Tweets

RT @mijustin: Two truths:

1. Everything takes time.

2. Not everything is worth your time.

Omg. Talk about therapy! https://twitter.com/LostTrainDude/status/1168028026254307330

@marshal @JamesClear @Shpigford @LaserTweets 😂

@__tosh Host-read ads are (generally) thought to be more effective.

This idea (from @JamesClear) has honestly transformed my life.

I got @Shpigford to laser etch it into wood (@LaserTweets).

Really like how it turned out. 👌

@cheriehu42 I was an early paid member. Cancelled my subscription maybe a year and a half ago?

@paulbellows 🎉 happy birthday!

👋 @Shpigford @CasJam @earthlingworks @delk

Hi, I’m Canadian.

@thattallguy @ddevjani @hnshah Screenflow 👌

@jayclouse Lol. So true.

@shl Agreed.

You especially see this when you move to a new community!

But this reinforces the point:

“Business is already hard, why make it harder?” – @asmartbear

Why try to enter a niche where there’s no demonstrable demand?

Why try to serve a total addressable market of 500, when you could go after 500,000 potential customers?

In business, nothing is guaranteed.

You might be in a good market today, but tomorrow it could fall apart.

Markets are fickle.

Some days they want 🍦, other days they want 🥤.

The economy can go up, or it can crash.

A good competitor can come in and grab market share.

BTW - targeting a good market doesn’t mean you’ll automatically win!

There are a TON of factors that influence a business’ success (or failure).

But choosing a market that has a lot of demand (and good channels) is essential for future success.

Again, this is just a metaphor!

But it’s a good reminder:

🍋 If you have a lemonade stand, it’s better to go somewhere hot, where there are a lot of thirsty people.

💻 If you want to make software, it’s better to go where there are a bunch of potential customers.

@tonydehnke Yup, there are a number of factors that affect demand:
- timing
- culture
- weather
- etc

But...

If you have a lemonade stand, it’s still better for you to go somewhere hot, where there are a lot of thirsty people. 😉

Yesterday, I wrote about how easy it is to sell ice cream on a crowded beach: http://justinjackson.ca/beach

Today, I’m at the local fair.

There are hundreds of vendors.

But there are also huge crowds who are hot and thirsty; lots of demand for cold drinks!

Go where the crowds are!

One thing @podhuntapp gets right about podcast discovery: podcasters (and admins) can add a short audio preview for the episode.

When you're thinking about trying out a new podcast, you want a quick way to see if it's "right for you."

A short trailer (30s-90s) is perfect. 👌

@JakeHerrington I had a few free audio previews left, so I added one to your latest episode on @podhuntapp!

https://podhunt.app/episodes/341/creator-of-laravel-taylor-otwell

RT @fredrivett: I love how @mijustin distils down key truths into simple sentences like this

great stuff as always 👏🏼

https://t.co/3pzH8c…

@ddevjani @hnshah I recently made this video (in response to another question on Twitter).

It should give you a good overview:

@cgenco @TheOmarZenhom @shl Yup, I’ve used his quote like 100x in past posts. 😉

@csallen and I chatted about it on the @IndieHackers podcast as well. 👌

@hnshah 🎙 http://transistor.fm – podcast publishing platform.

@pauldm Thanks!

@mariepoulin r u stealing plants

I think this is why @Basecamp’s Shape Up process is resonating with me.

I’m realizing how little planning and thinking I did about the work BEFORE starting the work.

https://twitter.com/do_ozgen/status/1167899546426343432?s=21

@garrettdimon You look great! Well done! 🙌

@fredrivett Thanks Fred!

@JacobBennett Thanks Jake!

@dhh @jasonhickel Sounds like it’s up my alley. Ordered. 👍

@boaticus Thanks!

@adventofcomp Added an audio preview from this show to @podhuntapp.

