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I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

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Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#133
Thought you might find this interesting.

When you have a baby, various stores encourage you to sign up for monthly emails. Because the store knows the date of birth, they can send accurate developmental updates. e.g. "Your baby is X months old. You may notice she is starting to pay more attention to the world and is able to hold up her own head..." (etc).

This is fascinating for the parent due to the timeliness of the message. It is also a great sales opportunity, as lower down the message it suggests things the user might want to buy.

You could do the exact same thing. Don't just send a message saying "plant your seeds now" but send (opt in) periodical follow up emails that explain how the garden should be doing, common gotchas, and so on.

If you ever add any social aspects to the site, it might make sense to expose the 'age' of the user's garden. People at a similar stage of growth have something in common and may want to interact with each other.

Good luck with it!

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#135
post #60

So it's the anti-Farmville?

Generally speaking, this is a great idea! I think there are many other sites out there with the same theme, but totally different delivery. There's tons of available info out there, but if your site could pull it all together, sell seeds, offer tutorials to new people, etc, I could see it being a big hit.....you definitely have the right product "idea" at the right time, but you also have a lot of competitors in this area.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#136

Firstly, congrats! Secondly...I love the design. Who did it for you? Alexandria Neonakis? Thirdly, I too looked for a pricing plan page - to figure out how you were going to make money. When I entered a zip code, then I discovered the pricing page. It looks too wordy. Try to find a more concise way to display that same information. It kinda looks a BIT confusing, maybe it is psychological because the columns for each…

One of my favorite rooters I've seen inn a while!

rooters? Not quite sure I follow.

Is that a pun on a hacker that usually gets root access to a box, but you are now referring to agriculture?

I am not being a dick, but I seriously don't understand the comment.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#137

Thought you might find this interesting. When you have a baby, various stores encourage you to sign up for monthly emails. Because the store knows the date of birth, they can send accurate developmental updates. e.g. "Your baby is X months old. You may notice she is starting to pay more attention to the world and is able to hold up her own head..." (etc). This is fascinating for the parent due to the timeliness of th…

I am not the OP, but that is an amazing idea. I remember those baby emails, and can just imagine screenshots of baby kale and turnips. Op, you really should do this. It would be amazing.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#139

It is like FarmVille for real life! I think you should highlight that, definitely would get some eyes on the site. Maybe even a targeted ad on Facebook? Another suggestion (maybe you already do this) is to give detailed info on how to take care of the plant. Spin a user community around it, and they'll be exchanging tips, posting photos and celebrating their flowering plants. Other than that, I love the idea, and rea…

Agreed on the Farmville angle. I think there are a lot of people who would love to get their kid or S.O. off Farmville and doing something productive. The visual design is already perfect for this.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#140

Thought you might find this interesting. When you have a baby, various stores encourage you to sign up for monthly emails. Because the store knows the date of birth, they can send accurate developmental updates. e.g. "Your baby is X months old. You may notice she is starting to pay more attention to the world and is able to hold up her own head..." (etc). This is fascinating for the parent due to the timeliness of th…

I am not the OP, but that is an amazing idea. I remember those baby emails, and can just imagine screenshots of baby kale and turnips. Op, you really should do this. It would be amazing.

I guess one limitation is that gardens probably mature at slightly different rates (e.g. if you have a mild cold spell, development goes on 'hold' for a bit, which might put you out of sync). I guess Eric would have to interview some expert gardeners to ascertain the scope of the issue.
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