OpenQR

Hey IH,

Small but steady week:

• MRR: $200

• Organic search is finally moving. Last 7 days in GA: 525 sessions (+12.2%), 424 active users (+6.5%), 2.5K events (+31.1%), 61 key events (+10.9%) vs. the prior 7 days.

• Two user emails landed last week. One issue to solve and feedback.

• This week's focus: one more blog post to keep the SEO compounding.

One thing I'd love community input on - where are you all promoting your products these days? I'm sorted on SEO/content for now, but curious what's actually working in 2026 outside the usual ProductHunt/Reddit/Twitter rounds. Niche communities? Paid newsletters? Directory submissions? Cold outreach? Would love to hear what's moved the needle for you.

Thanks!

Numbers this week:

• MRR: €80 (flat)

• New signups: 9

• New Twitter/X followers: +20

• Traffic from X: +140%

• Traffic from ChatGPT: +44%

What's working:

Twitter/X is clearly moving the needle - 140% traffic increase from consistent daily posting and engagement. The build-in-public approach is paying off in visibility even if MRR hasn't moved yet.

The ChatGPT traffic surprised me. A 44% increase means people are asking AI tools about QR code generators and OpenQR is showing up. No idea exactly why or how - but I'm not going to ignore it.

The problem I'm still staring at:

9 signups. Not enough converted to paid. Activation is still the bottleneck - people sign up and never create their first QR code. Trying understand why.

This week's focus:

• Ship part of a new OpenQR feature

• Write one SEO blog post

• Keep the daily X engagement going

Long term goal: €600 MRR by December 2026. Still a long road from €80 but the trajectory feels right.

Anyone else getting unexpected ChatGPT referral traffic? Curious if others are seeing this.

The numbers this week:

• Active users: 463

• Sessions: 511

• Registered users: 10

• Created at least one QR code: 3

• MRR: €80

The big problem I'm staring at:

7 out of 10 people signed up and never created a single QR code. That's the activation gap I need to fix before anything else - more traffic won't help if people aren't experiencing the core value.

This week I'm not adding features. I'm not chasing traffic. I'm focused on one question: why aren't new users creating that first QR code?

Suspects so far: onboarding is too generic, no empty state prompt, CTA inside the dashboard is weak.

Goal by end of week: Test at least one onboarding change and see if activation moves.

Long term goal: €600 MRR by December 2026. Still a long road from €80.

Anyone else dealt with low activation rates? What worked for you?

Monday check-in 👋

Another week of OpenQR. Mixed results again.

The wins:

Twitter is finally working:

• +24 new followers (best week yet)

• 14.7% engagement rate (+13%)

• 3.1K impressions (+81%)

• Profile visits up 116%

More replies = more growth. The strategy is working.

The product:

• 15 new signups

• 9 actually created a QR code

• 0 new paid subscriptions

The problem:

40% of signups don't even create their first QR code.

Getting traffic isn't the issue anymore (I think atm :D). Activation is.

People sign up, look around, and leave before experiencing the value.

What I'm thinking:

1. Onboarding is too passive - need to guide users to first QR code faster

2. Maybe add an onboarding email sequence

3. Or a simple checklist inside the dashboard

Current numbers:

• MRR: €67 (no change)

• X Followers: 428

• Google clicks: 200+/month

Question:

For those who fixed activation — what actually moved the needle?

Onboarding emails? In-app guidance? Simplifying the first step?

Would love to hear what worked.

Weekly check-in 👋

Another week of OpenQR. Let's look at the numbers.

Traffic (vs last week):

• Active users: 514 (+6%)

• Sessions: 597 (+12%)

• Views: 960 (+16.6%)

• Events: 2.6K (+13.5%)

All green. Best traffic week in a while.

Conversions:

• New registered users: 9

• New paid subscriptions: 0

And there's the reality check.

The gap:

Traffic is growing. Registrations are happening. But nobody converted to paid this week.

This is the part they don't show in the "I made $10K MRR" posts - the weeks where everything moves except revenue.

