Tweets

Thanks, @dhh!

Your support of our little indie company means a lot to @jonbuda and me. 🤗

https://twitter.com/dhh/status/1217143549298262016

@DustinLeblanc @francois_v @dhh @TransistorFM @reworkpodcast That's well said, Dustin. Thanks. 👌

@dotNetkow @dhh @TransistorFM @reworkpodcast @Ionicframework Thanks Matt! ❤️

@liz_e There is also @SquadCastFM

@juanfernandes @liz_e I usually use Skype Call Recorder from @ecammtweets

@theandreboso Yup!

@OneSimpleGeek @TBLightning Whoa! Good team this year. 🙌

cc @iChris

@m1guelpf @petersuhm @buildyoursaas Yup. We talked about it here: https://saas.transistor.fm/episodes/should-startups-worry-about-their-competition

@Aazarshad Yes, CRM is a good example of a category where I have seen this type of specialization work.

Mostly because some sectors have really specific deal flow:

“CRM for real estate agents”

@ninjaparade The best! 🙌

@tkrawiec Yes. This is exactly what I’m talking about. 👌

@pjrvs 🤬

@CasJam Yup. Exactly.

Also, just because your positioning *perfectly fits* their niche, doesn’t guarantee they’ll buy from you.

They STILL might just go and get a Squarespace site! 😜

Yes, sometimes, I want a product/service that’s specific to me (“lawyers who specialize in SaaS”)

But a lot of the software we use every day is “niche agnostic:”

- project management
- video editing
- accounting
- payments
- calendar
- email

Good example of what I’m trying to describe here:

Many “niche” customers “aren’t really looking for a platform specific to them.”

https://twitter.com/jessica_b365/status/1216909765504196613?s=21 https://twitter.com/Jessica_B365/status/1216909765504196613

@GregorySchier This approach here has been helpful for me:

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1215872483812769793?s=21 https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1215872483812769793

@jamonholmgren @andymci Yeah, that’s a good point.

“What actually gets searched by the customer” is something I’m curious about.

@tylertringas Any examples of micro-SaaS doing that in the email marketing category?

@GregorySchier So much of “writing” is really about thinking, testing out ideas, revising your thinking, running into new thoughts, trying to form frameworks of understanding, etc.

Then, you have to encapsulate (translate) all that lived experience/thinking into something that makes sense. 😜

@Jessica_B365 Nice! Is this for Cardsetter?

@kpavlovsky_pro Yes. But I’m wondering if the overall volume is there for most product categories (aside, maybe, from the big ones like “web hosting”).

Even in web hosting, the “general purpose” builders (like Squarespace, Webflow, etc) all started small, but targeted many niches.

@tmaremaa That’s exactly what I’m saying. (Having a “general product” that can serve different niche markets)

My point is more about positioning than search volume.

I’m wondering if it’s better to start a company with “general” positioning (Squarespace, Webflow) and then target longtail (niches) with landing pages.

(As opposed to structuring your whole company around a niche vertical)

@dohertyjf @paidinsights More thinking around the positioning of a company.

Wondering if it’s better to start a company with “general” positioning (like Squarespace, or Webflow) and then attack the longtail with landing pages.

As opposed to structuring your whole company around a niche vertical.

@dohertyjf @paidinsights Can you give me a few more examples where this is true? (Beyond "SEO for..." queries?)

Genuinely curious. (And happy to be proven completely wrong!)

@dohertyjf @paidinsights Yeah. I wonder how much of ConvertKit's revenue comes directly from SEO. 🤔

Most of their revenue is from affiliates I believe.

@dohertyjf @paidinsights Results may vary by industry and product category, but I’m still unsure if this trend fits most “niche” keywords.

I know the SEO industry loves the long tail, but…. I’m still skeptical. 😜

I’d have to see the data.

@paidinsights @dohertyjf Are you sure they're benefitting primarily from those longtail keywords?

Or... is Squarespace vacuuming up the lion's share of "website for therapists" business from general keywords?

Do you see what I'm saying? There's a bit of survivorship bias with longtail keywords it seems

@billyevans Does this really happen in practice?

