Build Your SaaS

In this episode, Jon and Justin discuss the golden rule for growing your audience. This could mean:

• How to get more paying customers for your software product.
• How to get more followers on Twitter.
• How to get more podcast listeners.

★ Thanks to our sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
• Podcastinsights.com: If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Podcast equipment guides, how to make money. Join millions of readers learning all about how to start, grow, and monetize a podcast at podcastinsights.com.
• Want to podcast in 2019? Transistor is cooking up something special for the new year.

Show notes:

• Read this episode as a blog post!
• On Reddit: “Tips for increasing Twitter followers?”
• Steve Schoger’s design tips on Twitter
• Carbon: cool tool for devs to use to share programming screenshots.

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Alitu.com
• Darby Frey
• Samori Augusto
• Dave Young
• Brad from Canada
• Kevin Markham
• Sammy Schuckert
• Dan Ericson
• Mike Walker
• Adam DuVander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Podcastinsights.com

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!

In this episode Jon and Justin discuss talk about how you should think about your software product's competition.

Why you shouldn’t focus on the competition

• It’s a distraction. The main point by many folks is: “when you focus too much on the competition, it means you’re not focusing enough on your customers.”
• It causes anxiety.“Last summer, I stopped[reading industry news]. I had just reached the point at which I could feel an unhealthy level of toxicity piling up inside of me. I felt myself getting too involved, too absorbed, and a bit too anxious about what I was missing, and about what I knew or didn't know, but thought I should know. I was checking Twitter too often and reloading sites too often. If someone told me about something I hadn't heard of, I felt like I should have already known about it. Industry news was becoming an addiction.” - Jason Fried
• It’s too tempting to copy features. “Copying skips understanding. Understanding is how you grow. You have to understand why something works or why something is how it is. When you copy it, you miss that. You just repurpose the last layer instead of understanding all the layers underneath.” – Jason Fried
• It can lead to feature creep. company A is doing this, company B is doing that, so let’s do them all. also, paralyzing indecision and no real thought about why you’d be building a feature.

Why you should focus on the competition

• It’s a way of understanding your customers. You should be aware of why customers are choosing (or not choosing) the competition. 
• It’s more competitive now. I wrote a post about this.  “It's getting more expensive to build SaaS companies and exits are weak.” Mattermark, 2016. “We're not building these basic CRUD apps like we used to be able to. The stuff's too competitive now.” – Rob Walling. "No one wants to admit it, but the old ‘your product must be 10x better than existing solutions’ trope is dead. I think this is one of the most hostile times for startups that we’ve had, really. Products are better, and competition is enormous." – Zach Holman
• It’s a way of revealing opportunities. “Everybody's drilling for oil in the same spot because some other guy found oil there already.” – Nick Quah. What’s everyone else missing? Where’s the untapped well?
• You’re stealing time, attention, and money from somebody, and it’s not always who you think!(Article) When Uber launched, they stole customers from the taxi industry. When the iPhone launched, Apple took customers from Kodak and the film industry.

How to think about the competition

• SWOT. What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What are their opportunities? What are their threats? Do SWOT on yourself too!
• User interviews. One of the best ways to do user research is to interview folks who are actively using the competition! What brought them to start using it? How’d they find it? What was going on in their life at that time? Why do they keep using it?
• When people switch. If people switch away from you to a competitor, that’s a great time to ask questions. "The only two people who can give you real feedback about your product are people who just purchased it and people who just canceled.” – Jason Fried
• Think about how you can outlast them. What are practices you can put in place that will help you outlast the competition? “Whenever a startup goes out of business, the first thing I get curious about are their costs, not their revenues.” – Jason Fried
• Figure out how you can make things easier.How can you make your app easier to use than the competition?
• Look for unmet desires. What are the unmet needs of users using competitors’ products? Search Twitter, support forums, etc for instances of people complaining. What are they complaining about?

★ Thanks to our sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
• Podcastinsights.com: If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Podcast equipment guides, how to make money. Join millions of readers learning all about how to start, grow, and monetize a podcast at podcastinsights.com.
• Want to podcast in 2019? Transistor is cooking up something special for the new year.

Show notes:

• Val Sopi's new startup: Claritask
• Podnews on Anchor and "podfading"
• Worrying about the competition is pointless
• How much should a startup worry about the competition?
• Seriously don’t worry about the competition
• How to think about startup competition
• Why I don’t stress about the competition 
• Does bootstrapping make you worry about the competition?
• Why reading about your competitors will hurt your business?
• Why you shouldn’t copy Basecamp
• How to outlast the competition
• Competing on easy
• When you’re building a product, whose opinion should you listen to?
• Why many products struggle, but only a few succeed.
• Who are you stealing from?
• Book: Creative Selection

We received some product marketing questions from Nirav Mehta: 

• How to get the word out about your SaaS?
• Should you pursue partnerships?
• How can you get distribution for your software product?
• What marketing channels work best?

