Giving away my company's services for free saved it from ruin during the pandemic Entrepreneur

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• Giving away my company's services for free saved it from ruin during the pandemic
• Firing a client can be so so sweet!
• If I am willing to put in the hard work, What in demand skills can I learn to gain $6k-$10k per month??
• The 4 Stages of Competence Model showed me the process towards long-term learning and growth
• Created a Popular Job Board/Salary Database, need some help proceeding!
• What is the least amount you can spend on ads to test if a product+ad works/is profitable?
• Am I Lazy For Not Being Able To Hold A Fulltime Job?
• I don’t know what to think anymore. Any recommendations / support would be appreciated.
• Need to decide on a brand name.
• Creating an adult animated TV series.
• CTO seeking advice
• How can a stay at home parent make some extra money?
• Shipping Question
• Anybody manufacturing in Asia? How are logistics currently?
• FB advertising for healthcare - dealing with the upcoming changes
• Tips for Shark Tank Presentation
• Online reviews
• I curated a list to get users onboard for founders!
• Stuck in front of a computer, what can I do?
• I've created a Black Friday SaaS/e-commerce checklist based on 350+ Black Friday deals
• Want to hear your experience with outsourcing application development to Upwork
• Picking a domain name feels impossible
• How do you get testers for new apps/products outside of your network?

Giving away my company's services for free saved it from ruin during the pandemic Posted: 20 Nov 2021 03:25 PM PST I wanted to share my story and hopefully this may give some of you some insight into how charity can benefit a company. ​ My wife and I started our own appliance repair company. ​ Things were going well as business was growing and we were steadily improving operations and services. The business was on track to gross about $80K/year which was very respectable for a company that launched in November 2018 with only one technician. ​ Then the pandemic hit. By March of 2019 we went from 4-5 calls a day down to 1-2 a week. Things were locking down hard and customers were cancelling appointments to wait it out (little did we know then how long it would last). ​ Needless to say, we were stressed out. No calls and no word yet on any government assistance. The Canadian government had yet to announce CERB so we didn't know what to do. ​ We considered shutting down temporarily as our sunken costs were low. We could park our work van, cancel the insurance, and not worry about payments since we bought it used. We would then cancel our work insurance so at most our overhead during a shutdown would be under $100. ​ On a whim, I revisited an idea I had been bouncing around to offer our services for free as charity. I was inspired by a dentist I had met at a community centre who donated his time to provide free dental services one day a week. Nicest guy you'd ever meet, too. ​ We came up with a plan to offer free appliance repair services once a week. If parts were needed we would ask that customers pay for the wholesale cost. ​ We already had a strong presence on Facebook so I made a post in a community group that had started as a result of the pandemic to provide assistance to others. ​ We went viral. ​ Local blog sites picked up our post and it exploded. It reached thousands of likes in a week. ​ Our phone and email was completely overwhelmed with requests for business. A local news station reached out to us and we did a live interview. ​ Our offer to provide charity services struck a cord and it was the right choice at the right time. ​ It took us a whole week just to answer every email and text. We couldn't handle the volume and many reached out to us not for charity but just to support us with business to help us help others. ​ It also helped we had planned ahead for the pandemic. We had already procured masks, gloves, bleach, and face shields. We enacted extremely strict safety protocols such as requiring our customers to not be present in the same room as us, sanitizing all surfaces prior to and proceeding the service. ​ I was later able to procure PAPRs (Powered Air Purifying Respirators) from a contractor supplier in Montreal at $2400 each. While an enormous investment it allowed us to work safely during the height of the pandemic. ​ We are now fully vaccinated and my employees were paid to get it, as well as flu shots and potential boosters. ​ The charity and safety aspects came to define my company. ​ Our charity program now works like this: we operate on the honour system because we don't want to hurt anyone's dignity by proving they can't afford repairs. We provide free labour and diagnoses and rely on donations to cover the wholesale cost of parts. If donations are insufficient we ask the customer to cover the wholesale cost of parts. ​ One impact we had not considered was that our program made customers feel like they could trust us given how many predatory appliance repair companies there are out there. ​ It also allowed us to leverage our prices. If a customer complained our rates are too high (they are slightly below average) we tell them that if finances are an issue we'll just cover the call under our charity program. It shames the cheapskates into paying because they see we actually mean it. ​ So far, few if any have taken advantage of our program. In one case, the customer seemed well off but revealed her husband had died and he was the only breadwinner. She had not worked in 30 years to raise the kids and was now scrambling to figure out how she would support herself. ​ We've accepted a percentage may violate the intent of the program but that's a price we will pay to help others in need. Many customers are incredulous we would just give away our services for free no questions asked. Many explicitly hired us because of the program. We have paired up with several shelters and charities. At one shelter we donated $600 worth of parts (wholesale cost) and $3000 worth of services. We were able to donate $1000 to assist Afghan interpreters fleeing Afghanistan. ​ Today, our company has a second technician and we gross about $300K/year and growing. ​ The financial benefit of giving away services has been enormous - for every dollar we give away is worth $10 in marketing. We have no marketing budget because our call volume is more than high enough. One customer we helped was so thankful we fixed her washer for free she recommended her entire social network of other retired widowers. She brought us 5 paying customers through word of mouth. Of course, pro bono work may not work in certain industries or businesses. But my advice is that no strings attached charity work can buy a lot of goodwill and trust if it works for you. Hope you found this helpful! submitted by /u/Babuiski [link] [comments]

