From Idea to Revenue in 13 steps.

(I've done this over 20 times)

[1] The idea must represent my business pain.

[2] SEO potential.

I spend hours on Google search console to see If people search for this solution/problem. If not, I kill the idea.

[3] Competition is for losers (Pieter T).

I search for the keyword to see an absence of big competitors on the first page of Google.

[4] Social validation.

I tweet, blog, and add it as a reply in relevant threads to see the reactions.

The final stage of validation: I pitch it to my wife. If she thinks it’s boring, I kill the idea.

[5] Waitlist.

I build a quick waitlist page using Unicorn Platform. Place the keywords in meta and h1/h2.

[6] Organic Promotion.

I launch the waitlist: blog, social media, and replies under relevant threads.

[7] Paid promo.

At the time when I had no followers, I’d pay $100-$300 to an influencer or buy an ad on a directory.

[8] Directories & SEO.

I list the project on 100+ directories. It can be done manually or paid using my tool, Listingbott.

Also, I activate AI auto blogging right away, to make sure I’ll get some organic SEO traffic in few months. There are plenty of tools for this, I obviously use my own tool called SeoBotAI for this.

[9] Is there traction?

After about 30 days of doing the promo steps 6,7,8, I check analytics:

- Waitlist signups

- Total & organic traffic

- Social media engagement

If my criteria are met, I move to the next step. If not, I kill it and go to step 1.

[10] Coding MVP.

I define the simplest version.

I use a boilerplate and microapps inside marsx. The last time I coded anything from scratch was in 2018.

[11] Turn Coding into Marketing

I connect with waitlisters; share details, and get feedback even before they try out the product.

I send them ideas, progress, screenshots, and demos inside the dev sandbox.

I always give a 50-90% discount to all early adopters in appreciation of their early support.

I follow "buildinpublic" model to get more eyes on my product.

[12] Iterate.

Once I launch my beta on prod, I keep it closed for as long as needed, and only onboard early adopters to gather their feedback over weeks/months to improve product features/fix bugs etc.

I don’t rush to open it for everyone, because it will create too much overhead and support. I prefer having 100 early adopters who are very involved and care, than 1000 users who scream at me.

[13] Public Launch.

On Friday, I launch on Product Hunt or DevHunt for dev tools.

Also, I do all blogging again: social media, articles, hacker news, hackernoon and more.

This brings 10x more traffic and the real hustle starts here. Cold users are much more brutal with their feedback and judgment, some haters appear too.

I cry for a bit and get back to real-time prod fixes for a week. Eventually, things get to normal.

The project turns into a stable project with predictable growth.