@chunhe889 yes I am.
I'm giving up on my SaaS sales journey
- Thread starter chunhe889
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- build in public saas
@chunhe889 I would if I needed it. I too am a solo developer for the most part and don't need something like this. But if I worked with a team that needed more sophisticated secrets management, I'd search google for companies that provide the service (hopefully yours would also pop up) and pick or advocate for the one that sounds the best.
@bigiron I understand. That's fair.
Except that "Google" first approach may not entirely work.
The easily searched products you'll get are too much overhead and not secure enough. Example: Doppler (still not sure if it is E2EE properly) or Hashicorp Vault (too much overhead and requires extra HR)
But I get your point. Tell your friends about envsecrets.com if you can. And star the repo
Except that "Google" first approach may not entirely work.
The easily searched products you'll get are too much overhead and not secure enough. Example: Doppler (still not sure if it is E2EE properly) or Hashicorp Vault (too much overhead and requires extra HR)
But I get your point. Tell your friends about envsecrets.com if you can. And star the repo
@chunhe889 Yes, I am aware of the pitfalls of google sleuthing, just demonstrating the flow. Actually yes, a Google search is not enough by itself, I would try to find all the offerings, and would search for people's opinions on them (reddit, hacker news etc.) to come to a balanced conclusion eventually.
Unfortunate for you, the anxieties around the company possibly going under / discontinuing service also pop up at this stage, as migrating away generally is a pain point. So established names have an advantage there. Open source + self hosted (even at a price) options are a big plus there.
Unfortunate for you, the anxieties around the company possibly going under / discontinuing service also pop up at this stage, as migrating away generally is a pain point. So established names have an advantage there. Open source + self hosted (even at a price) options are a big plus there.
@chunhe889 I think you need to read the mom test. This is like an example bad conversation out of it. Trust me, it will help you.
@chunhe889 Udemy have some courses on SEO marketing. Id check that out. Good learning resources.
@chunhe889 I myself went through the whole 'omg my whole org needs me I am a dev' they are just doing sales and marketing and thats so easy.
To
OMG what they do is giga hard and it actually allowed me to sit on my desk and complain - I was so ignorant to what it is needed to build an actual company.
I love having had that perspective change tbh. My work now feels better.
To
OMG what they do is giga hard and it actually allowed me to sit on my desk and complain - I was so ignorant to what it is needed to build an actual company.
I love having had that perspective change tbh. My work now feels better.
@honeymoon Agreed. Learning that the hard way right now.
@chunhe889 Hey another long term strategy I'd suggest is writing a blog post for each integration on how to use env secrets. You can do this on both Medium and your own domain. Why I recommend Medium is because it would boost the SEO ranking more than only your own domain... Plus you'd also rank for searches related to the platforms that you are integrating to.
These are all things that compound in the long run.
It's tough to keep focused especially when everyone is reporting $10k MRR... But drown out the noise and keep going!!
These are all things that compound in the long run.
It's tough to keep focused especially when everyone is reporting $10k MRR... But drown out the noise and keep going!!
@chunhe889
Haha, I guess I see the thing that holds you down.
In fact nobody gives damn about "pissing people off".
You just go there and shovel it down their throats.
Does anybody ask you during the day whether you enjoy ads you see on the bus, before youtube video (added by YT) & during the youtube video (added by author of the video), everywhere actually?
You're too kind and benevolent to be a salesperson. It's a good trait for a human being, but detrimental to businessman.
Haha, I guess I see the thing that holds you down.
In fact nobody gives damn about "pissing people off".
You just go there and shovel it down their throats.
Does anybody ask you during the day whether you enjoy ads you see on the bus, before youtube video (added by YT) & during the youtube video (added by author of the video), everywhere actually?
You're too kind and benevolent to be a salesperson. It's a good trait for a human being, but detrimental to businessman.
@chunhe889 Why not start at the bottom of the funnel and get your skin in the game with some ads? You'd know whether your idea has legs.
Better to spend $1,000 - $2,000 and get some traffic/user data than to write blog posts for 6 months or to keep on developing for months with no users.
Create a Google Ads account.
Use Google Tag Manager and Google Tag Assistant for conversion action setup and testing. You'll need a conversion action in the Google Ads platform, a trigger, and a tag in GTM link the two together with the provided IDs. Test with Google Tag Assistant and make sure they fire each time.