Firing a client can be so so sweet! Posted: 20 Nov 2021 05:52 AM PST I was a consultant for a big international consulting firm, in my late 20's. I loved my work, and enjoyed working in so many different industries. Most times, I had a great relationship with my clients, but there were rare times where I ran into some pretty vile people. This story is about one of them. I was building an application for a large bank, and while the top folk who hired me were nice, the two day to day line managers I worked with were terrible. They treated me and my team as slave laborers who they could yell at and criticize every day. It wasn't like they were talented people who were holding everyone to some high standard. These were classic corporate flunkies who were walking examples of the Peter Principal. I decided midway through the project that I was so done with them, so I brought the team together and we came up with a great exit strategy. We worked our asses off to do the absolute best job possible for the client, and put a false smile on each day as we dealt with the constant abuse. The project gets done, and the execs at the company all love it. The flunkies then pull me into a meeting to talk about the next phase of the project. I listen to them as they take a victory lap about how it was their leadership that made this a success, and how they were reluctantly giving us the next project. I sit back, listening, and once they are all done, regrettably inform them that the team is already committed to another client, and while we loved working with them, this will be our last meeting. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to see them immediately panic as they realize they would be responsible for actual work. First it was all threats to me - how dare I think I have actual free will :) When they realized that wasn't working, it regressed to actual begging. Seeing them panic was such sweet revenge. I let it drag on and on, and then made sure to walk by later and bid them all the best as the team and I packed up and left. The best part? Total failure in the next phase by them, and both managers got the boot a year later. Of course it didn't help matters for them that the senior execs eventually found out why they got "fired". It is great to be able to choose your own customers sometimes! submitted by /u/jammer9631 [link] [comments]

If I am willing to put in the hard work, What in demand skills can I learn to gain $6k-$10k per month?? Posted: 20 Nov 2021 11:33 AM PST I am asking about in demand skills that is possible to learn in 1-2 years. What should I do and how do I successfully do it?? submitted by /u/YeshuaSaves1999 [link] [comments]

The 4 Stages of Competence Model showed me the process towards long-term learning and growth Posted: 20 Nov 2021 09:19 AM PST Whenever we begin to learn something new, there's obviously a learning curve. However, this process can often be demoralizing when we don not see progress. The thing that has truly helped me the most is understanding that proficiency at something generally goes through 4 levels Unconscious Incompetence Conscious Incompetence Conscious Competence Unconscious Competence Understanding these 4 level can give us all some perspective on what it takes to become truly great at something. I discuss the 4 stages of competence model in depth right here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBsinpQD8HU Let me know if this might change the way you thinking about learning and developing new skills going forward. submitted by /u/BladeV-Cash [link] [comments]

