webstartupper

You only get 5 seconds to let the visitor know what value you can provide them. This is typically done with a large page heading and maybe with a small secondary heading.

With a conversational landing page, you are making the visitor click on 3 buttons before he gets to "What is this and why should I care?". That is 3 clicks too many. I would expect a much poorer conversion rate with the new landing page. I have not previously head of conversational landing pages, but I don't see any benefit, and expect them to die soon.

Your old landing page needs a headline that explains the value add. All I see is (i) "It's finally time to live" (ii) "Zenify – Meditation, Clarity and Mindfulness" and (iii) a large block of text that is unreadable. I have no idea what your app does, whether it solves any of my problems and whether I really need it. I suggest you add a headline at the top that quickly tells me what to expect.

If you really-really want to try out the bot, I would go with putting the bot where you have the large block of unreadable text on the old landing page. - but ensure that you have a good headline and maybe secondary headline explaining what this does first.

P.S. I much prefer the colors of the new landing page v/s the old, so maybe you could copy the color to the old landing page.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned improvely.com by Dan Grossman.

I think it makes around $40K to $50K per month. Over the last few years, I've seen it grow from around $10K to $50K. That slow steady SaaS growth is pretty inspiring.

1. Pick up a tiny niche based on

(a) target audience already pays for tools online

(b) target audience is easy to find online - there exists at least one forum targeting this niche

(c) niche is so small that it is not profitable for most companies to go after

(d) you are passionate about the niche or already have some link to it (know enough people in your social circle)

2. Figure out how you will market to your audience. Spend tiny amounts of time/money on each channel to test whether you could gain traction through any one.

(a) Posting on forums

(b) Content marketing

(c) SEO

(d) Paid acquisition

3. Research on existing tools and competitors in the niche. Focus research on

(a) lack of functionality in the tools provided

(b) tool is too generic for the niche

(c) they are not using a specific marketing channel that you think would work very well

4. Out-compete your competitors on the following

(a) Build a better tool

(b) Do better marketing

(c) Provide better customer support

Important things to keep in mind

1. Never compete on price

2. Do marketing before product development. For e.g. if your main channel is content marketing, start writing content before you build your product. If it is forum posting, start posting on multiple forums and gaining credibility there before you think of your product.

If your project does not generate any (or enough revenue), then it might make sense to purchase a $20 theme from websites like themeforest.net or wrapbootstrap.com.

These look polished enough that your customers won't know that you purchased a theme v/s hired a designer (they don't care anyways)

Once you have enough revenue coming in, you could then hire a designer to create a custom website for you (if you still really want to).

On Writing by Stephen King (narrated by the author)

Marketing is about figuring out what channel best works for your business and then scaling it up (what Dan said). Unfortunately, you cannot outsource this, until you have figured the channels out and chosen a few to focus on. Once done, you can then get someone who has experience in optimizing that channel and scaling the campaign up efficiently.

Adwords is amazing for validating your idea, but with the increased competition, it is becoming too costly if your LTV is not very high.

SEO takes a very long time (three years) as your domain needs to build authority. I would not bother about it at all, till I achieve product-market fit.

Look for other channels that your competitors are ignoring - channels like forums, or facebook ads, cross-promoting with a complementary product. Spend a fixed amount on each channel - say $500. You can then figure out which channel works best for your business.

As an example, for my self funded business, I did all the marketing and dev work for a year and a half. I tried adwords, facebook & twitter ads, buying banners on various relevant websites and forum postings. Once I had figured out the channel that converted the best (in my case forum sales threads), I hired someone for doing all the work in that channel.

If you want some suggestions on channels which might work, don't be afraid to mention your business here.

The math comes out to about $6k per year. I am guessing that is the starting salary for a fresh out of college engineer.

I believe Windows Defender only protects you against malware. You need a separate anti-virus solution along with it.

If you are only paying him equity and no salary, he is a co-founder. How much equity he gets depends on what each of you bring to the table and on the negotiations with him. Google "founder equity calculator" to get a good idea of what factors to think of. Those calculators are not perfect, but make for a good starting point.

Firstly, congratulations on finding a large enough industry you are passionate about.

Pick a niche in the coaching industry based on the following conditions.

1. The niche must be small enough such that there is no current market leader (or market leader can be displaced)

2. The niche is big enough that there are enough customers to validate the idea.

3. You have some unfair advantage in that niche. For e.g. You have experience in business coaching or you have access to customers in the fitness coaching, or you have a close friend working in relationship coaching.

Then, validate your idea by talking to customers in that niche. Build and market your app till you are the market leader in that niche. After that, you can decide to pick and dominate another niche (or all of them)

Benefits of this approach

1. By sticking to a small niche, you can make something that resonates with the customers. It is much easier validating a product built for a very specific purpose.

2. By starting with a small niche, your goal will also be small. So it will be easier to figure out whether you are on the right track.

3. You will be able to become the market leader in a small niche much faster than you can become the market leader in the coaching industry. Once you have validated your business in the niche, it is much easier raising funding for the larger goal.