The Freedom Ladder 5 Tactics 4 Principles for achieving - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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The Freedom Ladder 5 Tactics 4 Principles for achieving - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jan 20, 2023 276 likes •1.69k views

The Freedom Ladder 5 Tactics 4 Principles for achieving independence through products. Say "hi" on Twitter: @mijustin Official sounding bio: I started working in SaaS in 2008, worked at a few startups, and eventually became the

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The Freedom Ladder

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5 Tactics 4 Principles

for achieving independence through products.

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Say "hi" on Twitter:

@mijustin

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Official sounding bio:

I started working in SaaS in 2008, worked at a few startups, and eventually became the Product Manager of Sprintly. In January, I quit working for other people. Now I make a full- time income from the digital products I create. You might have heard my podcasts, Product People and MegaMaker, or read something I've written on Lifehacker, Inc, and Fast Company.

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But really...

I'm just an idiot that Mike and Rob found on the internet.

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I understand where a lot of you are at right now.

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You're not satisfied with the way things are.

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You want life to be better.

You’re tired of being stuck in traffic for two hours a day. You’re tired of working on projects that never ship. You have a new baby in the house, and you’re not quite making ends meet.

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You discovered someone who's making an independent income from digital products.

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How do you get from no audience, no idea, and no revenue to quitting your day job?

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My journey

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2008 (28 years old): got my first startup job

Working as a customer support person for Mailout.com

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In 2008 I discovered two things that would change my life...

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Getting Real by 37signals

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Startups for the Rest of Us

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For the first time in my life, I realized life could be different.

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You can make an independent income selling stuff on the internet!

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I had two big obstacles in my way:

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  • 1. NO TIME
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  • 2. I have four kids
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  • Get kids to school: 7am
  • Drive to office: 8am
  • Work: 9am - 5pm
  • Eat dinner: 6pm - 7pm
  • Help kids with homework: 7pm - 8pm
  • Put kids to bed: 8pm - 9pm
  • Hang out with spouse: 9pm - 10pm
  • Collapse in an exhausted heap: 10pm
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Two things to overcome:

  • 1. Find more time
  • 2. Make enough $$$ to support my family
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Things I tried to find more time:

  • Waking up early
  • Staying up late
  • Working on the bus
  • Working during my lunch hour
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What worked?

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2012: got a remote job

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The remote job gave me more freedom to pursue side-projects:

It eliminated my 2-hour daily commute

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Started podcast with my friend Kyle Fox

Focused on "people who build digital products"

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Started a newsletter at the same time

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I noticed:

People were asking me the same questions over and

  • ver again.
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Hypothesis

"Give me a support group so that I can stay motivated as a solo- founder."

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2013

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My first spots sold out in an hour.

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Built with:

  • HTML (landing page)
  • MailChimp (email)
  • Campfire (chat)
  • Stripe (credit card)
  • Memberful (billing)
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Since 2013, I've kept iterating on this idea.

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Evolved into ProductPeople.Club

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Built with:

  • HTML (landing page)
  • MailChimp (email)
  • Discourse (open source)
  • Digital ocean (hosting)
  • Slack (chat)
  • Stripe (credit card)
  • Memberful (billing)
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This was a side project

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  • Very little custom code
  • Created by one person (me)
  • Built on the side

Provided real value

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"Having people you can ask questions to is extremely

  • valuable. Product People Club

was literally the birthplace of my

  • startup. They helped me start it a

year ago and continue to help me improve it today."

Robert Williams, LetsWorkshop.com

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Since then I've launched a bunch

  • f other projects
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Two got traction

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Marketing for Developers

devmarketing.xyz

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Tiny Marketing Wins

tinymarketingwins.com

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I gradually built up my side project income, until this last year I went full-time.

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I now make a full-time independent income from the things I make with computers.

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How can you do this?

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First: find more time

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Ideas

  • Take a 1-week sabbatical from work to focus on your project
  • Wake up early (put in 1 hour before work)
  • Work from home one day a week
  • Negotiate shorter work hours
  • Get a remote job
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5 Tactics 4 Principles

for achieving independence through products.

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Tactics

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  • 1. Choose your audience.
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What group are you best equipped to serve?

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Examples:

  • Parents with kids in diapers
  • Folks starting a podcast
  • Freelance designers
  • F# developers
  • 40+ joggers
  • Commuters
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Characteristics of a good market

  • Easy to reach (existing marketing channels)
  • Highly motivated to solve their own problems
  • Ability and willingness to pay
  • A group you're excited to serve
  • A group you're personally connected to
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"Where am I already being paid for my skills and expertise?"

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Example: Darian Rosebrook

Occupation: designer working in the banking industry

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You can go vertical, or horizontal

Darian could focus on serving:

  • Banking (vertical, serve your industry)
  • Designers (horizontal, your peers)
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Your target market should be a group you're already connected to.