Created a Popular Job Board/Salary Database, need some help proceeding! Posted: 20 Nov 2021 12:45 PM PST I'm a civil engineer that has created a job board and salary database for the architecture/engineering/construction industry. I've shown it to a feed dozen people and the feedback has been awesome, but I need some guidance on how to proceed. Proposed business model: Selling promoted job listings. Questions People seem to not care much about the listings and only find value in the salary database. This tracks with my analytics data. Should I lean into that and focus solely on salaries? If so, how can I monetize? Sponsorships? I'm growing the salary database from user input but growth is slow (dozen sign-ups a day). How can I get this in front of more eyeballs? For reference, here is my site: https://aec.careers/ submitted by /u/strcengr [link] [comments]

What is the least amount you can spend on ads to test if a product+ad works/is profitable? Posted: 20 Nov 2021 09:59 AM PST And what are the factors to consider? For example if the product costs $1000 instead of $10 I guess you are going to have to spend more to test what is the return on the ad. submitted by /u/SSCharles [link] [comments]

Am I Lazy For Not Being Able To Hold A Fulltime Job? Posted: 20 Nov 2021 12:42 PM PST Every job that I've had has slowly crushed my soul. Slowly but surely, my drive for doing a great job falls away and I start doing the bare minimum until I quit. Yet, when I find gig jobs like Uber and DoorDash I never lose my drive to do a great job. I'm out working nearly everyone because I truly enjoy it. I'm my own boss, I work when I want and how much I make completely depends on me. A fulltime job does make more money but I'm so unhappy working for someone else. Even if I make significantly less on my own there's so much more freedom. Is anybody else like this? submitted by /u/NB408 [link] [comments]

I don’t know what to think anymore. Any recommendations / support would be appreciated. Posted: 20 Nov 2021 10:29 AM PST Hi everyone, Basically I've been working really hard these past 2 years to build my business from scratch. I'm currently building my food trailer by myself to sell crepes, waffles desserts... because we had nothing like it in my city. I've decided to go with a trailer because being 20 years old, i dont have the capital to start something big like a brick & mortar store but i wanted somewhere were i could do my deliveries & pickup. The problem is that today i just saw a post about my biggest competitor (who has a store that does incredibly well in a city next to mine) is opening one in my city (10 15min away from my location) Honestly im out of words. I dont know what to think anymore. I gave everything i had to this project, been working the past 6 years so i can finally start something of my own. I know that this is going to hurt my business and i don't know what to think anymore. submitted by /u/blaxoleS [link] [comments]

Need to decide on a brand name. Posted: 20 Nov 2021 12:03 PM PST So as the title says, i have been going with a weird brand name and this needs to be fixed cause people are not able to remember/relate to it at all. The name of my brand is hypermoat and I need to change this to something simple. I create visualizations and talk about finance and startups and growth hacks on instagram and twitter. Can the gods of entrepreneurship help me with this gigantic task of helping me improve my brand name? submitted by /u/justfart_ [link] [comments]

Creating an adult animated TV series. Posted: 20 Nov 2021 04:39 PM PST So I'm 17, I turn 18 in april, and my all time favourite TV show is Family Guy. Tried getting into Rick and Morty, but similar to shows like Hazbin Hotel, it just felt really. . . I don't know how to put it. Anyways, I've been thinking about making an animated show and pitching it to Amazon prime. I've actually made a storyboard of the first episode. It'll be crudely animated like South Park, and have a premise similar to Beevus and Butthead. I just hope it'll do well. Really wanted to try making a video game but I just don't have the hardware for it and livin' paycheck to paycheck as is. Some problems in the home led to me moving out early. Aiming to make a full first season by April, that way it'll be ready to go out the door when I turn 18. Making a bit of a mind spill. Thanks for reading. submitted by /u/dingusmlingus [link] [comments]

