Great web design. How is this different/better than GoFundMe?
> Great web design.
No idea about how viable the idea itself is, but the design is indeed great and makes everything feel a little bit more trustworthy, good job on that.
Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
21–30 of 75 posts
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey, thanks for checking it out. Well, it's different from GoFundMe in a way that people don't have to ask for donations; many people don't like that. Instead, they offer services in their community. Also, supporters, on the other hand, get something in return for their contributions, which I believe would incentivize them to support campaign creators.
You mention "services like tutoring, babysitting, pet sitting, transportation, home repair, and various other tasks they could carry out after their working hours.". Anyone looking for a babysitter will firstly need someone local and someone they can trust their baby with. And there already exist several services catering such needs. Your first users will all have to be from same neighbourhood for the app to be usefu…
Exactly, creators should offer services in their community to people they know and people their friends know. I know there are multiple platforms that give people the ability to offer their services but they are based on good reputation and ratings which takes a long time to build. The idea behind Taskwer is to have a place where people who need to raise funds quickly, can come, create a campaign, offer services mostly to people they know and raise funds for their cause that way.
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#23go to your local shelters or volunteer organizations and ask them to use it? seems a pretty easy problem to solve. now whether you app will gain traction is hard to say but getting the first few users should be easy since its to help people in need and you are not making money from it when it comes to cash payments,
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#24Why do I need to share my 'creator' story online? If they supporters pay cash, how will the system show the cash target being updated?
Order details are discussed between creator and supporter before confirming the order. After the task has been completed, supporter has to confirm it and then the funds are updated. When cash payments are involved, it's about tracking the campaign progress.
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#25Great web design. How is this different/better than GoFundMe?
I concur, web design is great! If the whole user-finding is too daunting or will not work, you can still sell your assets on things like Microfounder or acquire.com.
My first thought was that the service has great overlap with community currencies and LETS systems where people issue social credit for tasks performed. I take that overlap as that the idea is viable when executed superbly, like the web design.
It also reminds me of stuff like https://www.taskrabbit.com/
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#26Great web design. How is this different/better than GoFundMe?
> Great web design. No idea about how viable the idea itself is, but the design is indeed great and makes everything feel a little bit more trustworthy, good job on that.
Thanks man, design is something that I struggle with as I'm a developer so it took several iterations to create it this way.
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#27I like your vision but I do not understand the fundamental proposition here. The creators in the platform are supposed to perform specific tasks to raise money -- That's called "having a job". Essentially the platform is a marketplace to hire part time workers for specific one time tasks. If so, why position it as a campaign to raising funds as if it is some sort of charity.
Is the underlying assumption that creators can charge more on this platform as compared to the usual pay they will get for the same task and in doing so they can raise money faster? If so, I would be highly skeptical of this assumption and validate it rigorously.
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#28As others have already mentioned, why would someone choose to use your site over a more established site like gofundme or even patreon if they wanted to tie rewards/services to donations?
Who do you envision your target audience to be? Someone who is undergoing a rough patch who is too proud to go on gofundme and has time to spare to work odd jobs? Who do you envision your target audience's target to be? People who would otherwise donate to a given person's gofundme? Strangers who would use the app to exploit desperate people in their local area?
All that being said, if the users on your page are real, then you are undoubtedly impacting real lives, comments be damned. If they're not, well that feels a bit unsavory since it is not explicit that these are false. It could also give people the wrong expectations in terms of potential payout from your platform.
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#29> there should be a way for people to raise funds quickly in those dark moments when they need it the most gofundme > an app that would enable people to raise funds by offering services to their community Taskrabbit? > creators can begin receiving orders from their supporters, discuss details, create customized offers, and more. On an agreed-upon date, creators would complete their tasks, the supporter would confirm…
> gofundme/Taskrabbit? Yes, Taskwer has elements of both. As I said in my previous comment, it's different from GoFundMe in a way that campaign creators don't have to ask for donations, instead, they can offer services to people in their community. Taskrabbit gives taskers the ability to offer various tasks and people go there in a search of someone who will perform those tasks. Rating system is very important there…
> Yes, Taskwer has elements of both. As I said in my previous comment, it's different from GoFundMe in a way that campaign creators don't have to ask for donations, instead, they can offer services to people in their community.
There are two clear ways to do this: charity or work. GoFundMe is charity, TaskRabbit/etc is work. Unless you can communicate very clearly why the middle ground of not-charity-not-work is better, I don't think you'll be able to compete with service that have a much clearer proposition.
I've read your post/comment and I don't really understand the difference between this and GoFundMe/TaskRabbit. It seems some users would use it as basically a TaskRabbit replacement, and some would over-value their time because it's sort of a donation platform. If I (and others on this thread) have read a lot of detail about the platform and don't understand the core value, I don't think someone reading a ~10 word advert will on Facebook will, and that's the format you'll need to be able to win on.
I suggest coming up with a very succinct way of pitching the service that makes it obviously better than a job or charity (both of which have many existing solutions). I wish you the best of luck with that.
Re: Ask HN: I spent months building an app and now I don't know how to get users
#30Go to where your users are.
Reach out to the local service providers individually and tell them about your service. You will get users if they see value in what you're offering. It's not scalable, but you need users to better help you understand the product you need to be offering.
Now, some feedback on the product. Imagining myself as a local service provider, I don't see how the service would help me land gigs or make my life any easier. As a service provider, I would still have to do all the self-promotion. I like that cash payments are accepted.
If I were looking to provide services to the local community, I would get as engaged with the community as much as possible. There are all the free places to advertise online like Facebook, Craigslist, Nextdoor, etc. Locally, there are bulletin boards in community gathering places like churches, community centers, libraries that are intended for this sort of things. Some of these organizations even maintain lists of service providers as well.
Another option would be printing flyers up and just going around your neighborhood leaving them in the door. I hired a handyman this way - one of my neighbors. He was between jobs and he was looking to fill up his schedule until he landed another full time gig. I talked to him for a bit and he said he had gotten a few jobs from his local door-to-door promotion work.