What I'm thinking:

1. Activation problem? — 9 people signed up. Did they actually create a QR code? Need to check.

2. Onboarding emails — Currently basic. Maybe I'm losing people before they see the value.

3. Free tier too generous? — Maybe. But I'd rather have users than paywalls.

Current stats:

• MRR: €70 (no change)

• Google clicks: 200+/month

• Twitter followers: 400+

Focus this week:

• Look at what registered users actually do (or don't do)

• Improve first-time user experience

• Keep writing SEO content

Question for you:

When you have signups but no conversions — do you focus on getting more traffic or fixing activation first?

Curious how others think about this.

Monday check-in 👋

Mixed week for OpenQR. Here's the honest breakdown.

The numbers:

• MRR: €67 (+€5)

• Active users: 485 (↓4%)

• Sessions: 533 (↓7.3%)

• Views: 823 (↓12.1%)

Overall traffic dropped. But here's what's interesting:

Google traffic is actually up.

While social and other channels dipped, organic search keeps climbing. The blog posts are working — slow, but compounding.

Surprise win:

Got a new paid subscriber this week. Plot twist: user registered over a month ago.

Didn't convert immediately. Came back later and upgraded.

Lesson: not everyone converts on day one. Some people need time. Your free tier is a long-term funnel, not a failed conversion.

Focus this week:

• Keep writing problem-focused blog content (that's what's driving Google traffic)

• Improve onboarding emails — maybe I can nudge those "registered but inactive" users

Question:

How long is your typical free-to-paid conversion time? Curious if 30+ days is normal or if I should be worried about my activation flow.

Last update was October. Disappeared for 3 months. Here's where things stand.

The numbers:

• MRR: €60 (honestly, not much changed)

• Users last week: 505 (+15%)

• Google clicks last month: 180

• Twitter followers: ~400

What happened in 3 months:

Mostly got buried in my 9-5. Side project life is brutal sometimes. When work gets heavy, OpenQR gets neglected.

But I kept shipping small things:

• Improved landing page

• Published more blog posts for SEO

• Started posting consistently on Twitter (build in public)

Biggest lesson:

Distribution > features.

I spent too much time building, not enough time getting OpenQR in front of people. The product works. Getting people to find it is the real challenge.

2026 goal:

€1000 MRR by December. ~10x from where I am now.

Current focus:

1. Twitter — posting consistently, engaging more

2. SEO — blog posts targeting "QR code for [industry]" keywords

3. Conversion — improving signup flow

Question for you:

For those who've gone from ~€100 to €1000+ MRR — what actually moved the needle? Was it one big channel or lots of small wins?

Would love to hear what's working for others at this stage.

When you use a trackable (dynamic) QR code, every scan becomes a data point. You move from “someone scanned this” to “who clicked what, when, and where.”

Here’s what trackable QR codes unlock:

• Detailed Insights: See not just the number of scans, but which links people clicked, where they scanned from (city, country), and what devices they used.

• Real-Time Feedback: Campaigns can be adapted on the fly. If one code is underperforming, you can swap out the target link or adjust your messaging.

• Better ROI Measurement: You can compare which offline ads, posters, flyers or events drove more digital engagement — and which didn’t.

• No Reprints Required: Because the QR itself stays constant, you can update its destination links anytime. No need to trash that stack of printed posters just because your promotion changed.
  
  If you ran a poster or flyer campaign, wouldn’t it be useful to know which one brought people to your site instead of just hoping?

When customers see three or four different QR codes, they hesitate: Which one should I scan?
But with one clean, dynamic QR code that holds all your links, you make their decision effortless.

The magic is in the simplicity:
✅ One clear call-to-action
✅ A single place to update your links anytime
✅ Better scan-to-action rates

Example: a local restaurant replaced 4 codes (menu, Instagram, Google Maps, reviews) with one.
Result? More scans — and more followers.

What’s one area of your business where a single QR code could replace several?

After some great feedback from users, I decided it was time to refresh the branding and redesign the website. Spent last week working on it — and it’s finally live! 🎉

Now the site feels cleaner, easier to navigate, and makes it much clearer what OpenQR does. The product info is better structured, and overall it just feels right (at least for me).

Small step visually, big step for clarity.
Next goal → polishing onboarding flow for new users.

Would love to hear your thoughts if you check it out 👉 https://openqr.io