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Launch learnings -- what else should I do?

This past Sunday I launched www.friendsavvy.com, a tool to make it easier to stay connected with your friends.

"Launch" in this case means I posted publicly to strangers. I made just 2 posts:

  • An introduction on IndieHackers which got enough traction to stay atop the weekly welcome thread
  • A post on r/SideProjects

Overall the response was directionally positive: 200 site visits, 15 signups (most did not start using the product), 2 subscribers (free trials now, but not canceled as of today).

Mistakes

  • I initially chose to offer a free trial with credit-card, but have since decided to offer a free trial without credit card.

  • My initial landing page described the problem but not the solution. Not understanding the general idea of the software was a blocker to users signing up.

  • I gave everyone a free-trial who signed-up but bounced before getting access to the credit-card free-trial, but none returned to add friends.

  • Even users who did get access to the product; most made 0 or 1 friend -- presumably just to see what would happen.

Adjustments

  • FriendSavvy now supports no-credit-card 1-month free trials

  • The landing page has a "Features" section with screenshots and details about some of the features

  • I built a new onboarding flow that requires users to add 3 or 4 friend names and creates them quickly. This is faster than adding each friend individually and guarantees that users see how FriendSavvy schedules reminders. Ensuring users get 3 friends will cause those users to receive reminders to contact their friends every week for a month -- which I hope increases engagement / retention.

Next

I believe I've made the proper reaction to the feedback I've received this week and am overall happy with the reception. My plan to post to smaller communities first and react to feedback worked and I think I'm ready to post to larger communities such as Hacker News or Product Hunt.

If anyone has any suggestions about what else I should try; I'd love to hear your feedback.

on June 19, 2020
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    Hey Chris,

    Have you seen UpHabit? Seems like a similar idea. Would you agree?

    Your network is everything! I was an early user. I was hoping for a tool that would remind me to check-in with friends, colleagues, and even Linkedin connections. I even paid for a yearly subscription. They went through a few iterations and have finally got it right with an easy-to-use interface. I started strong using the tool, paused using it due to bad user experience, and hard to use and now back to using it again.

    Hit me up and let's connect. Happy to provide some feedback on your landing page. https://www.linkedin.com/in/billflitter/