CTO seeking advice Posted: 20 Nov 2021 03:54 PM PST Greeting everyone, Looking for insights and new perspectives, really appreciate yours ❤️ Just completed my second year as a part time (minimum 8 hours a day so far for the past two years) but I still have my full time job. When I joined the startup there was an app built by a service company and I was approached by the CEO after delivering a session about my experience as CEO for two pure technical startups. He showed me what they have done so far and shared some challenges I helped him with, later that month he pitched me with the other cofounder and I really was all in. I just shut down my previous startup and was eager to start a new journey, and I saw their commitment and enthusiasm. I joined them with 5% and a salary (very low but I was happy) the first month I showed them the plan forward, they liked it and we started flying, I hired the team, launched the first version, we built the culture, new team members joined,…. And things were challenging and exciting all the time. As I did with previous startups, I couldn't afford but to get all in, I compromised my and my family time all for this. Later on I requested an increase in both the share and salary and they both agreed. One year later key software engineers left us to explore new fields or start new companies, these time I was literally dying, I would forget everything until I find replacements and so on. Somehow I managed to keep my performance at my full time job as is, they promoted me and sponsored me to complete my masters study. I shared this with the cofounders and they were shocked! I tried to explain to them that this opportunity will open new doors for us as the masters agree will be in the US as we might find new candidates, new investors and will make me technically stronger. iInitially they said we mainly depend on you as we don't have the tech background, and suggested looking into delaying this opportunity but I insisted that I will manage it all as I did while on my full-time job. Right now I'm finishing my first semester and things are getting challenging more again as to key players in the back and team went part time as they want to start a new adventure and I'm trying to find a new team lead for backend to manage all the operations at that side and also to help me hire and take some of the load. I was sharing these challenges with one of my friends and he said I guess you are not optimizing your time for this opportunity being in the US. He suggested that I step down as a CTO and find someone else to take my place and for the coming year I should focus on getting into the ecosystem here in the US and join startups and learn from the culture here. This option was never in my mind, however the time he suggested that I could not stop thinking about it. Something deep inside me says you will carry the shame all the time for letting down your team, despite all the commitment and the sacrifices we've made for the past years. Especially this time we're we are struggling to find funding and the team is not at its best. For sure I am not planning to leave now, but would love to at least have a plan for the coming 3 months, to work on making me not needed or focus on expansion and growth. I would appreciate any prospective into this, any advice, anything. And would love to address any questions. submitted by /u/hiddenbyapple [link] [comments]

How can a stay at home parent make some extra money? Posted: 20 Nov 2021 03:49 PM PST One child has a disability so can't do set hours due to appointments etc. I have lots of potential business ideas but understand the massive time commitment to getting stuff like that off the ground, 20hrs a week is probably the most I can handle. Other skills/hobbies : ex elite athlete, masters level in sports science (can't commit to PT work as the thought of canceling appointments and letting clients down for family things that crop up is too much), can play music/sing/compose to passable level but a bit out of practice. I want to make sure that I can afford any extra support my kid might ever need in order to give them the best shot at living their best life. Any ideas you brilliant people have would be much appreciated. submitted by /u/StungByASerpent [link] [comments]

Shipping Question Posted: 20 Nov 2021 11:43 AM PST Are there services that will receive my packages (out of state) and forward them to my home in another? submitted by /u/mikael122 [link] [comments]

Anybody manufacturing in Asia? How are logistics currently? Posted: 20 Nov 2021 04:16 AM PST So I definitely picked the worst possible time to start a business--considering COVID and all--but for me, it's now or never. I'm starting a textile brand for bags/packs. It's a labor of love and i don't expect to become a millionaire, but i'd like to build something i'm proud of and at minimum come out at break-even. That said, one of the brands i follow recently informed their customers that container shipping costs are up 600%+ since pre-covid, and i'm curious what that actually translates to in terms of real dollars. I'm also wondering if it's affected air-freight as well. ​ What's your current experience? What are you paying per container/half container/air freight these days? Cheers! submitted by /u/ItWouldBeGrand [link] [comments]