Build anticipation before you launch

One big opportunity many folks miss is building up anticipation before they launch. Examples:

• Adam Wathan and Steve Schoger shared design tips on Twitter and on their blog for 6 months before they released their book, Refactoring UI.
• Derick Reimer allowed people to “Claim their username” for Level.App before he launched. So far 5,787 people have registered.
• Ben Orenstein talked about Tuple.app, his new product, on podcasts for months before they launched. 

Build a reputation for being helpful

• Adam, Steve, Derrick, and Ben also have something else in common: they were consistently helpful to their respective audiences for years before they launched anything.
• Being helpful now, in forums, on Twitter, in podcasts, on your blog, in your mailing list, at conferences, at meetups, in email, is an investment in your future.
• It’s an advantage that can’t be easily copied or replicated.

Bake SEO into everything you do

• The most underrated, and often under-pursued, grow strategy is investing in Search Engine Optimization.
• “SEO is the biggest growth lever that you have and it's something that you should prioritize." - Ryan Hoover, Product Hunt”
• Think about it, when people have a desire to solve a problem, what do they do? They Google it! If your product is the answer to people’s question, you want to make sure they can find it on Google. 

Quick SEO tips: 

1. Explore what questions are asking on: Answerthepublic.com.
2. Use a tools like Ahrefs.com on your competitors’ sites! See what keywords people are using to find their site, and what their most popular pages are.
3. Make sure you have Google Search Console set up for your website. They have a new “Performance Report” that will show you what keywords people are using to find your site, and where you could rank better.
4. Focus on what matters on each page:
   1. Main title - should feature the focus keywords, preferably at the beginning of the title.
   2. Subheader or first paragraph – expanded description, should also feature the focus keywords.
   3. Alt text in images – alt text was designed to show text when an image is not loading properly, or if someone has to use a screen reader. This text is read by Google as any other content.
   4. Meta description – a short, concise (usually 300 characters or less) description of a webpage, shown in search results.
5. Keep a document on “blog post title ideas.” For example, I can see, through all my research, that “podcast distribution” is a good keyword combination to pursue. So I could write a blog post with the title: “Podcast distribution made easy - 5 steps.”
6. Write these authoritative guide on a topic. Ben Orenstein noticed that there weren’t any good pair programming guides, so he wrote one! http://learntopair.com. These guides typically get shared a lot, which means you’ll get high quality backlinks to your site (which is important for SEO).
7. People will also search for “[competitor name] alternatives.” Those are great keywords to target.

The big list of marketing channels:

• Ads: Facebook Ads, Adwords, LinkedIn ads, etc. 
• Partnerships: finding influencers that have a similar audience to you, and cross-promoting
• SEO: getting backlinks to your landing page from other sites, and ranking for certain keywords
• Content marketing: blogging, infographics, viral videos
• Platform marketing: engaging in Facebook Groups, on forums, in comments threads
• Direct mail: sending your prospects stickers, postcards, or letters by post
• Events: attending tradeshows, conferences, and meetups and handing out business cards (or other swag) with your website address

Things to remember:

• Marketing doesn't work like a jackpot. You're not going to hit that "one thing" that works and creates an avalanche of sales. Instead of "putting it all on black," it'd be better for you to diversify your marketing investments: you'll get customers from a variety of channels and tactics
• Marketing is a lot like physical fitness. Small gains every week give you biggest gains in the long term. It's like hitting the gym once on January 1st and expecting to look like Arnold Schwartnegger. You've got to do something every week to get good results overall.
• Last: for many of you, marketing is a big, hairy, ugly problem. And what's the best way to deal with a big overwhelming problem? Break it into smaller pieces.

★ Thanks to our sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
• Podcastinsights.com: If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Podcast equipment guides, how to make money. Join millions of readers learning all about how to start, grow, and monetize a podcast at podcastinsights.com.
• Want to podcast in 2019? Transistor is cooking up something special for the new year.

Show notes:

• SEO for Hackers – my course on search engine optimization. join.megamaker.co/seo
• SEO for the Rest of Us – a new course by Brendan Hufford
• Mastering SEO – a course by Matt G.
• Free Keyword Content Planner – Google Sheets
• Yoast – if you’re doing SEO on WordPress, you need this plugin.

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

Jon Buda and Justin Jackson make predictions for the tech industry, the podcasting space, and the startup ecosystem.