(I could be wrong)

What I see in practice:
1. Searches for “email mairketing”
2. Clicks on top 1-3 results
3. Makes a decision based on those

@andymci Practically, I don’t see this happening.

(I could be wrong)

What I see in practice:
1. Searches for “email mairketing”
2. Picks top 1-3 results
3. Makes a decision based on those

@theandreboso That’s not what I’m saying.

@dohertyjf What % (or $) of “email marketing for bloggers” or “email marketing for creators” do you think actually convert?

My guess is it’s low.

“SEO for…” might be another exception.

There are exceptions.

For example, many Shopify store owners likely include "for shopify stores" in their search queries ("email marketing for shopify stores").

Most customers aren't buying products/services with respect to the niche they belong to.

They just have a job they want done ("graphic design," "email marketing," "custom form builder").

Folks who are building too much positioning around a niche will miss out on those queries.

Another challenge with "niche" positioning in B2B:

When a coffee shop owner searches for email marketing, are they searching for "email marketing for coffee shops" or are they just searching for "email marketing"?

It seems the general search term is more likely.

@CholocateIT Yup. “Downloading institutional stress onto employees” is somethign that doesn’t get discussed enough.

@janelleallen Thanks for sharing Janelle! 🙌

@nuclearsquid Oh sweet. Does it give readouts like this?

Discovered (and used!) ExifTool for the first time today.👍

Really helpful, especially when you suspect someone's renamed a file's extension (thinking it would magically change the file's format) 😜

http://exiftool.org/index.html

@anthonystauffer Lol.

RT @mijustin: Everything you implement will need to be maintained.

(Be careful about what you start)

@TheJonFedor Thanks!

@mgreiler @noopkat Yup!

@mgreiler @noopkat I just stream everywhere using this setup: https://justinjacKson.ca/livestreaming

@misterparker Thanks!

@vidhster @RefreshDC @TEKsystems @Compass @ekamibay @whistle @ramoved Nice. 👍

@owenconti @statamic Sweet! I’m going to be trying this soon. 👌

@goldie_ Went with @usefathom 💯

There’s a real risk in business to throw “good effort after a bad idea.”

The truth is, if the core business isn’t working, doing more won’t change the tide.

@JackEllis @pjrvs Lol. Yup. Everyone has to learn that at some point with the Yeti.

However, if you have a different mic you DO keep it the other way.

@damcclean @Printful That’s what I want 😎

RT @shawnblanc: Margin of time and energy at work creates calm & low-stress. Calm allows you to make wiser choices and move with more inten…

@Sarah_Sugoi Very difficult, if you’re an employee.

Also difficult if you have investors.

@chriscoyier Us here too!

New blog post:

“Good businesses have margin.” https://justinjackson.ca/margin

@Shpigford Yup. I’ve got no tips for you. Just a hearty: “I understand you man. I know exactly where you’re coming from.” 😴

@CasJam @robwalling Most of my blog posts start as twitter threads. 😉

Twitter, for me, is like a comedian working on material at a local club.

Blogging, for me, is like performing the full act on a special.

@damcclean Does it support @Printful!?!? 🙏

oh damn https://twitter.com/TheCatWhisprer/status/1215833927249690624

@hamstu Here too!

@imchristiepitts Congrats!!! 🎉

@themunson I think retail, and independent "small" retail, in particular, are just overly complex businesses for their scale. Many variables with little margin for error.

Jeff Harbaugh's been covering this complexity for a long time:
http://www.jeffharbaugh.com/inventory-management-and-customer-conversionretention-in-the-snow-sliding-business/

@noplanstomerge @DCoulbourne This section was another fave. So many good moments.

@siddharthkp Yes!

Just found this, and it relates so much to this thread:

“Adding more and more layers to a system intended to avert disaster often makes catastrophe all the more likely.”

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/cautionary-tales/

@ArlonAntonius Check out:

1. @noplanstomerge
2. @artofproductpod
3. @fullstackradio

I love @noplanstomerge.

It’s a comedy podcast pretending to be a programming podcast but it’s secretly a philosophy podcast.