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Case study

My friend Francois had a consulting business where he helped Shopify store owners.

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So when it came time for him to build software, he built it for Shopify store owners.

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Freelancers / consultants have a built-in advantage

  • They're already being paid for their skills and expertise
  • They're already connected to customers
  • They can observe patterns: what requests do they get, most
  • ften?
  • They can get their first product sales from existing

customers

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  • 2. Research your audience.
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How do you find good product ideas?

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You want to hit a nerve that makes people say...

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Observe your audience

  • Listen. Take notes. Look for the gaps. Try little
  • experiments. Get feedback.
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Understand the progress customers are trying to make and what struggles stand in their way.

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People buy products for

  • ne reason only: to make

their lives better!

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People buy products for

  • ne reason only: to make

their lives better!

— @mijustin

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Case study: jewelry store

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(from tinymarketingwins.com)

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What did I observe?

  • 90% of the products in the store were for women
  • 100% of the people in the store were men
  • 100% of the purchases were men buying jewelry for

women (they're not buying jewelry for themselves)

  • The men all looked really nervous.
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Find the answers to these questions...

  • 1. Where are they now?
  • 2. How do they want their life to be better?
  • 3. What obstacles stand in their way?
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  • Who: boyfriend
  • Super power they want: impressive romantic boyfriend
  • Obstacles: they don't know anything about romance or

jewelry

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Observe your audience wherever they hang out.

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Places to do research online:

  • 1. Google (look at related keywords)
  • 2. Twitter
  • 3. Reddit
  • 4. Facebook Groups
  • 5. Facebook search
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Places to do research offline:

  • 1. Current consulting clients
  • 2. Retail stores
  • 3. Meetups
  • 4. Conferences
  • 5. Tradeshows
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  • 3. Create a hypothesis.
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"Free me from the anxiety of wondering what to get my girlfriend so I can be an “impressive” romantic boyfriend."

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More examples

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"Free me from the anxiety

  • f finding new leads, so

that I have steady stream

  • f clients."
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What super power do they need?

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"Help me to send better email so that I can sell more stuff."

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Magic words to use in your hypothesis

  • give me
  • help me
  • free me
  • make the
  • take away
  • equip me
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Help me [with this

  • bstacle] so that I can

achieve [this dream].

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  • 4. Create a tiny product to test

your hypothesis.

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What's the smallest "product" you could create that could disprove your hypothesis?

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Example: useronboard.com

Onboarding teardowns

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Help me understand

  • nboarding, so that I can

create a better sign-up experience for my users.

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Put something out into the world, and see if you can get conversion (dollars or email addresses).

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Tiny product ideas

  • Workshop (online or in-person)
  • Email course
  • Coaching calls
  • Excel sheet
  • Ebook
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My advice?

Start with a workshop.

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Almost every human struggle can be solved manually, through teaching.

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Basecamp (the product) started after 37signals (a design agency) was teaching workshops.

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If you can’t get five people to show up at a workshop, how are you going to get hundreds to sign up for a software product?

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"Starting small puts 100% of your energy

  • n actually solving real

problems for real people."

— Derek Sivers

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Start small!

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  • 5. If the feedback is good,

iterate!

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What you learn when you launch a tiny version:

  • 1. How hard is it to find customers?
  • 2. Did I hit a nerve? Did I identify their #1 struggle?
  • 3. How hard is it to get people to pay?
  • 4. How satisfied were people with the solution?
  • 5. Do I like the customers?
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If the answers are all ! then keep iterating

  • n the product.
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Examples:

  • Excel sheet ($19) → web application ($39 / month)
  • Local workshop ($99) → online course ($199)
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The steps

  • 1. Start with a group of people.
  • 2. Research + listen.
  • 3. Identify their #1 struggle.
  • 4. Make a tiny product that helps them with that struggle.
  • 5. Iterate.
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Principles

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  • 1. Your personal context is

important!

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Don't try to be like your hero

Embrace your personal context

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  • Family situation (married, kids)
  • Career experience
  • Financial situation
  • Personality type
  • Skills and expertise
  • Personal health
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Where you're at now will determine what type of product you launch (and how long it will take). That's OK.

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  • 2. Momentum is everything.
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People who stand still don't make progress.

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People in motion make mistakes, but they also move

  • forward. Keep moving, keep trying new things, keep
  • experimenting. Be persistent!
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  • 3. Choose your market carefully.

Everything starts with the group you want to serve. Profitable products are born out sizable markets (with money) who are highly motivated to improve their lives.

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  • 4. People use products for one

reason only:

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To make their lives better.

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Thank you!

justinjackson.ca/slides @mijustin