FB advertising for healthcare - dealing with the upcoming changes Posted: 20 Nov 2021 02:27 PM PST Hi everybody Starting January 18th, Facebook will (gradually) stop allowing targeting by certain options, including detailed targeting aimed at health conditions: https://www.facebook.com/business/news/removing-certain-ad-targeting-options-and-expanding-our-ad-controls I manufacture and sell a certain medical device, and this is my main way to target on Facebook, which is currently my largest and most profitable marketing channel, so I'm expecting serious negative impact from this and am trying to choose the best course of action to deal with it; I thought maybe someone here would have some useful advice... My immediate reaction to this information was "Facebook's dead (to me), need to focus on strengthening other marketing channels and wholesale", but It's been such a great way to reach people that find my product useful and I'm hoping for some creative way that would allow me to continue advertising on Facebook. A bit more Facebook-ads related details about my business: - The healthcare conditions my business aims to help with are not specific to age or demographic - I assume engagement audiences etc based on previous ad and website views will dry up quite fast. - Lookalike audiences have not been working too great for me in the past as the main thing my customers share is certain health conditions, not demographic details/interests etc. ​ Will appreciate any thoughts/tips/ideas. Thanks! submitted by /u/Acceptable-Reindeer3 [link] [comments]

Tips for Shark Tank Presentation Posted: 20 Nov 2021 02:19 PM PST To give context, I am 15 years old and in high school. In Business class, our goal is to make a Shark Tank presentation of a business idea that we have. We only have a TV behind us and are allowed to use props. As we are presenting our business idea in front of the other students, we can also interact with them. My business idea is a website that makes any project requiring tradespeople much easier. Let's say that you need to renovate your bathroom. You go on the website and you have 2 possibilities: either you look for professionals based on specific requirements (budget, location, availability, etc...), or you create a job offer that any professional can see and apply for. The customer can then select the tradesperson that seems the best for the project and work with them. The website will have an online chat to make the communication between both parties much simpler. After the project comes to an end, both the customer and the tradesperson will be able to post a review about each other. In addition, if any problem occurs during or in the 12 months following the project, the business will take care of it (to a certain extent). The business' revenue streams will be the commission when a project happens, advertisement, sold data, and tokens. You might have heard what tokens are, and I won't take credit for this idea, as it exists on other websites but I have taken it a little bit further. To limit fraud, and when either party 'cancels' the project to not pay any fee, tokens will be put in place. So, what is a token? When a tradesperson wants to apply for a project, they will have to pay for as many tokens as they want (let's say a token is 20c) and the proposals with the most tokens will appear first. If your proposal makes it through, and at the end, and the business sees that the money was sent from the client to the tradesperson through the website, all of the tokens spent by the tradesperson will be sent back to him. The goal is to encourage professionals to spend as many tokens as possible and work through the website. The goal is to make this website the first place that people go on to find tradespeople for any project that they have. This is why reputation is key, and before being able to apply for any projects, tradespeople will have to create a CV with their work experience, language proficiency, education, etc... Also, as mentioned earlier, there will be 12 months of coverage for any project. The idea is that people will know that it is a reliable and trusted website, and will come back every time they have a project. When creating a job offer, the customer can set a description, project longevity (how long they think the project will last), a budget, and a variety of different options and criteria. The tradesperson can then see the project, pay X amount of tokens, and give a counter-offer if they want. The goal is to give as much flexibility and options to both parties at all times. Do you have any questions? What is your opinion on this idea? What would you add/change? And of course, what tips would you have if you were making a presentation about this project, to captivate people's interests and make them want to invest in your business? Thanks a lot. submitted by /u/alex_brousse [link] [comments]

Online reviews Posted: 20 Nov 2021 06:44 AM PST How do online reviews (Google, Facebook..) effect your business? Do you use any tools to manage them? submitted by /u/valetudoo [link] [comments]

I curated a list to get users onboard for founders! Posted: 20 Nov 2021 02:12 PM PST I've been working on a curated list Of acquisition channels/communities for start ups to acquire founders from their respective niche groups and spread the word about what they have going on. It's a project I love because it scratches my own itch! I find indie founders or aspiring founders will benefit from this very much as a database of places to post their start up! I've compiled a list of 100+ places/discord's/subreddits and start up directories along with a PR journalist database on air table and it'll continue to grow the database! I hope this is helpful for any indie founder! If you're interested PM me! submitted by /u/alfonzo911 [link] [comments]