@ArlonAntonius @buildyoursaas @TransistorFM Lol. We’ll be back shortly!

@StuartMorrisAU @pjrvs @studiofellow Saul Griffith has some good ideas for HVAC solutions here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/how-to-solve-climate-change-and-make-life-more-awesome/id1081584611?i=1000459731910

(Highly recommended)

@LucysBlueDay @TransistorFM Didn’t notice any issues on our end! Can you access it yet on your side?

@JackEllis You’ve finally achieved ProPodcaster™ status. 😎

@jimmybranch Fluffy

@knownasilya Just talking about what I know best 😄

For example, if you really just want to have interesting conversations (outcome) with folks in the programming world (the group you're excited about), then a podcast might be the perfect medium. 👌

Tips for choosing an audience:

1. Identify what outcomes you want (personally and professionally).
2. Choose a group, activity, or mission that you're excited about AND overlaps with the outcomes you want.
3. Make sure there are good channels for reaching them (the medium).

@sambreed @pjrvs Yup. ☝️

Visual Studio Code (not to be confused with "Visual Studio")

Decided to do a live hangout. Thinking about changing this pricing page. What do you think? https://www.pscp.tv/w/cOewdDM4NTU1MXwxdkFHUnF2YVdwcUtsd21Z3xAJpwMPVW9UPi2AKP0rPwbMpGiSv17hpnFpLTI=

There’s a dualism like this inside of most good ideas. https://twitter.com/JamesClear/status/1215310715449487360

@brianalvey Lol. Very true.

@danjmeehan @TransistorFM @buildyoursaas Thanks for considering us! 🙌

(It's the new year, and lots of folks are contacting me because they want to start building an audience in 2020. Above is the general advice I give)

Below I'll give more practical tips.

Building an audience is all about consistent effort, in one direction, over a long period of time.

@mattantwest @pjrvs @natalienagele @studiofellow 👍 What do you think we can do to petition AWS/DO to release this kind of info?

Is it worth organizing a campaign to do that?

@patrickbjohnson @pjrvs @studiofellow Yup.

Every vector:
- individual consumption/influence
- societal consumption/influence
- corporate consumption/influence
- goverment consumption/influence

@pjrvs @mattantwest @natalienagele @studiofellow Yes. I've shared this link with @mattantwest before, but having tools that did this kind of analysis would be huge:

https://irlpodcast.org/season5/episode3/

@jaredkessler @pjrvs @studiofellow Yup, that’s part of the solution.

But climate change is an “all hands on deck” situation.

We need every individual, corporation, govt to be taking action.

Often, government/corp policy follows a massive grassroots movement.

@pjrvs @typeoneerror @studiofellow 👋 Hey Ben!

Our conversation centered around galvanizing a movement with our peers; but focusing on everything that moves the needle:
- govt action
- Corp action
- social action
- individual action

@jspector Really like this “top 3 tweets” idea 👍

@kwuchu 💯

@songadaymann cc @cheriehu42 - know anyone Cherie?

@TheEricAnderson Daaaaaang.

(I just finished a bag of Tostitos)

@hofmania @BreneBrown That’s great wisdom.

❤️ @BreneBrown but haven’t read this one yet.

@iChris Yes! We’ve had that idea for awhile. Maybe that will be a 2020 project! 👍

@nathanbarry What a beauty! ❤️

@MattGiovanisci I like “MicroDose"

Want to know how your podcast's stats compare to other shows?

I just posted all my podcast's numbers publicly:
https://transistor.fm/public-podcast-stats

@joshuaanderton Lots of folks would kill for that kind of revenue! Well done!

@phpastes @Caneco @HappyDevFM @TransistorFM Testing this on my iPhone XR and it appears to be working.

Which platform are you on?

RT @patio11: Margins create margins, too. You massive scale to afford “that thing you want” in a low margin environment.

If you want somet…

Just learned that the “Airpods revenue is larger than Spotify, Twitter, Snapchat, Shopify” revenue article is wrong.

https://twitter.com/neilcybart/status/1214867813464236032