(That's a feature available to annual supporters, but I had a few free ones to use, so I added yours!)

https://podhunt.app/episodes/335/episode-11-spacewar-the-game

RT @volkandkaya: 100% agree with @mijustin I started a SaaS before where I had to educate potential customers, it was difficult.

Currently…

RT @KateBour: This is so good 👇 https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1167825124239663104

@joshwadeFM @RecapFM Yup! Did you read my newsletter this morning? I talk about this same thing (but from a biz perspective).

@adamlogic Damn! Hope it comes back online soon.

@KateBour @bbalfour Agreed!

Today’s newsletter is out.

Lots of folks found this one helpful (multiple email replies and a text this morning!) 👌

You can read the whole thing here:
https://justinjackson.ca/beach

@clemnt That's part of my point: it's OK if there are other ice cream stands on the beach!

https://justinjackson.ca/beach

@nthnclrk @Mikenicholls88 @TransistorFM http://Transistor.fm also allows you to invite multiple team members; perfect if you’re handing off part of the process. 👍

@marlaerwin @asmartbear You'd be surprised how hard that is to implement in practice. 😉

@seanwes so true. ❤️

@mattwensing I agree with you that it's not just one factor.

But sometimes when I tweet, I choose to focus on just one idea.

For example, I've been writing about "willingness to pay" for a long time.

@mattwensing So you think oil companies would be a good niche for bootstrappers to sell to? (honest question)

@mattwensing Ok. So if I understand you correctly, you're saying that:

WTP > size of market?

When does the size of the market become a factor? How does it factor in?

@cgenco @r00k +100

@mattwensing So do you agree with April here, or disagree?

https://twitter.com/aprildunford/status/1167538777457385472

@tenlinesofcode @mattwensing The whole point of a metaphor is that it's not literal. 😉

It's an abstract, symbolic representation of a bigger idea.

@mattwensing Ok. ConvertKit then. 😉

Nathan started an email marketing company in 2013. Wasn't that product category already commoditized by that point?

I'm primarily talking about the category. Is the category growing? Is the category already naturally drawing customers?

@mattwensing @aprildunford @asmartbear Jason started selling WordPress hosting in 2010.

Wasn't that already a large, commodity market?

He didn't invent the category (or even close to being first).

To me, it seems he competed on what people cared about: security, service, and uptime.

@scottbolinger @asmartbear Yes! Kind of like the podcast hosting (or WordPress hosting!) business. 😉

@mapdev @stauffermatt @Restreamio Yup: http://justinjackson.ca/livestreaming

@aprildunford articulated this perfectly on @rezzz's podcast recently: https://share.transistor.fm/s/283d9c4f

"The customer tries to figure out what box to put you in; what frame of reference to put you in. And if you don't give them a box they have to make one up."

The easiest way to test this is to see if people are searching Google (or any search engine) with the intent to buy.

When people search "best wordpress hosting" they're indicating they want to buy.

They're attracted to the product category already; no need to educate/convince.

In most established product categories (which is where I think bootstrappers should be focusing), customers will naturally move towards the products they want. They don't need much convincing!

I've experienced this dichotomy personally.

In the past, I've run businesses where I was pushing really hard to get sales. It always felt like a grind, like pushing a rock up a hill.

In retrospect, I was trying to sell ice cream in the winter.

Now, think about what it'd be like selling ice cream on the beach during the winter.

If you worked really hard, and did a bunch of advertising, maybe you'd get a few sales, but not many.

It's hard to push a product that the market doesn't want!

When you target a solid market (with good distribution channels) and give them a product that they're hungry for, you don't have to do much pushing or pulling.

Customers just naturally move towards the products they want.

I keep thinking about @asmartbear's ice cream stand metaphor.

If you set up an ice cream stand on a busy beach, on a hot day, you'll easily attract a crowd.

You don't need to work at pushing your product towards the market.

People just show up.

