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Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

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Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#361
post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to the vertical whitespace, also (I feel) there's too much text there. I would just put "Headless Browser Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) that's free for light use, and cheap for heavy use." in as big a font as I can without it being annoying and move everything else lower, visible when the page is scrolled. Add a diagram if you could that supports the core product offering. Don't add carousels (please.) Lit…

Thanks for the feedback guys, the marketing+ux roles are definitely in my "fake it" category :) I will try improving this.

Some more design advice if you're interested:

In between the big 3 sections, I would do at least 40px.

In terms of spacing between the heading and the content below, I generally use a variation of the rule of thirds. It's not a steadfast rule, but generally if you have 60px above a heading, something like 20px between the heading and the content it belongs to would work.

Also make your primary CTA bigger and keep it to one line. Put that 500 pages free text outside of the button:

Sign up now and get 500 pages free

[ SIGN UP NOW ]

I agree with the too much text comment as well, especially above the fold. Keep it simple and then provide a section where the users can go for more info if they need it.

Your headings and boxes are not aligned on the left side.

Change those example buttons into regular links.

40px+ between navbar and the h1, also make the h1 medium/bold weight. It looks weird when you have headings of the same font family alternate between bold/light.

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What sort of investment did it take to get started? Have you written anything about starting off, and your transition from a WISP to fiber?

I started with around $15k, but that's nothing compared to what I've dumped into the business since then. If I knew then what I know now, I'm not sure I would have started this. I have not written about it, yet.

> If I knew then what I know now, I'm not sure I would have started this.

You said you are making more money from this than from your full-time job. So I'm assuming the business is profitable and has a ton of potential. Are you saying that it requires too much work, and that it wasn't worth it?

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#365

I started selling macOS (and now iOS) software on my own website back in 2007. https://clickontyler.com My original goal was to earn enough money to refinish the hardwood floors in my house. Since then, however, it's taken on a life of its own and become a suite of three main products. It enables me to live comfortably in the Nashville suburbs. All that said, I've been doing this for ten years now and am burnt out. I…

Which are some of your iOS apps?

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#366

I'm running two of the same ones from that list 3 years ago ( http://www.twiddla.com/ and https://www.s3stat.com/ ), and have just launched another one ( https://unwaffle.com/ ). Every year that passes makes it easier to get something like this off the ground, as the infrastructure becomes cheaper and more ubiquitous, and the knowledge you need for the business side get better packaged into step-by-step guides. It's…

Unwaffle looks interesting. Is it ML? Good luck with it!

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#367
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you deal with the insane delivery times? Do you tell customers up front that it might be weeks until they receive the product? Most sellers I've seen on AliExpress estimate 15-30+ days for delivery. In the age of ubiquitous 1 and 2-day shipping, I just can't see customers going for that. Seems like there'd be tons of people who change their mind after a week or two and then start demanding a refund or pesterin…

Yes, this is one of the bigger problems, and there's no good fix for it. You just need to clearly state all over the site that your delivery times are 3-4 weeks. It's unfortunate, but part of the business. The only way around it is to have products that aren't easily sourceable via Amazon. They're out there, but mostly in very targeted niches. You also might find that you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel f…

Wow, I made it up to the payment portion of your checkout process. Not a single mention of the shipping time. The button says "Complete Order" so I assume this is the last chance to notify people before they pay.

That's shady as hell, dude.

> You just need to clearly state all over the site that your delivery times are 3-4 weeks.

You definitely don't do this... at all. It's clear that you've intentionally buried that information in a separate "How we ship" page. Nobody thinks to look for that, they'll all assume shipping is the standard 5-10 days unless otherwise indicated.

If this is actually working and not causing tons of angry emails/refund requests, congrats. But I'd feel like a jerk doing that to people.

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#369

Back in August I launched https://IndieHackers.com , a site where the founders of profitable online businesses share their stories and revenue transparently. I actually got the idea after reading lots of threads like this one on HN :D Indie Hackers is my full-time job now. Is it "successful"? I think so! I've done over 90 interviews, and they've been read over one million times in the past 5 months, largely by you gu…

Heya -- I just tried Subscribing but I haven't gotten the confirmation e-mail. Been about 10 minutes. Looks like it's handled by mailchimp so probably their issue but wanted to let you know.

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#370

Back in August I launched https://IndieHackers.com , a site where the founders of profitable online businesses share their stories and revenue transparently. I actually got the idea after reading lots of threads like this one on HN :D Indie Hackers is my full-time job now. Is it "successful"? I think so! I've done over 90 interviews, and they've been read over one million times in the past 5 months, largely by you gu…

Loving your drive for this site Courtland. Very inspiring.
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