Good news, bad news, and just plain olds news. Let's begin.
Bad news
I spent time developing applications, (Approachly) and (Occasion Alerts), that didn't make any money (EDIT: Approachly has officially MADE MONEY 🙌) or ever gain real traction. I put non-trivial time and effort into the development, launch, and marketing of these applications and achieved basically zero return on investment - not great! On top of that, I even pay money for the monthly server costs as well as the iOS developer license - we are literally in the red. The porsche is on hold for a second.
Good news
In reality, it would've been lucky to make money with those - they aren't truly novel. Though, I do think they provide value and I am proud of what I created. I do think they could each make at least a single USD but that still does not get us to the Porsche.
So let's look at the positive side.
1. I'm a creator
- A year ago, I hadn't created anything - ever. Just one big ole consumer. Now, I've created two live products that you can (AND SHOULD!) use. I am someone that creates. I finish projects, I ship things, I launch - I can say that now with evidence to back it up. feels_good.jpg
2. I began to learn Marketing
- I launched both of these with public announcements on LinkedIn. From lurker to poster, putting myself and my work out there. It wasn't so scary in the end, especially because I have a great network that is very supportive but I think most people are supportive regardless. Nobody cares enough to be mean.
- I ran Meta ad campaigns for Occasion Alerts and learned a lot about how those work so I am way more equipped in the future. Yes, we are considering that $100 in ads a learning expense, stop asking.
- I did organic marketing on X for Approachly and actually drove traffic. Search "hinge" -> find people complaining about it -> plug Approachly. Might seem cringe but you have to market your stuff and it came from a genuine place so it didn't feel cringe, it just felt good.
3. It felt like I started on a better path
- Related to the first point but now I believe in myself more as someone who can create. The little voice in my head telling me that I can't has gotten quieter. Maybe I can just... figure things out? I've actually proved I can. So that's nice. I hope to keep cultivating that.
What's next
To start, go use my apps and give me money. After that, I'm idea-generating and looking forward to starting my next project soon. Starting to feel like I can even venture to domains outside of software. We truly can just figure things out, it's insane.
So until next time, keep on keepin on.
- Austin