Stuck in front of a computer, what can I do? Posted: 20 Nov 2021 10:00 AM PST I have a great job. I work from home and so my work computer and my personal computer are side by side.on a regular day, I'm waiting 2-4 hours for someone to get back to me before I can continue with my work. Im either going 100% or 0%. This gave me the idea that I can utilize my personal computer during those 2-4 hours to make extra money. I'm not sure of what I can do. I see often on this sub, the question of what are you good at. Most of my strengths revolve around relationships. I've listed some of my strengths below: My strengths are: Public Speaking Communication Fostering relationships Excel Some of my interests are: Making money (I don't need to love it, if it makes me money) Investing Crypto Collecting Silver Thanks in advance for any and all ideas and suggestions! submitted by /u/dymba [link] [comments]

I've created a Black Friday SaaS/e-commerce checklist based on 350+ Black Friday deals Posted: 20 Nov 2021 07:41 AM PST Black Friday is the best season of the year to leverage for your SaaS business During Black Friday some SaaS companies experienced 960% increase in purchasesand 942% increase in revenue compared to an average week Read till the end to see the extended version of mentioned psychology principles. You can get these PDF checklists here - E-commerce checklist SaaS checklist Timing The difference between SaaS purchases and regular e-commerce products is that SaaS products are not an impulse buy. Regular SaaS product need a monthly commitment, that's why customers usually need to think the purchase through. 4 the most common timing strategies (based on 250+ SaaS deals): Start Nov 1st - till the end of Cyber Monday Start mid-Nov - till the end of Cyber Monday 4-day Promo, only during Black Friday/Cyber Monday period (Nov 26th - 29th) Start at the beginning of Black Friday (Nov 26th) - ending extended till Dec 5th (till the end of Cyber Monday week) Some companies experienced a 30% increase in revenue when they put 14-day Promo instead of 4 days. Promoting your product before Black Friday and after Cyber Monday ensures your promotion doesn't get lost in the noise.  Pricing 1/ Discounts The best performing Black Friday deals have discounts between 30% and 40%. What kind of discounts should you provide solely depends from your pricing. According to Weber's Law, a change in pricing has to be significant to be noticed. The slight change won't have much impact. But it doesn't mean you have to hurt your brand by selling your services for pennies. Example: ● 30% OFF on a $10 product is $3 saved - feels insignificant ● 20% OFF on a $1000 product is $200 saved - that's a lot Discounts that work best for specific pricing tiers: a. Products below $10: discounts above 40% b. Products between $10 - $100: discounts between 20% - 50% c. If your product sells at >$100: discounts around 20% - 30% You don't have to stick to the same discounts throughout your campaign. Experiment and see what happens.  2/ Offer your lowest plan for free for the next 1-3 months A lot of these clients can, later on, convert to paying plans due to the IKEA effect, Default Bias, and Endowment Effect. 3/ Offer a Lifetime deal for your product Black Friday is a great opportunity to offer a lifetime deal on your products. 4/ Offer an exclusive discount to higher plans for your current customers Success rate of selling to your current customers is 60-70% White heavy check markAcquiring a new customer cost 5X more than retaining an existing one White heavy check markIncreasing customer retention by 5% can increase profits from 25-95%  Email marketing: 1/ Segment your audience: Existing customers Customers who tried your product but didn't buy Customers who initiated checkout but didn't buy Customers who churned recently Customers who churned a long time ago 2/ Build an Email sequence Build the buzz before Black Friday. Let people know you're going to share with them exclusive deals via email Start early / Finish late - Don't fight with other businesses over the attention of your customers during Black Friday During the Black Friday time period (Nov 26th - 29th) email them a minimum once in total - MAX once per day + additional one few hours before the deal closes) NEVER SPAM - it hurts your brand  3/ Stand out with your headline: Using humor can increase your conversion rate by 28%, because of the Humor Effect and Affect Heuristic Examples based on Chubbies (I'm aware Chubbies is an e-commerce, but who cares, they are awesome. You can be inspired): Black Friday is CANCELLED Flex your power-shopping muscles this Black Friday The countdown to Black Friday is NOW ON Your Black Friday survival guide a. Curiosity Gap can increase your CTR by 927% How Cometly went from $0 to $54k MRR in the first month thanks to influencers How (company X) increased their revenue by (X%) thanks to our services  b. Use numbers (case studies / testimonials work best - studies show 79% of customers claim testimonials influences their purchase decisions) 40% OFF - (X company) increased their CTR by X% thanks to (your company name) 40% OFF - (X company) got X additional sales thanks to (your company name) 4/ Your email copy This 3-step principle increased CTR by 326% (I got it from here - they've got it from here) Your copy should answer these 3 questions: Is this relevant to your customers' wants/needs/desires? Do they know why this is the right solution for them? Is the value proposition/offer explained well? Is it obvious what they need to do next? Does this give them the confidence to take that action? Traffic Double down on whatever channel works best for you. The most important psychology principles related to traffic and marketing in overall are the Mere Exposure Effect and Recognition over Recall 1/ Social media - Promote your deal using both organic and paid channels - Go LIVE - Giveaways - give a chance to win a few of your products in exchange for share/ retweet  2/ Display banner ads 3/ Email marketing Promote your deal to your email list Collect emails with pop-ups on your website 4/ Cold emails 5/ Podcast 6/ Newsletter ads 7/ Influencer marketing Guest post Newsletter Social media Podcasts Live webinars 8/ Collab with other businesses & creators Offer exclusive deals for their audiences Offer a free sample of your product to their audience Bundle your products together and create a unique offer 9/ Post your offer on Black Friday deals lists & groups There are plenty of Black Friday SaaS deals lists online. Reach out to creators and ask them to be featured. One of such lists is here (mine) - feel free to add your product. This list got somehow well positioned on Google - top 5 spot under the "Black Friday SaaS deal list" keyword. 