Congrats on the launch @freekmurze! 🙌

Looks awesome. https://twitter.com/freekmurze/status/1167452766706503680

"Unix came about because Bell Labs hired smart people and gave them the freedom to amuse themselves, trusting that their projects would be useful more often than not."

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/08/unix-at-50-it-starts-with-a-mainframe-a-gator-and-three-dedicated-researchers/

@bobbybouwmann @m1guelpf Nice work Miguel!

@damcclean I’d read that. 👌

Hell yeah. Sign me up. https://twitter.com/megbutton/status/1166711418231631873

@ShaanVP This looks so good. 👍

@christophrumpel @driesvints That’s my kind of tech talk 👌

@ThePodReport really appreciated your review of Podcast Movement. Thanks for writing it! 👍

Best decision I made all day, @sambreed. 👌

@spencerfry I don't know much about that business (again, this is based on my experience).

How long do folks in the investment biz last?

"Ultimately, I'm doing this for the money."

☝️ in my experience, if you're running a business, that motivation won't be enough.

Excellent thread from Samantha on how you build diversity into your hiring process (spoiler: it takes consistent attention over time).

Also, some great examples of how we can make our communities more inclusive. 🎯 https://twitter.com/SamanthaGeitz/status/1167065400502345728

RT @eboduch: Jason Fried wants to delete my backlog: https://buff.ly/2NlrjFk via @mijustin

"We don't believe in backlogs. When you have ba…

@DailyTekk Thanks!

@brhea This thread is related:

https://twitter.com/_michaelsholty/status/1166703416736919555?s=21

@jamesvandyne Congrats! 🎉

@iChris Dude was probably unstable. Nothing to do with you!

@devagul93 Glad they were helpful! 👍

@brhea It’s weird, this is something I’ve never felt. (I’ve been remote since 2012)

Maybe because I have local community at @coworkvernon, @ratiovernon, @startupvernon?

@damcclean Nice 👍

Yes!

It’s not about what you *feel* your character represents.

It’s not what you *think* your values are.

It’s what you consistently do (or don’t do!) that represents who you really are. https://twitter.com/JamesClear/status/1166434184656801794

Now *this* is cool.

Supporters on @podhuntapp can now add short, teaser clips to their episode submissions.

@GetJobber @ProductHunt @ryangum @laurentdelrey @adrienm @tchret @nikgraf @sliver86 🙌

@Designamyte Thank you!

@cjkoepke @curtismchale @mattmedeiros @statamic Do it 👍

@curtismchale 🙌

@iChris 1. Salad to go
2. Tacos / burritos to go
3. Deli
4. Happy hour appetizers

Words don't come after the design is done.

Words are the beginning, the core, the focus. 👌 https://twitter.com/kwuchu/status/1165794444794302464

@adamwathan Private metal show? Your place?

@tehnyit Really? I’m guessing he has an agent, an assistant, and not much more.

@petebray In a way, but in another sense their supply is the same.

A single Cirque act schedules their shows very much like Jerry schedules his.

This doesn’t mean folks shouldn’t create complex art, or build complex systems. (I love a lot of that stuff!)

But if you’re indie, solo, or bootstrapping, simple is better. 👍

This principle holds true for most software products as well.

Technical complexity does not intrinsically make a product more marketable or profitable (even though it might cost more to produce).

Seinfeld tickets: $100-$450
Cirque du Soleil tickets: $100-$450

Seinfeld is a one-man show.

Cirque shows require $25+ million to develop, 150 stage technicians, and a cast of 85 performers

Capitalism rewards simplicity.

@GraemeMac Guests? Not yet.

@GraemeMac @TheCraigHewitt Ecamm Call Recorder for Skype is the one I use. 👌

@AngelaHapke Thanks. Glad it resonated with you!

“Your willingness to believe a prediction is influenced by how much you need that prediction to be true.” http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-psychology-of-prediction/

@codinghorror Niro?

@adamwathan Don’t u just write:

php pretty please