You probably want Account Signups or Request a Demo as your conversion actions. Purchases would be even better. But you'd have to gate your app behind the $5 per month paywall. [sup]Honestly, having purchases as your conversion action is not a bad idea because it would let you create campaigns that optimize to people making the actual monthly purchase rather than on sign-ups. Why? Just because someone signs up doesn't mean they'll buy.[/sup]
Next, create a Search campaign, Target USA, set your location preferences to in or regularly in, pick Manual CPC as your bidding strategy if you don't mind learning a thing or two about the Google Ads auction, bidding, and how keywords work. Use Maximize Clicks otherwise. Then, write your Responsive Search Ads.
Target these keywords with phrase match as the match type. Src: Keywords Planner
Keyword
Monthly Searches
Cost Per Click for Top of Page (top 4) range
"secret manager"
100 - 1,000
€2.16 - €6.96
"api secret management service"
10 – 100
€4.32 - €36.30
"secrets manager cli"
10 - 100
N/A, few companies advertise on this keyword.
Pick a daily budget of at least $50 per day.
Assuming you picked Maximize Clicks, your campaign will now try and get you as many clicks as possible on these searches at the lowest Cost per Click it can get you. Analyze your data after a week or two and if all goes well, you might add 3-9 new freemium users per day, depending on your actual avg. CPC and website conversion rate.
Will you show up at the bottom of the Search Engine Result Page and potentially get low-quality clicks? Maybe. You can use Manual CPC and snipe for good placements if you want more control. But as with all business endeavors, there's risk.
Better to spend $1,000 - $2,000 and get some traffic/user data than to write blog posts for 6 months or to keep on developing for months with no users.
Create a Google Ads account.
Use Google Tag Manager and Google Tag Assistant for conversion action setup and testing. You'll need a conversion action in the Google Ads platform, a trigger, and a tag in GTM link the two together with the provided IDs. Test with Google Tag Assistant and make sure they fire each time.
You probably want Account Signups or Request a Demo as your conversion actions. Purchases would be even better. But you'd have to gate your app behind the $5 per month paywall. [sup]Honestly, having purchases as your conversion action is not a bad idea because it would let you create campaigns that optimize to people making the actual monthly purchase rather than on sign-ups. Why? Just because someone signs up doesn't mean they'll buy.[/sup]
Next, create a Search campaign, Target USA, set your location preferences to in or regularly in, pick Manual CPC as your bidding strategy if you don't mind learning a thing or two about the Google Ads auction, bidding, and how keywords work. Use Maximize Clicks otherwise. Then, write your Responsive Search Ads.
Target these keywords with phrase match as the match type. Src: Keywords Planner
Keyword
Monthly Searches
Cost Per Click for Top of Page (top 4) range
"secret manager"
100 - 1,000
€2.16 - €6.96
"api secret management service"
10 – 100
€4.32 - €36.30
"secrets manager cli"
10 - 100
N/A, few companies advertise on this keyword.
Pick a daily budget of at least $50 per day.
Assuming you picked Maximize Clicks, your campaign will now try and get you as many clicks as possible on these searches at the lowest Cost per Click it can get you. Analyze your data after a week or two and if all goes well, you might add 3-9 new freemium users per day, depending on your actual avg. CPC and website conversion rate.
Will you show up at the bottom of the Search Engine Result Page and potentially get low-quality clicks? Maybe. You can use Manual CPC and snipe for good placements if you want more control. But as with all business endeavors, there's risk.
@chunhe889 I understand that you're facing challenges, but remember that persistence often leads to success. Your belief in the tool's value and your dedication to its development are commendable. Keep pushing forward, and don't give up just yet!
dovelove514
New member
@chunhe889 I would look at similar tools in your niche and reverse engineer their marketing. You have a marketing problem
@chunhe889 You will need to convince prospective customers that your solution is very secure. There have been a lot of data breaches in the 3rd party credential management space in the past few years (e.g. LastPass, etc).
@chunhe889 Don't give up bro! If your competitor has raised money then clearly your product has value. I know its hard to keep this going, but don't give up yet. I'm a noob here. I don't have a product of my own. All I can give you is moral support. Try finding a job outside and try to market this product while on the job so you have some income. I know this is easier said than done but don't give up just yet man!