Predictions for 2019

• There will be a global economic downturn. Companies will be looking for more affordable marketing spend. Brands that don't have a strong relationship with their audience will lose.
  • This could be increase the number of companies who invest in podcasting. Audio is still a "good deal" compared to other communication channels.
  • Related: will we see the big “5” (Squarespace, etc) advertising less?
• 2019 will be the year of non-gaming livestreaming. More programmers, business people, podcasters will be livestreaming. Plus: more audio-livestreaming.
• Related: Podcasting without editing will become more popular. No intro music. Just recorded live with an outline, and published immediately.
• Podcasting will grow to 800,000 shows. (Currently ~619,000 in Apple Podcasts)
• In 2018 Spotify went from 10-25% marketshare of the podcast player market. I think it will grow again to 35%. (Justin admits he was wrong about this tweet).
• Continued focus on "mindful technology." Very possible that iPhone will have a "dumb phone" mode: only texting, phone calls, and GPS. All other apps will disappear from your homescreen when enabled. 
• Smart speakers will not have a big effect on podcast consumption. I think they will become more popular, but I don’t see people using them to listen to podcasts. (These folks think it will be big, I disagree. Currently 1% of listenership) 
• Apple is going to make a big media move to challenge Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It will finally break iTunes apart on desktop. Maybe we'll see a standalone desktop Apple Podcasts app?
• More branded podcasts and production companies. (example)
• Dynamic content (outside of advertising) will be bigger.
• More traditional media brands will buy podcast related IP. Podcasts turning into → TV shows. For example: Homecoming on Amazon Video.

★ Thanks to our sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
• Podcastinsights.com: If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Podcast equipment guides, how to make money. Join millions of readers learning all about how to start, grow, and monetize a podcast at podcastinsights.com.
• Want to podcast in 2019? Transistor is cooking up something special for the new year.

Show notes:

• CleanIn2019.com
• Atomic Habits - Identity
• Ben Orenstein interview on Product People
• Fast Company: Dumb phone
• SSL for all Transistor users!
• We used Caddy Server for our SSL implementation

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Alitu.com
• Darby Frey
• Samori Augusto
• Dave Young (new)
• Brad from Canada
• Kevin Markham
• Sammy Schuckert
• Brand Shouter
• Mike Walker
• Adam DuVander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Podcastinsights.com

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!

In this episode, we talk about the different types of customers for a SaaS:

• B to C: selling to consumers. Here, we'd think of products and services like Verizon, iPhone apps, etc...
• B to Prosumer: selling to prosumers. Prosumers are power users; serious hobbyists. Sometimes, they earn a bit of money from their hobby. Examples: a photographer who shoots a few weddings a year, a painter who sells a few paintings on the side, or a podcaster who has a few supporters on Patreon.
• B to Aspirational: selling to aspirational business owners. Rob Walling uses Pat Flynn's "Smart Passive Income" audience as an example. Sometimes called "wantrepreneurs," these are folks who are willing to invest money in their business startup. 
• B to very small business: selling to solopreneurs, or teams of 2-3.
• B to small business: this is selling to regular small businesses. Loosely defined as teams of 10-100.
• B to enterprise: depending on the industry, "enterprise" might mean any company with more than 250 people. However, "large enterprise" is probably 5,000+.

★ Thanks to our sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
• Podcastinsights.com: If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Podcast equipment guides, how to make money. Join millions of readers learning all about how to start, grow, and monetize a podcast at podcastinsights.com.
• Want to podcast in 2019? Transistor is cooking up something special for the new year.

Show notes:

• Startups for the Rest of Us: 421
• Jason Cohen interview on Product People: 98
• Transistor's revenue numbers are public
• Mike Vardy's podcast
• Taylor Jackson's photography podcast
• Jason Resnick's podcast
• Matt's Bet on the Web show for Ionic
• Cards Against Humanity's podcast
• Drift's podcast
• ProfitWell's podcast
• Podcast2019.com

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Alitu.com
• Samori Augusto
• Mike Walker
• Brad (from Canada)
• Darby Frey
• Kevin Markham
• Adam Duvander
• Dan Ericson
• Sammy Schuckert
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Podcastinsights.com

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!

Justin gets interviewed by Harry Duran on the Podcast Junkies show, and answers questions about:

• Is podcasting really having it's moment now?
• Is now a good time to invest in the podcasting industry?
• How is Transistor going to be different than other competitors?
• Who should be starting podcasts right now?
• Can anyone be a podcaster?
• Is podcasting a "mindful technology?"

★ Thanks to our two sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
• Podcastinsights.com: If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Podcast equipment guides, how to make money. Join millions of readers learning all about how to start, grow, and monetize a podcast at podcastinsights.com.

Show notes:

• Podcast Junkies
• Product People (Justin's first show)
• Ira Glass and Alex Blumberg on Without Fail
• Matt's Bet on the Web show for Ionic

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Alitu.com
• Samori Augusto
• Mike Walker
• Brad (from Canada)
• Darby Frey
• Kevin Markham
• Adam Duvander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Podcastinsights.com

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!