10/ Affiliate marketing Word of mouth and referrals are one of the best kind of marketing channels - - studies show 79% of customers claim testimonials influences their purchase decisions Up your conversion 1/Provide top-notch customer service via online chat 20% of chat conversations can convert 2/ Use the notification pop-up showing the most recent purchases Make use of the Bandwagon effect  3/ Create FOMO: Add a timer to your landing page 4/ Create Scarcity - limited supply Create limited volume available at each pricing tier  5/ Gamify your deals using Variable Rewards (discounts) Motivating uncertainty (variable rewards) can increase clients engagement by 63% Offer uncertain discount - tell your customers they can get a discount between the range of 30%-50% OFF Free mystery item with high-priced orders Offer tangible freebie every third purchase Book Cupcake  6/ Retargeting The Mere Exposure Effect - It takes an average of 7 interactions with your brand before a person buys from you. The second effect taking place here is Recognition over Recall Retargeting ads have usually 10X better CTR than normal ads and are 76% more likely to result in a conversion 1. Retarget via social media Use ads with social proof - testimonial - 88% of Black Friday shoppers are inclined to trust online reviews 2. Retarget those who have abandoned carts Studies show that in 2019, the average cart abandonment rate across all industries was a whopping 69.57% 3. Don't use just 1 ad in retargeting, because of the **Sensory Adaptation effect.Use sequences of multiple ad variants instead** Prevent a disaster 1/ Prepare your website for the bigger traffic load 2/ Test your checkout process 3/ Have your customer service prepared to answer any questions 4/ Please don't cheat Don't increase your prices and then create a discount on them just because it's a Black Friday. All you need is just 1 customer who notices it and you're screwed - It will backfire Cognitive Biases and Principles mentioned above 1. Weber's Law  Weber's law states that the perception of change in any stimulus always depends on what the stimulus is. Whether a change will be noticed is affected by how big, heavy or significant these things were and how significant the change is There is the minimum amount by which stimulus intensity must be changed in order to produce a noticeable experience - this applies here to the discounted price. 2. IKEA effect  The IKEA effect means that people value products they have made themselves more highly than comparable ready-made products. Having customers do most of the work, feel great about it, and at the same time perceive they have attained 'greater value for money' is the Holy Grail for companies. SaaS products usually need adjustments from the customers' side, which results in higher attachment to the product. 3. Default Bias  When presented with pre-set courses of action or defaults, we tend to accept what is presented. When our free trial ends, there's a great chance we might continue using the product, because canceling the trial needs an extra work from our side. 4. Endowment Effect.  The endowment effect refers to an emotional bias that causes individuals to value an already owned object higher, often irrationally, than the value they would place on that same object if they did not own it. Consumers are reluctant to cancel SaaS product memberships once they have purchased them because the perceived value of the product is now higher. 5. Humor Effect  Humor makes things easier to remember. It connects the brand with our positive feelings created by the ad. Using humor in your ads can increase your conversion rate by 28% Remember the first Slack ad? Yep, they did a great job there. 6. Affect Heuristic  The affect heuristic is a type of mental shortcut in which people make decisions that are heavily influenced by their current emotions. When consumers are upbeat they are 24% more receptive to content in general. 7. Curiosity Gap  The curiosity gap is the space between what we know and what we want or even need to know. By creating a curiosity gap, you're teasing people to look inside of what you're offering. The curiosity gap can be used to compel people to click on a blog post they see on Twitter, an ad on Facebook, or a marketing email in their inbox 8. Bandwagon Effect  The bandwagon effect is a psychological phenomenon in which people do something primarily because it seems like everybody else is doing it, regardless of their own beliefs, which they may ignore or override. At the core of the Bandwagon Effect is social proof. When people see other people have bought and tested the product, they are more likely to purchase. 9. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)  Social anxiety, originating from the belief that others might be having fun while the person is not present. It is characterized by a desire to continually stay connected with the newest information. By being absent one can also miss some crucial knowledge, which may be vital in the future. People prefer to "know things", simply. In case of Black Friday, they don't want to miss such great discounts, which might not occur again. 10. Scarcity  Scarcity can also increase the perceived value of the item or service you're providing. To gamify the scarcity effect you can add stepping stones with increased pricing. Example: a. $39 - 17/50 left in stock b. $49 - 100/100 left in stock c. $69 - 100/100 left in stock 11. The Mere Exposure Effect  The Mere Exposure Effect is one of the most widely used techniques in advertising and marketing. Frequent repetition makes people believe. Familiarity is not easily distinguished from the truth. It takes an average of 7 interactions with your brand before a person buys from you. 12. Recognition over Recall  Recognition memory is much easier to access than recall memory. It's easier for people to recognise something than recall it. This is why it's so important to remind people about your product's existence. Don't simply assume they will recall you and come back to your when they need you. 13. Sensory Adaptation  Sensory adaptation occurs when consumers get exposed to one ad for a long period of time. That ad no longer provides sensory input to be noted. To snap consumers out of this state, you need to offer them a novel, previously unseen, experience. Create Facebook ad sequences releasing different ads to the user, depending on the user's actions or timing. Thanks You can join my free newsletter where I share psychology principles in marketing and viral marketing case studies We also have now Black Friday deal, if you're interested submitted by /u/Limejhit [link] [comments]

