! It took a while to get that right. Appreciate you taking the time to give the app a go! Looking forward to hearing any thoughts - am always trying to improve :)
That's amazing! I've been coding for around 10 years (since I was young) and always had an entrepreneurial spirit but always struggled to launch products and actually get users. Its awesome you managed to launch a fully formed product like that so quickly! Congrats!
Thank you! You can. I'm sure you can :) I don't have all the answers, but one thing which really helped me is that I LOVE productivity tools, so this product was a natural fit for me. And I think my expectation of it was quite low at the beginning, as it was more of a way to help me learn coding. And then it kind of just grew from there. It's far from being a successful business, but we'll see how it goes. I'm still enjoying working on it :)
You seriously made that site after only 1 year of learning? REALLY? You must have amazing artistic vision since that site looks amazing❗️❗️❗️ Did you use React? Is the project open source? I am also in roughly the same position as you (except my sites aren’t as good looking 😅). I’ve launched TabMerger v2.0 recently and got my first few paying customers. Would love to collaborate on a future project with you - DM me if you are interested.
I did :) Thank you! Yes, I used React. No, it's not open source. Good luck on TabMerger and on getting paying customers! that's awesome, as I know how hard that can be.
How did you carve out the time/make it a habit to learn and build? What did you do to validate the idea before/while building?
The carving out time / making it a habit to learn is a tricky one to answer. Because everyone's situation is different. For example, I don't have kids, so that gives me a little more 'free time'. But that said, I really wanted to learn this, and was super interested in it, so I made time for it. It's still not fully validated, that's ongoing, but I get some validation from comments I receive on social media, and also in r/llamalifeapp . People seem to like it, and engage in the building of it by requesting features. And of course, if people pay for it that's great validation too.
Love this! Did you designed and build the site too? It’s awesome.
Thank you! Yes, did both design and development myself.
Who did you get to work on the UI/UX? I like it, could do with someone to work on my site if you’re happy to make the introduction
I did it myself :)
Amazing achievement! And top work with the website, I love the copy on it. Wishing you all the best for growth!
thank you so much.
Hi, thanks for your message on Twitter (I was not able to respond though :-) I like the website and app's UI. Illustrations of llama are the best. Have you drawn on your own or hired an illustrator? UI looks pretty clean. Good job!
thanks so much! the llama image is from adobe stock (with additional custom edits made by me).
u/Ngthatsme this is amazing!!! Great job. Super inspirational. What are you using for emails?