Make for Micro đ ď¸
â Good Morning!
An idea provoking Medium post by Alex Taussig from Lightpseed pointing out that âMicro Firmsâ in America currently employ over 20 million people in industries such as âprofessional services, construction, healthcare/social assistance, retail, and food services.â These businesses have less than 20 and on average 4 employees, with decisions usually being made by one person. They have no time to talk to salespeople and expect easy to use âconsumer-styleâ software to simplify their work processes, allowing them to focus on providing the best customer service. Software companies such as Shopify and Mailchimp were the first to fulfil this need, but as time progresses âmicro firms are demanding vertical solutions that directly take on core functionality of the business itself.â Most recently, even deeper integrations are being provided by companies such as OYO Rooms, ezCater and faire, who bring customers to micro firms, earning them valuable commission revenue. As IndieMaker points out below, âthe worldâs smallest businesses are the next consumers to come onlineâ and offer an opportunity to all Makers. Read post.
đ Make & Grow
Tom Hunt, a SaaS Marketer, provides us with valuable lessons on how Lemlist, an automated cold email tool, bootstrapped its business from zero to $1m in two years. He looks in-depth at the nine growth levers they implemented in their SaaS marketing plan to get to this milestone, concluding âthat as technology advances, more and more people will choose which SaaS to use not based on speed, features or functionality⌠but on brand, culture and values.â Some companies might aim to embody this as part of their plan, while for others, they are just being authentic. As so often touched upon in my newsletters it also reiterates the importance of community. Read the full post on SaaS Marketer.
Successful Newsletter Launches
Great thread by Packy McCormick, writer of the Not Boring newsletter, in which he reviews the most successful newsletter launches on Product Hunt. A large number of them made it to #1, such as tl;dr Marketing, On Deck and The Product Person but amazingly Morning Brew only came in at #3 of the day. Read thread.
Supercharge Product Growth
Using Unsplash as a case study, Mikael Cho explains how one can design a product that can grow itself 10x in a year. Key learnings include: Remove all barriers, donât offer more, offer better, choose a simple name, create scarcity, create a reason to come back and be your own supply. Read thread.
đĽď¸ NoCode & Automate
Instagram Automation
Another easy to follow tutorial by Jon Yongfook from Bannerbear, this time on how you can automate your Instagram posts from an RSS feed using Integromat. This post shows once again the power and possibilities of automation tools. Read post.
Indie Hacker Micro-Budget
It really doesn't cost much to run an online business these days! Pete from No CS Degree currently uses Ghost, Sheet 2 Site and Mailchimp at a total cost of $95 per month. This gives him a profit even in a weak month. Read post.
đ° Funding
TinySeed shares some useful resources on other available sources of private capital besides VC funding, highlighting posts from Lighter Capital and Stripe Capital, which both like Earnest Capital offer non-dilutive debt capital. Another helpful resource is Dru Rileyâs Trend Report on Micro Private Equity and Angel Investing.
đ Afterthought
Justin Jackson tweets, that your success will crucially come down to âhow many people want what you're selling?â Makers and Founders who can tap a market with strong demand and inherent word-of-mouth as well as create a great product people love and will share with others then, in the words of Sivers, âinstead of trying to create demand, they're managing the huge demand.â Read thread.
Thatâs it for today. Take care of each other and see you tomorrow!
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