Want to hear your experience with outsourcing application development to Upwork Posted: 20 Nov 2021 07:37 AM PST I am getting a team together through Upwork to build a cross platform forum app. Things are going well and I am getting quotes from out of US developers (this was the advice given to me by a friend who does development and knows I am spending my own money). The help I need is with: Anyone's prior experience, thoughts about tackling this issue this way Once I have an MVP, who do I show it to so that I can get investment to help grow the site's features and visibility What problems have people had with this approach that I should avoid Again, thanks so much for spending the time to share your experience with me. I will try and post my experience here with the community so that others can avoid my pitfalls as well. submitted by /u/equals1 [link] [comments]

Picking a domain name feels impossible Posted: 20 Nov 2021 01:32 PM PST It feels impossible to get a domain with anything like a reasonable name. I've got what i think is a solid idea for a saas. I've got a good start on the architecture. I've had some good feedback on names amongst friends and family. But nothing is available. And to add insult lots of my ideal domains aren't even being used. They're parked with for sale sign on them. Assuming you don't start with 5 figures to spend on a domain where does one even start? Buy an ugly tld and seo the hell out of it? submitted by /u/tenkindsofpeople [link] [comments]

How do you get testers for new apps/products outside of your network? Posted: 20 Nov 2021 12:56 PM PST I've just developed a sports betting app for people to bet on college and nfl football games in a league format with friends. I have 10 people helping test but curious how you guys think I could find more. submitted by /u/checkingavailability [link] [comments]

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