In this episode Jon talks about why he decided to partner with Justin (even though he'd already built the product).

★ Thanks to our two sponsors:

• Alitu.com: Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo.
• Podcastinsights.com: If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Podcast equipment guides, how to make money. Join millions of readers learning all about how to start, grow, and monetize a podcast at podcastinsights.com.

Show notes:

• New Yorker: The friendship that made Google huge
• Article: Why you need a cofounder
• Cards Against Humanity's 99% percent off sale
• Duchess Bakeshop Hogwarts Castle
• Hogwarts Castle on Reddit
• We are on Baremetrics Open Startups
• Tool: Chartable lets you see podcast charts
• Conan Needs a Friend

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Alitu.com
• Samori Augusto
• Mike Walker
• Brad (from Canada)
• Darby Frey
• Kevin Markham
• Adam Duvander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Podcastinsights.com

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!

How did you split equity in Transistor? How do I start a podcast? How do you say Adam's name?

★ Thanks to our sponsor: podcastinsights.com

If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast.

Show notes:

• Episode 2: How to find a cofounder
• Place to buy a startup: Flippa and Empire Flippers
• Justin’s article: How to make a podcast
• Video: Creating a podcast from nothing
• Podcastinsights.com
• Tool: Chartable lets you see podcast charts
• Microphone: Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB
• Pop filter: Find one that will work with your mic. This one is a good start.
• Headphones: Sennheiser HD 202 II
• Editing software: Garage Band or Screenflow (for Mac) and Audacity (for PC)
• Cover art: Canva or Snappa

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on Tung.fm
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Colin Gray
• Samori Augusto
• Mike Walker
• Brad (from Canada)
• Darby Frey
• Kevin Markham
• Adam Duvander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Podcastinsights.com

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!

Why do you want to start a podcast?

• Grow your business: 
  • Get more clients – Nate TechNest Real Estate
  • Brand / PR – Drift Seeking Wisdom
• Grow your audience: Matt and Alex with Supercomputer
  • Get ad sponsorships: you'll need a really big audience for this (30,000+ downloads per episode)
  • Patreon: you'll need a fairly large audience (Taylor Jackson has 160,000 YouTube subscribers)
  • Sell your own products / services: in addition to ads, Adam Wathan promotes his course on his podcast
• Connect with your audience: Taylor Jackson Photography
  • Increase social proof.
  • Identify yourself as an expert.
• Contribute to a community, or industry, or culture: Ashley Baxter’s Bootstrapping Digest
• Put your POV out in the world: Rework, Good News Podcast

Ideas on how you can use your podcast to reach your goals:

• Private feed just for your team / employees
• Q&A: get users, customers, audience to leave you a voicemail. Answer 1 question per week.
• Interview your customers: interview 1 customer per week. Ask them about their business, how they’re using your product.
• Expert tips: if you’re a professional (lawyer, accountant, coach), give your listeners an actionable piece of advice every week. Give them one thing to improve every week.
• Read your blog posts: already writing a blog post ever week? Just read it “audible” style for your audience.
• Recycle your best talks / videos.
• Conferences: give attendees a private feed of all the talks!
• Share your journey.

Show notes:

• The 8 types of podcast formats
• Leave us a question at transistor.fm/voicemail. We will answer those next week during American Thanksgiving show.
• Create a podcast for your employees

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on Tung.fm
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Colin Gray – Alitu.com
• Samori Augusto
• Mike Walker
• Brad (from Canada)
• Darby Frey
• Kevin Markham
• Adam Duvander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!

Jon and Justin respond to the new funding options available for bootstrappers, mainly Earnest Capital.

The GP, Tyler Tringas, told us what types of companies he's looking to invest in:

1. Organic customer acquisition channels
2. Low levels of structural churn (ready to stay customers for a long period of time)
3. Founder is a good fit
4. Product launched and has revenue
5. In a space that Tyler feels comfortable with

They're looking for a 3x-5x return from their investment; which they'll take from founder earnings. (Read more about that here)

Show notes:

• Underground gangsters cave in Austin, TX
• Article: New forms of funding for bootstrappers
• Buffer buying out investors
• DHH on Earnest Capital
• Indie VC: companies we invest in grow way faster
• DHH tweet on paying meager salaries
• Earnest Capital
• Tyler Tringas' introductory blog post
• YouTube Livestream
• Indie.vc
• Tiny Seed Fund

What do you think?

• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.
• Leave a comment on Tung.fm
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]
• Create your own podcast at transistor.fm

Thanks to our Patreon supporters:

• Samori Augusto - thebicrowd.com
• Mike Walker
• Brad (from Canada)
• Darby Frey
• Kevin Markham
• Adam Duvander
• Dave Giunta

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.
📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!